I don't play the lottery... I don't like my odds of winning.
Yet, when the lotto gets to $500 Million, we feel obliged to buy a ticket. Not because we expect to win, but because the odds of winning versus the purchase prize seem to make more sense.
"You gotta play to win"... that was such a powerful marketing tagline.
And, you also gotta play to "throw a ton of money out the window" ;-)
The lottery I do play is the one of buying lots of books, and specially suggesting lots of books, videos, and giving lots of them away to people that I care about...
To me, I would buy a $20 book ALL DAY LONG instead of a $1.00 lottery ticket, because the odds of winning are SO MUCH HIGHER!
I don't recommend anything that didn't touch me to the core, or push a button in me that triggered a better understanding of some absolute truth... in my path toward living a life of success and happiness.
Think of it...
The right book or video for the right person will, if the person is truly willing to engage and consider, be at a minimum a moment of clarity, of joy, of inspiration...
And, I believe, potentially, a puzzle piece or the spark to change the trajectory of a life for the better.
Books, videos to me are lottery tickets that we can play over and over again, and so many of them are free.
The trick is... in order to "WIN", you have to be one of the ones that is willing to truly consider what someone else is sharing, there has to be some fiber in you that believes that the world, you, all of it, can indeed be better, you have to accept that you don't know it all yet, or that all that you know is not necessarily optimal or right...
We all would say "YES, that is certainly me..." And, then, reality hits, and so many of us subconsciously dismiss great ideas, great insights, great truths because the world is just easier if I don't click on that link.
So,I lied, I do play the lottery... My lottery tickets are words, thoughts, ideas and the windfall is not a limitless number of nickles falling from some machine or some ridiculous sum of money every year divided by 2 after taxes ;-)
My windfall is joy... possibility... in the eyes of those I love... those I care about...
I have seen it happen. The collective wisdom of many books have changed the trajectory of my life and my joy. The Blue Ocean Strategy book changed the trajectory of my son's life. I have had fellow CEO's that have changed the trajectory of their companies thanks in part to something shared. Words, ideas, books, videos... they are sparks, they are amplifiers, they are clarifiers, they CAN BE enablers for JOY & SUCCESS... for BETTER. Be careful what ideas, books, videos you are opening up... be careful what lottery you may be playing.
I will spend some time this weekend updating the "digital gold" section on this absolutetruth.squarespace.com website.
Grab a new "lottery ticket" from the pile every so often and see what happens...
You gotta play to win... and if you are reading this... you are already playing!
In harmony,
Nestor