Author, speaker, business and money coach Joan Sotkin said she was a mess before she realized how her emotions were holding her back from becoming a millionaire. She says that once we are aware of how we actually feel about money and success we can achieve our goals. For example, we have to look at our upbringing and the habits we developed in early childhood. How did our parents think and talk about money and wealth? Were there negative experiences we embrace that could be holding us back? It’s not who we are; rather it’s how we behave that creates the lives we have now. While some personality traits cannot be changed, and we wouldn’t want to, we can create a new identity. Joan says she was the girl who was always being rescued, so that became her identity. She wasn’t well emotionally and physically, and that sense of unhealthiness became a part of her identity. When she had the epiphany that these identity traits were holding her back from the wealth and happiness she craved Joan flipped the switch to move toward creating her new identity. She talks about how she had to get through what she calls the “moving stupids,” which she explains happens to us when we are in the process of creating our new identities. Hers came in the form of being one of the first new-age originators with Joan’s Stones that were in 600 stores. This business brought her $30K in income every month, yet she went bankrupt because she hadn’t yet learned the habits of a wealthy person, like managing her cashflow and saying no. She had to develop new habits. The good news is that she did and grew her wealth again by helping others prepare for and create the lives they want. The creator of Prosperity Place, Joan Sotkin teaches us how to remove our heavy, old, tired emotional baggage to allow true prosperity to enter our lives. She says that while we have no money is actually the best time to train our brains to prepare to handle the wealth, and then we won’t just create it, but we will actually be able to manage our money well. Everything starts with our feelings. We have to start shifting away from our past habits and break the negative feelings we may have about money.