What Simone Biles Taught Us About Wealth, Health, and Happiness
The 2020 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics came and went as they generally do. Like any Olympics, they had their high and low moments. Many athlete’s dreams came true. Even my dude Bruce Springsteen’s daughter won a silver medal. That said, the biggest story of these Olympics won’t be what happened on the competitive stage. These Olympics will be forever stamped by what didn’t happen in competition.
Now I am not talking about the lack of fans or Covid albatross around everyone’s neck. I am however referring to Simone Biles not competing in the majority of her events. Normally, when something like this happens it is a terrible story as it is marred with injury. However, this time it is because an athlete chose her health, and her happiness in spite of her wealth. Now we aren’t talking about just any athlete or just any event. We are talking about the greatest gymnast ever to walk on the floor, and on the greatest stage ever – the Olympics.
For those that missed it, let me give a quick recap. After the US women’s all-around competition Simone Biles decided to pull out of the individual competition. She did so in a rather unexpected manner. She was mentally strong enough to decide, on the biggest stage, that mentally she was not in the right frame of mind to be competing. Despite the immense amount of pressure, this courageous lady chose her health, and her happiness, regardless of her financial wealth.
It is no secret here at Diversified we preach our client’s wealth, health, and happiness. It is also no secret that if Simone Biles competed, as she was expected to, had an extremely good shot of becoming one of the most decorated Olympians of all time. With this certainly comes financial riches. Wheaties boxes, speaking engagements, endorsements, and the list goes on. However, with the pressures of literally an entire Nation on her shoulders, she was mindful enough to prioritize herself.
Simone Health
Health comes in many ways and Simone was concerned about her mental health. She feared if she competed when she wasn’t in the right mental frame of mind, she would do further damage both mentally and physically. Literally, the picture of health, a top Olympic athlete, realized something healthy wasn’t going on. She stopped in her tracks to focus on herself and do a course correction.
Let me ask all of you reading this. When was the last time you did a course correction? Have you done an internal audit to see if you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally? I’ve often written about being selfish so you can be selfless. If you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t have all of yourself to give. This holds true if you are a mom, teacher, financial planner, or one of the greatest athletes of all time. Prioritize your health as if this Olympian can so can you.
Simone Wealth
What we witnessed will most likely cost Simone Biles money, or at least in the short term. She gets money for winning medals, she gets endorsements for winning medals, and even gets to go to Disney World! However, in the moment Simone put her financial best interest on the backburner for the sake of her overall well-being. This is hard to do, but at some point, many of us are faced with a similar decision.
Most of us could work another year, or consult in retirement, to pad our pockets even further. That said, there comes a point when financial gains are just that – financial gains. What they aren’t are more health or happiness. We all must at some point not choose money as to why we do things, but our overall well-being. Kudos to Simone, and the rest of you, who have made similar sacrifices.
Simone Happiness
In the end, choose happiness. That is what Simone did and let’s see how this plays out? If I had to guess, following her happiness will prove to be the best decision. For starters, she already seems to be doing better mentally. Despite dropping out of most of the competition she was able to compete in her last event winning the bronze.
Next, by choosing to not compete for her health’s sake she will almost certainly have opportunities galore. Speaking engagements, educational opportunities, and honestly plenty of endorsements. What in the moment seemed like career suicide will end up opening doors she never dreamed of. Why? Because she chose happiness.
Most importantly, when all this dust settles, she will be a regular gal sitting at home. She’ll be able to look herself in the mirror and smile because she stuck by her priorities. Simone was not swayed by outside pressures or making a decision she would one day regret. Instead, she confidently chose her happiness so she can proceed to live the best life she knows how.
Gold Medal
The Olympics always impresses me as I am a highly competitive person myself. You watch these amazing athletes train their entire lives for sometimes 60 seconds of glory. They do so for many different reasons, but in the end, it is for their own reasons.
As a father of three (two being strong little ladies) I hope they can look up to Simone Biles. As a woman with that kind of class, work ethic, and moxie is something every dad dreams of for his children. On top of it all she chose what every parent hopes for their kid, true happiness.
As always stay wealthy, healthy, and happy!
