Report from the World's Toughest Mudder; Why I do extreme sports and how it benefits me as an investor

1) This weekend, I ran my fifth World's Toughest Mudder, a 24-hour obstacle course race, which took place from noon Saturday to midday Sunday in the desert in Laughlin, Nevada, about 90 minutes from Las Vegas. The goal is to complete as many five-mile laps as possible, each with 20 obstacles, including mud, freezing water, electric shocks, monkey bars, crawling under nets and barbed wire, over walls, etc.

For the first time, I ran it not as an individual, but in a four-person team with three of my buddies. That meant that we had to all run our first and last laps together but could alternate laps the rest of the time, with two of us on the course. That made it easier because we had a partner to pass the time and help each other with the obstacles, and we were able to take rest breaks while our teammates were on the course.

We had a great race, completing 15 laps (75 miles and more than 200 obstacles) as a team, which was good enough for second place, earning us free entry to next year's World's Toughest Mudder.

I achieved my goal of doing 50 miles individually, which may sound like a lot, but it is nothing compared with the 75, 55, 60, and 70 miles I did in the 2016 to 2019 races, respectively. So, while I’m plenty sore today, I only feel like one truck ran over my legs, not a caravan of them!

Here are three pictures of me after the race with my team (and our "pit crew" – my friend's son – on the left); happily welcoming the sunrise after a long, cold night; and bundled up, trying to stay warm in my wet outfit, chowing down on KFC and Coke (getting lots of calories, salt, and sugar into my body is key to maintaining a high energy level during such a long race):

I've posted more pictures and details on my Facebook page here.

2) Many people ask why I do extreme sports like this. There are several reasons...

I actively seek out new experiences, especially those that push me outside of my comfort zone – not just athletically, but also, for example, my trip to Uzbekistan this summer. I find that they broaden my mind and bring incredible richness and joy into my life. Even amid quite a bit of pain and suffering, I experience incredible beauty and clarity. And at least I'm not stressing about the hundreds of unread e-mails in my inbox for 24 hours!

At the end of each year, my outside-the-box adventures are always among the things I look back on most fondly.

Participating in events like this also motivates me to stay in great shape – which is especially important as I get older (I turned 55 two weeks ago). I want to lead a long, healthy life. A brutal race probably doesn’t extend my life, but the months of training beforehand sure does.

Being super fit also makes me feel stronger and more confident. 

Accomplishing something difficult also builds my resilience, both mentally and physically. I don't get nearly as upset as I used to when I encounter a setback.

Lastly, my adventures are an incredible bonding experience. Ask anyone who's served in combat the people they're closest to, and most of them will say the ones with whom they shared a foxhole.

We increasingly live in a "clicks and likes" world where our relationships are a mile wide and an inch deep. But research shows that happiness actually comes from the opposite: the number of deep relationships you have.

What's a deep friendship? I've always thought that this was a good test: Would they hide you? During the Holocaust, when the Nazis murdered more than six million Jews in Europe, some survived because their non-Jewish friends hid them – risking their own lives to do so. This is how Anne Frank and her family survived for more than two years in Amsterdam before they were betrayed.

How many people do you have in your life, outside of your immediate family, who would hide you?

3) So, what does all of this have to do with investing? I'd argue a lot...

First, do you want to know why Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world? In part, of course, it's that he's compounded money at a high rate. But most people don't fully appreciate the equally important second part of the equation: He's done it for a long period of time.

Buffett started investing when he was only a boy – and is still going strong today at 91! He's accumulated the vast majority of his wealth since he turned 70 – an age at which most people have retired (the life expectancy of the average American man is only 79 years).

I want to keep investing and building wealth in my 70s, 80s, 90s, and even 100s. That's not crazy: Based on my diet, fitness, and other aspects of my life, this life expectancy calculator predicts that I'm going to live to 104!

In addition, being a successful investor requires real mental toughness and resilience.

There will certainly be periods – which can sometimes last for years – in which many stocks in your portfolio run against you and your overall performance is poor.

When (not if) this happens, will you get emotional and panic, making a bad situation worse? Or carefully evaluate the situation and take the right steps to turn things around?

The last years before I closed my hedge funds in 2017 were extremely difficult. I was out of step with the bull market, so my funds, while profitable, underperformed, which led me to feel enormous stress.

It would have been easy to become emotional and start investing rashly to get out of the hole I was in, which undoubtedly would have worsened my situation. Remember the first rule of holes: When you're in one, stop digging!

But I stayed mentally strong and avoided many of the traps I could have fallen into, in part, I believe, because I had sought out adversity and overcome it.

Have you had similar experiences? I'd love to hear about them!

Best regards,

Whitney

P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.