GlobalGrind’s financial coach, Lynn Richardson, had a candid conversation with Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, the multi-million dollar earning best-selling author and internationally renowned motivational speaker, and here’s Part IV of what she had to say:
GG: Being on this side, after having lost your spot on Oprah, the tv show, the money, house, etc., what would you have done or could you have done differently?
Iyanla: I would have spent more time with God. All the way back to the beginning of my writing career 28 years ago. I did too much stuff on my own. That’s why I made some of the mistakes that I made. That’s why I mis-perceived what I thought was inner guidance. I didn’t hear it correctly. From where I sit now and I can look back, I realize ‘God would never say something like that, chile please’ (laughter). I would have spent more time in prayer . . . more time in meditation . . . more time investigating my own pathologies. It wasn’t until I lost the money {and the tv show] and lost the house and lost my daughter and lost my husband that I was forced to look at how I do what I do and how I did what I did and the underlying motivations of it. It wasn’t until all of that was gone that I really came face to face with myself. And what I know to be true is this: had I spent more time in stillness, more time in quiet, more time in contemplation, more time examining my own thinking and my own responses to certain things . . . I wouldn’t have made some of the choices that I made. And now, even though I am busy, I am running around and don’t get to do as much as I would like to . . . I do spend more time [with God]. I needed something a couple of weeks ago and a part of my brain said “Oh Jesus Lord how are you gonna to do this?” The other part of me said “Get still.” And because I didn’t know how to get it, I got still. And within two days, somebody called me on the phone and brought me just what I needed. Young people [need to know] that those kinds of things can happen. Watch Iyanla this week on the OWN (Oprah) Network.
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Coach Lynn’s Money Message:
I was living check to Monday making a high six figure salary. And when I lost everything, including “friends” and “family”, I was embarrassed and ashamed. Forget what people think about you and end your relationship with trying to keep up with the Jones’. Chances are, they are either faking it or on their way to being broke to. Pay attention to who’s in the front row of your life and move all haters to the balcony, where they can see you, but you CAN’T see them. Then, get close to God, commit to facing and living in truth, and start all over again.
