The Lie I Believed About Wealth — And What It Cost Me

There I was: sitting in my office after a coaching call that had gone… well.

Money was coming in. Client was happy.

Everything should have felt like progress.

Instead, I felt like I had just crossed a line.

Not a real one.

An internal one.

A line I wasn’t supposed to cross.

Because in the back of my mind, something was whispering:

“Careful. You’re becoming one of them.”

I grew up in '90s Romania.

Back then, wealth wasn’t earned. It was taken.

Rich meant corrupt.

Success meant shady deals, arrogance, betrayal.

That belief didn’t come from a book.

It came from the streets.

From watching who thrived and how they did it.

And so, without ever meaning to,

I built a rule deep inside me:

Wealth = danger.

Ambition = betrayal.

And that rule stayed quiet.

Until I started growing.

My coaching business began to expand.

I stepped into leadership.

Started talking about impact.

Started dreaming big—

like “million-lives” kind of big.

And every time I leaned in…

Something inside me pulled back.

It was subtle.

Just a tightening in my chest.

A moment of hesitation.

A voice saying:

• “This isn’t safe.”
• “You’ll lose yourself.”
• “You’ll become like them.”

And here’s the part I’m not proud of:

• I believed it.

Not because I’m weak.

But because no one had ever shown me how to rewrite those invisible rules.

So I didn’t journal.

Didn’t just chant mantras into the mirror.

I did what adults like me are wired to do:

- I went to the source.

- To the core of who I am.

- And I brought the whole team with me.

The Warrior

He came in hot.

No nonsense. No hesitation.

He pounded the drum in my chest and roared:

“Enough hiding.”

He wasn’t there to protect me from growth.

He was there to protect me through it.

He reminded me that strength and integrity can exist in the same breath.

The Magician

He met me in the woods—

calm, cloaked, knowing.

He handed me the truth I had buried:

“You’ve always known what’s real.”

He didn’t fix me.

He transformed what was already there.

Turned shame into fuel.

Fear into vision.

The Lover

He didn’t ask for strategy.

He asked for presence.

He wanted depth. Emotion.

He wanted me to feel again.

To love my life,

not just survive it.

He whispered,

“You’re not building this to run away.

You’re building it so you can finally live it—and share it fully and joyfully with your wife.”

The King, the Sovereign

He didn’t rush.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He simply looked at me and asked:

“Are you leading a life worthy of your values?”

“Are you building something that will outlive you?”

His words were still.

But they hit like thunder.

Because they were the real questions.

Not “How much are you making?”

But “Who are you becoming?”

He showed me that legacy is slow.

That clarity doesn’t shout.

It leads.

And this is why now I feel… different.

Not just in my thoughts.

In my breath.

In how I make decisions.

In how I show up in rooms.

In how I walk beside my wife.

In how I laugh with my teenage daughter.

In how I lead others who are done playing small.

I feel:

• Grounded — because I’m finally standing on my own values.
• Inspired — because the future isn’t a threat anymore.
• Whole — because no part of me needs to be hidden.
• Purposeful — because every step is intentional.
• Energized — because alignment is powerful.
• Liberated — because I’m no longer asking for permission to grow.

This is what identity work looks like.

It’s not loud. It’s not sexy. It’s not Instagrammable.

But it’s real.

And if any of this sounds like you,

If you feel stuck, off, or trapped by beliefs you didn’t choose,

You’re not broken.

You’re just living by someone else’s rules.

Let’s rewrite them.

Do you want to tell me which archetype feels most alive in you right now?

- Warrior,

- Magician,

- Lover, or

- King.

Your shift doesn’t start with a new chat with ChatGPT.

It starts with a real conversation.

My clients’ transformations speak for themselves:

💎 Oana, an HR executive who hadn’t updated her CV in 8 years, is now outlining her third book — the one she’d been dreaming about but never felt “qualified” to write. For the first time in a while, her voice feels like her own.

💎 Mirela said something that gave me chills:

“Today, I am me — and my mother is my mother. I no longer feel resentment toward her, and I feel at peace with the direction I’ve chosen for my life. Thank you.”

For the first time in years, she felt emotionally free, deeply aligned with her path, and chose to stay in her marriage from a place of peace, not pressure.

💎 And Michaela, after 12 months of feeling stuck in a fog of “Is this it?”, is now leading an IT team and a family with two small kids — earning twice as much as she did before.

💎 Lucian finally stopped numbing out with beer every evening and had his first honest conversation about what he really wants next — with his boss and his girlfriend.