THE FOUR ACES
- from the Book Golf & Life by Jack Nicklaus & Dr John Tickell

I have a theory about life.

I agreed with Jack that life is like a game of golf.

Here’s another analogy.

Let me introduce you to my pack of cards. Life is also like a game of cards and you cannot be happy unless you hold all four aces.

Whether you’re playing the game or watching the people, the card players sort themselves into groups – the conservatives, the gamblers who will bet the house on one hand, the poker players, the quiet ones, the aggressive ones and the joker in the pack.

Aces are the most powerful cards you can play and the ACE program is simply the most successful all-round program for life ever invented. And I invented it.

Activity, Coping and Eating – ACE.

To be good at life, you need to be good at those three things. I call it self-management.

To be the best and stay the best you have to be really good at them, especially the middle one.

And you don’t need to be a fanatic.

Jack Nicklaus was telling me about his teenage years in Columbus, Ohio. During the winter months he didn’t play golf from October until around the end of February, because there was snow on the ground.

We both agreed that was probably a good thing.

“I think if you play golf all year round, week after week, you get stale,” he said.

“But, Jack, there is so much money going around every week.”

“That’s my point. If money is your prime motivation, those huge dollars on offer are very tempting, but you burn out.”

Back to the four aces.

Life is a game of cards. I deal you the cards. You go and play the game, and whatever game you play, make sure you end up holding the four aces.

To be truly happy, you need all four aces.

There is the ace of diamonds. This represents the drive for wealth…..show me the money.

If that’s the only ace you hold, you won’t find happiness. Western life – it’s a counting game, isn’t it? You look at the corporate scoreboards – what do they put up there? They don’t put emotions or families up there, they put dollars up there. If your quarterly results show that you’re losing dollars, then the market rerates you and your share price goes down. So it’s count, count, count. Money, money, money. But you show me a person with the diamonds and a heap of money and I can show you plenty of miserable people, whether they’re multi-millionaires or billionaires. Money doesn’t make you happy. You can buy friends, and you can rent a few friends for a while, but unless you’ve got the other three aces in your pack, you haven’t got a complete life. You can’t be happy, truly happy, without the four aces.

Then there is the ace of hearts. This represents relationships, family, spirituality, belief systems and compassion.

If this is the one ace you don’t hold, you won’t find happiness.

Show me the guy with the diamonds and no heart and I’ll show you one empty person.

Then there are the other two aces in the pack you need to hold to complete the happiness circle – the ace of spades and the ace of clubs. The spade represents the work ethic. We all need to do some digging, we need ‘to get our hands dirty’ and ‘go the extra mile.’ The more you work at something, the better you should be getting. If you’re not getting better, seek help. You need a coach. And remember, if you get something easily, it doesn’t mean as much.

Everyone seems to want things too easily. We have to keep up with the Joneses – a TV in every room, three cars in the garage. People have to understand that anything you get too easily definitely doesn’t mean as much. So you win the lottery – that’s easy money. You party on and in a year’s time most of it has disappeared, or you’ve invested badly.

And think about this one. There are absolutely no champions that come from wealthy parents. Not enough fire in the belly. Am I right?

Now what about the ace of clubs? This card represents social contact. People forget their friends, they really do. Have you got any friends? Oh, yes. When did you last go down to the club and have a beer or a cocktail and just sit around and have a yarn? Oh, I can’t remember. Well, isn’t that sad?

It’s sad. You need your friends. Have a drink, tell a story, all that sort of stuff. And don’t forget the joker in your pack. See the funny side of life. Have a laugh. It’s great medicine.

Last year, I told Jack I had finally figured him out. I said he was living proof of my theory. He held the four aces.