The desire to be rich in 1 year is why most end up poor in 5 years There are things that considerably increase the odds of being wealthy over the long run such as: - joining promising startups - owning quality risk assets - developing human/social capital But these wont get you there quickly, so people ignore them in favor of high variance plays that have a small chance of quickly paying out big But the odds are against them After multiple years of losing lotto tickets they're stuck in the same position as when they started