Stick It for Financial Independence | brokeGIRLrich
Growing up, my best friend was a cheerleader.
I was not.
But one day, she made me watch this incredibly stupid movie that has stayed with me anyway called Stick It.
Turns out, there are a lot of personal finance truths in Stick It.
1.) You want to stick your landing. No matter how good the routine is, a big part of your overall score will be how well you land that sucker. You want to hit the ground feet first and solidly hold that landing, just like you intended.
With your financial planning, you want to make sure you have a solid plan for retirement. The way to score a 10 is lay out all your goals and dreams, figure out how much money you need to reach them and then actually have that money in the bank at the time you were aiming for. You stick it with retirement when you’re on a beach in Bora Boa sipping that mai tai you planned to drink 35 years earlier… or 10 years earlier if you’re one of those bad a$$ early retirement folks.
This is when you’ve got a closet full of excellent shoes but are still working to pay them off at 75.
2.) You better learn to love failing. And to keep getting up and getting knocked back down again when you do.
“Gymnastics tells you no. All day long it. It mocks you over and over again. Telling you you’re an idiot. That you’re crazy. If you like running full-speed towards a stationary object, vault’s for you. If you like pealing pieces of skin the size of quarters off your hands… bars is for you. Because the only thing more fun that rips, is when your rips get rips. It’s super sexy. And floor, are you serious, I mean who doesn’t want to parade around in a leotard getting wedgies and doing dorky choreography? It’s delicious. If you like falling, then gymnastics is the sport for you! You get to fall on your face, your ass, your back, your knees, and your pride! It’s a good thing I didn’t like falling… I LOVED IT!”
“If you’re going to eat mat, you’re going to eat mat hard.”
3.) Sometimes the tiny little details are insane, but you will be screwed if you don’t dot all the i’s, cross all the t’s and make sure your bra strap doesn’t pop out.
Burt: Where is the deduction coming from?
Head Vault Judge: Her bra was showing, Burt. It is an automatic deduction if an undergarment is showing, Burt!
Burt: She’s flipping through the air, Doris, she’s spinning! Of course her bra popped out! That rule is ancient!
Head Vault Judge: Apparently so is her bra.
4.) The way to kick butt and take names is to figure out new approaches and deliver something completely original.
“If you think that I’m getting on the competition floor with some stupid, watered down, cookie-cutter routine, you are seriously senile.”
“The only reason I’m doing these tricks is because someone said, ‘I don’t care if this is nuts, and I don’t care if it hurts. I’m gonna climb this insanely high mountain. Watch me.’ And when you’re the first to climb a new mountain in gymnastics, they name it after you. A Gienger, a Rufolva, a Tchusovitina, a Shaposhnakova. They all rocked. And we salute you.”
5.) Occasionally, no one knows what’s going on. You just need to keep moving.
“Don’t worry, my head’s up my butt too.”
Okay, this makes me feel old, because the gymnastics movie I watched growing up was American Anthem with Mitch Gaylord and Janet Jones who ended up becoming Janet Gretzky when she married hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Anywho, these are great analogies and I love looking at finance from completely different perspectives.
Ha I totally l loved that movie!!
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Can You Fake Financial Confidence?
Chiming in that I also loved American Anthem! I think it’s on Netflix now and I’ve been dying to re-watch it but afraid it won’t hold up past the nostalgia factor.
Leslie Beslie recently posted…Goal Tracking & Habit Creating – September 2014
Reaching FI is a big journey many people do not understand. They think freedom is working for 40 years, and enjoying the ride only on the weekends. I view things differently and I hope to be free in 10 years. Whats your plan for FI?
EL @ Moneywatch101 recently posted…When a Financial Emergency Strikes
My plan is definitely long term, but I think that’s one of the sacrifices you make working in the arts. On the plus side, I’m used to keeping my bills low. On the negative side, I’m not likely to ever make much more money than I do right now.
This immediately made me think of Carol Johnston. Amazing story – Carol was born with part of her arm missing. She went on to competitive gymnastics and I watched the documentary on her called “Lefty” many years ago. Her story was so inspiring. Here she is on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LDKAgriZOU&list=PLD7PZNFDq48IdKQrYzU9mZdMMpYWvfLR0
If you go to the 6 minute mark you can see a clip of her on the uneven bars.
I think that if you’re born that way, it’s not really a big deal. People only think there are things you can’t do because they can’t conceive of doing them themselves in that situation. There’s almost always a way to figure out how to do things.
I love watching gymnastics! Doing it… not so much. I had a terrible, very brief gymnastics career at age 10. It was not good. I feel like I see the world through a personal finance lens, so I think I try to impose it on everything :). But, I definitely see a correlation with yoga, where the mantra is to slow down and be present in the moment while also thinking about how you want to change your life.
Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…Weekly Woot & Grumble: Thieving Dolphins & Some Guy Named Plutus
I get too nervous watching gymnastics, I’m afraid of them missing a landing or something and cracking bones – the thought sends chills all over me! Having said that, loved the links you made to the sport with finance – #5 was hilarious and so true!
Kassandra @ More Than Just Money recently posted…Montreux, Switzerland: A Crown Jewel
Gymnastics is crazy intense.
Realizing that years of complaining about my student loan debt wasn’t going to make them go away and that I had to take an active part in paying them off which meant CHANGING my lifestyle. My husband and I went down to one car for a year and are now teaching abroad (low cost of living at a really decent rate of pay) to pay off debt and travel while doing so. We will come home completely debt free and be able to start putting away money for retirement.
Yalanda @ Laugh Anyway recently posted…Friday Round Up: Funny Finds
I’ve always thought about teaching abroad! A friend from grad school did it and had such fantastic stories! What a terrific plan.
I’m a frustrated gymnastic want to be! When I was 9 years old, I really wanted to join a gymnast class, we already paid the summer class, but unexpectedly, we need to go to our province because my grandfather died. Now that I have a daughter, I want her to join a gymnast class. 🙂
Kate @ Money Propeller recently posted…Friday Jet Fuel #9
I went to summer camp ONCE to gymnastics. I have no coordination what-so-ever. I did the lamest balance beam routine in the world at the end of camp for the closing program.
Never thought I’d see that movie ever being used in a personal finance context – nicely done!
I really like # 4 – achieving financial independence does usually involve being creative in your own way, with your own unique circumstances to deal with – especially if you’re going the extra-early-retirement route. Always inspiring to see people do something different and go against the norm.
The other ‘unexpected’ place I’ve found some personal finance truths is out on the golf course, but probably in some different ways to what you’ve highlighted with gymnastics. Although that might just be because I love the game – I could probably find a way to relate it to anything else in the world one way or another 🙂
Jason @ Islands of Investing recently posted…Finding your investment rhythm
It’s true, there’s pretty much no end to the weird places you can find personal finance analogies.
I needed to read this! Good points. Discovering personal finance blogs has changed my life!
Cari @ A Thrifty Yankee recently posted…Surprise!; I Don’t Have Credit Card Debt
I love this! And I happened to LOVE that movie! 🙂 But I really like the one about learning to love falling – you have to love being able to get back up again. (Both in life and finances!)
Miss Millennial recently posted…Financially Savvy Saturdays #54
That’s true… loving falling without the other half of the equation sounds like a special recipe for disaster.
I was always pissed my parents didn’t put me in stuff like gymnastics and dance. I think I would have done well. I digress. I think what I have found is no matter how many times I’ve fallen I’ve had it within me to get back up and try again.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Can You Fake Financial Confidence?
I agree. Gymnasts don’t have the monopoly on try and try again.
Do you remember the 96 Olympics where… I think her name was Keri Strugg… landed the horse on a sprained ankle for gold? So… I guess even if you get messed up along the way, push through and end the journey right, even if it hurts? I’m trying. Mine is not a totally solid analogy, but I’m trying. :p
GREAT analogy. or as I remember learning in school, “fall down four times get up five” 🙂
That said, I am totally clueless in the eye-hand coordination arena. Fortunately part of what moves us to FI is figuring out how to play to our strengths — and then applying the level of discipline, stick-to-itness, and creativity your friend uses for gymnastics.
Jean @ NeaerlyRetired recently posted…What are your Retirement Readiness Assessment Topics ?
This post is awesome! #4 is my favorite.
the spunky banker. recently posted…playing catch up.
These are great, Mel! Now you’ve taken me back to my Grade 10 floor routine where I danced to Karen and Richard Carpenter’s song. I can’t remember the title but it went like this:
Don’t you remember you told me you loved me baby
Baby, baby, baby, baby oh baby
You said you’d be back this way again, baby
I love you…. I really do.
All choreographed by moi. I wasn’t the greatest sport athlete (bad coordination), but with gymnastics, track and health I used to get good marks in Gym and all the real sporty girls were seriously miffed.
debs@debtdebs recently posted…Reasons Iâm Happy Iâm Not Going to FinCon
Hah, that’s awesome!
It’s definitely a grind and not something you achieve overnight. I’ve been working on it for about 5 years now. Nothing I want more than to not have to worry about debt payments. Hopefully I can get to the point where my blogging/writing can support me full time and i can quit my “day job.” That’s the dream! Thanks for the encouragement.
Not worrying about debt anymore is awesome. Now to only make enough money to be able to invest a lot more…
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