For the last week the country has been in a frenzy about the 640 Million Dollar lottery. People purchased stacks of tickets hoping just one would be the lucky ticket that would put them on a path to a life of luxury, security and maybe even charity. The hope most people lived with last week is the path I walk everyday, only it takes a little more than a ticket purchase to make things happen in my world. The irony of this week is I was both a loser and a winner in the big lottery and maybe sharing my story will help you eventually become the winner we should all be striving to be.
Losing Mega Millions
As a business consultant sometimes you are asked to do what many think is totally impossible. Last week my team was asked to find 150 million dollars for a client with no ability to secure the loan. In addition, our client wants to run a business where there are only 2 people of their gender and ethnicity running a business in this multi trillion-dollar industry. Our client had been unable to get funding for their venture for more than 5 years even with a decade and a half of experience and world-class connections in their field. Most people in the world would kill for their connections; but not fund their business.
So our client went to work for the government and was paid six figures a year to bring in 1 Billion dollars a month in business every month for the last 7 years. Our client has been working everyday hoping to win the lottery, which means getting funding for their business so that they can do for themselves what they do everyday at work. And be paid millions per month instead of six figures a year.
Last week our team had the pleasure of informing our client that they had won the lottery. We had found them a partner who would supply all their financial needs, allow them to keep 100% of their own company, and require only that our client allow them indirect access to their suppliers. In addition, other clients of our group handed this client a multibillion dollar order to fill beginning in one week. That contract pays tens of millions in profit per month. Cha ching!
It’s a lottery win for our team as well. This deal is incredible like a star quarterback’s NFL contract but with many more zeros. But we are struggling to get our client to commit because they simply never thought it would happen and they never thought it would happen this way.
They say that most lottery winners are broke within ten years, mostly because they mentally self destruct. It’s easier to want it all than to have it all. One thing is for sure if our client doesn’t get it together we will know what it’s like to lose Mega Millions. It’s not a great feeling. I was pretty down in the dumps last night while reading all the comments people were writing on Facebook and Twitter about a winning ticket because I already had the winning ticket for three days and I couldn’t cash it.
Then I got a phone call and my lottery fortunes changed.
At 11 pm last evening one of my closest friends called me from a bar where he was hanging out with some friends. He called to say that he was talking about another project we were consulting on and that he was sitting with an investor who could put up the 8 million for the project. He asked me if I was available to talk with him right then and of course I was.
Turns out my friend forgot a zero in the price and told his friend $800,000.00 was needed to complete the project but I really didn’t care at that point because I knew I had won the Friend Lottery. It was important to my friend to advocate on my behalf and help me close a major deal even at 11 pm.
Wow. Doesn’t matter how that works out, I’ve totally won the big payout and money has nothing to do with it.
The people who think of you and try to help you are your true friends. And the people you think about and try to help achieve their dreams are the people you are a true friend to.
I take three things from this week’s lottery winnings and loses.
1) The odds of winning a passive lottery are very low but the odds of winning at a game you are in are extremely high because you are actively going after the big goal.
2)Most people get a few chances in life to have exactly what they desire but fear, self-esteem, or distrust keeps them from being successful in the way that they asked the universe to deliver. We do get what we want!
3)Most of the successful people on the planet have friends and family that they support and that support them. They are the greatest treasure and should not be taken for granted.
If you don’t know what it’s like to win or lose millions in a week and you want to know, maybe you aren’t really going after it. You’ve got to play to win.
Wishing you Wealth Wellness and Wisdom,
Manager of Wealth
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