Lisa Nichols – Never Broke Again to Breakthrough Success

Difficult circumstances was the force necessary to shift Lisa Nichols from hardship to a massive breakthrough. Lisa had to hit rock bottom before she actively decided enough was enough; lack of money, lack of basic necessities for her son Jalani was the critical turning point in her life. Unless something drastically changed, her current standard of living would remain the same.

Years of sacrifice, a strong sense of determination and an unwavering focus on her own self-development was a mammoth payoff as today she is the CEO of Motivating the Masses, successful author of several books, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and humanitarian. Lisa can today successfully reap the rewards of her tireless efforts but when you consider where she began, it is hard to imagine that life was indeed a struggle.

The Early Years

Lisa Nichols grew up on the south side of Los Angeles between warring gangs. At school she struggled with her studies, averaging a grade C and had difficulty as a black student in a predominantly white school. At the age of 28 she had her son Jalani and his father ended up in prison. Lisa was confronted on one occasion with the harsh reality that with less than $12 in the bank and on government assistance, she was unable to pay for diapers. She was forced to wrap Jalani in a towel for two days; the experience shedding light on her current reality. This was the down in the gutter moment for Lisa who vowed never to be poor again. She realised no knight in shining armour was coming to her rescue; her rescue team comprised of one person only and that was herself.

The Sacrifice

For the next three years Lisa focused on self-development; empowering herself with knowledge and learning from experts who were successful. She attended seminars not just once but sometimes the same seminar forty-two times to fully master and immerse herself in their knowledge. This was by no means any half-hearted attempt, Lisa was determined to change her present reality and was willing to sacrifice family, friends, basic lifestyle pleasures; visits to the hairdressers, manicures and eating out.

Lisa’s Transformation

Lisa was committed to transforming her life. She could have chosen to live in breakdown or have real power and create a different reality, Lisa chose the latter. To move forwards, she had to let go of the past to enable the birth and rejuvenation of the woman she wanted to become. The transformation process was a struggle with family and friends passing judgement and concerned for her welfare as she explored her new choices. Another challenge was to remove herself from shouldering other people’s problems, as this too was hindering her moving forwards. She realised that she first had to rescue herself in order to help family and friends. The journey of self-discovery was a lonely one however, she was willing to become the student; focused daily on her learning, immersed herself in her future, leaving her past behind.

“Don’t be committed to the physical environment. Be committed to what’s in your mind. I fed my son possibility even when we didn’t see a lot.” Lisa Nichols

The Challenges

Digging herself out of a hole required new habits. Lisa knew there were three forms of money – earning, saving and investing. She came from a family background that never had money, were unable to save and consequently these behaviours were passed on. Lisa was accustomed to hustling and therefore, knew she could earn money but saving was an issue. She consulted experts who knew how to earn and invest it.

Lisa minimised her lifestyle; living on $31,000 she sold her ultima and traded it for a ford explorer, she downsized from her three-bedroom house and moved into shared accommodation. During the day she worked at LA Unified School, left her son in day-care and worked 9hrs. She took a break from 6pm to 6.30pm to pick Jalani up and then worked from her home office from 6.30pm till midnight. She cut back on all expenses, spending only on the basics. She saved 5% of her income and paid it into a savings account ‘Fund my Dream’. For three years she continually saved avoiding looking at the bank statement. Then one day she visited the bank to check her account balance and was completely astounded to discover that she had $62,500 in savings. At this point the realisation that life would be utterly different was a glowing possibility.

Lessons Learned

Lisa is successful today because she was determined, committed and willing to make the required sacrifices. Most people dream it but are unwilling to surrender to make the hard choices. Instead they are attached to the person they have become and in today’s world attached to their own popularity focusing on the number of ‘likes’ they receive. Lisa attributes her success because she serves others, if you make money for the sake of making money it will not last long. Lisa is known as the Breakthrough Specialist and continues to inspire young and old achieve their best potential.

“Mostly the world sees you the way you see yourself.” Lisa Nichols

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