The lottery has garnered unprecedented attention in recent years.
It’s seen by millions as a rags to riches opportunity that could change the course of someone’s entire life.
Watching beaming lottery winners flaunt their oversized checks and extra zeroes on the covers of news articles makes us wonder, “Could that be me?”
We fantasize about cashing in that big check and riding off into the sunset in a Porsche. We savor the thought of never having another care in the world.
So when the next jackpot grows, we rush to the local convenience store braving all kinds of weather to grab tickets before the nightly drawing. We pool funds with coworkers and buy tickets for our kids hoping they’ll have some sort of untapped luck.
We know about the ridiculous odds of winning. We’ve heard the stories of misery after winners cash in just to become the object of scrutiny among family and friends. We’ve read about dismal statistics reporting increased rates of bankruptcy among lottery recipients.
Yet, nearly half of Americans play the lottery in a given year.
What could be driving this seemingly irrational fascination with the lottery?
Perhaps it’s a sign of the consumption-driven zeitgeist of our time in which luxury living is everyone’s aspiration. Or maybe it’s due to harsh economic realities and general sentiments over lack of financial control.
Whatever the case, the media has done a good job of fueling the lottery engine as ticket sales have reached record heights.
Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of psychology behind why people play the lottery. Psychologists attribute lottery playing to different fallacies such as the illusion of control and availability bias (the perception that there’s a higher likelihood of winning because of recent winners).
However, I believe the biggest fallacy with playing the lottery is the idea that there’s some sort of magic shortcut to getting rich, and that one can sustain wealth without having worked for it.The biggest fallacy with playing the lottery is the idea that there’s some sort of magic shortcut to getting rich, and that one can sustain wealth without having worked for it. Click To Tweet
This thinking is a fundamental error that defies the laws of human behavior and is deeply rooted in the human condition itself.
The truth is, handling money is more than just finding fun ways to spend it. Prudent financial habits take a lot of practice and discipline to form–neither of which come with a winning lottery ticket.
So it’s no wonder that winning the lottery actually increases the likelihood of bankruptcy within 3 to 5 years. When we’re handed unearned wealth, we’re prone to squander it away.
On a broader scale, lotteries are a form of publicly sanctioned gambling that undermines our work ethic as a society. Instead of encouraging healthy wealth building behaviors like education, hard work, and discipline, lotteries enable people to think there’s an easy way to prosperity without putting in the effort.Lotteries are a form of publicly sanctioned gambling that undermines our work ethic as a society. Click To Tweet
The lottery also draws disproportionate participation rates from minorities and economically disadvantaged populations. It’s often characterized as a tax on the poor because the prospects of winning seem especially attractive to the most financially challenged among us. Dire circumstances become a breeding ground for desperation and foster implausible hopes of striking it big.
The media and even the NASPL (North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries) capitalize on this idea of hope as the main driver for playing the lottery.
According to the NASPL website, “Lotteries provide fun and exciting entertainment that lets players dream about what they would do if they won. In our stressful world, the ability to dream is well worth the price of a lottery ticket.”
That sounds quite harmless until we realize how much we actually spend to chase this ‘dream’. Each year, Americans spend approximately $78 billion on lottery tickets, which is more than many other forms of entertainment combined (sports, books, games, movies, music, etc.). That’s roughly $614 on average per person who participated in buying lottery tickets.
“In reality, buying a lottery ticket is gambling,” a Psychology Today article writes. “But in fantasy, it lets you believe in magic: that you will be the one who spent a little and got a lot; that you will defy the extraordinary odds against winning.”
Lottery players live in fantasyland. But even if you manage to win the lottery, the rules of reality don’t change. Your net worth may have some extra zeros in it, but that doesn’t guarantee more happiness.
The bottom line is there’s no shortcut to getting rich. No hack, no miracle pill. No magic elixir that can satisfy the aching human soul.
Real satisfaction comes from simple acts like putting in a solid day’s work, bringing a smile to someone’s face, and creating something extraordinary.
So instead of betting on the jackpot, bet on doing great work. Instead of predicating your happiness on luck, find satisfaction from pouring your heart into meeting the needs of others.
Bet on generosity. Bet on the kind of hope that takes ownership and initiative. Bet on showing up and staying laser focused on what matters instead of bowing to petty distractions peddled by the media.
We don’t have to wait for some fateful event to change our lives. We can effect our own change.
Ultimately, we can work to create something so wonderful that it renders lotteries irrelevant.
