What Coach Swinney Can Teach Us About Financial Wellness

October 19, 2015

It has undoubtedly been an excellent start to the college football season for Clemson University. No matter what happens the rest of the year, Coach Dabo Swinney created some bulletin board material for locker rooms and office environments across the country. After Clemson held off a spirited comeback by Notre Dame, Coach Swinney delivered this masterpiece video when asked about the team’s success:

“It ain’t always perfect. But what I told them tonight was, listen, we give you scholarships. We give you stipends, and meals, and a place to live. We give you nice uniforms. I can’t give you guts. And I can’t give you heart. And tonight, hey, it was B.Y.O.G. Bring your own guts. And they brought some guts and some heart and they never quit ’til the last play.”

Knowledge and coaching are essential. But in the game of life you have to do the work. Coaches, leaders, managers, and motivational speeches are helpful but they aren’t the ones needed to get the job done on the football field and in the real world.

In some respects, there are many parallels to be found between college football and our personal finances. Financial knowledge is an important aspect of our overall financial health, but knowledge without follow through and action doesn’t get the job done. You have to execute your own financial life plan and “Bring Your Own Guts.”

Follow your journey to financial freedom by creating a simple but meaningful action plan. Check out When Simple is Better: How to Create a One-Page Financial Plan for guidance on creating an action plan that you will be most likely to follow through. Then when life gets in the way, don’t quit.

Coach Swinney then finished his message as the crowd on the field ramped up the energy level saying, “Just frickin’ play this play. Don’t worry about our screw-ups. Play this play. Win this down.”

We all make mistakes and that’s a fact of life. In our financial lives, we should always work hard to avoid the BIG mistakes like excessive debt, bad investment behaviors, or not protecting our wealth. But sometimes we can still have minor screw-ups that hold us back.

The best advice (using my motivational speaker voice) is to simply put those mistakes in the past, learn from them, and move forward. If you are constantly replaying the same financial discussions/arguments with your spouse year after year, you need to do something different. If you are still recalling the bad investment moves you made or the good ones you didn’t make back in 2008…MOVE ON. Don’t quit. Play the next play and start winning the October 2015 version of your financial life plan.

Of course, the post-game interview was capped off with a proclamation that “We’re going to do the Whip/Nae Nae tonight.” Well, I never saw complete evidence of celebratory dancing in the locker room but I can guarantee that my dancing skills are much more challenged than this display. Whether it is singing, dancing, or spending time with the people you care about the most, celebrate your successes.

In our financial lives, the best celebrations are often found in experiences not stuff. Reward yourself for paying off that first credit card balance in full. Take off work early to spend time with your kids after finally setting up those 529 plans you’ve been talking about for months. Volunteer to help others in need after you’ve run that retirement calculation and realized you are on track to retire.

It’s okay to rely on financial planners and coaches to provide necessary guidance but bring your own guts. Don’t worry about your screw-ups. Just frickin’ play this play and win this down. Then don’t forget to celebrate and cherish those wins!