Do You Have Any Unusual Talents Unrelated to Fitness? – Tim Taylor

Well, I’ve found that people usually have talents in what they’re highly interested in, or was it that they get interested in those areas where they have talents? – trait versus state… that debate may go on forever, right?

Fun question, though, so here goes…

Right alongside my education in fitness, I studied finance. I’ve laughed with friends for years about these two interests of mine – my two P.F.’s, I called them. Physical Fitness & Personal Finance, Fitness & Finance, Health & Wealth.

I spend the majority of my time managing money for a few dozen wealthy families, doctors and business owners. Like my fitness training program, Investment Portfolio design is another area where I make use of my background in math and statistics, striving for an engineer’s precision while building each portfolio. It’s another highly competitive arena where I try to “go for the win” by paying attention to detail day-by-day with the long-term goal firmly in mind.

Currently this year, I’m putting up returns averaging 7.5% positive versus the negative -7.31% losing rate on the S&P500. These numbers can change from month to month, so it really keeps me on my toes. (I’m gunning for a 10%+ return for 2009). From a risk standpoint, I’m also only taking about 1/5 of the risk of the market, so my return per risk unit is pretty high, which is good, and what all money managers strive for in the business. As a result, my investment advisory clients tell me that investment analysis is one of my talents that my fans in the fitness industry may think is unusual for a ‘fitness athlete.’ (A combination-dynamic my wife has affectionately dubbed her nerd-jock.) Me? I’m grateful that I have my clients’ ears; they listen to me—at least most of the time ;-)

Also, my kids tell me I read a mean story, LOL, and to be honest, it’s one of my favorite times of each day, too. I try and make each character in the books come alive with their own individual voices and it often gets quite comical. Even though my kids don’t hesitate to interrupt when I’m fully in character to tell me when I’m getting one of the voices slightly wrong, I do notice that story time usually has their undivided attention, and at least to this Dad, I think that’s pretty awesome.

All my best,

Tim Taylor