A really powerful way to understand who you are is to imagine how your future would be if, all of a sudden, you would receive a big amount of money.

Marty Neumeir call this exercise “The Rich Uncle” exercise. In his version of the exercise he uses it to investigate what motivate a person to work.

“Imagine that you just received a $50 million from a rich uncle that you never knew you had. Would you go back to work the next day?
List the reasons why you would keep working despite your newfound wealth, or, if you wouldn’t, list the things that would have to
change to keep you there.” Martin Nuemeier, Innovation Workshop 2009

I found this exercise really useful to understand how my ideal company should work and I recommend everyone to do the same before setting-up a business.

In the early phase of “understanding your value”, though, I would simplify it in what I call “The Lottery Exercise”.

“Imagine that you just won one billion pounds with the lottery. What would you do with that money?”

As to quantify what a billion pounds are worth may be difficult, I created a board to help structuring an answer.

Neumeier, M., 2009. Innovation Workshop. Berkeley, California: New Riders.

Sian Prime lectures during the MA in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship 2010.