“Dammit. A little thin.” I muttered to myself as I completed my swing on the 150-yard par 3.
I lost it in the clouds, but picked it back up as it bounced off the lip of the right-side bunker and onto the green.
As it rolled towards the pin, I picked up my tee with a classic “Better to be lucky than good.”
“Dude! I think that might have gone in the hole!” Kat yelled out.
I looked back and the ball was definitely no longer in sight, but I figured it rolled off the back edge.
Nicole and Kat teed off and we walked towards the green.
My ball was nowhere in sight. Could it be????
Kat was first to walk up to the hole and look down. “Dude! You freakin’ aced it!”
I walked over and sure enough, there was my highlighter sitting in the cup.
If you don’t golf, you might not know that you can play golf your entire life and not get a hole-in-one. If you’re lucky, you might get ONE.
So it’s kind of a big deal, but… is it?
My first-ever birdie the week before on a par 4 was waaaay more satisfying.
It was a combination of all the things I’ve been working on – a great, long drive, a solid pitch on and an 18 ft putt (with a 3 ft left-to-right read).
I freakin’ EARNED that birdie. ahhh.
The hole-in-one was pure luck. cool, but okay.
What we earn, we value. And the more we sacrifice to earn it, the more satisfying it is.
It’s as true with golf as it is with our career as it is with money.
Financial hole-in-ones are no different.
33% of all lottery winners are broke within 3-5 years.
I’ve personally seen people burn through $300,000 of life insurance payouts within 4 years.
Inheritances usually last just as long.
The most successful among us didn’t have it handed to them. They scratched and clawed and earned their way to the top.
A dollar earned is much more valuable (and satisfying) than a dollar gifted.
And a birdie earned is more valuable than a hole-in-one.
