Playing Life’s Lottery

It’s funny, but I’ve used this “lottery” phrase several times in the last couple of months with friends and colleagues, and it seemed like an appropriate theme to consider as we start this new year.

Typically, the context around this has involved someone bringing some sort of life opportunity – maybe talking to someone about a new position, or traveling someplace new, or finally signing up for that training I’d been putting off.

In each case, the person I was talking to was both encouraging and apologetic as they realized there was a time and potential dollar investment that I’d incur, and there were no guarantees of a positive result (they thought it would be good but couldn’t say with absolute certainty).

What struck me as ironic is that I found myself in every single situation describing what was being presented as a lottery ticket. And, to a person, the other’s reaction was a “huh?” look, at least initially as I clearly wasn’t making perfect sense.

I went on to explain to them that, when I’m presented with an opportunity – and especially an opportunity that I think has some significant upside potential – that I tend to view those as life’s lottery tickets. Meaning that I know there’s a chance (maybe a good chance) that whatever it is I’m undertaking won’t have the desired outcome, but there’s also some real benefit to taking part.

Take the job opportunity. I’m very happy as a consultant and love the clients I am working with. But when a recruiter friend of mine approached me about a role he was actively seeking to fill and thought I could be a candidate, he seemed almost apologetic for bringing it up. I, however, looked at it differently.

First, I said I was flattered that he thought I might be a good fit for the role as it was going to be a fun challenge. Second, since I was happy in my current role, I could approach this opportunity as a friendly conversation and, if nothing came of it, I would still be very happy. What he was offering was a chance to explore something new, and I told him that was appreciated.

Applying this same mindset to all aspects of life is one that I have found has led to a much richer experience for me.  The power of saying “yes” to things can mean you are going to be smarter, perhaps meet some interesting people, certainly have unique experiences, and/or learn new things. All of those go into the “win” column in my view.

And even if nothing directly comes of it (it turned out I wasn’t a good fit for this particular job), I still view the conversation as worthy of my time and effort. With this particular job, I got to meet the lead recruiter and we’ve struck up a professional friendship as a result of us talking about the role. We’ve even met a couple of times for lunch and I would not be surprised if, someday, he calls me up about another opportunity (not that I’m looking :). Still, I now have someone out there who knows, likes and trusts me, and that relationship would never have happened had I not said “yes” to meeting.

So that’s my free advice as we settle into the new year. When you are presented with a new opportunity this year, try making your default response “yes” – or at least “maybe” – and see where that leads. I’ve found that approaching life with an openness and desire to explore almost always pays huge dividends.

Know that I’m pulling for you!