One of the items in my bucket list for a very long time- and I have one large bucket list that I need to cover- was that I wanted to play golf.

Last weekend I accidentally ended up at a golf resort. We were planning to go to a city about 300 km from where I stay but for some reason we decided we did not want to go that far for the week end.  So we saw a place comparatively closer and went to the Lemontree Tarudhan Valley resort.  This resort overseas a 9 hole golf course at place which is about 15KM from Manesar in Gurgaon.  When I had booked the hotel I did not know that the resort was overseeing a golf course.

I have a habit of always asking at the reception, when I check – in, on things do and places to see nearby.  There were the standard things which you get to see at a resort like a club to play, swimming pool etc.  But what struck me was when the person at the reception said they have a trainer who can help me learn golf.

The picture above is, me taking my first lesson of golf.

Since I have never played golf before the first thing the coach over there did was place about 50 balls in front of me, which I was to only hit without bothering where the ball went.

When you watch people playing soccer, basketball  or hockey or cricket you see a lot of running around the field all the time.  You get to see the sweat on the players and how they need to keep themselves hydrated.

On the other hand when you watch people play golf on television, it feels like a such a slow paced game with very little effort.  But golf is anything but relaxed.  Just hitting 50 balls was enough to get me exhausted.  When I tried moving a little faster I just hit the ball into the ground, so I had to be patient and plan my shots.  Also it was so tiring that if I did not pace myself, I would not last through the game.  So patience was an absolute virtue and planning your shots with the “hole” in mind was important.  Even how I moved my body weight before hitting the ball was enough to get the ball moving in a totally different angle.

Aren’t these the exact same things I keep ranting about in these blog posts.  Asking young folks to have patience, plan their investment with their goals in mind and that compounding can play magic if you give it a long enough runway.

Golf cannot be learnt in one day. If you have to get anywhere worthwhile you need to dedicate a lot of your time by playing regularly and for a long period of time.  Which is the same in investments also.  You need to keep at it.  You need to pay yourself first before you pay anyone else and you need to pay yourself regularly.  This is where SIPs (systematic investment plans) can help.  The automated system of SIPs ensure that you invest for yourself before you can even think of spending it anywhere else.

There is another thing that investments help you do.  They allow you to think of having big bucket lists and give you the capability to slowly keep ticking items off your bucket list as you achieve them.

Golf is an expensive sport but the advantage is that, because its expensive, few people can afford to play it.  That makes it exclusive and that’s one of the reasons why it is said that maximum number of deals get struck while playing golf.

On the other hand compounding and investment do not need you to be a rich person to retire rich.  What you need to do is start early, so that you give the compounding engine enough time and you need to keep an eye on the net interest you are earning.  One of the richest people in the world was Sir John Templeton, when he died. However he started his life as a conductor but ensured he was investing about 50% of his income.  You can read his story in the book by Tony Robbins – Money Master the Game.

In some other posts I will update you on the items which are still on my ever-growing bucket list and the ones I have already completed and the ones which are work in progress.

Till then…