How To KISS Your Way To A Blissful Life

Halloooo sunshine! Summer is in full swing with its vivid splashes of colours dotting the landscape. The air is crisp, the cacophony of nature’s vitality in the background and daylight that stretches beyond 10pm where I am. Except for the dampening effect of the Delta variant that continues to nibble at everyone’s patience, the mood of summer is cheerful, energetic and full of joy. How blissful!

One of the surprising outcomes from the Covid lockdowns and travel restriction is the freeing up of my social calendar for other things that I would otherwise have been too busy or distracted for. Like long walks and bicycle rides in the serenity of the woods, and an addictive 4-letter activity that gives indescribable pleasure – G.O.L.F!

Having stowed my clubs years ago when corporate life sucked up to 14 hours of my day, I finally had the time to dust off my golf bag that had been waiting forlornly in the storeroom. After a few rounds at the range and some lessons with the club pro, my swing rhythm and the delight of hitting a 4cm ball into a 10cm hole across 10km of fairways, is revived.

With a calmer state of mind and more years under my belt than I care to admit, I can now appreciate how the principle of golf can be applied so fittingly to life itself. 

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Golf, as in life, can be as complicated or as simple as one wants it to be.                           

~ Savvy Maverick

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Allow me to elaborate.

My first golf pro taught me how to KISS. Yes, you heard me right indeed 🙂

‘Keep It Simple and Straightforward’ was how my golf pro adapted from the original acronym ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’, coined by Kelly Johnson for design of spy planes in the 60’s. Its simplicity and effectiveness has been adapted far and wide, for various situations.

My golf pro does not believe in one perfect golf swing for everyone as each of us is different in terms of height, strength, body proportion, flexibility etc. However, there is one perfect impact where the ball is hit at the sweet spot for accuracy, optimum flight angle and maximum distance. His teachings focus only on proper hip rotation, square club face at impact and good follow through. That’s it, 3 simple rules.

Getting re-acquainted with the KISS principle, I start to appreciate and apply it beyond golf, such as:

Investing

There is no one formula that produces the best investment outcome for everyone as each of us is different in terms of financial goal, timeline, risk appetite, funds, time scarcity and investment sentiment. What is more important is to know oneself in terms of temperament and constraints so that a suitable investment approach can be identified and followed.

If one has a stressful job with elderly parents to look after or young children to care for, there will be no bandwidth for in-depth research, following market development and calculating ratios to select the right stocks and then monitoring for opportune entry and exit. One would be better served by spending precious time with family and friends, on relaxation and other hobbies that bring greater joy. 

Similarly for those who have no interest or inclination in numbers or anything financial, they can still invest using the KISS guideline instead of foregoing it altogether. For example, buying into REITs, ETFs or managed funds. REITs are a fantastic way to build retirement income with quarterly or half-yearly dividend payout and are tax efficient. Having said that, basic investment knowledge is still necessary in order to choose the right REITs, ETFs or funds to invest in. There is no free lunch, but the process is simplified with lesser time and attention needed.

Living

In my first year of retirement, I was fanatic about setting up a new routine thinking it would ease me into retirement, confusing structure with purpose. I had a timetable for everything: exercise, working on my start-up, managing my investment portfolio, personal administration, attending courses and seminars, catching up with friends, R&R, travel schedule etc. I had clearly not shaken off my corporate tendencies with all the goal-setting and timeline.

Keeping to this routine took away much of the pleasure of the happy retirement lifestyle I had envisioned, adding stress back to my life all over again. 

That was when I decided to deploy KISS principle to my life and there has been no looking back since. Exercise is incorporated into daily activities especially when I’m not able to start the day with it, using a golf pushcart instead of a buggy on fairways, taking longer route to the flower shop or grocery shopping, cycling to meet friends for tea instead of driving.

After withdrawing from my start-up, I started this blog and instead of setting fixed time slots to write my posts, I target 1 post per week and write around my daily activities instead of sitting at the desk at a fixed time. I write, for example, while the laundry is spinning or when dinner is roasting in the oven, waiting for my turn for massage when my husband is having his session as our masseuse can only handle 1 customer at a time

Administration of investment portfolio is on ‘need’ basis, when lease expires or is renewed, month-end accounting or when corporate action is required on a stock holding. I no longer set a target for courses, seminars or taking up a new hobby and just let my fancy take the lead when something interests me.

As for travel, the pandemic has taken an upper hand so while I still try to visit 1 new destination a year, I am not religious about it as I prioritise seeing family and close friends now that travel has become such a privilege. And I do not feel poorer for it. Keeping it simple and straightforward by staying focused on important life goals and bigger picture removes unnecessarily stress, allowing me to have a better and more pleasurable life.

Through KISS, I have seen improvements in these areas of my life:

• Golf – my swing is more crisp since my mind is no longer cluttered, following just 3 simple rules. My overall game has improved with solid ball strike and lower handicap.
• Life – more joy by focusing on life goals and big picture while incorporating essential tasks around daily activities instead of a fixed schedule. This gives me time and mind space to explore and enjoy each moment without guilt or pressure to tick off a to-do list.
• Property – in addition to changing our portfolio in response to megatrends, new property selection now includes how hassle-free the unit will be, instead of just maximising ROI. This substantially reduces effort and time commitment. In the past, we would take on renovation or restoration of an older property that provides better returns but also took up significant amount of our time, limiting travel and other activities.
• Equity – instead of learning many strategies and spending hours on end doing research and perfecting each strategy, my portfolio has been scaled down to just 3 types of investment: income (dividend paying companies, REITs), growth stocks (technology and new-economy sectors) and opportunistic/ exploratory (crypto, cannabis stocks etc). These strategies align well with my time allocation, ease of management and peace of mind, freeing me up to enjoy and do things that are more fun or impactful.

Where in the past I shied away from managed funds because of fees, KISS made me review and change my approach. With strong conviction in the Chinese economy and its stocks but with limited access to accurate data and language constraint, I decided to invest in Chinese companies and ETFs via a segregated mandate instead. Sure, I pay a fee but I also get more freedom in return and the knowledge of a team of  financial experts backed by a full suite of support.

Now that you know the KISS principle, why not give it a try and see how it can transform your life? Stay focus on the big picture to keep things simple and not let the little details and noises overrule. Simplicity is underrated.

Enjoy the summer, days are beautiful, make it a point to laugh and have fun!

Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.    ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

 

Live vividly,

Savvy Maverick