Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Finance? What are you talking about?

I have a passion for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I train 5 times a week. I have a goal and I work towards it. I study videos, buy books and generally talk about it 24/7. My wife thinks I am boring.

So whats the point? I think there is a huge parallel between learning an art like BJJ and financial independence.

Both require commitment. You are never going to achieve financial freedom unless you are committed. Spending 1 hour a week on your finances gets you nowhere in the long run. If you are not committed to learning new "moves" you will continue to be tapped out by the financial blue belts. Spending a hour week learning BJJ is not going to get you anywhere either.

Both require analysis and self reflection. You have to analyze your movements, weakness and develop a "game" that works across all challengers. You need to be self critical in terms of what you are good at and what your weaknesses are. Same for financial planning. What are you doing badly? "Investing" in rubbish? Spending too much money?

Both require resilience. There will be times when you are injured in BJJ and how you come back makes you a better player. Same in Finance - sometimes you will lose the game but you have to come back.

Your teammates make a difference. Who you have in your corner to help you is critical. If you have a teammates that act like real d-bags, you will struggle to learn. If the class bully keeps calling you out you are not going to learn and its probably time to find another school. In finance its the same. If your advisor / product sales guy keeps telling you month after month to hang in there while your investment goes down the toilet, it may be time to cut your losses and move on.

Get mat time with many different people. In finance its critical to get varying opinions and knowledge about what works and what does not. What works for someone like me might not work for you but you will never know unless we engage in a conversation. Assumptions in BJJ get you tapped out and assumptions in finance make you poor.

In conclusion, you want to make sure that you have an open mind, no ego and a willingness to learn in order to be a black belt in finance. It also helps in BJJ.