I would buy sharks with frickin' laser beams

Damn you, Oz Lotto. I have to go to work tomorrow! Although we often play "What would you do if you won...?". Let's take $20m as an example.

I would still work. A lot of people, when they have a huge windfall like that quit and start living it large and that's where a lot of it goes wrong. Firstly, if I called work (or just didn't show up tomorrow) they would know something was up. And if it's one thing I've seen when people go public about winning is that they always mention that people ask them for money. So I would remain quiet on the fact that I was a multi-millionaire.

1) First thing would be to pay off the mortgage.

2) Second, let my wife do whatever she wanted. Mixing work and family at the moment is difficult and monetary pressures are always on us. If she wanted to take 10 years off while she raised the kids to school age, that would be fine with me. We've got the capital to cover it.

3) Thirdly, buy a supercar. Not an insane one like the Veyron, but a nice Audi R8, Ford GT or even the new Nissan GTRs would be lovely.

4) Set aside some money for our family. Not so much that they wouldn't have to work again, but enough to ensure that money isn't so much a consideration.

5) Invest.

6) Donate. Now I know what you're thinking. What kind of heartless bastard donates last? Well, I make no apologies for taking care of my family first before being able to help others. If the bulk of the money was invested wisely, donations wouldn't be a one off thing anyway.

I often play this with family and friends and it's always interesting to see how other people would handle it all. Did I mention I'd still keep working? No, I'm not kidding. How bored would you be if you just up and quit and did nothing for the rest of your life? I would just like to be in the fortunate situation to say "I don't work because I need the money. I work because I want to work."

My dad is of the philosophy that we should "work to live, not live to work". And to be honest, I do share some of his sentiment. Work should be a means to an end. Not to mean it can't be fulfilling, but if you make it everything or the majority of who you are/what you do then I think you're shortselling your life somewhat. I don't think I would ever be one of those people who slaves away 7 days a week and never see my family. Nor will I be a martyr who will work themselves to the bone and whinges or looks for sympathy in others. It's that tricky balance that some people have trouble achieving and in a team of people who stay back constantly I see it everyday.

Of course, it's difficult not to feel like you're shortchanging work when they send conflicting messages. Firstly, they promote work-life balance as an concept but then immediately follow up with the idea of discretionary effort. Their idea of discretionary effort seems to equate to staying back and putting in the tough slog. But hold on, isn't the idea of work-life balance to not do that because you are managing your work load successfully? I know I'm a little confused and the small pangs of guilt I feel as I leave at 4.30 to get back to my young family quickly leaves as I think about walking through the door and hearing the laughs (or cries) of the people I love. Mind you, that's after a one hour trip home.

Man, I have to get a job closer in. My wife has even said I could ride a scooter if I work was 20 minutes from home. How sweet is that?

So remember kiddos, work enables us to live life but can also bring a sense of achievement and fulfillment. And unless you're uber rich (or don't care) money is a little burning worry in the back of your minds.

No one ever tells you as a kid that life doesn't get easier as the years pass. If I'd have known, I wouldn't have wished so many away.