No matter how much you enjoyed high school or college basketball, there’s something your coach probably never told you. Along with building mental and physical strength, basketball can help you understand how to manage and grow your money.
Entrepreneur and financial consultant David El Dib boils down the essential lessons basketball teaches you about life and making money. He is a Dubai-based speaker and financial leader who travels around the world, motivating and educating both investors and financial professionals.
Making Money Is a Team Effort
When you play basketball, you learn that you have to rely on your teammates. No one person can play every position. For example, a shooting guard needs a point guard to pass them the ball so that they can score. Similarly, entrepreneurs need lenders to give them the resources to expand their business and financial consultants to help them make sound fiscal decisions.
So, play up to your strengths and delegate tasks as needed, just like you would on a sports team, says David El Dib.
Everyone Needs a Coach
In basketball, the most experienced player calls the play. When you let others call the play in business, you gain valuable insight. No one’s an expert in everything. That’s why it’s important to know when a coach has the wisdom and perspective you need to take the next step in your financial journey.
Go Left When Competitors Say Go Right
Left-handed basketball players often have to make adjustments in this right-hand-dominated sport. In business, there are times when you want to go down a more difficult path as well. With the right team around you, you can often find niches your competitors haven’t yet taken advantage of. However, this often requires you to make business changes to prepare for new opportunities. With the help of the right talent, you can zig-zag away from the current trends to pursue a lucrative opportunity.
Bad Plays Are Temporary Losses
No matter how much time you spend at practice, there’s a chance that you can lose. More specifically, you might expect a play to go one way, and it goes the opposite direction. These are temporary setbacks. Whether or not you ultimately win or lose depends on how you play the entire game.
David El Dib encourages his followers to see setbacks and losses for what they really are in business as well as basketball. In order to succeed, you’ll have to know how to rebound from these temporary losses and not let them define you or your company.
The same goes for temporary wins. Just because you’ve had a run of good luck doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down. That’s exactly when the competition will run in and steal the ball.
About David
David El Dib, former a banker and financial consultant, is a huge fan of basketball. As a motivator and coach, he uses real-world analogies to help investors and other clients realize their short and long-term goals.