Akbar Gbajabiamila is the epitome of success. A child of immigrant parents, he grew up in South Central Los Angeles, played for the NFL and is now the co-host of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior." And he learned something along the way. Starting with nothing and suddenly coming into "solid money" as a pro-football player meant he needed to know how to manage his finances. "I still remember my first year — $225,000 in 2003," said Gbajabiamila, in a recent interview with CNBC's "Fast Money." "I was like, 'Oh my goodness, this is a lot of money," he added. "What am I going to do?" Luckily, he got some good advice about saving and investing his money, and not blowing it all on things like fancy cars — especially because the football career he thought was going to last a decade ended after only four years.

So many of us are afraid of investing. ... If you are emotional about it, then it is very hard to really try to trust the investment process. Akbar Gbajabiamila "American Ninja Warrior" co-host

"Once I started invested to learn about investments, it then really started to make me think: 'Where else do you learn about financial literacy?'" said Gbajabiamila, who played for the Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. "You don't learn about it in elementary [school]," he said. "You don't learn about it in junior high school, high school or college. "No where else," he continued. "It's not until you get into the real world where everybody goes, 'Hey, you are supposed to be reasonable with your money.'" Gbajabiamila has since made it part of his mission to teach others financial literacy. The principals are a part of his new book, "Everyone Can Be a Ninja," coming out in May. For one, he points out that there are always obstacles to achieving your financial goals. What really matters is how you respond to those obstacles and that you learn from your mistakes so you can make better decisions in the future.

Akbar Gbajabiamila, pictured with Matt Iseman (L) on an episode of American Ninja Warrior Junior. Eddy Chen | Universal Kids | NBCU