By Spencer Short, Texas A&M
Growing up as a huge sports fan, I never really thought about how much my love for the game would connect with my professional life in finance. Whether it’s cheering on the Cleveland Browns, the Cavaliers, or catching an Atlanta Braves game, sports have always been a big part of my world. What I didn’t realize until I started working in finance is that the lessons you learn on the field — or even just watching from the stands — translate perfectly into the world of business and investing.
Managing risk and building smart strategies are key to winning games and winning in the market. Here’s how the two worlds overlap and what we can learn from sports when it comes to finance.
Preparation Is Everything
In sports, no team steps onto the field without a game plan. Coaches and players spend hours studying opponents, practicing plays, and preparing for different scenarios. The same goes for finance. You can’t just jump into investments or wealth management without doing your homework.
Research, planning, and preparation are critical. In the financial world, this means studying markets, understanding client needs, and anticipating potential challenges. Just like a football team watches film on their opponents, financial advisors and investors need to constantly study the environment around them to prepare for the unexpected.
Adjusting on the Fly
Even the best game plan can’t predict everything. A star player gets injured. The weather changes. An unexpected turnover happens. Teams that succeed are the ones that can adapt quickly.
It’s the same in finance. Markets shift. New regulations come into play. Global events cause uncertainty. Being flexible and willing to adjust your strategy is essential. The best investors and advisors aren’t locked into one way of thinking. They stay calm, analyze the new situation, and make the right calls under pressure — just like a good quarterback reads the defense and changes the play at the line of scrimmage.
Calculated Risk Is Part of the Game
No championship team wins by playing it safe all the time. Sometimes you have to go for it on fourth down or take a three-point shot instead of driving to the basket. But smart teams know when the risk is worth it and when it’s not.
In finance, taking risks is part of growing wealth, but it’s about calculated risks, not reckless ones. Understanding your risk tolerance, weighing the potential rewards against the possible downsides, and making informed decisions are key. Just like a coach wouldn’t call a risky play without considering the situation and the odds, financial professionals need to evaluate every move carefully.
Building a Strong Team Matters
No player wins a championship alone. It takes a team of people — each with different skills — working toward the same goal. In sports, you need a balance of offense, defense, coaching, and support staff. In finance, you need a team too — financial advisors, analysts, compliance officers, and clients all working together.
Building the right team is about trust, communication, and shared goals. When everyone knows their role and supports one another, the team succeeds. Whether it’s helping a client plan for retirement or creating a diversified investment portfolio, teamwork makes all the difference.
Learning from Losses
No team goes undefeated forever. Losses happen. What separates great teams from the rest is how they respond to those setbacks. They study what went wrong, adjust their strategy, and come back stronger.
The same mindset applies in finance. Markets can be volatile, investments don’t always perform as expected, and mistakes happen. The key is not to panic. It’s important to learn from losses, adapt strategies, and keep moving forward with confidence. Losses aren’t the end — they’re valuable learning experiences that make you better in the long run.
Trusting the Process
In both sports and finance, success doesn’t happen overnight. Championships are built over months and years of hard work. Wealth grows over time through smart investing, patience, and sticking to a plan.
It’s easy to get caught up in the highs and lows, whether it’s a winning streak or a sudden dip in the market. But trusting the process — and the people guiding you — is crucial. Just like a sports team trusts their coaches and training regimens, clients need to trust the financial strategies designed to meet their goals.
Final Thoughts
The longer I work in finance, the more I see how closely it mirrors the sports world I’ve always loved. Preparation, adaptability, calculated risk-taking, teamwork, resilience, and patience — these are the core elements that lead to success in both fields.
Whether you’re gearing up for the big game or making major investment decisions, the fundamentals remain the same: have a plan, work hard, adjust when needed, and never stop learning from every experience.
At the end of the day, both on the field and in finance, it’s about playing smart, staying disciplined, and working together to achieve victory. And if you can have a little fun along the way — just like at a great game — that’s even better.