This post is by our regular contributor, Erin.
We hear it all the time: Life is a marathon, not a sprint. We’re not supposed to rush toward our goals, we’re supposed to enjoy the journey.
I think a lot of us, especially those super focused on turbo-charging their financial situation, are guilty of rushing from Point A to Point B without being grateful for the in-between.
We get caught up in setting goals, creating a plan, and executing. We don’t let much stand in our way.
While that might be efficient, sometimes taking the scenic route is worthwhile. Today, we’re taking a look at the sprint vs marathon mindset when it comes to managing your money.
Sprint vs Marathon: Your Mentality is Important
It’s not uncommon to see people exclaiming they paid off $X of debt or saved $Y in a short amount of time. It seems like a good amount of people favor the sprint mentality (especially in the blogosphere).
Maybe it’s because it brings them a greater sense of accomplishment, maybe it’s because they prefer taking an “all or nothing” approach, or maybe it’s because they enjoy the challenge.
Then you have those on the opposite side of the spectrum who prefer to add balance into the mix. They don’t try and set the bar too high – they set it high enough so they can achieve their goals while enjoying life.
I’ve tried both and I have to say, sprinting wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. If I didn’t meet my goal one month, I felt bad about it. I didn’t think that’s what the journey should be about, so I decided to switch to a marathon mindset. But is one better than the other?
Should You be All About the Short-Term?
Sprinting is arguably about the short-term. You have a laser-like focus on the finish line and you’re doing everything in your power to work toward it.
You’re probably not thinking about the big picture because your focus is so narrow, though you might have mapped out your next few moves. For example, maybe you’ve honed in on paying off your student loans because you want to move onto saving for a house, and then saving for a family.
Sprinting has its pros and cons. Getting quick wins and gaining momentum with your financial goals is great. The sooner you can cross things off your list, the sooner you can move onto the next goal. Having that intense focus on one thing helps to literally put you ahead in the race.
The drawback (in my opinion) is that you naturally forget to stop and smell the roses. When you’re so focused on your goals, you don’t take a moment to celebrate your wins. As soon as you accomplish something, you’re onto the next thing.
Or Should You be All About the Long-Term?
I like to look at my finances as though I’m training for a marathon. It’s a lot of work and it takes time to build up, but the payoff at the end is worth it.
I got burnt out quickly trying to keep up with the rest of the sprinters I know. Whenever I couldn’t put as much toward my student loans as someone else, I felt defeated.
Running a marathon is all about pacing yourself and running with others going your speed. You’re in it for the long haul, and there’s no reason to expend more energy than you have to, otherwise you risk fizzling out.
Being okay with taking a step back means having room to react to things happening in your life and being able to shift your focus when necessary.
For example, during the time I was trying to build my business, I scaled way back on my student loan payments because I was mostly living off savings. Now that I’ve been earning a consistent income for the past several months, I feel confident in paying extra again.
The downside of taking the marathon approach is you risk becoming bored or content with your progress. I still believe people should challenge themselves, but not to the detriment of their finances.
Balance it Out
As with most things in personal finance, I think it’s a good idea to strike a balance between the two mindsets.
It’s not good to take sprinting so seriously you run yourself ragged and leave no time for fun, but focusing on one goal at a time can be an efficient strategy to use.
It’s also not good to become so content with your progress you let your focus wander or your good financial habits slip. “Taking it easy” for a little bit can cause the good financial habits you’ve developed to slip up, and your motivation can tank.
However, celebrating your wins and being mindful of the bigger picture are both necessary for success.
So why not take a hybrid approach and take the best from both mindsets? Focus on one goal, but don’t be afraid to change course if need be. Keep perspective and check in with yourself to make sure you’re not at risk of burning out.
Lastly, be honest with yourself along your journey. Ask yourself if you feel pressured to keep up with others. We’re told not to keep up with the Joneses and to focus on ourselves; the same goes for keeping up with the savings or debt repayment of others.
If competition is what motivates you, great, but if you keep feeling bad for yourself, then it’s time to stop keeping an imaginary score and time to figure out what works for you.
______________
Overall, life is a marathon, but when we’re dealing with financial goals, it can be easy to adopt a sprinting mindset, especially if we want to be debt free or save for something badly enough. Neither approach is inherently wrong, but a mix of both might be what you need to succeed.
Are you a sprinter or a marathoner? Have you been in both mindsets before? Which did you find most effective?
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I tend to prefer the balanced approach myself, though it can also depend on the goal we’re working on. I think there can be times where the sprint mentality does work – like paying off a certain amount of debt or saving a certain amount of money, but I’ve found it can also be too difficult to keep up the momentum over the long haul. I think a balanced approach helps keep the best of but still keeping the focus on the long-term.
Even though distance running was far and away my best sport, I’ve never thought the runners mindset was a good one to apply to personal finance. As a runner, the most critical time to get yourself mentally right is before the race begins- without that you will lose the race. In other sports, you have hundreds, even thousands of chances to mentally and physically recalibrate, to refocus on your goals and ultimately emerge victorious. To me, that seems a lot more applicable to personal finance.
I love this post! I definitely don’t think that it’s sprinting vs. a marathon approach. It’s a hybrid. Sometimes you’re sprinting and other times you’re just staying the course. Sprinting is excellent to achieve short term goals but it’s not always sustainable and that’s okay!
I’ve done both and agree that there are pros and cons to both methods. I’m not very patient so I probably get more motivated during spring times, but the burnout rate is also much higher. We were on track to pay off our house really early, but decided the marathon method might be a better idea so we wouldn’t miss out on other opportunities in the mean time. Emotionally, I still sometimes wish we’d go ahead and get the house done quickly, but in my head I know that’s not the right choice.
I’m usually a sprinter when it comes to financial goals but sometimes I realize it can be a marathon like with investing. It’s super easy to loose motivation after a while so I like the sprint personally for myself but it has it’s downsides as well.
I think you need to adopt which mindset is appropriate for the goal. Your overall financial well-being is a marathon that will filled with various milestones. Some of those milestones you’ll achieve while sprinting and others will be achieved through slow and steady effort. I find what most people tend to initially want to do is sprint and burn themselves out, which is why it is important to find that balance. Otherwise you risk never achieving any of your goals.
FrugalRules I think it does depend on how far you have to go. For example, paying off $3,000 of credit card debt is a lot less daunting than trying to tackle $40,000! In that case, sprinting can definitely work. When you’re facing years of debt payoff, I think a mostly balanced approach can help.
Hannah UnplannedFinance True – I’m not a runner, I only have my fiance’s experience to go off of. ;) I like that explanation! I’m a fan of re-focusing and not staying on one track the entire time to get to the finish line.
Mrs Crackin the Whip Exactly – it’s perfectly okay if you can’t keep up that pace. There’s no reason to try and match other people’s pace if you’re in different situations. I understand some people find it motivating, which is fine, but you need to check in with yourself to make sure you’re still going for the right reasons.
Eyesonthedollar It’s SO hard to separate the emotions and math. I’ve struggled with this a lot while paying off student loan debt. There are plenty of things I want to enjoy in the meantime, but I hate having the interest accrue. I go back and forth between paying large chunks and being more reserved when I have a specific savings goal.
Chonce Investing is definitely something to be in for the long-haul. It can take a bit to see the effects of compound interest, but once it gets going, I imagine it’s more fun!
ShannonRyan Agreed – there are so many different goals to accomplish, and some can be done in the short-term (saving up for a new wardrobe), while others may take years (paying off your mortgage). That’s why I love making a list and a timeline for things. While it can change in the future, it provides more focus and allows me to pace myself appropriately when looking at the bigger picture.
Great advice, Erin. We are very committed to paying off our debt, so my recent decision to take an extended maternity could seem counterintuitive. However, I made my decision after considering the big picture and the fact that it was a one-time opportunity. Also, when you consider the expenses saved (ex. daycare and commuting), we didn’t lose out on that much money. It’s great to be driven by your goals, but so important to keep things in perspective.
This is great advice. Since beginning my personal finance journey, I’ve been committed to paying off debt so much to the point that I think I’m sacrificing life itself. I need to take your advice and find a reasonable balance that allows me to enjoy life and still accomplish my ultimate goal.
Harmony@CreatingMyKaleidoscope Yes, that’s a perfect example of when it pays to take a step back and consider all the factors! I’m glad you made the right decision for you. We can’t always let debt hold us back, especially where family is concerned.
LovetteMacc I hear you on that! When I first started out, my focus was on keeping as much money as possible so I could save and pay off debt. But it felt very limiting after a while, which is why I prefer earning more and having more flexibility.
This is a really interesting post. I definitely agree that a balance is best: run as fast as you can, but make sure it’s sustainable. In my opinion, the key to sustaining a financial goal long-term is to find ways to make it fun and satisfying, rather than feeling like you’re depriving yourself.
As an example: right now I’m doing a challenge for the month of October where I don’t buy any restaurant food or takeout — this is a big change for me, but I know I’ll save a lot of money this month, and since I’m making it a challenge, it’s actually turning out to be fun! I’m going to be trying a lot more strategies like this in the future.
I do think long term, but try to set short-term goals. It helps keep me motivated reaching smaller goals.
I really like this perspective Erin. Sprinting for more than a short while has never worked out all that well for me. I love the approach of very short bursts occasionally, followed by longer balanced periods. When I sprint for too long, I can end up forgetting where I am as the scenery becomes a blur and I become completely immersed in the sprint. The light jog of the marathon is much better for looking around, enjoying the surroundings and even taking an occasional detour :)
theYachtless Yes, that’s definitely a good point! I love hearing how other people have gamified their finances. Challenges can work well for that reason. I’m glad you’re having success with not eating out!
houseoftre I love setting smaller goals/milestones that lead up to a bigger goal down the road. That definitely helps keep the motivation up.
Jason@Islands of Investing Thanks, Jason! That’s a spot-on analogy (for me, anyway). It feels like the past year or so has gone by in a flash because I’ve been so entrenched in all my goals. It’s nice to enjoy the scenery!
In my opinion, both approaches are valid. The problem that many people struggle with is that there isn’t a single magic pill that fixes everyone. Just like there isn’t one single budget method that works for everyone. You have to experiment, try different things, find your pace. Find what works for you, your perspective, your mindset, and your lifestyle. Once you find it, though…..it’s a beautiful thing.
DebtChronicles Well said, Travis! It can be really difficult to find what works for you at first, especially since there are so many ways to manage your goals and your money. But you learn a lot along the way by experimenting!
I agree that neither approach is inherently wrong, and perhaps a mix is best, but given that life is a marathon, for me anyway, investing is a long term thing. Everyone’s different I guess and it surely depends upon your financial goals.
Laura Beth
Laura Beth @ How To Get Rich Slowly I definitely see investing as more of a marathon, but when it comes to paying off debt or saving for a certain goal, it can be hard to choose between the two methods! That’s why I prefer a mix. =)