I created my first million dollars very consciously. Yep, that’s right. I started with nothing and created a net worth of more than a million dollars using my mind and the law of attraction, in under five years.

Well, technically I didn’t start with nothing—I started with $50. But it may as well have been nothing. I was broke.

I was on the verge of bankruptcy. I had no job, no money and my house was in foreclosure. Oh those were pretty depressing times—made more depressing because I had read the books, I knew about the law of attraction and still I was a hot fiscal mess.

Every day was filled with dread. I dreaded going to the mailbox because there were only “past due” notices. I dreaded answering the phone because it was always a creditor. Everywhere I looked it seemed like there was more bad news—credit cards canceled, eviction notices and bills, bills, bills. And I felt powerless to change any of it.

Okay, you should know that is NOT the millionaire mindset. That is the scarcity mindset. And I strongly recommend you don’t go there. Worry, fear and hopelessness only bring you more to worry about, more reasons to feel afraid and more realities filled with lack.

So how did I create going from nothing to a million bucks? Well, in a nutshell…

First, I gave up the fear

Folks, this is easier said than done, as you probably already know. But here is the way I thought about it—I realized I was spending the days and nights of my life petrified that things would only get worse. I was agonizing over my financial state. I was giving all my joy to my lack of abundance. And finally I said:

“NO MORE.” I refused to trade my joy for fear even one more day. This resolution came one morning as I was drinking my morning mocha, petting my sweet cat and watching a gorgeous sunrise.

“Right this minute I’m safe and life is good,” I thought. “I don’t need to feel awful just because I don’t have money.”

And I decided then and there that my happiness was more important than anything—more important than money, or credit card debt or banks foreclosing on my house. Happiness became my number one priority.

“I would rather be a happy bag lady than an unhappy anything else,” I vowed.

And an interesting thing happened after that choice

I got a job.

Oh not a good job. But I got a job—as a temp—two days a week.

Most people would have lamented that the job didn’t even pay the bills. Not the new “happy” me. I celebrated. And I was determined to feel nothing but gratitude for this newfound income.

So when the first check arrived, for $164.32, instead of thinking about my expenses (which were far more than that), I thought, “I created this $164.32! Yesterday it wasn’t here and today it is. I am so grateful for this abundance!”

And I truly was. Soon, I again began to…

Play with the idea of creating my reality

I didn’t focus on money. I didn’t focus on success. I focused on feeling the way I wanted to feel in my life.

So here’s the often-misunderstood truth—it’s not the thoughts that create millions. It’s the feelings that create millions.

But how do you feel money?

You don’t. You feel the essence of money. You feel the freedom. You feel the security. You feel the fun. You feel the safety.

I decided just to play with these feelings—without any huge expectation of making a million dollars. Instead I had an expectation of creating realities that brought me more good feelings—I was getting hooked on happy.

I got up every morning, and did a little 5-10 minute visualization. I imagined having tea with my higher self, my subconscious mind and my future self. We met at a little outdoor café on a river in the south of France.

I would tell them, “Okay, this is how I want to feel today! I want to feel prosperous, creative, like I’m making a difference—and I want to have fun and feel happy!”

And I would feel each and every one of those feelings so they would know exactly what I meant. And lo and behold…

More interesting things began to happen

Within three weeks—yeah, three weeks—I was offered a full time job. It paid well, it had benefits and it was work that was fun for me!

“Whoa! This stuff really works!” I thought. And I started to take it even more seriously.

I knew I had some pretty deep-seated beliefs about money—and not in a good way. I made a commitment to discover exactly what those were. I set aside evenings to do “belief work” and I did it.

I discovered dozens of them—beliefs about the difficulty of creating money, and about the things I would have to give up to have money. And I went into my subconscious mind and I changed those nasty energies that were keeping me locked in struggle.

That’s when it got really fun

The president of the company came to me and told me he planned to quit and start two companies of his own. He invited me to be a VP of one and he even gave me a tiny piece of the company!

Wow. I was committed to keep up the (inner) work—this was even better than I’d imagined!

And OMG—I had no idea how good it could get. But first, it seemed to go sour.

After only six months, he shut the company down. I was jobless again—but this time far from hopeless.

I held this thought, “Even though things seem bleak, I am abundant and this is simply a blessing in disguise opening a door to an even better reality.”

Sure enough, my old boss approached me and suggested we start a company of our own. We each put in $50 and incorporated a marketing company that I ran out of my spare bedroom.

The company started slow, as most dreams do, but in six months I was able to buy my partner out, and within five years the company was grossing $5 million in sales annually—without investing another dime.

I loved growing that company. I had a fantastic time. And I kept the millionaire mindset—not by focusing on money, but by focusing on joy and fun—and holding an intention of prosperity at the same time.

It wasn’t always easy and I didn’t always succeed in staying out of fear, doubt and impatience. Ultimately it did take some serious inner work to get there.

But I got there. And you can too. Abundance is our birthright. And if we know how to access it, and change the beliefs that prevent it, we all can enjoy unlimited abundance.

With love,

This article was first published on the GuidedMind.com blog.