Instant Money Ruined Us…And I Get Why

Disclaimer: Most of this article will be me acting like a grumpy old dickhead. Just understand the perspective before you dive in. They say the most intelligent people are cognitive about their own flaws.

I used to be the kid praying for a snow day like it was a religious experience.

I would go to bed on a random Tuesday in January…and woke up to the radio broadcasting all the schools that had off. Including...“St. Rose in Haddon Heights………closed.”

Just like that…a free day with no permission slip, or plan…just instant gratification. And I think that’s the same itch a lot of retired athletes have right now…they want the snow day version of maintaining wealth. Not eventually after learning the boring shit. They they want the lifestyle…Right Fucking Now.

And if it’s not fast…it’s worthless. I’m not saying that to be some grumpy old man yelling at clouds, but because I lived the other version and watched how fast the instant version can destroy you.

When I grew up playing…you had to earn everything in layers.

Middle school…you barely got minutes. High school…if you wanted playing time, you had to go take it from the coach’s nephew who had been starting since freshman year.. College…you show up thinking you’re that dude, and then realize the seniors are built like grown men and you are basically a tall child with wavering confidence.

Then pro…same thing again, just with rent due back home while you sit in a foreign country with a coach screaming at you in a language you do not speak, or understand.

There was always a process. There was always a stretch of time where you were grinding in the dark..  You learned patience because patience was forced on you. You learned humility because a 32 year old vet was about to teach you what grown man strength means. You learned how to deal with all that discomfort.

Now…a lot of athletes still grind physically. Their bodies grind along with their time and…in turn…their stress levels. But the grind for everything else…money, relationships, building skills outside the sport, long term planning…that grind is not getting trained the same way.

And the reason is simple.

Money showed up earlier. NIL changed the timeline and I am not even mad at it. If a kid can get paid while their jersey is selling and their name is bringing in attention…cool, cool. Get that fucking money..

But the side effect...when money comes early, everything starts needing a dollar sign attached to it. Your time…your presence…your social media posting…your off season…your friendships…your identity all come with a cost. And once your brain learns that pattern…good luck turning that shit off…now you are scanning everything.

How much is this worth? or If it doesn’t pay me today, why am I doing it?

That mindset makes sense when you are 19 and the world is kissing your ass. It’s a huge fucking problem when you are 29 and no one cares about you anymore.

Especially because of how instant the pro experience is. Just an envelope full of cash being handed to you by some rando in an Adidas tracksuit after a big win…that first check changes you and it happens immediately.

When you perform, you get paid, then you get love, then you get treated differently. Even when it’s fake…your brain ties your value to instant feedback. That’s the deal we accidentally signed. Overseas, we start thinking like that too.

We start thinking this is normal…but worse…start thinking this is permanent. And then one day…it ends. You wake up and there is no practice, or fans and most importantly, no paycheck.

And your ego still thinks you are the main character and should be getting paid simply for being you. So you either fight that reality…or you go broke trying to pretend it is not real.

That is not a motivational quote…it’s what the fuck will happen.

Trying to build something for athletes right now feels like trying to teach my dog to stop choking herself out on her leash every night. You offer something that helps long term and solves problems they do not see yet. And they look at you like…“Cool. How fast does it work?” or “Is it free?” And if the answer is anything besides instant and free…a lot of them disappear.

Because they have been trained to think value equals instant gratification. They have never had to build value in an area where nobody gives a fuck. They have never had to grind in a place where you can do everything right and still not get picked. Athletes understand physical grind, but not life grind…until the physical grind ends.

Then the life grind shows up like a kick to the nuts.

Which, in a weird way, reminds me of something random…my Sophomore Cotillion.

Everybody was awkward, but pretending they’re smooth. I showed up thinking I was going to have some movie moment because I was taking the prettiest girl in the entire school.

What actually happened was the exact fucking opposite My tie was crooked, my hands did not know where to go. My mom showed up to the after party picking me up while a much handsomer senior kept my date going, quite successfully.

It was terrifying.

But what the Cotillion taught me, even though I fucking hated it…You do not get to skip the awkward part. Those are the dues and sports forces you to pay those dues. So a lot of athletes walk around expecting the adult world to treat them like the game treated them. And, I repeat…the adult world does not CARE!

The biggest trap I see with overseas athletes is this quiet belief that they have something permanent.

They get comfortable and start spending like it will last forever. But overseas careers can turn on one weird week. One team decides to stop paying…Then what? Then you are a free agent in a foreign country.

Many athletes have never invested in themselves outside the sport because it did not feel urgent. It feels like the opposite of how athlete life works. An athlete's life is about reaction, results and instant feedback. Self investment is delayed feedback. It is boring and humbling, which is why so many avoid it until that cliff shows up.

When you are broke and you cannot get paid for what you can do on the court or field…that is when you get lost. And if you have never trained for that…your brain starts doing weird shit.

You start chasing quick money or anything that makes you feel like you still matter. That’s how people end up in scams, or burning every relationship. That’s how you go broke with a closet full of designer shit and no plan.

I’m not shaming anyone or I would be shaming myself. I’m writing this because I see it more and more…and I know where it ends if nobody says anything.

You have to learn how to invest in things that are not instant. Because the next chapter of your life will not hand you an envelope after a good game…It will hand you silence.

And in that silence, you either have skills…or memories. I love the memories, but memories do not pay rent. So if you are still playing…do not treat your career like a permanent position. Treat it like the window that it is.

Build skills, learn how to sell and how to communicate effectively. Learn how to show up consistently when nobody is watching because the grind is not sexy. Even if you feel like an awkward sophomore again pretending you are cool, it’s ok. You are allowed to be awkward, but you are not allowed to keep pretending the snow day is coming.

The adult world does not do snow days…it comes with dues. And you can either pay them now…or pay them when life shows up with interest.