What would YOU do if you won the lottery today…?
Your answer reveals more about your thinking than you realise! Read on to find out more…
Sometimes my blog topics are inspired by things that clients say to me, sometimes I have lightbulb moments when things have gotten me thinking, and sometimes (like today) it can be as simple as buying a lottery ticket…!
No, really. I bought a lottery ticket. I heard on the radio that there was a £122m jackpot on the Euromillions so I thought, why not?! I never really play the lottery to be honest, mostly because it’s never at the forefront of my mind. A friend of mine said to me that she plays it regularly because the money goes to charity, so it feels like donating to a good cause. I’d love to say that’s why I bought my ticket, but mostly it was just for the pure thrill of it!
But the reason it got me thinking was the age-old question we all ask each other when we buy a lottery ticket.
What would you do if you won?
Obviously we all start thinking of what we would buy first, right?! A new house (or first house, perhaps!), a new car, perhaps a holiday or a longer travelling package so we can travel the world. Some nice clothes, an extension, a motorbike, a holiday home…the imaginary bank balance runs wild!
Then we start to think wider. ‘I’d pay off my parent’s mortgage’ one friend said. ‘I’d give my friends a million each so they were financially secure’, said another. ‘I’d make sure you kids all had your own home with no mortgage’ my Mum said! (Thanks very much - hope you’ve bought your ticket Mum… ;) ).
Then comes the bigger life thinking…
‘I’d quit my job and re-evaluate my career’… ‘I’d do that Masters I’d always dreamed of doing, and I wouldn’t need to juggle it with two jobs and kids to make it financially work’ … ‘I’d work less and spend more time with my kids’…
ALL things we can hear people reply.
But when we start digging PSYCHOLOGICALLY into all of these things, they actually all mean the same thing, don’t they? I mean, they’re different priorities, different purchases, but they all have the same end-goal when you think about it…
SECURITY.
And what does security buy us? Peace of mind, empowerment and choices.
That’s essentially what we are looking for, isn’t it. Which is why the first thing we start with is a home that we can buy outright (no mortgage – instant win!), so that we are no longer scraping by or feeling financially stressed, and can make new choices in our lives.
Then we start looking at all the pipe dreams we wish we could do, but tell ourselves we can’t.
What does that tell us about what most of us are desperate to find in our lives?
Mostly, that we can often feel powerless to change many things in our lives without an act of such utter fortune (£122m to be exact) that we wait for a freak lottery win to enable us to take the plunge and do it. And that’s SO unlikely and unusual, that it leaves us incredibly ‘stuck’ in a situation we are unhappy with, thinking that the only thing that can save us is a meteoric lottery win, instead of our own thinking…
Now, I’m not saying that we can magically ‘win’ the lottery just by the power of thought (wishful thinking, I know!). But I AM saying that we have more choices than we realise in our lives, that we don’t need to wait for a lottery win to start making a few key changes here and there, and that realising that is a really important first step.
How many times for example have you not applied for a more senior role that would provide you with more money, in case you didn’t get it or looked stupid for applying, or because you didn’t think you were good enough?
How many times have you avoided starting that dream business that might give you more time, money and freedom than you have ever had in your current job, because fear of the unknown (or getting it ‘wrong’) holds you back?
It is so easy to spend huge amounts of our mental energy looking at everything in our lives that isn’t right or that we wish we could change in a dream world. And waiting for a pile of lottery money to drop in our lap before we actually change it or do it.
What if we started to harness that energy differently instead, to move the dial just one step closer to making the changes we need?
What if we used the agency we already have to build a life we don’t need to win the lottery to escape from…??
Feeling internal and powerful in our lives (a key part of what I help people to understand and achieve going through The Thrive Programme) is a really important part of what keeps people more emotionally stable, resilient and thriving. Because if we can do that, we feel able to make the small changes that can move us forward in our lives, instead of feeling stuck with the status quo and utterly miserable about the future.
So, if there’s things you wish were different in your life, what could you do today to start moving one step closer to making a few important changes?
Maybe you could take on an extra training course at work to build your skills and elevate you to the next level. Maybe you can start putting aside just £10, £20 or even £50 a month into a savings account, so that in time you have a small pot of money that you can use for something important or enjoyable? Maybe you could do a part time course in the evenings to learn a new skill, or even start a little side hustle business to get some extra cash coming in and give you a bit more financial freedom?!
The point is, the way we think about things is absolutely key to how we feel, and (crucially) what action we therefore do or don’t take to improve our situation. Instead of thinking ‘I can’t do that’, what if you started to think ‘what CAN I do or change’ instead?!
If your thinking seems to regularly hold you back from feeling great or from taking steps to build a life you dream of and would enjoy, feel free to get in touch – perhaps some Thrive Programme Coaching is the perfect first ‘step’ to changing your thinking and changing your life, no lottery win required… ;)
Oh, and I won’t say ‘good luck’ to our lottery players tonight, but I will say this – play for fun, enjoy it, but don’t rely on a lottery win to change your life – after all, you can do that for yourself…