Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Jeff Goins of Goins Writer.
“We waste so many days waiting for the weekend. So many nights wanting morning. Our lust for future comfort is the biggest thief of life.” —Joshua Glenn Clark
There is this popular idea in our world today that the best thing to happen to you would be to win the lottery. Then, you could spend the remainder of your days on a beach somewhere, sipping cocktails and living the “good life.” But nothing could be further from the truth.
According to most studies, when you win the lottery, you are actually more prone to bankruptcy. One report said that 70% of lottery winners actually end up going broke in the first seven years. In fact, it seems the more money you win, the more likely you are to lose it all. So from a financial standpoint, winning the lottery just might be the worst thing to happen to you. But let’s not stop there.
We’ve all read the statistics about how getting rich doesn’t make you happy, but for some reason we need to find out for ourselves. Maybe winning the lottery for you, though, doesn’t look like buying a Powerball ticket. Maybe it means earning “passive income” or finding your dream job. At times we are all tempted to seek an escape.
When we envision the life we want, many of us treat work as the enemy, as an obligation to endure instead an adventure to embrace.
But what if the life you wanted was actually right in front of you?
After quitting my job and making the transition to become a full-time writer, I thought I had it made. Finally escaping the monotony of a day job, I could relax and enjoy life. But what I discovered was now that I didn’t have any reason to work, my sense of purpose disappeared. I became more confused than ever.
Around that time, I talked to my friend Stu who told me how he was able to find meaning in his work even while punching a clock for a paycheck. He told me about a trip he took to Africa where he saw how education could make a difference in the lives of people who weren’t born with the same opportunities he had. With his wife, Stu started a nonprofit to help build schools in rural Kenya. And when he returned from his trip, he went back to work with a renewed sense of purpose.
On a fundamental level, we all want to feel like what we do is a part of something bigger than us. And the truth is that can happen in any context, if you have the right mindset. What brought me out of my funk was not more leisure, but the realization that I needed to work. We all do. But it’s not just the work that fulfills us. It’s the way we work.
Acclaimed psychologist Viktor Frankl addresses this in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning. At a time when much of psychology said human motivation was about seeking pleasure, Frankl argued that what we really want is meaning. And the way we find it is not by numbing ourselves with substances or stuff but by doing something that matters.
For Frankl, this belief in the importance of meaning held tremendous personal significance. It is what had kept him alive while imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during WWII. It was the book he was writing and the hope of seeing his wife that allowed him to endure.
When I quit my day job to chase my dream, I realized my life was not just about me. It couldn’t be. And if I went to work only for myself or in hopes of one day retiring so I could live the good life, then the work I did today would have no purpose. And honestly, I tried that. It didn’t work.
To paraphrase Frankl, we don’t want to be just happy. We want a reason to be happy.
The worst thing you could do with your life is waste it, believing the only reason you exist is to seek pleasure. (tweet that)
We all have a purpose, a task for which we were designed, and the goal of your life is to find it—not somewhere out there, but hidden in the life you’re already living.
And if you can embrace that truth, you’ve already won the lottery.
***
Jeff Goins is a writer who lives just outside of Nashville with his wife, son, and border collie. His book, The Art of Work, is all about finding your calling in work and life.
ralf says
Rubbish. Winning the lottery for ua would free two jobs for others. We could pay back the whoke loan and prevent the bank from going bankrupt. And we’d be able to give money to friends and family. The nieces wouldn’t need to job and could finish university earlier and a free mind. And the older friends could reduce their working time and look forward to retirement.
Winning the lottery would be great.
Neves says
I agree!! It’s only those who have never experienced financial lack/stress who say that “money isn’t everything”.
Angela Hill says
I agree. It’s all about how you value the money. If you see it as a way to bigger and better than, it’s just going to get you on a cycle of spending and losing it all. However, if you see it as a way of helping your situation and your family’s, etc., I see nothing wrong with it. It’s not saying that’s the only thing you count on to achieve your dreams, it’s just one little thing that can help.
Raymond says
I kind of disagree with you bud, The reason I do is because you could have relationship problems, friends saying you owe them lots of money. Plus don’t forget taxes, instead of winning what could be $7,000,000 dollars would drop to $3,000,000 because of taxes. Trust me don’t win the lottery. But If you wan’t that life be my guest
Stacy B says
I have a friend (he recently turned 101)–he has told me many times, “If you stop, you die.” He has watched it many times in his life. People strove for that important day when “easy street” would become reality, usually in the form of retirement, and then they would die within a year or two of “stopping”. Though the initial words seemed simple and without depth–they were really indicating that without purpose we are not whole and our bodies/minds don’t see cause for continuing. I love the quote and I can’t remember who it is attributed to right now but it goes something like–what you do is secondary, it is how you do it that is primary–I think if we live like that “winning the lottery” is no matter because we already have won in life.
https://awellstockedlife.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/simple-parenting-am-i-enough/
Nancy says
I think this is so true. I have always found the advertisements for the lottery so disappointing in that when asked what they’d do with their winnings people answer..’ Buy a big house’ ‘Buy a fancy car’ Go on a long trip’ etc… All such temporary rewards. It’d be so much more satisfying if their answers/goals were…’Donate to have a well built in a dry area’ ‘Pay for tuition for a niece ‘ ‘ Support another child through World Vision’ etc. Long term effects are way more satisfying and definitely add meaning to life.
Nancy says
I think this is so true. I have always found the advertisements for the lottery so disappointing in that when asked what they’d do with their winnings people answer..’ Buy a big house’ ‘Buy a fancy car’ Go on a long trip’ etc… All such tempory rewards. It’d be so much more satisfying if their answers/goals were…’Donate to have a well built in a dry area’ ‘Pay for tuition for a niece ‘ ‘ Support another child through World Vision’ etc. Long term effects are way more satisfying and definitely add meaning to life.
Angela Hill says
I agree Nancy and those are partially my reasons for participating in our work lottery. Another reason is it’s something my co-workers and I do as a team. It’s fun to sit and chat about what we would do with the money. We laugh a lot and it really bonds us, as silly as that sounds. I will only play the lottery with them as I would love to see us all win as a team. I definitely don’t want to buy a “big” car or house, etc. I’ve never had that reason for playing, but I also don’t think the lottery is as “evil” as everyone is making it out to be. In my case, it actually brings people together in a workplace they love.
BrownVagabonder says
I’m in the millennial generation, and I am always surprised when I got into the office, how many people talk about playing the lottery. Every morning the conversation is about how they are so unhappy to be at work, and how they can’t until they win the lottery and are able to start really living their life.
I try to explain to them that they have a choice to start living their true ideal life right now, this very moment. But it always falls on deaf ears.
Jeff Goins says
Crazy. But I get it. It’s easier to wait to be rescued than to plan your own escape.
Kristina says
I think this is something that is build in to our culture today. We all like to act as a martyr of our own lives.
Maybe it is somewhat a way for us to explain why we are not happy and to put the blame on something else than ourselves.
(Sorry for my english.. )
Carolyn Bostic says
Now that’s a quotable quote! I’m stealing it for me. Thanks, sir.
The El says
Oh sure, they can just quit their jobs and live on the streets.
In all honesty though, I can easily relate to the frustration of being stuck in a rut that seemingly only the lottery could fix, but I still don’t play it simply because of the low chance of winning. People do realize the odds of winning are usually over 1:one hundred million, and that one hundred million seconds is about 3.15 years?
I know that I myself utterly despise my job and career path I’m stuck in because that’s what my dad forced me to go to college for, but I’m focusing on going back to school for something I should have gone into in the first place right now. Maybe it’s just my own life story, but I think that anyone who focuses on winning the lottery simply because they hate their job may want to consider working towards a better career path.
Then again, these days going to college is alot like playing the lottery if you see the unemployment rates.
Eileen says
Cognitively I get this…I really do. It all make complete sense. I am not someone who plays the lottery or feels that waiting around to win the lottery is a “way out” of your current life. It’s actually a form of escape-ism…trying to escape our current circumstances without putting in the daily and sometimes hard work to walk the path of meaning and purpose.
After 32 years in the same work role I have been questioning any further reason to stay committed to it. The passion isn’t there, the drive to continue growing into being a better employee is waning. Yet, like Mrs. Frugalwoods, my desire to be debt-free and working towards a lifestyle (minimizing=freedom) that matches my values keeps me returning to this job day after day…just for the paycheck.
I can rationalize “working” at this job while “working towards” something more meaningful and fulfilling…my true soul-work.
Thank you Jeff for this article. Your words will keep my focus strong and intentional.
Jeff Goins says
You’re welcome, Eileen! Thanks for reading and sharing.
Neville Bendiola says
Great morning read before work!
Judy says
Jeff– I love this article. It’s true that money doesn’t buy happiness. Sure, it may buy a big house, a little sports car and an exotic vacation, but that means nothing if your heart is in pain. I can’t imagine something horrific happening to someone you cherish. The pain that a parent must go through after losing a sick child for example. What good is a huge mansion, when every nook will be filled with emptiness? What good is an aqua blue beach when all you see in your minds-eye is your little one playing in the waves.? A billion dollars…or my loved ones safe and near? I’ll take my family! I’ve already won the lottery and God gets all the glory for that. :)
Jeff Goins says
Amen, Judy. :)
Janete Canteri says
That’s true. :)
Mrs. Frugalwoods says
Well said. I think this ties in with the concept of running to something as opposed to running away from something. In my drive to reach financial independence, I’m not just motivated by the prospect of quitting my job. I’m also propelled by our goal of moving to a homestead in the woods.
And I think it’s that sense of purpose (building a sustainable homestead) that makes all the difference for my husband and me. It’s a positive aspiration as opposed to one that’s negative and escape-oriented.
Jeff Goins says
Totally agree. Well said.
Summer Crosbie says
My husband and I have an on-going debate about the lottery. He says he’d have np deciding what to do with the cash if he won (tho he’s never played) and I say I’d never play. I wouldn’t want the headache of those kinds of decisions. I feel I could never justify spoiling myself and I would want to give to everyone. My younger sister said to me once, ‘I don’t seek happiness. I seek meaning,’ I never for got that. Thx for a great article!
Jeff Goins says
I love that, Summer. Sounds like your sister has been reading Frankl. :)