No matter how hard I worked to get ahead, there was always more money going out than there was coming in. My office lease kept going up, and there seemed be a new bill in the door every day.

It got to the point where I thought I would have to file for bankruptcy and lose everything.

I was over $80,000 in credit card debt and sleeping in my office as I couldn’t afford a place to rent. Worse yet, the banks has begun to threaten legal action.

Fear and helplessness was consuming me. I couldn’t see a way out.

But then all of that changed.

I’m not sure if it was fate that brought us together, but soon after I had been given notice by the bank manager that I had just 90 days to make a minimum lump sum payment of $30,239 on my debt, I had a chance encounter with an old friend.

I hadn’t seen Dan in years, and was amazed to discover that he was now an ultra-successful entrepreneur who had a staff of over 350 people.

He offered to buy me a drink, and I soon found myself revealing in shame the financial black hole I’d worked my way into.

But it was what he said next which took me by surprise…

" “I feel for you Steve, I really do. But honest-to-God, I gotta tell you that if it wasn’t for being in debt and having to take some big risks, I wouldn’t be where I am today. In fact I’m not even afraid of failing anymore, because I’ve learnt that most of my biggest failures have led me to my biggest wins.”

"

He proceeded to tell me all about his journey to success, offering mind-blowing insights into his financial strategies along the way.

That night, my thoughts kept churning over what Dan had said, and how our lives had gone in such different directions.

And this led me to a breakthrough moment of clarity…

I realized that the difference between us wasn’t how smart we were, or how hard we had worked… the difference was in our brains.

My friend’s mind was primed for success in every way, and mine was not.

I realized I had been so busy trying to help other people to overcome their mental barriers that I had failed to notice my own.

Turning my professional focus onto myself, it wasn’t hard to see now how deep within my subconscious mind there was still a helpless kid riddled with self-doubt and limiting thought processes. I knew then that this was the root of my struggles to progress in life.

Silently cursing myself for not identifying this earlier, I also knew from experience that sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to prompt these kinds of self-revelations.

And from this new clarity, something else started to grow… hope.

I already knew that I had the skills to transform a ‘scarcity’ mindset into a success mindset through hypnotherapy. I just had to adapt the process to make it automatic, so that I could undergo self-hypnosis rather than seeing another specialist (with money I didn’t have).

So, that’s what I did. I continued to see clients as much as possible, and at night I began my own mindset transformation.

And at the same time, I started researching everything I could about how to grow wealth.

I watched and read everything I could get my hands on where authentic self-made millionaires were sharing their wealth building strategies and secrets, just as my friend Dan had. It was addictive – the more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

But still, I was consumed with the pressure of knowing I had to do something – soon – that would allow me to make the lump sum payment on my debt and keep my practice.

So, in a moment of desperation, I decided to try something crazy.

I thought…

" What if I could go BEYOND priming my mindset for success? What if I could use hypnosis to essentially ‘program’ the fundamental wealth strategies, beliefs & habits of millionaires into my subconscious mind? Could it accelerate my learning and cause me to actually start thinking like a millionaire?

"

I was hoping that at the very least, the repetitive nature of hypnosis would help my brain to absorb all of this key information faster and more effectively than it ever could from simply reading.

So, I took all of the notes I’d made and got to work crafting two new self-hypnosis tracks focused entirely on building wealth, and implemented them into my mindset program.

At first, life continued as normal. I worked as many hours as I could, I continued my research, and I worried constantly about how I was going to repay the loan.

But over the next few weeks, I started to notice several things happening:

• My thoughts were clearer.
• I felt less stressed and anxious.
• My fear subsided, and I was suddenly able to look at my problems almost from an outsider’s perspective.
• But the biggest thing was the IDEAS…

While before so much of my brainpower was taken up by ruminating over the same worries and simply getting from A to B each day, now I had a near-constant flow of ideas…

And I still remember when the big one hit me.

I had just closed my office door after seeing out a client, when an idea hit me with the force of an electric shock. My heart was racing and I had to steady myself against the door…

Because I instantly knew that if it worked, it would have the potential to not only bring in a lot of money, but also allow me to expand my hypnotherapy practice to beyond the clinic so I could help people in other states, or even worldwide.

And best of all, it was something I could make happen FAST, if I could just get a little help from the right people.

Knowing Dan would have the contacts, I gave him a call, letting him know my idea and asking for a favor. He was more than happy to help – in fact he was so pumped he even talked about going into a business partnership!

Telling him the next round was on me and we’d talk next week, I immediately began setting things in motion.

So, did it work?

Well, fast-forward two weeks, and with just under a week of my 90 day deadline left, I had $59,920 sitting in my bank account.

Yes, I know how crazy that sounds – trust me, I wouldn’t have believed it either if it hadn’t happened in my own life. But it did.

I was able to pay more than the required lump sum off my loan, and less than a month later, the debt was gone.

And things just got crazier from there.

My practice took off, and due to a huge influx of clients I was able to raise my fees to well above my overheads. This led me to attract more and more well-known celebrity clients, while at the same time I was growing my online business.

And the more I connected with other successful people, the more I continued to learn about building wealth. This fueled me to keep sharpening my methods and helping my clients to push their limits further and further.

Until eventually, I came to the point where I am today… working with top Hollywood directors and producers, sports stars, and executives, who pay me $25,000 per two hour session to upgrade their mindset so they can elevate to the next level of success.

I’ve been featured in Forbes and People magazines, I’ve been interviewed on CNN, NBC, and CBS, and have even appeared on the reality shows Below Deck and The Millionaire Matchmaker (yes, it’s a little embarrassing, I know).

Again, I realize how crazy this all sounds. But what I can say is… that is the power of the brain.

Our only limits are the limits we create for ourselves. By changing our brains, we can change our limits.

Just like a broke Jim Carrey wrote himself a $10 million dollar check for ‘acting services rendered’ dated 10 years in the future, only to land a movie role earning that exact amount several years later, your mind has a much greater impact on your outcomes than many people realize.

And today, with Total Money Magnetism, my aim is to help people everywhere to harness that power, so that they too can realize their potential for wealth and success.