Power Up: Taking Charge of Your Financial Destiny

Chapter Three

Discovering a New Outlook on Life and Money

During the adventure of becoming empowered you will discover new outlooks and perspectives about the world around you. Taking back your financial power and challenging yourself forces you to look deep inside, to question your beliefs and the things that you have been doing, to realize that your actions have impacted you and perhaps the people around you, like your family. Many people call this discovery an epiphany—a powerful spiritual awakening.

The awakening happens to characters in the movies and in books and it happens to real people every day. It usually occurs when a person is desperate and hits rock bottom, like when an alcoholic wakes up one morning and realizes that he has lost everything—his family has left him, he has no friends, and he is utterly alone. He then suddenly understands that he must do something to change his life or perish. It could be more mundane, like when people decide to switch careers because something they did or experienced touched them so deeply that they had no choice. I read about a 45-year-old man who went scuba diving for the first time and when he saw the beautiful world beneath the sea it nearly brought him to tears. It changed him and now, five years later, he’s an underwater photographer.

An awakening can happen to you—it may not be as dramatic, but who knows? You have experienced a life-altering event. Losing your financial independence, no matter what the reason is, can act like ...