Hi Reader ,

Did you get the chance (and time) to savor sportspersons spinning and swinging in impossible ways at this Olympics? And the just-wrapped-up Paralympics?

As for me, I was up till the wee hours of the night, on multiple occasions—jaws clenched and fingers dug into the armrest.

I remember this one instance when I was glued to the screen for Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu’s attempt in the 49 kg category. Oh, the sound of the barbell during the snatch, and the clean and jerk. Those minutes left me feeling hopeful, heartbroken, and hopeful again. If you didn’t catch it then, here’s a snippet.

The funny thing is I am not even a weightlifter or a sports nut. However, I am intrigued by the extent to which humans can push themselves beyond the limit.

So I pondered—what is behind the scenes (BTS) of any athlete competing at the Olympics? What is that insane regimen that they subject themselves to?

I dug up the internet, and here’s a glimpse of all that goes into Olympic prep:

• Weight Training (for muscle building and strength)
• Mobility Training (for balance and control)
• Physiotherapy (to prevent injuries from derailing your plan)
• Diet/Nutrition (to optimize body weight and health)
• Psychology (for mental fortitude)
• Meditation (for focus and calm)

On top of all these ingredients, you put in 100s of hours (at least) practicing the sport you are competing in. So you just lift consistently and heavier each day. Or you sprint consistently (and faster) than your last timed run.

As you can guess, the Olympic prep is more strategic and holistic than those few minutes we catch during a live screening.

That's not all.

Do you know, they need an army (it is a whole brigade) of specialists to guide, train, and motivate them, day in and day out? Think of coaches, trainers, nutritionists, sports therapists, physiotherapists, and a bunch of others.

This entire exercise of an Olympics begs important money questions like:

• What’s your BTS prep for your money goals?
• What is your strategic process to arrive at the metaphorical gold medal (aka getting money rich)?
• What are your versions of weight training and meditation for your investments?

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BTS Prep for Your Money Goals

Let’s look at the answers to these questions that will help you get closer to a gold medal:

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1. What does the goal medal for your finances look like?

You need to define your life goals one by one.

Create a list of goals and then prioritize each based on their significance (mark them as Priority 1, Priority 2).

A good starting point is to think about your personal values, say leisure, abundance, and luxury, and then build your goals aligned with those values. This approach of goal-setting reduces dissonance at large. You consciously choose these goals, and have an awareness that these are not “pre-conditioned societal goals” that everyone must achieve.

A small exercise in case you need help with this:​
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​Imagine yourself 1 year from now. Where do you want to be? Then, consider envisioning your life in the next 5 years. What are the experiences that your future self will be fulfilled by? Finally, visualize yourself 15 years from today (hopefully no AI bot has replaced your day job.)

If you want to have fun while doing this, get creative and draw a vision board—do cutouts from newspapers, get pictures from the internet (and print them), or just simply sketch them out. Usually, tangible visualization helps us gain more clarity.

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2. What do you have to achieve by the 2028 Olympics?

You can have different timelines for each of your goals. It determines how early or later you want to (and can) achieve this goal realistically. For instance, a goal can be short-term (less than 12 months), medium-term (1-3 years), and long-term (3 years and more). So you will need to train (invest) for these differently.

Unfortunately, many don’t have the benefit of waiting out on our goals because we have realized the benefits of personal finance a tad late. (But, since you are reading this newsletter—Congratulations, you have got a head start)

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3. What are the steps that will get you to the finish line?

Becoming a weightlifter is only 49% lifting barbells, and 51% everything else.

Likewise, getting rich is only 49% investing, and 51% everything else.

Sure, you spend half of your time tracking your current investments and optimizing your returns. But what’s the 51% here?

Ideally, they should look like a mix of these:

• Increase savings rate (to building and strengthen your corpus)
• Diversification (for balance and control in your portfolio)
• Having insurance/ estate planning (to prevent setbacks from derailing your plan)
• Diet/ Nutrition (to optimize body weight and health - People underestimate the role of health in their financial journey)
• Build a big enough rainy day fund (for mental fortitude)
• Tune out financial news & what others are doing (for focus and calm)
• Revisiting and updating your goals (preparing for the next Olympics)

4. Who will be on your army of specialists?

It’s imperative to have a set of advisors that propel you forward in your investment journey. Of course, you can have a CPA or a CA. More often than not, they will fall short because they are too focused on your “past” performance, “last year’s” expenses, returns, and so on.

Can they offer wholesome planning? Maybe not. That’s where a financial planner can be helpful.

Our Approach at Capital We

Step #1: Understand Your Life

First, we take a financial and personal case history (like any good therapist would). This is to better understand your life, goals, and dreams.

Step #2: Collaborate on your Goals

Next, we invite you to think about all the questions above and more. If you don’t have ready answers, we explore options together.

Step #3: Design a Money Map

We brainstorm on potential pathways that we can take to get to your goals. Note that this ‘money map’ is all customized for each client. Any two people will not have the same map, even if they want to get to the same destination. That’s the beauty of it.

Step #4: Peep into the Future

And finally, we design a chart of progress. We lay down all the foundational blocks and actions that will achieve your goals. This means we focus on the 49% bit for optimizing returns and also on the 51%.

I know it is easier to understand this approach theoretically than to actually “do the work.” The rewards, however, of doing this money work are bountiful. They truly feel like your own Olympic medal, even if they are not gold, silver, or bronze.

It’s truly more about consistency than anything else.

That’s all for today, folks. What’s your money gold medal? Hit reply to this email and let me know.

See you in two weeks!

P.S: Before you move on to the buzz of Instagram reels, feel free to ping me your burning questions. I will respond on my weekly Ask-Me-Anything Fridays on LinkedIn.

Fun Corners of the Internet

• ​Ranbir Kapoor and Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha’s founder and investor) had a sit-down on his podcast, People by WTF, and the tête-à-tête felt as authentic as a living room chat. They talk about childhood, family dynamics, fatherhood and a bit of Bollywood sprinkled here and there for good measure.
• Since we started time-keeping in the Olympics for sprinting (in 1912), the 100-meter athletes have improved their time ONLY by “1 second.” Look at a video of the most exciting runs in the Olympics.​

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Whenever you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

• If you're looking for support with your finances, you can start a (free) conversation with me to see how I can help. Here is my calendar for a FREE 30 minute consultation

• Not ready to commit? Email me your questions and I am happy to if I can get them answered in future editions of this newsletter.