The Power of Aha Moments

Have you ever had one of those moments when everything clicked? When that light bulb went off in your head and you thought “Yes! I get it!” That's an 'aha moment.' That's a moment when everything that you thought you knew about something changed. It's a moment of clarity, a defining moment when you gain real wisdom – wisdom you can use to change your life.

Let me tell you about an 'aha moment' that really changed my life. It came when I was working for a mortgage company. This mortgage company was founded around the time when the housing boom was at its peak. At the time, everyone was either buying their first home or refinancing the one they had. The company was owned by Nick, a sharp, slick, 30-something Italian-American man. He was really good at what he did and you could tell it just by looking at him. His business was thriving, the market was booming, and he was on top of the world. Nick and I had developed a pretty good working relationship while I was there and I had become one of the company's top closers. As a result, I was making more money than I had ever made before.


One day, I told Nick that an opportunity had come my way to get involved with a financial services company; a company where I could learn a lot more about how money worked ... and not just in the area of mortgages. The income potential also looked a lot better than what Nick was offering me and I told him that I was considering changing jobs to go work for them.


A couple days after I told him this, he called me into his office for a heart-to-heart talk. With complete sincerity, he told me that I needed to keep working for him for four reasons:

1. First, because I was young and inexperienced (20 years old);
   
2. second, because I was a woman (and women couldn't be very successful in business);
   
3. third, because I was African-American (and everyone knows that we couldn't possibly be successful in business);
   
4. fourth and finally, because I was born and raised in 'the hood' (the worst drug-infested Project in Chicago from which no-one could ever possibly rise to success).
   

“You need to stick with me because this is as successful as you're going to get” he told me.


When you first look at it, everything he said made a lot of sense and it could have been very easy to have accepted Nick's view of things at that point. After all, I was making over $60,000 a year working for him as a mortgage agent, a fortune to everyone in my family.


What happened at that point is that I had an 'aha moment.' Oprah says the Aha! effect is “a sudden moment of realization, where an individual recognizes that they need to make a change or move forward in life.” At that moment, it 'clicked' for me. I got it. In that instant I realized that Nick was wrong for every reason that he believed that he was right:

1. My young age gave me the time to learn how to build a business before I got old and worn out.
   
2. Women are making great strides in business and more and more role models, like Oprah, are popping up every day.
   
3. African-Americans are moving into positions of leadership like never before (just look at our president).
   
4. My 'disadvantaged' childhood gave me the mental toughness to not take no for an answer.
   

In that moment, my 'aha' moment', I realized that all of Nick's reasons for me staying were all of the reasons that I had to leave. I could never reach my full potential by working in his business. I needed to move on and build my own business. I thanked Nick for his 'great' advice but told him that my mind was made up and I was moving on.


A few weeks later I left Nick's business and went to work for that financial services business. As a result of that 'aha moment,' I learned a whole lot more about myself and business than I could have ever learned if I had stayed with Nick. Those great experiences gave me the knowledge and ability to create and build F.I. Coaching and I've never looked back or regretted my decision. I have an awesome life.



What's your life like? Are you happy with how things are going? Are you satisfied?
or …
Do you have a nagging feeling that things could be better? Do you feel that you're not reaching for your potential? Do you feel that there's something special that you were born to do? Maybe your 'aha moment' is just around the corner.
When an 'aha moment' happens, it's usually the result of a determined, hard-working and open-minded person trying, and failing, to find a solution to a given problem. One day, all of that work suddenly becomes an “I get it!” That person has an 'aha moment' and their life is never the same afterward.

The French inventor Louis Pasteur once said, "Chance favors the prepared mind."

What are you preparing for?