Summary
Lucky numbers. We all think about them – that right combination of digits on a lottery ticket that could change our life overnight and deliver us from a lifetime of uninspiring work.
But have you ever noticed what lottery winners tend to do? Long after the oversized cheque has been handed out and the balloons have fallen, there is often struggle. It is not at all uncommon to read of winners who simply couldn’t handle their sudden influx of cash and struggle to ever return to a life of normalcy. Some even wind up declaring bankruptcy after quickly blowing through the cash.
The problem here lays in seeing a number figure or an amount of money as your goal. Money itself is only a tool that helps you to live out your values and commitments. That’s why experiencing a sudden influx of cash in a windfall can be quite illuminating on what your real mindset is toward money, wealth, and success.
Read on to learn what type of mindset is most conducive to achieving lasting success and contentment, long after the winning ticket is cashed.
Transcript
The two go hand in hand. We spend a lot of time obsessing over net worth and crunching the numbers on the journey to wealth. But we are remiss if we don’t also keep in mind the mindset issues that go hand in hand with making sure that you make it to success.
Self Belief
I subscribe to the belief that you must believe that you have earned your success in order to really enjoy and appreciate it. We have all heard the stories of ordinary people who suddenly win the lottery or inherit a windfall inheritance. We might envy their good fortune – who doesn’t like the idea of instant wealth? After all, we all know the value of passive income. But take a close look at what often happens to these individuals over the long run. Keep in mind the old adage that more tears are caused by answered prayers than unanswered ones.
It’s The Journey, Not The Destination
As it turns out, often the greatest source of satisfaction stems from the journey to your goal, rather than the end destination. This is because steadily making advancements toward big goals serves the function of helping to validate your hard work and persistence. Anybody can blind into the dumb luck of correctly picking out a few numbers. Not nearly as many people can put in the ongoing, reoccurring work of strategic, tactical, and even physical work that it takes to build a successful business or carve out a lucrative side niche. That sense of standing apart and accomplishment will generate lasting satisfaction and confidence that can lead you on to even greater success, long after a one-time windfall has faded away.
We know that winning the lottery requires one step – buying a ticket. You can’t win if you don’t play. So figure out what ticket will help you win the game that you have laid out in your mind. Maybe that ticket comes from pursuing some advanced training or meeting with a potential mentor or picking up a new side venture that has the potential to help you earn some side income. Regardless of what it is, make sure that you are doing all the steps you need to if you want to win your game.
Money Is Merely A Means
The correct mindset stems from knowing that money is not the end-all and be-all. It does not guarantee happiness despite a lot of wishful thinking about the wealthy.
Nor for that matter, of course, does money make someone a lesser person or heighten their odds of unhappiness. It is merely a tool that one can use, which often illuminates their true character. Someone living only for thrills can very easily find themself throwing their money down a dark hole of drugs and alcohol. Someone who considers themselves a servant for others, on the other hand, can use the same resources to help others in need through charitable and civic efforts. It is all up to the individual.
We see it in celebrities all the time. While on average, athletes and actors doubtlessly work hard to achieve their level of success, they still may struggle to reconcile their old station in life with the new opportunities suddenly afforded to them through their windfall. They may feel guilty in their level of affluence not quite rising to the level of their overall benefit upon society. The temptations and travails of fame are many. We have all seen countless examples of falls from grace as artists and athletes descend into wild debauchery and reckless behavior, gleefully highlighted by media outlets that are only all too happy to egg them on.
These are merely the highest profile examples of winners of life’s lottery who have been ill prepared to handle the good fortunate that has come their way. This is one reason why national sports leagues are making a greater effort to connect athletes with prudent financial advisors who can help educate them on the pitfalls of not having a laid-out plan to help deal with their sudden influx of wealth.
What’s Next…Always Be Striving
It strikes me that they may well wrestle with the familiar question of all windfall recipients – the question of whether there is anything left there to strive for. If a numeric value was the goal line all along, reaching it would doubtlessly give you a sense of let-down over time if you didn’t have a new horizon to focus upon. Money in and of itself cannot buy real relationships or love or a sense of accomplishment.
Rather than focusing upon a dollar amount alone, try to generate some ambitions that you will never be able to fully accomplish. That might sound like counterintuitive counsel – to always be falling short of the goal you have set for yourself. But this will help you to maintain a mentality of staying hungry for the next big goal you have laid out. Even if you were to suddenly stumble into a massive pile of cash, you would still have other “dragons to slay” that would keep you swinging out of bed in the morning.
When You Love What You Do It Isn’t Work, It’s Self-Actualization
It is generally a good sign if you would still continue the work you are doing if you no longer had to worry about money. Many lottery aspirants seem to daydream about where they will tell their manager to stick the job once they have finally hit the big time. Thinking like this should generally be a big warning sign that you are in the wrong position altogether. Life is too short to be focused on work you dislike or that isn’t a good fit, or to at least be doing something that is helping you as you work your way toward preferred work. Warren Buffet, still running Berkshire Hathaway in his 80s, describes his morning commute as “tap dancing to work”. You will be far more likely to succeed at what you do if you genuinely take pleasure in it.
There’s nothing wrong with looking forward to retirement or enjoying some rest and relaxation. I just humbly point out that studies have consistently shown higher levels of health and engagement among senior citizens who continue to be actively engaged in some type of work or hobby as they age.
The key insight is that it isn’t freedom from work that should be our driving source of motivation – it should be to make the fullest and most impactful use of our talents, whatever shape or form they come in. The mentality of many lottery winners is that a high reserve of cash will liberate them from their troubles, when the deeper crisis we all face is how to best make use of our time on earth. This is a blessing to have for a conundrum.
The majority of us reading are free, unlike so much of human civilization throughout history, from outright destitution, poverty, and hunger. Free from the worry of how to find shelter and food, we are enabled with the capacity to invest real time and thought into how we can most readily find fulfillment and make an impact on our communities. This is the mindset that can help you find the most lasting sense of accomplishment and peace.
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