Relationships That Shape Us

Today’s blog is inspired by my daughter, who starts her very first day as a doctor on October 1st, 2025. A proud moment for her and for me as her father. With this milestone, I realized the importance of relationship dynamics. Officially, all my kids are now “off my payroll”. Yet the relationship remains. The connection, the support, the desire to see them thrive never ends.
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So, what do relationships really mean?

​1. Personal

With our kids:

Even when they’re grown, they remain part of us. You want the best for them. You keep cheering them on. In some ways you live through them, in others they’ve taught us more than we’ve taught them. Children are mirrors. They reflect not just our nurturing and genetics, but also our strengths, flaws, and blind spots. They help us grow just as much as we’ve helped them.

With our parents:

They are our foundation. If you’re fortunate to have their support, you know the quiet strength that comes from knowing someone always has your back. And if that support wasn’t there, that too shapes who you become. As kids we often revolt against their point of view, but as we grow older often catch ourselves seeing it their way.

With our friends:

This is where relationships can be bittersweet. My wife often reminds me: you have a friend for a season, a reason, or a lifetime. Some friendships endure, others fade, even when you think they’ll last forever. I had a 20-year friendship that ended. He was the one who introduced me to triathlon, so every time I train, I think of him. If he called me tomorrow in need, I’d still be on the next plane. That friendship, even though it ended, is still a part of me. It shaped who I am. Even a divorce can teach you a lot about who you are. If only, you are willing to learn.

2. Business

With entrepreneurs:

Businesses create their own relationships. For me, building a company was almost like raising a child. When I sold my company, it felt very similar to seeing a child grow up and leave the house. You’re no longer materially responsible, but the bond doesn’t disappear. You still want the best for it, and you know part of you will always be tied to it. Even 20 years after selling the company,  I still get goosebumps if somebody catches me and reminds me they were a customer and how much they enjoyed our service.

With employees:

Even in roles where I wasn’t the founder, the connection remained. I’ve been fortunate to work for companies whose products and missions I truly believed in. To this day, I’d still support many of them, because they gave me as much as I gave them. Whether it’s a relationship with a boss, a colleague or a team member, the bond can be as real and lasting as any other. Work relationships transform us. They shape how we see ourselves, how we grow, and how we show up in the world. I have learned from the best bosses and the worst and have grown as a human being learning from my colleagues skills, personalities and flaws.

3. Triathlon

With coaching:

As a Coach, I have a deep relationship with my athletes. I suffer with them, fail with them, win with them. Watching them cross a finish line or get a personal best in training or race day is as great a joy as if I did it myself. But what often goes unseen is how much they give back to me. Through their struggles and breakthroughs, I learn. I visualize their mistakes, search for solutions, and in doing so, refine myself; not just as a coach to leverage the experience for others, but as an athlete getting better.

With the community:

The triathlon community is unique. It represents effort, ambition, drive, and commitment at a level few other communities can match. And the biggest lesson? It doesn’t matter how fast you are. If you’ve trained for, committed to, and completed an Ironman, you’ve earned respect. Success in triathlons, like in life, is about the mental and physical commitment to the journey, not just the clock. It is about seeking continuous improvement and learning from every experience and relationship you have.

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Reflect on your relationships: family, friends, work, and sport. Write down the positives and negatives. See what they’ve taught you.
• After every big chapter, whether leaving a company, finishing a race, or moving into a new stage, create a list of lessons learned. Revisit it before starting something new. I have been doing so for 30 years and by now my list is long.

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The Inner and Outer Competitors That Drive Us 

Introduction: 

​In both sports and business, having a rival can be a powerful motivator. Sometimes that rival is an external opponent, and other times, it’s the person we were yesterday.

​Let’s explore how different kinds of adversaries can drive us to excel in sports, in our careers, and in our personal growth. 

1. Sports Adversaries: The Fuel of Rivalries 

In sports often the very best come in pairs. It almost seems that the rivalry pushes them to the very next level. From Nadal vs. Federer, the Williams sisters, Messi and Ronaldo, to the legendary team matchups of Real Madrid and Barcelona, sports have always thrived on iconic rivalries. These external adversaries push athletes to break limits and achieve greatness. 

The most recent example is how the Norwegian triathlon squad obliterated its competition during the Ironman World Championship in Nice where 3 athletes (Stornes, Iden and Blumenfelt) took the 3 podium spots. The 3 contenders are training buddies and push each other on the regular and ultimately prepared Stornes to step outside the shadow of his 2 compatriots, who had previously been world champions themselves. 

But even for us commoners, regular professionals, we sometimes push just a little harder to get the higher sales number, to be employee of the month versus a colleague. The competitiveness drives us just beyond being comfortable with the status quo. 

2. Professional Adversaries: Corporate Competitions That Shape Industries 

Just as athletes have their rivals, so do companies. Think of the iconic face-offs like Windows versus Apple, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Airbus versus Boeing, where each side’s competitive spirit drove innovation. These professional adversaries can turn markets into arenas of creativity and growth. But would they be as aggressively pushing if there were no other contestant for market leadership. 

3. Triathlon: The Inner Challenge 

The main difference In amateur triathlon is that the most compelling adversary is often the one within. Here, athletes strive to surpass their past performances and personal limitations, turning self-improvement into the ultimate competition. Often, triathletes are driven by inner demons or have created them just enough to continue the pursuit of excellence. 

The professional triathletes at the top, are the ones that find the continued strength to keep growing even after having reached the top and are able to do so for years on end. Despite the contenders working harder and harder to grab the top spot, the best in the world, keep charging forward to stay out of their grasp. 

4. Personal Development in Your Profession: Becoming Your Own Benchmark 

And it is that mindset of continuous learning and improvement that triathletes also excel in the professional world. The idea of bettering yourself, learning, refining your craft, and setting your own standards, can be just as transformative. Becoming your own benchmark for success can fuel continuous growth and fulfillment. If you motivation is within yourself, not relying on external factors, the force is much more stable. Finding your WHY is important, but if that comes from within it is almost unstoppable. 

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey! 

Bonus Tips from Coach Glenn: 
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• Identify a challenger at work and try to learn from them to improve each month. Use this tension to drive your momentum. 
• Remember, whether in sport or business, the journey of outdoing yourself is the most rewarding rivalry of all. Ask yourself, what would make me proud and do that! 

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How Triathlon Teaches Us the Value of a Strong Finish

Anyone can look strong in the first hour.
But the last hour? That’s where you find out who you really are.

Matthew Marquardt, one of today’s top professional long-distance triathletes, recently reminded us:

“Anyone can ride well the first hour — it’s how you run the last hour that counts.”

We live in a culture obsessed with fast starts: the explosive pitch, the 4-week transformation plan, the headline-grabbing product launch. But if you’ve been in endurance sports — or business leadership — long enough, you know the start means nothing without the finish.

Your last hour is where your preparation, vision, and courage collide.
Whether you're leading a company, raising a family, or pushing through a training block, it’s how you carry yourself in the final stretch that matters.

The last hour is where distractions are loudest, fatigue is highest, and doubt creeps in. It’s also where champions are made. Why? Because finishing strong requires everything you’ve built leading up to that point — your habits, your strategy, and your mental game.

The pros don’t just train to go fast. They train to go fast when it matters most. That’s what separates an executive who thrives under pressure from one who flames out. That’s what turns a “good” race into a breakthrough performance. The last hour isn't just something you survive, it's where your mindset is revealed.

​Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!


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From the moment we are born, our brains work like a highly adaptive learning system. As newborns, we are flooded with inputs: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. At first, they mean nothing. Over time, we learn that certain combinations of inputs lead to predictable outcomes: 

• A certain feeling in the stomach means hunger. 
• A certain sensation on the skin means pain. 
• ​A certain facial expression means joy or anger. 

 
This constant feedback loop shapes our “mental wiring.” When a new input comes in, our brain produces the most likely response based on what it has learned so far. Sound familiar? That is exactly how AI is trained. 

The difference is that we are not aware of our own processes. We wrap it in a story we call “consciousness.” But it is worth asking: if an AI also processes inputs, learns patterns, and produces outputs without understanding how it does it, is its process really that different from ours? 

Creativity — Not as Unique as We Think 

Humans often claim creativity as their exclusive territory. But creativity is also a process, and processes can be replicated. Some people think with a focus on detail and precision (MBTI S-types). Others focus on patterns, connections, and new possibilities (MBTI N-types). AI models show the same diversity: 
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• Some are optimized for accuracy, reproducing known information as closely as possible. 
• Others operate in “latent space,” summarizing concepts, introducing variation, and combining elements in unexpected ways — a digital version of what we call imagination. 

Whether it is an artist blending influences or an AI recombining learned patterns, the mechanism is surprisingly similar. Creativity is often just a mix and match of past experiences that are unique for you, which allow you to see the present and future in a unique way. 

 The Executive Triathlete’s Advantage 

This is where it comes back to you, the executive triathlete. When you understand how AI works, you start to see how your own mind works in the same way, as a system you can train, guide, and program with intention. 

By realizing this, you can give yourself better “prompts” by controlling the quality of the inputs you expose yourself to. You can unpack your “backpack” of biases and past experiences to improve your perspective. You can deliberately train your thinking to produce better outputs in the boardroom, on the racecourse, and in life. 

If our thinking is, at its core, a trained process, the real edge comes from selectively training it well. 

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey! 

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN: 

• Review your “mental prompts” daily and ask whether the inputs you are feeding your mind are helping or holding you back. Prompt yourself daily “Every day, in every way, I am getting better.” 

• Train creativity by balancing accuracy-focused work with time for open exploration and experimentation. 

• Periodically unpack your “backpack” of experiences and biases to lighten your mental load and open new ways of thinking. 

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Why I Did It

The personal curiosity and the continuous learning as a coach elements that led me to test Wegovy myself. Not because I was drastically overweight, but because I wanted to see firsthand what it does, how it feels, and whether it could fit into an athlete’s life without derailing training.

Secondly, Ironman 70.3 Warsaw, I was at a tipping point. My knee pain forced me into a running break, my weight at a  high (97 kg – 215lbs), and the summer break with multiple visiting guests promised even more food and drinks. I wanted to see if I could at least avoid getting heavier during a recovery period, possibly reducing it back to my normal race weight (91kg or r200lbs)

Finally, I have to admit, my personal “backpack” of being overweight as child has left me with a body dysmorphia of even feeling fat, even with only 8% fat. It is something I will always carry with me and although I am aware of it, it certainly gave me the impetus to try the new craze that is GLP-1.

The Process

The Wegovy protocol was simple: one weekly shot. I started with 0.25 mg for four weeks, then increased to 0.5 mg for two more weeks.

The effect was immediate. I’m usually always hungry, but suddenly, that constant hunger disappeared. For me the effect was psychological: not feeling guilty to eat, or annoyed not to. Just a calm and content feeling of being full.

I consciously ate smarter, generally more vegetables and protein, and carbs only before workouts. Training continued: cycling and swimming from week one, jogging back by week four. I skipped intervals, sticking to endurance sessions since low-carb fueling makes intensity harder.

I tracked not just weight but also fat percentage, water, muscle, and body measurements. The key insight: Wegovy works when you eat because of hunger. It doesn’t help when you eat because of mood, alcohol, or social settings.

The Results

That’s 6 weeks, 5 kg gone. And the biggest win: I never felt hungry or energy-depleted. Training continued without compromise in zone 2. I hardly felt out of energy, because I kept consciously eating carbs before and during workouts.

I do feel that my maximum power and FTP dropped, but cannot say it was because of the Wegovy protocol. I more likely attribute it to the 2 week recovery period and less interval work for 4 weeks.

Important remark: Wegovy certainly helped me not feeling hungry, but social activities trigger a different sentiment. As a professional entertaining customers or partners, and the joy of having a drink and a meal with friends is not based on your hunger reflex. And so, I found that in those cases I drank and ate as usual, even with Wegovy. It did not matter I was not hungry, but that was not the driving force.

Conclusion: Was Wegovy worth it?

Yes and no. Yes, because it gave me control, a reset, and a kickstart when I felt stuck. No, because with discipline, I could have / should have achieved the same results naturally.

For heavier professionals and athletes, Wegovy may be a valuable momentum-builder. Shedding the first 5–10 kg can reduce joint stress, make training safer, and boost confidence. But it’s not a magic pill. Social habits, discipline, and mindset remain the real drivers of long-term success.

Recommendations on How and When to Use Wegovy

Best timing: Off-season or early base training phase, when the focus is on zone 2 endurance.
Avoid: Speed or interval phases—you need high-carb fueling there.
Definitely not: Right before a race. You should already be at race weight by then.
Mindset matters: Wegovy helps with hunger, not with emotional or social eating.
Training fuel: Even on Wegovy, make sure you eat carbs before/during intensity and protein after sessions to protect muscle mass.

Don’t forget! It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

If you try Wegovy, see it as a reset button, not the solution. Align it with your training phases, keep carbs for intensity, and protect your recovery.

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LEAN Thinking: From the Boardroom to the Finish Line
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In business, the LEAN concept is built on one core idea: eliminating waste, optimizing processes, and maximizing value. In triathlon, the principles are no different. Whether you’re running a company or racing an Ironman, success comes from refining technique, streamlining processes, and standardizing what works.

From LEAN Business to Triathlon Performance

1. Minimize Errors Through Technique

In LEAN, any defect — a flawed product or a service failure — adds cost, complexity, and risk. In triathlon, technique errors in the swim, bike, or run work the same way. An inefficient swim stroke is like producing a faulty part; you might get moving quick at first, but it comes at an extra cost at the end. Poor bike position or sloppy run form might not show immediate impact, but over long distances, they drain resources and slow you down. LEAN-minded athletes refine movement until every action serves a purpose.

2. Streamline Processes With Precision Nutrition

In business, process optimization removes wasted motion and ensures consistent results. In triathlon, one of the clearest examples is your nutrition and hydration plan. A disciplined plan,  for instance eating every 20 minutes and drinking every 10 minutes, practiced exactly the same way in training and racing makes execution automatic. You don’t guess, improvise, or overthink on race day; you simply follow the optimized process until it’s second nature.

3. Standardize to Reduce Variance

LEAN relies on standardization to ensure repeatable, reliable performance. In triathlon, this shows up clearly in transitions. Pack your transition bag the same way every time, in reverse order of need, so that items appear exactly when required. Standardization reduces the risk of forgetting gear, eliminates delays, and increases speed under pressure. Just as in business, reducing variance means fewer errors and faster execution.

From Triathlon Discipline to LEAN Business Thinking

1. Continuous Improvement as a Culture

Triathletes live by marginal gains. No single breakthrough changes everything, but hundreds of small refinements lead to big results. Triathletes don’t think in a binary yes/no mindset, but an ongoing improvement over weeks, months, even years. This is the heart of Kaizen in LEAN,  building a culture of small, consistent improvements rather than chasing one-off wins.

2. Data-Driven Decisions in Real Time

Whether you’re balancing pace, heart rate, and power on the bike or navigating market metrics in a quarterly review, the mindset is the same: read the data, identify what matters now, and adapt without losing sight of the goal. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”, is something every triathlete knows – we are all data freaks – and what you can leverage in your business environment.

3. Resilience Under Unexpected Conditions

Triathletes prepare for variables: heat, wind, equipment failures. LEAN business leaders do the same, adjusting to supply chain disruptions or sudden market changes without losing operational flow. Both understand that efficiency is useless without adaptability. Making plans for expected failures, gives you a higher chance of absorbing those failures and of rebounding better and faster from any unexpected ones.

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

1. Whether in triathlon or business, check which processes can be improved by adding artificial roadblocks. Where does the process break first and then tackle that obstacle. For instance bike uphill or add resistance with a single leg drill and feel how you distribute force over the 360 degree circular motion. Once you have this under control, you will bike faster and easier on the flat.
2. Standardize your transitions in training so they run like clockwork in competition.
3. In business never accept the result as good enough. If all looks fine, you are not trying hard enough. A triathlete is can be happy in the moment with a results, but will immediately analyze how to do better next time. The mindset is NOT about beating the competition, it is about becoming better. Beating the competition is a unvoluntary side-effect of the right mindset.

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In The Formula of Success (TFOS), we introduced the core principle:
Success = (Preparation × Vision × Courage) + Luck.

We clarified how time turns binary success into a compounding journey as a summation of successes. Finally, we also add the layering of multidimensional focus and goals.

Although you might have one goal top of mind, you are never just chasing one dream. You’re juggling health, career, relationships, personal development, maybe even that crazy idea you scribbled on a napkin two years ago.
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This is the multiplier that separates momentary achievement from sustainable excellence because it affects and is affected by every other component of the formula.

1. The Time Element: Success is Staggered, Not Simultaneous

You don’t need to train for an Ironman, get promoted to regional VP, build a better relationship with your partner, and write a book, all this month. But what you do need is a phased strategy across time.

Think of life like a triathlon season, there's a base phase, a build phase, a peak phase, and a taper. Each “success target” deserves its moment to peak, while the others either support it or recover.

Success is not a spotlight. It’s a rotating beam. Use time intelligently to orchestrate when each dimension takes the lead.

2. Preparation’s Ripple Effect: Interference or Interdependence?

Each preparation you undertake isn’t isolated. There is a lot of cross fertilization between success dimensions. For instance,

• Building endurance in sport? You're also building mental resilience for business negotiations.
• You are working through some emotional conversations with your partner? You're also learning how to better communicate with different types of people in your team.
• Practicing mindfulness in high-pressure meetings? You're sharpening your focus for race day.

The key is to recognize the bridges between domains and intentionally let one preparation serve another.

3. Vision Across Dimensions: Awareness Is the Real Asset

You might have heard people saying “You can’t see the forest through the trees.” Meaning you are so close to it, you can’t see the bigger picture anymore. As such a singular definition of success narrows your focus.

A multidimensional approach supports broadened awareness and allows you to spot hidden connections, anticipate overlaps, manage timing and trade-offs. Extended vision isn't about seeing farther, it’s about seeing wider.

And once you widen your perspective, you stop seeing your life in compartments. You start seeing it as a system.

4. Courage Compounds Across Domains

You trained and completed an Ironman, achieved the impossible and now any work-related task seems relatively easier. You presented in front of the board and now have no issue taking the lead in your local sports club.  You had a strong conversation with your coach and now feel comfortable asking for a raise with your boss.

Courage spills over. And every time you face fear in one domain, you train your nervous system to step up elsewhere. Think of courage like an armor, the more you test it, the stronger it gets and the bigger the payoff across all areas.

5. Luck: Evened Out by Multidimensional Play

Here’s the most misunderstood piece of the formula: Luck. In any single pursuit, luck feels like a coin toss, 50/50. But across time and multidimensional pursuits the randomness evens out. What you lose in one, you often gain in another.

The law of large numbers favors the multi-dimensional player. Luck becomes more of a leveler than a disruptor. If you have the right mindset, you can play the game better by knowing when to go all-in or when to hold off.

6. The Hidden Power: Summation Unifies the Formula

Here’s the final punchline: the summation isn’t just a mathematical trick. It’s the glue.
The way you stack courage, cycle vision, and compound preparation across multiple pursuits creates resilience, perspective, and stability.

When one area dips, another can lift. When one pursuit pauses, another accelerates. You don’t burn out because your identity isn’t tethered to a single success. You endure, adapt, and, eventually, win across the board.

Conclusion:
It’s Time to Think Bigger. Multidimensional success isn't about doing more. It's about aligning better. Success multiplies across time. It spills across domains. And it doesn’t care if your progress is staggered, so long as it’s intentional.

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Be intentional: Write down what is important in your life and what needs your attention in the short and long term. You will feel a reduction in stress. It does not all have happen right away. Be more aware of not putting too much weight on any given unique target.
• Reflection: In any given stage think about what you have learned - pros and cons -and reflect what affect these learnings have on other aspects of life.

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In The Formula of Success: Why Time is Your Greatest Ally

Even the Rolling Stones knew it when singing “Time is on my side.”
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If you say that time is on your side, you mean that you don’t have to rush whatever it is you want or need to do. Life is not binary. We can have it all, just not all at once. So yes, time is on our side.

Equally, the pursuit of success often stretches across a longer period, which means you don’t need to sprint. It invites patience and grants the luxury of time before decisions or actions must be taken. At the same time, it demands grit and strategic planning to pursue your success across multiple life phases.

1. Time: The Infinite Game Perspective

Success isn’t a one-off game you win and walk away from. It’s not a trophy. It’s a process.

Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game teaches us that real success isn’t bound by quarters or finish lines. It is continuous, adaptable, and driven by purpose. When you treat time as infinite, your definition of success shifts from “Did I win today?” to “Am I building something that matters over time?”

In this mindset, you're less shaken by short-term losses and more focused on consistency, direction, and legacy. You're not playing for applause. You're playing to grow.
 
2. Strategic Time: Building Long-Term Vision with Short-Term SMART Action

Time doesn’t just move forward. It moves in phases.

When you set a long-term goal (for example, completing an Ironman or launching a global business unit), it can feel overwhelming. That’s where the Decision Goal Tree comes in. You break big ambition into smaller SMART goals: specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound. Each one becomes a stepstone, not a stumbling block.

You might want to become a VP in five years. But that might require completing an MBA, gaining international experience, getting involved in a high-visibility project for the CEO, and consistently hitting your targets. Then you can start planning in the short term how to achieve those sub-goals. For example, get funding approval and sign up for the MBA class before April so you can attend in the fall.

3. Time and Mindset: Preparation Through Multi-Phase Success

Churchill nailed it: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” When you see time in stages, failure in one phase becomes learning for the next. This breaks the win-or-lose mindset and builds what I call the preparation mindset.

Instead of asking, “What if I fail?” start asking, “What am I learning right now that builds towards the future phases?” This fuels a continuous growth mindset, which keeps you engaged and internally driven, rather than dependent on external achievements.

4. Time and the Holistic Life Cycle of Goals

Time doesn’t just phase goals. It phases you. As a kid, success might mean exploration. As a student, it means mastery. As a parent, presence. As a professional, impact. As a senior, wisdom.

Trying to chase every goal at once is a recipe for burnout. Understanding life’s rhythm helps you prioritize with clarity instead of guilt. You’re not quitting a goal. You’re rescheduling it for a better season.

Once you start recognizing which goals matter in which phase, you’ll develop a more holistic perspective and become even more successful than if you had tried to force it all into a single all-or-nothing sprint.

5. You're Not Alone: Time, Legacy, and Shared Journeys

Across history, thinkers, leaders, and builders have echoed the value of time. A few worth quoting:

• Steve Jobs: “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” This underlines success as a journey. Most people only see the final phase, not the years of effort that led there.
  
• Naval Ravikant: “Play long-term games with long-term people.” Building a network over time increases your chances of success. You may not know top players at age 20, but by investing in relationships over time, you’ll be able to call upon them when it matters. Don’t tell me who you are. Tell me who you know. Surround yourself with people who play infinite games, not transactional ones.
  
• John Wooden: “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” This reinforces the insight that preparation in one period is essential to succeed in the next. Time is your investment account. Start compounding early.

Conclusion: The Real Power of Time in TFOS

Time can be your best friend if you approach it with the right mindset. It allows you to test and play. It invites you to treat life as a multi-stage game. It takes the pressure off all-or-nothing bets and needing to be right all the time. Most importantly, it lets you shift your definition of success depending on the stage of life you are in, allowing for a richer, more fulfilling experience.
 
Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Executive takeaway: Stop asking “Did I succeed?” and start asking “Am I still in the game and improving?”
• Result: Time becomes a lever, not a limit. Each week compounds toward the big play.
• Coach insight: In triathlon, if you bomb the swim but nail your bike strategy, did you fail? Or did you gather data for your next race? Time lets success unfold.
• Mindset shift: You’re not racing alone. You’re walking a shared, winding, meaningful path with others who value growth over glory. Build a network including captains of industry, mentors and coaches.

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How to Make Triathlon Investment Decisions Like a Business: ROI, NPV, IRR, PB and BCR

Triathlon isn’t just a sport, it’s a portfolio of investments.

Every week, you're deciding where to allocate your limited time, energy, and money. Do you double down on swim technique? What about that new race wheelset? Invest in coaching? Extend your sleep window? The stakes may not be financial on paper, but they’re personal and real. Note that the returns of our decisions could be future higher benefits or lower cost.

In the business world, we try to reduce the guess work. We evaluate every move based on metrics like ROI (Return on Investment), NPV (Net Present Value), IRR (Internal Rate of Return), and Payback Period (PB), BCR (Benefit-to-Cost Ratio). These metrics help us separate emotion from impact, hype from value. So why not apply the same strategic discipline to your triathlon life in the right way, for the right decision?
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Let’s dive into how each financial decision-making tool can help you train, race, and recover smarter.

1. ROI – Return on Investment

ROI is simple, fast, and popular. It asks: What do I get back compared to what I put in?
In business, this might be extra output from a new machine in manufacturing. In triathlon, it is a bit trickier, because there is no real financial return – unless if you are a pro. However, you could determine personal value to a minute gained. Let’s assume for this purpose we set it at 20 euro/minute.

Formula: ROI = (Total Return on Investment – Initial Investment Cost) / Initial Investment Cost

When to Use It:
ROI is perfect when comparing two competing options in the same period. This avoids the impact of the time difference.

Example:
You consider buying new shoes and plan to wear them in five 70.3 races.

• Pair A are 250 euro super shoes You expect every half marathon to be 10 minutes faster. Hence your benefit will be 5 races x 10 minutes x 20 euro = 1000 euro. Your ROI then is (1000-250)/250 = 300%
• Pair B are 125 euro running shoes. You expect with training to be 3 minutes faster. Hence your benefit is 5 races x 3 minutes x 20 euro = 300 euro. Your ROI is (300-125)/125 = 140%
• Choose Option A in this case.

Watch Out:
ROI can bias you toward fast wins and shiny objects. It rarely accounts for when the return hits or how long it lasts.

2. NPV – Net Present Value

NPV goes deeper. It considers future value, discounted to today's terms at expected average inflation rate. It’s not just about whether something pays off, but how much it’s worth over time once you factor in consistency, risk, and sustainability.

Formula: NPV = Sum of Discounted Net Cash Flows (– Initial Investment Cost)

When to Use It:
Use NPV when the return of your investment is spread in multiple recurring phases over time. The delayed benefits compound over time and need to be taken into account.

Example:
We compare the NPV of our shoes.

• NPV A = ∑(10minutes x 5 races x 20 euro)/ (1.03) – 250 = 665.94 euro.
• NPV B= ∑(3minutes x 5 races x 20 euro)/ (1.03) – 125 = 149.82 euro

Watch Out:
NPV requires some assumptions about what future gains will be worth. Don’t overestimate and check in quarterly to assess actual results.

3. IRR – Internal Rate of Return

IRR tells you how efficient an investment is over time. A higher IRR means a faster or more effective payoff per unit invested. It represents the discount rate which turns the NPV to zero.

Formula: IRR = Discount factor that turns NPV to zero – software support

When to use it:
Use IRR to rank options that offer long-term benefits with different timelines. Camps, coaching, new disciplines (like trail running or cold plunges), or cross-training all have different IRRs based on how often and effectively they get used.

Example:
The IRR on the shoe case would be

• IRR A = 71%
• IRR B = 39%

Watch Out:
IRR does not take into account the investment value. 2 projects could have the same IRR, but one could be a 500 euro investment and the other a 5000 euro cash out. Also, IRR can be misleading if your usage assumptions are wrong. The best investment won’t yield anything if it gathers dust in your garage. 

4. PB – Payback Period

Payback Period focuses on how fast something pays for itself. It’s less about total return and more about recovery speed.

Formula: PB = Time needed for Actual Returns to meet Actual investment Cost

When to Use It:
Use PB when the timing matters: solving a problem before race day, recovering from injury quickly, or gaining a short-term edge in a race block.

Example: In the shoe case, the PB would be
PB A = 1.25 years / races
PB B = 2.08 years / races

Watch Out:
A short payback doesn’t mean it’s the best investment, just the fastest. Pair PB with IRR or ROI to see the bigger picture.

5. BCR – Benefit-Cost Ratio

BCR, or Benefit-Cost Ratio, is the underdog of decision metrics,  not as flashy as ROI, but incredibly powerful when the payoff isn’t purely about performance. It measures the total value of benefits (tangible or intangible) compared to the cost. Unlike the first 4 KPI’s, which focus on net returns, BCR helps you answer the broader question: Is this worth it? Especially when your “gains” are emotional, social, or mental, not just physical. It is more comparable to the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)

Formula: BCR = Discounted Present Value of Benefits / Discounted Present Value of Costs

When to Use It:
Use BCR when the returns are soft but valuable: Emotional well-being, mental clarity, lifestyle satisfaction. Meditation, breathwork, team training, or even a celebratory post-race trip might not make you faster, but they make the process richer, which fuels long-term consistency.

Example:
​There is a lot to do about shaving before a race. Although the results could be only a few minutes, it could have a great impact on you psychological readiness, confidence and stress reduction. Imagine the 30 minutes spent (invested) shaving, for only 5 minute correlated time gain overall, and a boost in confidence. Versus feeling less confident and maybe losing time because of that.

Watch Out: 
​BCR is subjective, and it’s easy to convince yourself that something “feels worth it” when it’s just indulgent. Be honest with yourself: is this adding value over time, or just distracting you from what matters most? It’s about investing in depth, not just dopamine.

Strategic Implementation for Athletes Who Think Like Executives

1. Think in Portfolios, Not Purchases
   Spread your “investments” across short, medium, and long-term returns. Don’t sink it all into gear. A balanced strategy includes recovery, nutrition, technique, and mindset. Focus on foundational investment over gimmicky equipment.
2. Review Quarterly
   Just like financial forecasting, check your performance ROI every 3 months. What’s delivering? What’s noise? Where are you wasting energy or money?
3. Run Experiments
   Treat your training like A/B testing. Try a new fueling protocol for a block, or change your sleep routine. Measure the difference.
4. Track Non-Financial ROI
   Confidence. Mood. Energy after sessions. These are soft returns — but they fuel long-term consistency, which is the most valuable currency in endurance sport.
5. Kill Your Darlings
   Some things you love (like long Zone 2 rides or fancy gadgets) might be delivering the lowest return. Be honest. Cut the dead weight and reinvest where it counts.

Conclusion
​
It is important to determine the right model and the right value for time. As a young athlete with a long career ahead of you the NPV would be recommended, looking for more foundational investements like Tridot Pool School. Older amateurs might prefer BCR, looking at a more expensive racing destination to add a vacation. Pro's might prefer to know the immediate impact better represented by ROI, when discussing altitude camps, wind tunnel aero optimization, nutrition, hypnotherapeutic psycholigists, and more.

Additionally the value of time can hugely differ per person. If you are an age grouper looking to finish, an extra minute might be not valuable at all, but if you are close to making a KONA slot that extra 10 minutes might be worth 1000 euro. If you are pro looking at an overall win, the pay-off might be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Identify your top three most expensive next investments and evaluate them as honestly as possible. with the ROI, NPV, IRR, PB and BCR methods.
• Try to determine the value of one minute racing time BEFORE you use the methods in order to tweak the formulas towards your favorite subjective solution. Ask yourself how much would you pay to be 30 - 60 – 90 minutes faster? Calculate your average minute price.
• If you are discussing subjective values. Talk to your partner or other athletes and see if you can come up with good value for those. For instance, the value of one day longer on site in the right time zone?
• Finally, input all the numbers you have into ChatGPT and ask to calculate the KPI's mentioned in the blog for you. Let ChatGPT ask you for more info, if it is missing to calculate it correctly. (Example)

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Goals: The Double-Edged Sword in the Formula of Success

“You’ll never hit a target you can’t see. But you’ll never grow if the target is always within reach.”

​In the Formula of Success — (Preparation × Vision × Courage) + Luck – Goals, goals are both a compass and a scoreboard. They guide your direction and measure your outcomes. But here's the catch: not all goals are created equal.

Some goals sharpen your focus like a laser. Others stretch your imagination and light a fire in your gut. But if set poorly, goals can backfire, creating stress, false expectations, or a warped view of success. The stress tied to your goals must be optimal,  enough to drive performance, not derail it.

Let’s break down how to use goals the right way, based on where you are in your success journey.

SMART Goals vs. Dreams: Focusing vs. Inspiring

Dreams are why you begin.
They’re aspirational, often vague, and even slightly delusional by design. They stretch you. Think JFK's vision of putting a man on the moon or a Steve Jobs' vision to reinvent the computing industry. These fuel your COURAGE to ignite. They energize teams, create legacy, and fuel resilience when luck runs dry.

SMART goals are how you win.
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound actions are designed to focus attention and energy. They’re performance checkboxes. Practical. Tactical. Grounded. Ideal when you're in the PREPARATION mode or executing your strategy. They keep you honest and on track.

Setting the right kind of goal depends on where you are in your success journey. The key is knowing when to dream and when to lock it down. Stay in dreamland too long, and your goals can become unreachable fantasies. That’s where your formula fails: (PxVxC)+L–G collapses when “G” becomes too heavy. You are more likely not going to succeed .

Therefore, it is important be realistic about your goal and keep your dream as a stretch ambition, to keep the fire burning and the compass firm.

“The secret to happiness (Success) is low expectations." (Barry Schwartz)

The Goal Decision Tree: Know Your Phase

Success isn’t binary, win or lose. It’s a process of progress. The trick? Break down big goals into sub-goals. Make each step small enough to win  and big enough to matter.

The benefit of this approach is that each goals is smaller and more achievable, it allows you to grow your preparation, vision and courage and not have to take a leap-of-faith.

Enter the Goal Decision Tree:

1. Start with a realistic end goal.
2. Identify the critical sub-goals required to get there.
3. Drill deeper breaking down the sub-goals in more actionable and short term sub-goals until the next action feels challenging, but achievable in the near future and you can define how to get there.

This layered approach lets you build Preparation, Vision, and Courage without taking massive leaps. Along the way, you’ll discover that certain sub-goals unlock multiple outcomes. Those are your high-impact moves. Start there.

With every small win, you fuel motivation and momentum. That’s the magic of compounding clarity.

Don’t forget: It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!
​
BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

1. Triathletes: Set SMART goals for each sport incremental over time (e.g., improve swim FTP by 5% over 6 weeks), but keep high, realistic ambitions for season goals (e.g., podium finish or finish the Ironman).
2. Executives: Infuse your team with bold visions of the future that inspire purpose beyond KPIs, but use SMART goals to guide daily actions, guide weekly execution and quarterly accountability.
3. Reflection tip: Once a quarter, ask yourself: “Is my goal still exciting and realistic?” If not, tweak the goals to keep the motivation high. Better to redefine success to keep moving, even slowly, than to grind to a halt. You may be able to accelerate again in the next phase.

​Share this blog/newsletter with your friends, family, and colleagues who are also pursuing a sportier and healthier lifestyle!