You Won the Lottery!

You Just WON the Lottery!  Magic!  Those five words are the stuff that DREAMS are made of, right?  Probably gives you a bit of an emotional rise to even THINK about it.  Right now, think of 3 things you would DO if you won a BIG lottery.   Skip the tactical stuff about getting a lawyer and an accountant.  And skip the stuff you would buy.  What would you DO?

I got in the front seat of the taxi in Winnipeg.  The two Senior Managers working for me popped into the back seat for our short ride to the client.  It was a damp and cold January morning.  Instead of preparing for the day's meetings and the deliverables needed for the week, I posed this question:  what would you do if you won $10M dollars?  They excitedly talked about all the stuff they would buy, but I kept probing with 'so, what's next?'  More stuff bought.  It didn't take them long to joyously announce, they would FINALLY quit this tough, challenging job.  Woo HOO!  But they weren't ready for my next question.  "Okay, but what's next?"  Stumped!! 

You see, we wrap so much of our attention on the things we DON'T HAVE, that we fail to appreciate what we HAVE. 

With that pause in the conversation, they returned the question, "Patrick, what would YOU do if you won $10M?"  I smiled and calmly said, "I already did and I'd be in this taxi asking YOU this incredibly significant life question!"  They looked at each other dumbfounded.  There was a brief silence in the taxi, as their brains registered all the possible explanations of what just happened!

Gee, I LOVED my job!

The "You won the lottery" mental exercise helps us break through fears we have in the present moment and allows us to dream into a more "perfect" life.   We can make REAL decisions towards living into that perfect life!  Again, what 3 things or even better, what 1 major thing you would do if you won the lottery? 

I was with my client, Samuel, in San Francisco.  This was a Fortune 500 organization and Samuel was a key player in his department.  He was GOOD, leading multiple initiatives including my Seller Competency project.  Samuel was smart and worked hard.  One Tuesday, he came into the office in a foul mood.  "Passed up for promotion…..AGAIN!"  He vented for a few minutes.  With that out of his system, I asked him THE question, "So Samuel, what would you do if you won the lottery?"  He thought for a moment.  Leaned back in his chair and said, "I'd go to a sunny beach with my partner and jam my feet in the sand."  I could almost see his head tilted back with the sun mirroring off his sunglasses.  A HUGE smile emerged on his face.  I took a deep breath, gathered every bit of universal presence and love I could.  Looked him square in the eyes and whispered, "Jack, you just won the lottery."

His eyes welled up (as mine are as I retell the story).  He whispered, "Thank you."  Within the month, Samuel took that vacation.

You see, we have the ability to live INTO our dreams and visions.  Right now.  Money doesn't give you more freedom to live with joy in this present moment!  You give that freedom to yourself!  Exalt in this moment!  Viktor Frankl said one of the most sacred human freedoms is our ability to choose our attitude given any circumstance.  You are living the dream you've created up to this moment.  Step into your dream!

What would I do if I won the lottery?   I'd be sitting right here, sharing these stories with YOU.  The universe is PERFECT!  Funny how that works, isn't it?

Live 100% Empowered!