If I ONLY Would Win the Lottery...The things that I could do!

Good Morning!

The recent Mega-Millions hype brought up some very interesting discussions.  More often than not...I heard this phrase..."The things I would do if I won the lottery..."

Some time ago I heard myself saying the same thing...

At that point I stopped and assessed what I was saying...and looked to see if there was some real value (deeper) that I could derive from it!

Sure enough I found some...

In fact...the value of that statement was "hiding in plain sight!"

AND...it is HUGE!

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Please forgive me...

In order to make sense of my logic...and ..."build suspense" (that is my literary license)...I have to take you through the whole series of thought...

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The "If Only..." Thought is NOT Rare...

First - When we think of what we would do..."if only..." it does not have to be based in the lottery...we have many "if only" thoughts throughout our lives...I realized that I was no exception...I have thought..."if only" I had pursued different degrees...or made different choices or decisions...focused harder or not as hard...these are thoughts in retrospect...

Then there are those "if only" thoughts that are based in planning...better stated future oriented "if only's.".  "If only" or "when" I win the lottery most often fits into this class.  That is not to say...I look back and say..."20 years ago "if only" I won the lottery!

I know that this differentiation seems petty...but it was telling!  I needed to differentiate between the two to understand what I was really saying.  My thought paths diverged...

The question that I asked of myself was..."Where do I spend the majority of "if only" time?"

Was it focused on my past..."REGRETS"?

or...

Was it focused on future "PLANS and CONTINGENCIES"?

Enough of that...

Ask yourself that same question...and be honest with yourself...it sets the foundation for a deeper understanding of your inner drivers...

AND...

Do not dismay..."the paths" actually come back together toward our destination!

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The "If Only..." List is Important

At this point in my thoughts...I found that the two "If Only..." paths ran parallel!

In fact...as I waked each and looked over at the other...they appeared nearly identical!

OK...enough of the analogies!

I literally made two "If Only..." lists...

One list was based upon my past... e.g "If Only... I had done it differently..."

The other list was based on my future desires... e.g. "If Only... I win the lottery..."

What I discovered was that the two lists were nearly identical!

(Now does the parallel paths looking the same make sense?  Ha! Ha!)

This may not be the case for you...but what I found out about me...it that my retrospective "If Only's" and my perspective "If Only's" had the same outcomes in mind!

WOW...that woke me up!

With a few minor exceptions...what I wished I could have been doing in the present was the same as what I hoped to do in the future...

Are your "If Only" lists the same...or at least close to the same?

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The Paths Converge Again!

There he goes with the "path" thing again!

I had to do it!

I could belabor the point and take your down to the many dead-ends that I encountered...

Instead I will run forward to the point where the paths converge and the insight(s) that I drew from this exercise of introspection...

Having discovered that the two lists were the same...I reviewed them for what they told me...

What I discovered was that the items were quite commendable!  I impressed even myself!

They were things worth aspiring towards!

Some were selfish...others were selfless...

Whether a regret or a hope...each was a good thing!

They were of value to myself, my family, the community AND sometimes the world itself!

WOW!

Things worth doing even though my past had not brought them to fruition in my present...

Perhaps that is why I had the "Hope" or "Perspective" list...

Good things for me to keep trying to accomplish...

So wishing, dreaming and hoping that I win the lottery is a good thing!

...or is it?

This is where it gets interesting...

If my hopes and dreams and aspirations hinge on the lottery...then the chances of them coming to fruition equals my chances of winning the lottery...1 in 175,000,000!

I do not want those odds of success...even if it is a dream!

I want better odds!  More lottery tickets?

NOT!

If the things that I aspire towards are of value...then it is important for me to find ways to make them happen...

The lottery is definitely the easy way out!

I took my lists and said...if doing "X" is important...then find a way to make it happen without millions of dollars...

This Epiphany of the Utterly Obvious changed the way I look at things...

It changed the way I attack my challenges...

It even changed many of my dreams and aspirations...

I have reduced my list to a critical few...

That in the event I win the lottery (yes I play 1 ticket every Wednesday and Saturday)...I can focus on those things that will optimize my efforts towards

...making meaningful and significant POSITIVE differences in the lives of individuals and the performance of organizations...

AND that I do it from the Keys!

PURA VIDA!