Does Walking Make You Better at Managing Your Money?

Key steps to better money management. 10,000 a day of them.

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This video is a bit odd. Maybe that’s not surprising. It’s a bit new-agey, I admit. But, stick with me because I wouldn’t be sharing this if I didn’t think it would make a solid difference. In 2009 I was doing non-stop research for my second book, “The Wealthy Barber Returns.” And one day I got an unusual idea.

I decided to look at all the people I’ve helped with their finances over the years and see if I could spot any common denominators, but one’s unrelated to money. So, not the standard common denominators like they lived in a more humble house than they could afford and spent very little on cars—”The Millionaire Next Door” kind of stuff. I love that book, by the way. But, again, non-money stuff. For example, did a disproportionate number of them share the same hobby? Did a disproportionate number of them come from a big family? You get the idea. I thought that may be quite interesting. At least to a geek like me.

Now, obviously, I had to confine this casual study to the people I knew well among the thousands of cases our office had looked at over the years. Say 100ish families. I had to be quite familiar with them to look for these shared traits/activities/backgrounds/whatever. So, did I find anything? Yes. A big one, only one. But a very intriguing one. A way higher percentage of the group who handled their money well walked a lot than of the group who didn’t handle their money well.

And I mean WAY higher. The correlation was actually quite stunning. Now, “correlation does not imply causation,” stats experts will absolutely properly argue. They will add something like, “Perhaps the discipline it takes to walk every day is the same discipline it takes to save successfully. That could be the explanation for your observed connection.

You haven’t proven that walking more leads to better money management.” Absolutely, I haven’t proven that. But my gut feeling is that being a big walker may, indeed, make someone better at managing his/her personal finances. Why? Because I think being a big walker probably makes us better at most things.

Exercise. Plus sunlight. Plus fresh air. Plus time to reflect. Plus time to escape. Plus time to find calm. Pretty good formula. Plus, hey, that’s 45 to 60 minutes a day you’re not spending money. Not kidding when I say that makes a difference. So, want to take some positive strides in managing your money? Take some positive strides.