The trap is revealed when you raise your standard of living as your income rises. Your salary is raised and you buy a new car. You find a better paying job and buy a new home. Received an award - it's time for shopping. We were all in a situation where we received additional money, but still remained penniless for the next paycheck.
We've heard a lot about how many players go bankrupt and are left alone with their gaming problems. I would argue that the lifestyle trap is perhaps one of the main reasons for their financial woes. It is common for young gamblers to be under the delusion that they are capable of printing money out of thin air, and just as quickly blowing it down the drain.
thank oy for sharing this Ventoman, I think it's a very important message for people to hear and one that I can relate too.
In my younger years I certainly fell prey to this, trying to keep up with the jones', wanting to live the fancy MTV life that I'd seen on TV and as a result living beyond my means.
IT created a huge amount of tension, stress, worry, anxiety and pressure on me which I could never put my finger on. I just knew I felt like I had to work harder to keep up with my expenses, and so i did and fortunately I was able to keep pace (but constantly afraid of burning out).
When I finally got into yoga and started unwinding the tension I realized that so much of it was coming from the excessive financial pressure and demands I had place on myself. The danger especially comes when singing onto long term loans, leases etc. that seem affordable but quickly add up.
This is especially dangerous for tournament players. It's so tempting to go off when you hit a big score, to try and maintain the huge high that comes from a gambling score, and to ignore the luck that came with it (much like a lottery winner). As a result I have blown thru 6 figure scores before... but fortunately the second time I landed one I was a little older, a little wiser, and smart enough to put the majority of it into investments.
Thru getting my money to work for me, and then progressively cutting down my major expenses I've felt less stress and more bliss as a result. I hope that I can continue this process of chipping away at expenses and freeing up energy to work harder and earn more.
I hope my little post here will help anyone who is tempted to, or is going thru a similar situation to realize they're not the only one and that little changes can go a long way! :icon_sant