If you won $1 million today, what would you do? Will you resign from your present job?
Research says that over 80% of people in the US will resign from their present jobs, do you have an idea what the statistics of Nigeria will look like? The interesting thing is, if you will resign from your present job, then you are in real trouble.
It means you have gotten the order wrong! You are waiting to make all the money you need, to begin to do the things that you love. It sounds like a good thing to do, after all, ABBA sang, ” All the things I could do, if I had a little money”. So you are waiting to have more money, then you will live the life of your dreams. It reminds me of the story of a fisher man. This fisher man was visited by an consultant from town, and they decided to go fishing together. The fisher man worked for 4 hours, caught a lot of fish, and retired for the day. The consultant was shocked, and the following conversation ensued.
Consultant: Do you know that I can show you a way to make a lot more money by doing this same business?
Fisherman: Aha…really, but what will be the need of that?
Consultant: See, if you spend 4 extra hours, making 8hrs fishing, you’ll catch double this number of fishes, you’ll be able to feed your family, sell the rest, make more money, re-invest it into your business, continue again tomorrow and before long, you’ll have enough money to buy a ship!
Fisherman: What will I do with a Ship?
Consultant: You’ll be able to go to sea, catch a lot more fish, supply the cities, and make a lot more money.
Fisherman: Then what?…Smiling happilly
Consultant: Then when you have made a lot of money, you’ll retire back to your village, work for few hours and spend the evenning chilling with your friends.
Fisherman: But that’s exactly what I do now! Why do I have to waste my time going that long route?
AHa…I hope you got that. Happiness is not the result of working tirelessly to make ends meet, then going ahead to do the things you love. Happiness is about finding the things that you truely enjoy, and following it with a passion. Successful people will tell you that they don’t work, they simply have found ways of being paid for what they love. In the words of Dale Carnegie, success is about finding what you love, and getting someone to pay you for doing it.
So take the $1million test, and be honest with yourself, what will change about your lifestyle and career? Whatever will change, needs to be changed! Start working towards it!
