When I started building my business after college, one of my go-to phrases was this: “ That ’s just what you have to do to be successful!” Based on that, I took out loans and was even proud to get them. Because that’s just what “everyone” did. Because I thought: If you come from a modest background, you have to imitate everything that “the successful” portray as so luxurious.

And so I ended up with an office building at a prestigious address in Hamburg, housing a law firm, a tax consulting firm, a financial advisory firm, and a real estate development company. On the outside, it looked as if I had made it. (I’ve described in detail what it was like on the inside in my book *Better the Whole World Against Me Than My Soul *.)

It took me a long time to realize that I was following a path that “people” had laid out for me. But to the banks that gave me loans, I was a wonderful customer, and they made a lot—a great deal—of money off of me.

My approach was always determined by how much of the month was left in my bank account, how much I could still spend, and how much wiggle room I had left. And so I was always limited. (This limitation began as far back as my childhood: How much longer can I stay outside? When do I have to come back inside? When do I have to go to bed?)

I probably would have kept going down that path to this day if I hadn’t realized one day that things actually have to be 180 degrees different . As if struck by a flash of insight, I realized that I could also turn around and look at the account from the other side. Because when you do that, there’s no limit. In any case, no bank has ever called me and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Sonnenburg, but your account is full. You’ll have to open a new one.” This shift turned my life upside down—or, more precisely, put it back on its feet. Because before, when I was thinking in terms of limitations, it was upside down. Suddenly, there was no limit anymore, because my perspective had changed fundamentally. That’s how I went from being a “minus millionaire” to a “plus millionaire.”

Later, I did the same thing in the area of health: I used to ask myself how much work, how many hours of overtime, I could still squeeze out of my body. Today I ask myself, “How fit can I be?” and “How can I achieve more in terms of my health with less effort?” Today I’m fitter than I was 20 years ago! So it is possible to get fitter as you get older!

Our society focuses on limitations. There is no provision for fostering creativity. We know today, for example, that the first three years of a person’s life are crucial for brain development. But are our preschools staffed with the very best teachers? No, children are simply “dropped off” there and “kept quiet.” They’re allowed to play, but we certainly can’t let them become the best possible versions of themselves at such a young age… what a limited and cynical view this is! What kind of society could we live in if, during these unique years, we prepared our children for life in such a way that everyone could reach their full potential? (By this I don’t mean the excessive ambition of some parents to turn their child into a model student, but rather the opportunities we’re all missing out on because we aren’t doing everything we can to awaken our children’s potential.)

Another example of limitations is welfare: As the name implies, it is meant to be assistance in times of need and to help people return to a self-reliant life. To my great frustration, however, there are teachers today who mean well but do anything but good: They cause enormous harm by teaching schoolchildren as early as elementary school how to fill out Hartz IV applications! The children carry this sense of limitation with them from school into their lives, their eyes cast downward.

Doctors and pharmaceutical companies, too, should not make it their primary goal to generate more profit and drive up stock prices; instead, they should constantly ask themselves what they could do to make themselves obsolete. It is important to provide help in times of need—for social workers just as much as for doctors and pharmaceutical companies—but they are all too often looking in the wrong direction. How wonderful would it be if they were to shift their perspective by 180 degrees? If they asked themselves , “What can we do to ensure that people out there are successful and healthy—and that we are no longer needed?” To do this , they would have to overcome the fear of no longer being considered superior or respected. That, in turn, is up to us—the community—to welcome, respect, and then support people who have achieved great things.

But to change the world, it’s not just all the “harmful” teachers or “evil” pharmaceutical companies that need to change. Everyone can and should start with themselves. If you turn your life around 180 degrees, the world can change immensely for you. Your zest for life, health, and prosperity will skyrocket. And you’ll automatically become a role model for those around you. Because there’s enough prosperity for everyone—it’s just—still—distributed unevenly. Many people are convinced that prosperity isn’t for them, that they aren’t entitled to it, that they don’t deserve it—often because they grew up in a mindset filled with limitations. Here, I’d also like to remind you of the blog post in which I asked: What does a Roman horse’s butt have to do with the space shuttle?

Unlearning is often difficult. But not because there aren’t any empowering thought patterns in the world (there are thousands of people who have managed to make a 180-degree turn!), but because the “programming” of our limitations is so strong. And while we see the world with our own eyes, we always view it through the lens of our convictions, beliefs, and paradigms. As soon as we change these and take off those glasses, we see new possibilities.

“Where did I notice today that something in my life needs a 180-degree shift? How can I live up to my full potential more freely and create greater prosperity in the process?” —How about asking yourself these questions every evening?

Sometimes the answers to this question come “only” from your mind. You’ll learn how they can come from your entire being in my CD course, *Sub-Personalities*, and especially in the *SeelenPower* workshop/seminar created specifically for this purpose. The only session remaining this year will take place in late August/early September. This is your chance— feel free to sign up.

Sincerely,

Wolfgang Georg Sonnenburg
winning for life