I had a call with a prospective client a few weeks ago and she shared a really interesting situation she finds herself in. The company she was working for was acquired, but several months prior to that she had signed a 3-year contract with them. After the acquisition, the new company eliminated her position but because of her contract, she'll get 2.5 more years of her salary.

When I heard that, I immediately thought:

That is the craziest situation to be unemployed knowing that you'll have 2.5 years of your salary, how can I get myself into that situation?!?
She's basically won the short-term lottery.

Instead of the big question that we sometimes get asked, "what would you do if you won the lottery?", I like the smaller and more concrete version "what would you do if you won the short-term lottery aka unemployment with 2.5 years of your salary?"

What would you do? What would you stop doing? How would you spend your time? What would you want to be set up to do after those 2.5 years? What aspects of that life can you implement now?