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Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

outsideonline.com

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Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#2
It's not psychological. It's time. If you're taking the bus to work and/or working more than one job, you on average can't spare the time (and energy) for training and events. Furthermore, there's the cost of the gear, event entry fees, etc.

The fact that rich (white) people spin the issue as "psychology" is simply another example of their disconnect.

Sad. But true.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#3
Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people. I agree with the article, but I'm not sure about the causality. I've observed that the same characteristics that make people good (not elite) at endurance sports are those that make them able to get ahead at work. Basically discipline and goal setting. It's not surprising that people who can stick to an exercise program like marathon training are also able to stick to work related goals that get them ahead. So yes, rich people may have more flexibility to pursue training (my experience though is that's not true, the demands on your time in professional jobs is much higher) but maybe they got rich because they were able to maintain focus on their goals.

I say this as a competitive age group (not elite) runner that has not found a way to translate the required discipline into my work life.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#4

It's not psychological. It's time. If you're taking the bus to work and/or working more than one job, you on average can't spare the time (and energy) for training and events. Furthermore, there's the cost of the gear, event entry fees, etc. The fact that rich (white) people spin the issue as "psychology" is simply another example of their disconnect. Sad. But true.

Yep. Rich people deal only with the things they chose to deal, even when "working" (starting from decising what they work on, and whether they want to work at all -- many rich people give up CEO meetings and the like to managers and trusted people and spend most of the year having fun - not that you'll hear about them, since they spoil the image of the hard working rich).

In other words, if Bezos - or any lesser multimillionaire - wishes to delegate something, he delegates it.

The non-rich don't have that luxury, and this is exhausting.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#5

Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people. I agree with the article, but I'm not sure about the causality. I've observed that the same characteristics that make people good (not elite) at endurance sports are those that make them able to get ahead at work. Basically discipline and goal setting. It's not surprising that people who can stick to an exercise program like marathon tra…

>Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people.

You'd be surprised how many poor folks have tons of self-discipline and endurance - almost all miners, for starters...

>but maybe they got rich because they were able to maintain focus on their goals.

Family, education, connections, lucky breaks, friendly favours, and a standard work ethic and "focus on their goals" (which you can found on myriads of poor people) did it for most.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#6
post #5

Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people. I agree with the article, but I'm not sure about the causality. I've observed that the same characteristics that make people good (not elite) at endurance sports are those that make them able to get ahead at work. Basically discipline and goal setting. It's not surprising that people who can stick to an exercise program like marathon tra…

> Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people. You'd be surprised how many poor folks have tons of self-discipline and endurance - almost all miners, for starters... > but maybe they got rich because they were able to maintain focus on their goals. Family, education, connections, lucky breaks, friendly favours, and a standard work ethic and "focus on their goals" (which you can fou…

> Family, education, connections, lucky breaks, friendly favours

Definitely, good luck is always a factor. But don't discount how hard people in leadership positions have to work. Tech seems to have more variability, but go look at consulting or finance and anyone who is successful is paying a real price for how much they work. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it takes serious discipline, the same kind that keeps you going in endurance sports.

Surely there are rich people that have a cushy life, but they're not the ones who are endurance athletes.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#7

It's not psychological. It's time. If you're taking the bus to work and/or working more than one job, you on average can't spare the time (and energy) for training and events. Furthermore, there's the cost of the gear, event entry fees, etc. The fact that rich (white) people spin the issue as "psychology" is simply another example of their disconnect. Sad. But true.

And I guess all the people that prove otherwise are just “outliers” right? There is a non-zero amount of people without privilege that contribute their success to psychological factors whether you like it or not.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#9
While it’s certainly not an exclusive parameter for success, I believe there’s something to this.

Phil Knight for example used to go for a 6 mile run every time he had a big decision to make, and anecdotally, I know a disproportionate number of endurance athletes who are also very successful in their careers.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#10

Self-discipline and endurance are big characteristics of many successful people. I agree with the article, but I'm not sure about the causality. I've observed that the same characteristics that make people good (not elite) at endurance sports are those that make them able to get ahead at work. Basically discipline and goal setting. It's not surprising that people who can stick to an exercise program like marathon tra…

It is probably the case that both rich and poor people possess the required discipline for endurance sports but poor people have much less opportunity to participate. Training, equipment, travel, etc are luxuries that the rich can afford to pay for. The same is not true of everyone else. If you think that rich people and poor people have similar access to time and resources for these sorts of activities I suspect it is because you've spent more time being in the former group than the latter.
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