{"id":37894,"date":"2023-07-19T19:14:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T23:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/news\/this-woman-won-a-112-million-mega-millions-jackpot-and-credits-the-power-of-visualization\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T19:14:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T23:14:41","slug":"this-woman-won-a-112-million-mega-millions-jackpot-and-credits-the-power-of-visualization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894","title":{"rendered":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening.<\/p>\n

California resident Cynthia P. Stafford won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot in 2007, crediting her good fortune to the ability to \u201cvisualize\u201d her success. She says the money changed her life for the better in many ways, but she also declared bankruptcy about a decade later \u2014 a situation not uncommon with many jackpot winners. Today, Stafford has turned her belief in visualization into something of a career \u2014 she\u2019s written an e-book on the subject and also offers personal coaching (she charges $333 for a 60-minute session).<\/p>\n

\n

MarketWatch spoke with Stafford to learn about her big win and her life after it, though she made it clear that she places limits on what she will address. Here\u2019s some of what she had to say:<\/p>\n

What was her financial situation prior to winning the jackpot?<\/h2>\n

Stafford says she was \u201cdoing okay,\u201d but \u201cwas in a place where I needed money because of a legal situation\u201d \u2014 specifically, she was trying to obtain custody of some children in her extended family. Stafford adds that she could have gotten the money through other means, but the jackpot \u201chappened to come at the time exactly when I needed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did she \u201cvisualize\u201d her win?<\/h2>\n

Stafford says she not only envisioned winning a jackpot, but winning a $112 million jackpot \u2014 long before that was the actual figure for the drawing. \u201cI\u2019m a believer,\u201d she explains of the process. \u201cWhat we constantly focus on we will bring into our existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she studied people\u2019s methods in relation to visualization, but that these ideas were \u201cimbued\u201d into her since childhood \u2014 she cites her grandmother as a key influence. As she explains of what led to her win, \u201cI took the challenge. I said, \u2018I\u2019m going to do my meditating. I\u2019m going to do my visualizing. And I\u2019m going to see myself in this particular place.\u2019 I did that [starting around 2004]\u2026and so by 2007, it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about the winning numbers? Did she also \u201cvisualize\u201d those?<\/h2>\n

No. Stafford says she chose them at random.<\/p>\n

How did she find out she won?<\/h2>\n

Stafford says her father was holding on to the ticket, but that they hadn\u2019t paid attention when the numbers were first announced. Instead, they later learned that the winning ticket had been purchased at a convenience store in their area \u2014 and that prompted them to see if they had the right combination of numbers. \u201cI wasn\u2019t surprised,\u201d she says of her reaction to realizing she had won. \u201cThis was something I had declared, that I was going to [win] $112 million.\u201d Stafford adds that she likens the whole process to fishing: \u201cI like fishing. You throw your line into the water and hope you get that big catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happened in the immediate aftermath?<\/h2>\n

Stafford and her family opted to take a lump-sum payment of $67 million, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. (Stafford wouldn\u2019t tell MarketWatch how the money was divided, but she acknowledged it was indeed divvied up with her family members.) She says they went to a California lottery office to claim the prize \u2014 and they had some family members who worked in the security business accompany them for safety\u2019s sake. \u201cIt\u2019s just about making sure that your ticket is secure and you get it over to them,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

How did she spend the money?<\/h2>\n

Stafford says she bought a house with a pool and some cars (in particular, two Bentleys \u2014 one used and one new). She also traveled. \u201cI did the normal things,\u201d she says of her purchases.<\/p>\n

A chunk of her money also went to charity, she says. (The Los Angeles Times reported she gave $1 million to the Geffen Playhouse, a Los Angeles nonprofit theater.) And speaking of Geffen, Stafford looked to become an entertainment mogul herself \u2014 she also used some of her winnings to establish a production company. She says she helped produce independent films, but that she\u2019s no longer in the business \u2014 she says an illness forced her to focus on her health instead.<\/p>\n

So, what about the bankruptcy? Where did her money go?<\/h2>\n

Stafford declined to address this issue with MarketWatch. But in a 2016 report, ABC News said that Stafford had told them she had made some poor investments.<\/p>\n

And now?<\/h2>\n

As mentioned, Stafford has an e-book and does coaching. But she says she no longer plays the lottery.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California resident Cynthia P. Stafford won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot in 2007, crediting her good fortune to the ability to \u201cvisualize\u201d her success. She says the money changed her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-37894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nThis woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iFintechWorld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1689808479_horizontal.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"742\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\"},\"headline\":\"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\"},\"wordCount\":775,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Featured\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\",\"name\":\"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"description\":\"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Repay Down\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png\",\"width\":558,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Repay Down\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld","description":"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld","og_description":"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California","og_url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894","og_site_name":"iFintechWorld","article_published_time":"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1320,"height":742,"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1689808479_horizontal.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61"},"headline":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization","datePublished":"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894"},"wordCount":775,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Featured"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894","name":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization | iFintechWorld","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-07-19T23:14:38+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-19T23:14:41+00:00","description":"Want to win tonight\u2019s $1 billion Powerball drawing? One former jackpot winner says it\u2019s possible \u2014 so long as you can picture it happening. California","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=37894#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This woman won a $112 million Mega Millions jackpot, and credits the power of visualization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","name":"Repay Down","description":"Latest Personal Finance News, Tips and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#organization","name":"Repay Down","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rep-logo-dark.png","width":558,"height":90,"caption":"Repay Down"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6224724fd4116361255b179dc5c70b61","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/avatar_user_1_1682606986-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/ifintechworld.com"],"url":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37896,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37894\/revisions\/37896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}