As a senior in, what was at the time, only an average university in the South, I stumbled across the book, Think and Grow Rich. As many of you may be aware, it shares many of the same principles laid out and articulated in The Secret.

With graduation approaching and my anxiety level rising due to few job prospects, I was seeking anything that I could get my hands for career and life advice. What was I to do with the rest of my life? You know, the usual overblown anxieties for a soon-to-be graduate.

While in the local book store, I ran across Think and Grow Rich. Something about the title, the preface and the book’s concise size just spoke to me. I went home and immediately began reading it. I couldn’t put it down. The stories of others applying the principles of The Secret in their every day lives was mesmerizing. The power, the influence, the control these people had of their circumstances was something I never appreciated before as being possible. I had always thought life was a bit more of a crap shoot and that my own success, if I accomplished any, would come as much from luck as anything else.

I thought things over a few days. What did I want out of life? What did I want to accomplish? When did I want it by? What would I give the world in return? Okay, simple enough, I thought. I want to retire by 45 and be a multi millionaire. That is my generalization for this post; I was more precise as part of my written actual goals.

I typed up this affirmation up; had it laminated; kept it by my night stand for years and years, reading it to myself every morning and night. Each time I read it, I read it aloud; with passion; with feeling; believing it was already in my possession. I kept at it pretty diligently for the better part of 5+ years, trying to train both my conscious and subconscious mind to apply the universal law of attraction.

Slowly, I lost the commitment for reading the affirmation daily. Then, I lost the commitment for reading it anything more than every few days and eventually only reading it sporadically. Nonetheless, I kept the goals loosely in the back of my mind throughout my business career and probably still very powerfully in my subconscious mind.

As the years past and my career progressed, I began to have doubts about whether my earlier goal setting efforts had all been in vain. I found myself moving jobs every 4 years or so, without a real sense of accomplishment. Things just didn’t feel like they were unfolding in a logical, linear sequence; I certainly didn’t have a growing bank account to lead me to believe I was on my way to accomplishing my goals.

Then, in the late 90’s, I came across a business start up opportunity I could see I was perfect for. A talented team of smart, hard-working people, a mastermind group, if you will, that could really use someone with my skill sets. I took the plunge. We worked hard; we struggled; we had set backs, but ultimately things started to click for us. Our revenues grew from $0 in the late ’90’s to a few million by 2001. Then, a shake up occurred in our industry and we were prepared to take advantage of it; our revenues grew to $10+ million by 2003. Then, another shake up; our revenues grew to $30+ million by 2005. Before I knew it, we were producing $100 million annually by the end of 2010, and a great deal of it was pure profit given the nature of our industry.

At some point, I sat down with my financially planner and began preparing for my family’s future. Suddenly, I realized I was just a few years from turning 45, my original goal completion date. When I looked at the estimated value of my ownership, it was more than 10X what I had originally been shooting for. Holy moly! Then I asked myself, what am I still showing up to work every day for? Sure, I still liked it, but it didn’t give me the same adrenaline charge it once had. So, one day, I just walked in and told my partners I would be selling them my ownership interest and leaving the firm. It was such a relief and such a sense of personal accomplishment. I left lots and lots of money on the table, but knew it was the absolute right thing to do. I had accomplished my goals and the universe had given me many multiples of what I had asked for. Wow! Time to enjoy a a much needed break and time with the family.

Now, I’m faced with a new source of anxiety albeit with more confidence in myself; what are my next set of requests for the universe? Hmm, not sure yet, but am certainly dreaming big. Something to do with health and wellness? Something to do with helping others start successful companies? Something to help others get the most out of their teams? Not sure yet, but when I make up my mind, I’ll let you know!