Retire Before Dad

    • Start!
      • About
      • RBD Story
      • Featured on…
      • Archive
      • Portfolio
      • Guest Post Policy
      • Contact
      • Terms & Privacy Policy
      • Home
    • IPOs
    • Reviews
      • NewRetirement Review
      • Sure Dividend Review
      • Yieldstreet Review
      • Fundrise Review
      • M1 Finance Review
      • Motley Fool Stock Advisor
        • Motley Fool Rule Breakers
      • AcreTrader Review
      • Masterworks Review
      • Roofstock Review
      • PeerStreet Review
      • EquityMultiple Review
      • Virginia 529 Review
    • Resources
      • Yield Curve Chart
      • Start Saving for Retirement
      • Passive Income Ideas
      • Best Brokers for Dividends
      • Dividend Aristocrats
      • Debt-Free S&P 500 Stocks
      • Best Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms
      • Affiliate Programs And Blogging
      • How To Start An Online Business
    • Recommended
      • Retirement Calculator
      • Net Worth Calculator
      • Tools
      • Blogroll
      • Dads Blog Money
    • Best Cards
      • Travel Rewards
      • Cash Back
      • Small Business
      • Airline Rewards
      • Hotel Rewards
    Featured· Personal Finance· Unusual

    Put It On The Line: Advice From a 9-Time World Champion

    By Craig Stephens

    This page may contain links to our partners. RBD may be compensated when a link is clicked. See the full disclosure here.

    put it on the lineA few months ago I was cleaning out my basement and uncovered a 25-year-old autograph. It’s from one of the most competitive and influential athletes to ever represent a sport.

    His words were inspirational to my 16-year-old self, and reading over his simple phrase today reminds me that we’re all capable of accomplishing extraordinary things if we’re willing to take risks.

    The bustle of everyday life makes that easy to forget.

    9-Time World Champion

    When you think of the most dominant athletes ever in their sport, names like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Serena Williams, Pele, and Michael Phelps may come to mind.

    One of the first names to come to my mind is Mike Stewart. He’s a professional bodyboarder and bodysurfer and was one of my favorite athletes when I was young.

    Mike Stewart is considered one of the best overall wave riders ever. He started bodyboarding at the beginning of the sport’s existence and is a pioneering athlete, leading board designer, and a steward of the sport. Not only is he a champion many times over, his fame and accomplishments helped to bring bodyboarding into the mainstream competitive landscape and made it more accessible to recreational beach-goers.

    At age 52, he continues to compete in events. He even has an event named after him. And he’s continually improving board technology with his company Science Bodyboards.

    Here’s a list of some of his accomplishments:

    • 9-time bodyboarding World Champion.
    • 15-time Banzai Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic winner (no board)
    • Named Mister Pipeline, the only non-standing rider to earn the distinction
    • Entrepreneur – Founder of Science Bodyboards and Mike Stewart Inc.
    • 9 patents awarded in his name
    • The first to ride the wave at Teahupoo, Tahiti in 1986 along with fellow bodyboarder Ben Severson

    Summers Riding East Coast Grinders

    As a kid in the late 1980’s, I’d record (on VHS tapes) surfing and bodyboarding competitions on cable TV. I’d watch the best ones over and over again. One of those was the annual Banzai Pipeline bodyboarding event. I remember Mike Stewart winning the competition one year with a massive el rollo on the biggest wave of the day.

    Bodyboarding was one of my favorite sports as a teen. I chose bodyboarding over surfing because the board was cheaper and it fit into my Dad’s Buick. Packing for the beach was hard enough without an 8-foot surfboard.

    The closest beach to our house was an 8-hour drive away. And it was the Jersey shore, hardly a place for epic surfing waves.

    Each day at the beach, I’d paddle out into the waves and ride all day long, regardless of the wave quality. Most days I’d skip lunch and keep riding. My family and friends thought I was over-exhausting myself.

    Dude, you should take a break! Why don’t you eat something? Shouldn’t you reapply sunscreen?

    They didn’t get it. There I was at the beach doing my favorite sport, and I only had a week to do it. Why waste my time coming in for lunch?

    Now when we go to the beach, I mostly chase kids around and dig holes in the sand. But just last year I picked up a decent new Morey Bodyboardat Costco to ride. It’s sweet. The kids love it.

    Talking Business with Mike Stewart

    I recently uncovered a 25-year-old autograph from one of the most competitive and influential athletes ever. His advice: Put it on the line.A few of my uncles have inspired posts on this site, including the ones about my Chevron stock and the cheap Chinese-made fireworks.

    Another uncle worked for a chemical company. He was a fairly high-level executive in sales.

    One day my Aunt called my Mom to have her pass along a message to me. Tell your son that his Uncle has a meeting with somebody named Mike Stewart.

    What! OMG Mike Stewart! You’ve got to be joking. Why is he meeting with Mike Stewart?

    My uncle’s employer had a chemical product that Mike Stewart was evaluating to potentially use to manufacture a signature bodyboard. They met for breakfast to talk it over. The company was also considering a tournament sponsorship.

    The meeting went well, but neither the sponsorship deal nor the board manufacturing partnership worked out. According to a letter from my uncle:

    It doesn’t look too hot from a profitability situation.

    This was 1991. My uncle couldn’t take a selfie and text me a picture. He couldn’t Periscope the meeting for me.

    So a few weeks after the meeting, a gray envelope with a corporate logo showed up at our house addressed to me.

    I opened it up and pulled out a magazine. It was a September 1990 copy of Bodyboarding Magazine (no longer in print).

    On the left side it was signed: PUT IT ON THE LINE ~ Mike Stewart. He drew a little wave over it.

    My Uncle spent a few weeks at the beach with my family over the years and knew how into the sport I was. So he asked Mike for an autograph for me. I guess Mike traveled with magazines on hand just in case.

    I was stoked.

    put it on the line

    Put It On The Line

    The phrase put it on the line may have been the latest cool-sounding vernacular on the North Shore of Oahu. I like to think he was more thoughtful about it.

    I interpreted Mike’s autograph message as a challenge to take the riskier path in life and accomplish awesome things.

    Here was a champion in his prime, a master at riding treacherous waves over razor-sharp coral reefs, and doing it better than anyone else… telling me, a 16-year-old east coast kid to go out and make some shit happen with my life. It was a powerful message.

    His “it”, was riding dangerous waves, winning championships, and starting businesses. “It” was pioneering a sport that wasn’t always taken seriously by the elite surfing community. “It” was being the first to ride the world’s heaviest wave, and pushing the limits of board technology to empower athletes to perform at their peak.

    Putting it on the line is in this guy’s DNA.

    But the “it” he wrote on that magazine cover could have applied to anything for a 16-year-old. Not just riding waves.

    And it applies the same way today.

    What have you done lately to put it on the line?

    I can pinpoint a few moments in my life when I put it on the line.

    Summer after my sophomore year in college I backed out of a steady life-guarding job at a local pool to move to the beach with some friends without a job or place to live. Best summer ever.

    A few years later I quit my 9-5 job to travel the world for 14 months on a $10,000 budget. Epic. That decision wasn’t an easy or conventional one at the time.

    I once walked into my boss’s office and asked for a $22,000 raise. I got it.

    And it took some nerve to ask out the woman who became my wife. Not asking her out was the easier and more comfortable path. Harsh rejection was a more probable outcome. But the risk paid off.

    On the flip side, I’m sure I’ve missed opportunities by taking the easy road. I’ve worked for the same mediocre company for 13 years. Is that putting it on the line?

    Conclusion

    I write this post as a 41-year-old suburban Dad with a steady job, three kids, and a blog, who still goes bodyboarding about 5 days out of the year.

    Seeing the quote again got me thinking…

    • What more can I do with my life to put it on the line?
    • Should I be investing more aggressively?
    • Should I continue to take the traditional path – ride out my career and walk away with a gold watch? Or am I destined for greater things?
    • What failures can make me a stronger person?
    • What example will I be to my kids?
    • What kind of human am I and what will be my legacy?

    Those are some heavy questions. I’ve got some time left on this earth to address them.

    So do you.

    Cover photo: Aaron Loyd

    Here’s a 30-second video of Mike Stewart putting it on the line at Teahupoo, Tahiti.


    Please Share!

    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
    • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

    Favorite tools and investment services right now:

    Fundrise - The easiest way to invest in high-quality real estate with as little as $10 (review)

    Empower (Personal Capital is now Empower) - A free tool to track your net worth and analyze investments.

    M1 Finance - A top online broker for long-term investors and dividend reinvestment (review)

    SaveBetter - SaveBetter is a simpler way to access high-yield, FDIC-insured savings products.

    Craig Stephens

    Craig is a former IT professional who left his 20-year career to be a full-time finance blogger. He started Retire Before Dad in 2013 as a creative outlet which became a side hustle to complement his dividend and real estate income portfolios. Diversified income streams built over the past two decades now support a more gratifying post-professional lifestyle. Read more about Craig HERE. Or read the longer story HERE. Craig lives in northern Virginia with his wife and three children.

    Filed Under: Featured, Personal Finance, Unusual Tagged With: motivation, rockstar finance

    Comments

    1. Please note: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
    2. American Dividend Dream says

      November 2, 2016 at 10:44 am

      I absolutely love bodyboarding! I put it on the line exactly 3 years ago on a somewhat small day at pipeline. I took my mediocre skill set from bodyboarding waves on the east coast (OCMD), grabbed my board, my fins and paddled out. What an absolutely exhilarating thrill! I rode my first wave all the way to the beach and my girlfriend (now wife) was in tears, her quote — “That wave was huge” — I stayed out there for 4 hours and I will never forget the feeling of that day. I was 25 at the time so I wasn’t quite old enough to feel the “this is dangerous” and just young enough to be in good shape.

      This post could not have been better timed!! I’ll daydream the rest of the day just thinking about all the cool spots I bodyboarded in Hawaii — Thanks!!!

      ADD

      Reply
      • Retire Before Dad says

        November 2, 2016 at 10:56 am

        ADD,
        Wow, awesome you’ve ridden at Pipe! I’d be intimidated for sure. Getting out there must have been tough. I’ve never been to Hawaii but did ride some larger waves in Nicaragua.

        Ha ha, I know the “break” at OCMD too. Had a few decent days in the water there. Thanks for chiming in! \m/
        -RBD

        Reply
        • American Dividend Dream says

          November 4, 2016 at 9:01 am

          You’d be surprised, it is actually pretty easy to get out through the breaks at pipline (at least that was my experience) — there is a rip current to the right of the reef at pipe. Wait for a big set to pass, jump in the rip current and it takes you right on out! On days that where the waves were smaller in OCMD than they were at pipeline that day I have had a tougher time getting out because there was no rip current to jump in.

          I would love to go to Nicaragua! My wife and I had a Costa Rica trip planned for December of this year but we are trying for a baby and was too scared of the zika virus that is pretty bad down there. We changed it to a 15 day road trip from Seattle to San Diego instead so not a bad tradeoff!

          Reply
          • American Dividend Dream says

            November 4, 2016 at 9:05 am

            Forgot to mention… Turtle Bay is a big pain in the a$$ to swim out for. That was the worst paddle out. A lot of rocks by the beach and then it must be about 500-750 yards of paddling and no rip current to drag you out. Perhaps there was another location that you could have jumped in at but I was not aware of any. Turtle Bay was less crowded with regards to other swimmers though so that was nice. You basically had the pick of any wave you wanted.

            Reply
    3. TheMoneyMine says

      November 2, 2016 at 10:49 pm

      Initially, I thought my version of “putting it on the line” would be to “not have anything to regret in the future”. But after reading your post, I realize that I may not regret anything, even if I had put it on the line. Maybe I could be pushing harder, taking more risks.
      It’s funny you mention walking into your boss’s office, asking for a raise and getting it. I’ve done exactly the same thing a year ago (for about the same amount), and got it as well. Should we be asking more often? Probably.
      Thanks for the post, it’s definitely something worth thinking about.

      Reply
      • Retire Before Dad says

        November 4, 2016 at 8:19 am

        MM,
        Nice. Yeah, I’ve been meaning to write about asking for that raise. I was underpaid and in a position to know approximately how much profit was being made on my hourly work. So it was easy to justify. Plus my boss is sort of a push-over. He’ll do anything to prevent someone from leaving (he’s done well keeping me there). But it’s paid off for me, aside from the monotony at times.
        -RBD

        Reply
    4. CoupleofCents says

      November 9, 2016 at 10:36 am

      Putting it on the line for us was moving from L.A. to Atlanta to be able to afford buying a house and having my wife be able to stay home as we start a family. Thanks for the article.

      Reply
      • Retire Before Dad says

        November 9, 2016 at 12:54 pm

        Awesome. That’s definitely in the spirit of what this article is all about. Thanks for chiming in.
        -RBD

        Reply
    5. TheRetirementManifesto says

      November 9, 2016 at 10:18 pm

      Wow, awesome post, and worthy of the @RockstarFinance creds you received today. Well earned, great writing!

      Reply

    Comments Welcome! Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Services I Use Every Day

    Personal Banking: Wells Fargo
    Travel Credit: Chase Sapphire Preferred
    Primary Savings: Marcus
    Primary Broker: Fidelity
    DRIP Broker: M1 Finance
    Biz Banking: Wells Fargo
    Biz Credit: Chase Ink Business Preferred
    Net Worth Calculator: Empower

    Home
    About
    Featured on
    Resources
    Website Terms/Privacy Policy/Full Disclaimer

    ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website engages in affiliate marketing. This means that if you use an affiliate link to make a purchase, the website will receive a commission on that purchase. All efforts are made to ensure that affiliate links are disclosed in accordance with the FTC. Retire Before Dad has partnered with Cardratings for our coverage of credit card products. Retire Before Dad and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. The Website uses Mediavine to manage all third-party advertising on the Website. This website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com.

    Disclaimer

    Read the full Disclaimer policy here.

    Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. We have made every effort to ensure that all information on this website is accurate. We make no guarantees regarding the results that you will see from using the information provided on the website. We are individual investors, not financial advisors, tax professionals or investment professionals. All information on the site is provided for entertainment and informational purposes only and should not be considered advice. Do not make investment decisions based on the information provided on this website. This website may discuss topics related to finance and investing. The information provided on this websites is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. The website makes no representations or warranties in relation to the financial and investing information on the website. You must not rely on the information on the website as an alternative to advice from a certified public accountant or licensed financial planner. We assume no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear in the website. You should never delay seeking financial advice, disregard financial advice, or discontinue professional financial services as a result of any information provided on the website.

    Copyright © 2023 Retire Before Dad · Custom site by Moonsteam Design