Is Winning the Lottery Enough or Too Much?

Have you read the stories about lottery winners who, in the long term, turned out to be lottery losers? I'm referring to the people for whom the infusion of sudden wealth was a short - term blessing and long - term disaster. The problem would arise if the winning ticket holder didn't already have the life skills or clear priorities to protect, manage and build on the money they'd unexpectedly received. Too often, the habits of the past or pressures of others wanting to 'help' would soon lead to a decline, in some cases resulting in a worse state than the winner had known before they cashed in the winning ticket. Their new wealth became the biggest, most attractive part of their lives; they thought it would take them places, produce results and deliver benefits that would add to the blessing of their initial win. Instead, by letting the millions guide them and become their defining feature, they lost the longer term opportunities they would have enjoyed if they'd recognized that money is a means to an end and not a goal in itself; a means to build a real and lasting fortune, providing you know what 'fortune' means to you.

I've seen it happen in business, too. The owner starts out with a clear vision of how the planned enterprise will expand upon their life, add opportunity to employees, value to customers and provide a stronger, safer life for their family. And then the business takes over; just as money becomes the defining feature for the lottery winner, so too the business comes to define the owner. S/he loses sight of the priorities that initially led to its development and instead, becomes a servant to an enterprise that needs the owner more and more. Time becomes a means to handle all the tasks, decisions, negotiations, development, phone calls and problems, problems, problems that a hungry business generates; there's no time for anything else when that 'anything else' - life, health, family, friends, fun, personal development, contribution - used to be the reason the owner wanted to create the business.

It feels good for a while but, just like the lottery winner who loses the fortune for lack of a strong inner compass, the business owner subverts her/his relationship to their business. The owner develops the belief that their business is their most important, defining characteristic, their identity.

Without a clear, conscious vision for personal success, lottery winnings or entrepreneurship can sometimes appear to be a prize that will eliminate all problems. We clutch this new external element as if it was a great prize and believe it will take us in the right direction. Problem is, these things don't know us, don't know you - your priorities, values and needs. Only you can figure that out. Once you've clearly defined this and let it always guide your choices and actions, you've got a clear path to your own fortune, in your mind and in the bank; your map to success. Because one day, maybe not for years, that success will include selling your business. And who knows what adventure, enterprise or poolside vacation will come next!

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