LEARN MORE
ABOUT MONEY AND
PROSPERITY BY
RIDING A BIKE.
WAIT, WHAT?
by Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP®
I
’ve started training for my second
200-mile, two-day charity bike
ride in Boston to raise money for the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. When I
committed to ride for the first time this
last summer, I had no idea that one of the
benefits would be learning more about
prosperity!
Riding a bike and prosperity, wait, what?
Now I’m not talking about the investment
I made in getting a road bike and cute
cycling clothes (I look the part even if I’m
a newbie). Here’s what I’m talking about…
Worrying about not being okay makes
for an unhappy ride. Even before I
started biking, I was worried about falling,
worried about clipping my shoes in and
out of the pedals, and worried about
being able to keep up with my husband
Steven and his biking group. This angst
led to me dread training, being stressed
during the rides, and numb fingers from
gripping my handle bars. Ever worry
about money issues? Ever fear your
investments will fall and you’ll end up
hurt? Worrying doesn’t make the ride
better, make me safer, or improve my
performance. Guess what, it’s the same
with money. Worrying is a really bad
financial strategy. Instead, everything
feels better by focusing on the desired
outcome (better performance, reaching a
goal and enjoying the journey).
Where you put your attention can make
the difference between success and
failure. About a month into training, I
realized I was hyper focused on avoiding
obstacles in the road. While I was riding I
would look at the pothole, the posts at the
end of the trail, and the fast bikers coming
from the other direction. When I did this, I
was really unsteady on the bike and even
fell over a couple of times. Then it occurred
to me, I should be literally looking at where
I wanted to go on the trail and not what I
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