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If You Won 4 Million Dollars, Would You Still Work?
If you won 4 million dollars in a lottery would you continue working? Research of Drs. Richard Arvey, Itzak Harpaz, and Hui Liao found that the majority of big-money lottery winners with a high work centrality do continue earning income in some form. This provides compelling evidence that people gain intrinsic rewards from their careers.
Given the staggering number of people who report that their jobs are a source of negative stress, you may be surprised by this research finding. I was not. The source of work-related stress is not the income-generating activity; it is doing this activity without control. While many lottery winners continue earning an income, a very small percent of them continue doing exactly what they were doing prior to winning. The lottery winners’ new financial freedom affords them opportunity to craft the careers they really want. They are fully in control of their career destiny.
You do not need to win the lottery to take control of your career destiny and have the career you really want.
Since Get a Life, Not a Job first became available online almost 4 weeks ago (and in bookstores soon), I have been in touch with more people with truly amazing and inspiring careers -- people who are not lottery winners but are leveraging their talents to do what they love.
Adam Schell is one of those highly motivating people.
I was inspired by Adam’s ability to stay true to himself, his talents and his core values. Through the pursuit of experiences and self-awareness, he is crafting (and continues to craft) a career that brings him work-life harmony. Let me share some of the highlights of Adam's career acts:
When Adam was younger he wanted to be a professional football player and, in fact, was a linebacker for Northwestern University when he was in college.
While a professional future in football wasn’t in the cards, Adam decided to explore his other passions. After college (and to explore his love of great food) Adam picked grapes and olives in Tuscany and coffee beans in Guatemala, and apprenticed under a master French Chef. He was a chef himself -- and then a food critic.
Leveraging yet another skill set, Adam produced award-winning short films and commercials. In a beautiful example of how great careers are a process and not an outcome, Adam returned to school for a master's degree in creative writing.
Combining and leveraging his multiple skills and passions (food, writing, travel, and the creative process), Adam recently authored his highly-successful first novel Tomato Rhapsody: A Novel of Love, Lust, and Forbidden Fruit. (If you enjoy novels, this book is pure pleasure, a delightful mix of history, humor, romance, and drama wrapped in a rich and colorful fable about the tomato’s start in Italy.)
While not playing professional football, Adam also stayed true to his personal value of physical fitness; he is a popular yoga instructor.
When asked how all of his pursuits influenced his writing, Adam responded “I think football taught me how to prepare, being a chef taught me how to wing it, and being a yoga teacher taught me to trust – all skills intrinsic to writing a good novel.”
With his wife and child, Adam has true work-life harmony. When not traveling to Spain to research his next novel, Food of the Gods: An Epic Tale of Love, Chocolate and Bittersweet Revenge, Adam lives in Bend, Oregon where he and his family enjoy the “small town charms.”
I asked Adam if he won 4 million dollars, would he keep doing what he continue doing what he is doing? His reply: “yes, I would certainly keep writing and teaching yoga. The yoga teaching, however, would be public and by donation, with all monies going to support some local cause.”
You see, my friends, you do not need to win a lottery to have financial freedom and work-life harmony. Many thanks to Adam for sharing his career story. I look forward to hearing about the next chapter of Adam's career -- and reading his next novel.
Paula
If I won 4 million dollars, I would still work. Maybe not the crazy 40 hours plus that I work now, but I would do something to keep myself busy during the day.
These days, 4 million dollars can be spent in a heart beat if you are not careful. I would definitely indulge, travel, shopping, home of my dreams, new car etc. however, I would ensure that I took the majority of the money and invest it wisely so that I can profit and make more money so eventualy I would not have to work ever again.
I would not be able to live with myself if I was given the opportunity of having that amount of money and then end up a few years later with nothing to show for it and back to my original lifestyle.
I am intrigued by the idea of enjoying things that I would never be able to enjoy without the 4 million dollars, however, I do believe in smart money management so that you can live off of your profits "comfortably" for many years to come.
SC
If I won the lotto I know I would not work. I think I would also stop attending school. I think life in general can give you experinces and lessons that when you are working full time you miss out on. I want to learn from others what makes them resilent and satisfied with thier life. Even if you had all the money in the world this may not be safisfying and even lonley becasue you may not know who your real friends are. I would thik back at all the people in my life tht have helped me some may not even know they did. I would find out what thier passion is in life and help them in any way to achieve at least some of thier dreams. Letting someone know how much you appreciate them and what they have done for you too me is fullilling. I dont want to regret opportunties that I missed by not helping someone else out in life. The best gift you can give someone is unexpected kindness and hopefully they will remeber that and pass on the kindness to others. I would work somehow but It would be where I can show my family the blessings of life and that they need to remember were they started from and to respect others. Our family started with very little and will always be humbled by what we did not have when we started out with our little family.
If I won 4 million dollars, my current situation would definitely change. I would travel more. I would quit my current job and focus on finishing my education. I currently work for a university in the IT department and am availing myself of the free education that is one of my employee benefits. I am 62 and regret not getting a degree in Psychology earlier in life. I am nearing the completion of my BA degree and intend to continue on to attain an MA in Psychology. I would then like to teach Psychology at the college level. If I won 4 million dollars, I would also pursue a PhD in research psychology – I don't really feel that I would enjoy or be good at clinical work. I would then teach and probably do research also, most likely on Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Even if I don't win millions (and I don't expect to), I will continue working until health or other circumstances force me to quit. I can't imagine living a life of idleness or self indulgence. Work truly does provide intrinsic rewards, especially if that work has a meaningful, beneficial result. I believe that helping, teaching, and inspiring others is the greatest good we can do. It is my goal, rich or poor, to share in that satisfying endeavor.
I agree completely with this study. Just the other day the Mega Millions’ prize was 244 Million, and I was wondering if I won, would I continue pursuing my career, or would I just enjoy my money? And I realized, I would continue working. As you mentioned, some lottery winners would change their jobs into a more fulfilling one, and that is what I would do.
After reading your post, I realized that one of the things that make the majority of people stressed and unhappy, really is the fact that some people are always complaining about everything, and winning 244 million dollars would not change their pessimistic habits. Just as Adam, there are people who will be happy no matter what happened in their lives. I believe that one can always find ways to fulfill one’s life. To me the job that pays you more is not the best job; the best job is the one that allows you to be yourself. Winning the lottery can definitely help us achieve the goal of doing more fulfilling things, but I agree that there are ways to find financial freedom without winning the lottery. I always believed that when you do what you love, you will succeed at what you do, and when you believe you will succeed at it, you will do everything it takes to reach your goal. And you will be happy as you do it.
Your post boosted my confidence that I am on the right path. Even if sometimes life gets hard, I cannot take my mind out of my goal, and that is to earn my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and become a good therapist. I guess that financial freedom for me is not about having millions, but having enough to pay my bills, enjoy the simple things in life, and be in a career that makes me feel I am making a difference.
I agree completely with this study. Just the other day the Mega Millions’ prize was 244 Million, and I was wondering if I won, would I continue pursuing my career, or would I just enjoy my money? And I realized, I would continue working. As you mentioned, some lottery winners would change their jobs into a more fulfilling one, and that is what I would do.
After reading your post, I realized that one of the things that make the majority of people stressed and unhappy, really is the fact that some people are always complaining about everything, and winning 244 million dollars would not change their pessimistic habits. Just as Adam, there are people who will be happy no matter what happened in their lives. I believe that one can always find ways to fulfill one’s life. To me the job that pays you more is not the best job; the best job is the one that allows you to be yourself. Winning the lottery can definitely help us achieve the goal of doing more fulfilling things, but I agree that there are ways to find financial freedom without winning the lottery. I always believed that when you do what you love, you will succeed at what you do, and when you believe you will succeed at it, you will do everything it takes to reach your goal. And you will be happy as you do it.
Your post boosted my confidence that I am on the right path. Even if sometimes life gets hard, I cannot take my mind out of my goal, and that is to earn my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and become a good therapist. I guess that financial freedom for me is not about having millions, but having enough to pay my bills, enjoy the simple things in life, and be in a career that makes me feel I am making a difference.
I agree completely with this study. Just the other day the Mega Millions’ prize was 244 Million, and I was wondering if I won, would I continue pursuing my career, or would I just enjoy my money? And I realized, I would continue working. As you mentioned, some lottery winners would change their jobs into a more fulfilling one, and that is what I would do.
After reading your post, I realized that one of the things that make the majority of people stressed and unhappy, really is the fact that some people are always complaining about everything, and winning 244 million dollars would not change their pessimistic habits. Just as Adam, there are people who will be happy no matter what happened in their lives. I believe that one can always find ways to fulfill one’s life. To me the job that pays you more is not the best job; the best job is the one that allows you to be yourself. Winning the lottery can definitely help us achieve the goal of doing more fulfilling things, but I agree that there are ways to find financial freedom without winning the lottery. I always believed that when you do what you love, you will succeed at what you do, and when you believe you will succeed at it, you will do everything it takes to reach your goal. And you will be happy as you do it.
Your post boosted my confidence that I am on the right path. Even if sometimes life gets hard, I cannot take my mind out of my goal, and that is to earn my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and become a good therapist. I guess that financial freedom for me is not about having millions, but having enough to pay my bills, enjoy the simple things in life, and be in a career that makes me feel I am making a difference.
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