We dream of winning jackpots but is it really worth it?
I once hit the jackpot on a Las Vegas slot machine. It was a fantastic moment to see those elusive symbols line up, the congratulatory sounds and lights that saluted my victory, and the fact that an attendant had to put more coins into the machine in order to complete my payout.
At this point, I should mention that I was playing on a nickel slot machine. My jackpot was a little more than $75 dollars.
I was more than happy with my winnings and the fact that I was a low stakes gambler. I also knew that it was rare to leave Vegas with money, so I immediately stopped gambling.
What do my Sin City adventures have to do with you? We all have certain jackpots that we work toward but they may not pay out as well as you think for the time and energy you invest. Productivity is about making choices and if you want to Clear the Path to better ones, you need to take a hard look at what you consider to be your jackpots.
Time: I probably spent about two hours at that slot machine. While I enjoyed myself, there were other things that I could have done that I might have enjoyed more. Today would I have has more priceless memories had I attended a show instead?
Put the Prize in Perspective: While winning more than $75 dollars was great, it’s not a lot of money in the big picture.
If you divide it by 52 weeks, it’s roughly $1.50 per week. I could have easily saved that money by simply cutting one less than healthy item off my weekly grocery shopping list. As a result, I could have saved the cash and shrunk my waist.
My focus had been on the winning and not the maximum payout. It can be very easy to let the desire for one overshadow the other.
Skill vs. Luck: I was lucky with my jackpot and I know that like thousands of other people that day, I could have walked away with nothing. There’s not a lot of skill in sitting in front of the right machine, at the right time.
It’s important to make sure that all of your activities are not just in pursuit of jackpots as they are hard to win. You can’t build a career out of randomness.
Imagine if my jackpot was having a chance to work for Donald Trump, Bill Gates, or President Obama. Which would be the better strategy of winning: Sending a well crafted letter of introduction every day or working to excel in my field in such a way that makes me attractive to those men as a potential employee?
One relies on luck, the other on hard work. One is worthless if don’t hit the jackpot while the other still enriches me even if I don’t achieve my goal.
Having big dreams is good but don’t forget that disappointment may be your payout if you only pursue jackpots.
