Very few people know my full story of transformation.
Unlike people who lose 367lbs and can take a before and after photo, my “before and after” has been so quiet and unseen that you’d never be able to tell the difference just by looking at me. It’s been a transformation of my heart and mind, more than anything else.
Back in 2011-12, as I stumbled my way into Wall Street, I never knew the grip money would take on my life.
Within the first few years of graduating college and beginning my career I’d already earned more than $500,000+. Little did I know that within the next year all of it would be gone…
After having turned down a promotion at Goldman Sachs, I failed several start up ideas, and basically gambled all my money away in the stock options market. Needless to say I was at a significant professional crossroads at the same time my dad was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
I felt as though I’d lost all control of my life. The worst part was I knew I was to blame for a large part of it!
But, at a time when I had every reason to feel stuck, trapped, and helpless, I finally found my way to freedom…
It was at that pivotal moment in my life when I knew I could finally take the risk to become the person I know I’m made to be. I could finally pursue a life doing things I know I’m made to do. I could speak, teach, and travel around the world, empowering people to own their potential by walking the talk and fulfilling my own. Even if I was only 27! Even if I wasn’t Oprah! Even if I hadn’t climbed Everest! Even if I didn’t study under a 70 year-old Tibetan monk! I knew who I was, and I could finally let go of this reputation I’d been building for someone (everyone) else. After all, I didn’t have much else to lose!
But the bigger, more practical question was, where would I even begin?
Even if I wanted to try something else on my own, what would I do?
I had no confidence, no money and an overwhelming amount of guilt and shame from my own failures and shortcomings…
It was during that time I learned the power of:
- Faith,
- Friends, and
- Forgiveness
I was on Skype with my best friend in October 2016. He said he’d been praying and he wanted to wire me $15,000. He wasn’t charging interest. He had no expectations for anything in return. All he said was, “I don’t know what you’re meant to do. But I know you’re going to change the world. Is that enough?”
Did I deserve the money? Not at all! But it was at that point when I was forced to learn how to “accept” the free gifts we’re given in life…
Did you know we don’t have to earn everything we get in this world? In fact, the best things, like love, hope, joy, and freedom are never earned. They’re freely given. And our job is to learn how to receive.
One of the ways I learned how to humbly receive that money was through a process of self-forgiveness — acknowledging that I’d made a mistake and that I didn’t have to live under the weight of that mistake gave me a renewed sense of hope, strength and trust in myself.
It was also during that moment, when my best friend kept his faith in me despite all my mistakes and failures, I learned this one absolute truth:
Who you are will take you further than what you do.
Two weeks later I had a very clear vision for an event called “Welcome to Yourself”. And with no background, no experience, no formal training, no social media following, no trust fund or celebrity connections…
I decided I would host a 4-hour paid event to speak about how we can be free of the lies, fears and limiting behaviors and beliefs that keep us from our the best version of ourselves.
With 28 people showing up for that event, and $6,000+ in revenue, the next stop was DC, then London, and by the grace of God, I was asked to be a Keynote at Virginia Tech within the first 4 months of my very early speaking career. All while my coaching business was growing, working with former pro-athletes, entrepreneurs, creatives, and some of the most influential people at name brand companies you know. How? God only knows. But I believe, with all my ♥, that God has a purpose for you and your life. He has a promise. And you have the potential. All you have to do is learn how to start using it. The rest will follow.
The question is, will you believe in yourself?
P.S. Welcome to Yourself is back on tour this year (2018), and I’d love to see you there. Click here to sign up for notice about the next event near you.
Originally published at www.linkedin.com