I was first introduced to The Secret by a colleague several years ago, but, unfortunately, I was in such a negative place back then that, after reading a couple of pages, I was actually fearful of what reading the book would do to my life. How ridiculous that sounds now! Thankfully, it was recommended to me again by a friend, and this time I was more than ready to learn.

I cannot tell you how happy and excited I felt as I read each chapter. I was almost giddy, and after just the first day of reading it, I made a huge, life-changing decision.

I’d been considering leaving my part-time job as a designer to become a full-time freelance illustrator. I’d wanted to do that for as long as I can remember, but I had financial commitments and was reluctant to lose the regular, steady income. I kept telling myself I would just have to wait until I had enough money saved up. I was just too scared, despite my instincts screaming that it was the right thing to do.

Previously, I had been really unlucky in my career, with awful employers, stressful working environments, and multiple redundancies. Deep down I felt that I was being pushed to go it alone, but I was too afraid of letting myself and my family down.

After reading The Secret, I knew I had to do it, and strangely, I didn’t have a shred of doubt; I knew I would be a success!

But when I was about to hand in my notice at work, the old doubting me returned. On the train traveling to work, I had butterflies in my stomach and kept asking myself if I was doing the right thing. Maybe I was being rash, selfish, what about money, etc. That was when the Universe stepped in to give me a huge nudge – just as I was about to chicken out!

While all these fearful thoughts were racing around my head, I glanced down at my iPhone, and it said I had thirty-seven new emails. I thought that was very odd, as it was really early in the morning and there had been none when I had checked it a few minutes before. But when I looked at all the “new” emails, they were actually all emails from . . . me! Ones I had sent to various people over the past five years, all in my inbox at the same time, and all of them had the same theme. Every single one of those emails was related to wanting to leave my job and work for myself! The first one I read was one I had sent to a recruitment agency when I had been made redundant for the third time. And the first sentence that jumped out at me was “I think somebody up there is trying to tell me something”! As soon as I read that, I got a shiver down my spine (I’ve got one now writing this). I was speechless. There were a few more to recruitment agencies (reminding me of how many times I’d been made redundant); there were ones I’d sent complaining about how much I disliked working for various bosses; there were ones relating to previous freelance children’s book projects I had worked on and loved; but the oldest email was one I had sent several years before to my current agent saying how much I wanted to work as a freelance illustrator and asking if they would consider representing me. I didn’t have that email saved anywhere on my computer, let alone my phone. I didn’t even remember sending it, but there it was as a “new” email, along with all the others appearing in my inbox at the same time.

I knew then that somebody was trying to tell me I was doing the right thing and everything was going to be okay. I couldn’t stop smiling all day and handed in my notice without a second thought.

Two months later, I couldn’t believe how busy I was! To think I had doubted having enough money to pay the bills! When I wrote my desired first-year earnings on the blank check from The Secret website, it seemed ridiculously out of reach, but when I added up what I’d earned since the beginning of the year, I was actually on track to earn exactly that amount! I was already booked up with work for months in advance and had no doubts whatsoever that my success would continue.

Four years later, I’m still self-employed, and I’ve also had my dream come true this year: the first children’s picture book I both wrote and illustrated is published and available worldwide.

I felt so privileged that day to receive such a huge message from the Universe, and am now thankful for all that is good in my life and enjoy visualizing my fabulous future!