If you won N1 Billion today.... (I)

If you won N1 billion today, will you

1.       Continue in your marriage?   Denise Rossi won $1.3 million Lottery money in 1999 in USA but did not tell her husband because she did not want to share it with him. Instead, she divorced him and went her way. But 2 years later, he found out and sued her. The judge ordered her to pay her ex-husband the total Lottery winnings as damages (a winning lottery is a martial asset to be split equally. Not everyone knows that).

2.       Rush to work because you are late?  A salesman won $27 million in a lottery in Germany in 2005, but rushed off telling the storekeeper who told him of his win that he was late for work.

3.       Give it all away? Tom Crist, a Canadian man gave away all the $40 million he won in a lottery to cancer charities in memory of his wife who died of cancer early this year.

4.    Remain so frugal that you won't even call to claim your winnings? Frugal Ms Tyler from Epping, Essex was so frugal because she had had to survive by budgeting and scrimping and saving after her fiance lost his job and she didn't have any too, that she didn't even want to call to claim her lotto winnings because she felt it might amount to waste of money. It took him convincing her before she eventually called.

So let me ask you in light of the above, If you are given N1 billion today, will you still…

1.       Marry your present fiancé/fiancée?

2.       Remain a ‘faithful’ husband/wife?

3.       Continue working @ your present job?

4.       Continue looking for a job?

5.       Be ‘retired’?

6.       Continue schooling, in your present course, @your present school?

7.       Retain your present company of friends /acquaintances?

8.       Remain a Nigerian?

9.       Continue living in Nigeria, UK, USA, etc?

If you won N1 billion today, will you still be humble enough to brush your teeth, comb your hair and drive…yourself?

The aim of the questions is to make you reflective, and become aware of what is truly important to you. What are you passionate about? What will you do even if you were not being paid to do it? For some people, it is reading, talking, singing, football playing, etc. For some others, giving energizes them, some like to program, some cannot but cook, debate, write, care for others, and so on.

Don’t wait till you become a millionaire to start doing or living your passion, if that’s what you want to do. Start now! If you make money while doing it, all well and good; If not, continue knowing full well that it is better to die doing what energises and inspires you than to live through life hapless and locked up in another’s man world/definition of you.

mytrickytricks.com

You only have one life to live, so live it to the full, and enjoy it. Don’t wait till you ‘have money’ to develop yourself. Don’t wait till you are a millionaire to decide what you want to live for and be known for. Decide now! Define your life goals around your inner longing and callings, and write them down. Then write out your financial goals, planning them along the line of your life goals.

For example, if you are passionate about giving/giving back, you can

1.       Volunteer your spare time with an NGO or Charity of your choice

2.       Start an NGO or Charity yourself

3.       Give money regularly to your church, a motherless babies’ home or a worthy cause around you (- you can actually instruct your bank to do that monthly).

4.       Devote a particular percentage of your income or net worth to charity (like Ted Turner who gave the United Nations $1 billion- a third of his worth at that time, or Warren Buffet who has pledged to give 99% of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation- about $64 billion)

 If you love singing, you can hire a voice coach, join a choir in your local church, enter for singing competitions and reality tv shows, or just join a band that performs at social functions on weekends, etc. If you love to read, you can join or start a book club.

Warren Buffet goes to work 'tap-dancing'. He once told a group of University of Nebraska students: "I get up everyday with a chance to do what I love to do, everyday. If you learn anything from me, this is the best advice I can give you."

In essence, DON’T KILL YOUR TALENT/PASSION/PERSONALITY simply because you don’t have money now or you aren’t making money from it now. Your first million naira might be tied to the talent or passion you are overlooking. Your speaking passion might be worth N1 billion, but how will you know when you have neglected it?

Quotes
"If you follow your bliss, you will always have your bliss, money or not. If you follow money, you may lose it, and you will have nothing." Joseph Campbell (Author of "The Hero of a Thousand Faces")