Would You Actually Want to Win the Lottery?

0:00Would you want to win the lottery? Really interesting question. I I do have the answer to that. So I bought a Powerball ticket when I was 20 20. And I remember I bought it with my my college girlfriend at the time. And it was it hit over a billion at the time when a billion dollars used to mean something. >> [laughter] >> And I remember when the drawing was going to happen and then I felt this incredible feeling of dread.

0:29I felt like, "Oh my god, what if I win? I don't want to win." Because the thought that I had was if I win this billion dollars I will never have been able to prove to myself that I could do it. And that was truly horrifying for me because it would literally be opting out of the one thing that I really wanted to do, which is to prove to myself that I could do it. Um which I know a zillion people will make their comment about how that's ridiculous and I understand but like you live your life how I live mine, you know? Um I want to do things my way. And I think it's the same

1:06>> [gasps] >> It's [sighs] the same as and this is I mean actually the question that you asked is really really timely for me because for my child they're going to have been born into winning the lottery. And it's something that I'm acutely aware of. And I'm thinking I'd say like that is actually where the majority of my thinking has gone in relation to parenting, which is what you started with this with. Which is like how do I how do I give them the opportunity to feel as though hey they have earned their place when they already are born into just such extreme material, you know, situation success.

1:55And so that's something that I think I'm thinking a lot about. How am I going to manage this? Are we also going to change our lifestyle so that they have a more realistic world? Uh cuz I think that also a large degree of like why people who are born into wealth I don't don't succeed as much as because their view of reality is actually not accurate. And so like the vast majority of millionaires are self-made, not inherited. And I think it's cuz they have a better view of base reality. If you're born into wealth, you think the world is different than it is. And so you act as though the entire world is like you and it is not. And so I think it's like people who have traversed worlds have the most accurate view. They see heaven and hell together as one thing and they're like, "Okay, these are the different conditions that exist and I need to be able to navigate all of them." And so that's what I'm I'd say like what I'm thinking a little bit about and also um, you know, if I have a son, um trying to make sure that he doesn't feel like he has to beat me to be worthy.

2:53And making sure that he would know that I am proud of his effort above all. And that to be fair, it means I'll still have super [ __ ] high standards for effort, but that that is how he wins in my eyes um and shows courage and shows persistence and consistency and things like that. Um those are the things that I'm thinking about right now, but uh to loop around to the original question, that is why I don't want to win the lottery and it's also I think a bit of a worldview question because if we see life as the path we take and who we become along that path, then it's like saying, "Would you like to have a video game and as soon as you open the game it says you won."

3:42That would be a bad game. And so it's like saying, "Do you not want to play anymore?" That being said, in my current condition, if I were to win the lottery. I already have the credibility that I can build things and I know how to make money and all that stuff. And so it would really just act like a uh you know, just a a lump sum, you know, call loan that I don't have to pay back from the universe for me to just like move, you know, five years forward.

4:08Um which would be nice. Which I'm totally fine with. But at that moment when I didn't have it and I didn't have the proof, I didn't want it. Now, if So, anyone wants to hand me a billion dollars to walk into um in cash, totally good with it. But uh but it was just because it serves it serves a different um objective now. And it doesn't prevent me from walking the path that I have to walk to get here. Because person who wins the lottery who has nothing is very unlikely to have the skills. Like the there's a magic card that I have that's my favorite magic card of all time. It's called Burning Wish.

4:39And it said uh they wish for a weapon but not for the skill to wield it. And so like just getting a billion dollars, that's why whatever it is, 80% or whatever of of lottery winners have lost all the money by the time by five years or something. Um it's because like it's just potential. But if you don't have the skill to wield it, it's nothing. If you like this video and you're a business owner who wants to break through your current revenue ceiling, I distilled every lesson from scaling 10 businesses past 10 million and three businesses past 100 million into a completely free scaling road map that I've used to go from zero to one, zero to 10, and zero to 100 plus. And so you can click here and you can check it out. Again, absolutely free. And since you're a business owner, I appreciate you and uh enjoy.