How to win the lottery and never lose your head

Don’t get me unsuitable, I purchased a ticket. I actually bought five. Not that it got me a share of the £66m that was shared between two British lottery winners. Then, it was announced that three winners are to share a record US$1.6bn (£1.1bn) on a US lottery. But does winning the lottery really guarantee happiness?

There are every kind of stories in regards to the double-edged transformational power of sudden wealth. Viv Nicholson shot to fame in 1961 when she told journalists she would “spend, spend, spend” after winning £152,319 on the football pools. She definitely did so – with very mixed results. They even ended up making a successful musical about her highs and lows. But my favourite (probably fictional) story about successful gambling needs to be the one in regards to the famous footballer who was discovered in a hotel bed with a scantily clad supermodel. They were lying among the many scattered winnings from an evening in a casino and a bottle of champagne, just for him to be asked: “So where did all of it go unsuitable?”

Joking aside, sudden wealth might be a difficult adjustment. Overnight your life changes. You move house, possibly to a different country, and you permit your job. Your friends and relations all start treating you radically otherwise, making you immediately suspicious of their motives. People you’ve never met start discussing your morals and personality traits – normally in negative terms. Security professionals start providing you with heavy advice on the threats you now face. All in all, a scary prospect.

There’s superb evidence that poverty makes you miserable, but however wealth doesn’t necessarily make you completely satisfied. When you might be very poor, an extra sum of cash will make a really big difference to your happiness and well-being. But if you find yourself anything above moderately well off, additional sums of cash don’t make that much difference. Money might take away the difficulties of poverty, but it could possibly’t do much in your relationships, your sense of meaning and purpose in life, wider political issues, or the state of the environment.

Sensible stuff

So if money doesn’t bring us all the things that makes us completely satisfied, and may damage the things in our lives that do matter, what do you have to do when you win the lottery?

Boringly (and this shouldn’t be a lottery-winner’s weight loss program), get the fundamentals right. Eat good, nutritious food. Get saturated fat content down and keep salt content low. Eat enough fresh fruit or vegetables every day and drink plenty of water. Aim to get your BMI within the healthy zone. Don’t smoke, drink moderately and be quite cautious with recreational drugs. And get at the very least seven hours sleep an evening. Sleep is de facto vital and studies suggest the brain needs sleep to also remain physically healthy.

If this sounds familiar, it’s since the prescription for happiness whether wealthy or poor is definitely very similar. Fortunately you may do it on a shoestring.

When it involves well-being, the mental health charity Mind and the NHS recommend a five-step approach. It’s price summarising it here:

1. Keep lively – do something physical every day. It could possibly be so simple as taking the dog out for a walk (when you’ve got one).
2. Maintain your relationships – friends are vital for every kind of reasons. We can all take steps to take care of them: phone, write, text. You might even consider a type of semi-professional approach – self-help groups to fulfill people in an analogous position.
3. Learn – I might say this, I’m an instructional. Keep your brain lively. Engage it. Your brain is probably the most improbable machine ever created.
4. Give – this isn’t political brainwashing. There’s good evidence that getting involved in charitable activity makes people happier (and it’s probably higher to present your effort and time, somewhat than money).
5. Stay open-minded – partly, this implies becoming able to determine where to focus your attention. If you’re good at this, it’s less likely that your thoughts will at all times drag back towards negative rumination.