They say that money can’t buy happiness, and Brad Chandler learned that lesson the hard way, which eventually led to a monumental shift in his own mission in life.
By all objective measures, he had achieved massive success. He built a real estate portfolio consisting of hundreds of properties — and that’s on top of the thousands of flips that added even more revenue to his business. He was a sought-after real estate expert who was frequently asked to share his insights on stage at real estate events all over the country and helped countless people achieve their financial goals along the way.
But inside, he was deeply unfulfilled.
If you saw his life, it might seem like Chandler had a perfect life and had nothing to be unhappy about, but that’s not how the human mind works.
Despite having a thriving business and substantial wealth, he realized that he was being dragged down by a problem he wasn’t even aware of because it came from childhood programming buried deep inside his subconscious. It explained why he always felt like something wasn’t right. He never thought that he had reached his true potential, many of his relationships were in shambles, and he was coping by using marijuana on a daily basis, and he finally knew why.
That was a game-changer for Chandler.
“Over 95% of our decisions — including our financial decisions, are made by our subconscious mind, so while we may ‘know’ what we should do, we often don’t, and even can’t do it because of our subconscious thoughts, and in many cases, may even sabotage ourselves. That’s why we can work around the clock in pursuit of our goals and do great things at work, but still not achieve the financial independence we feel like we deserve,” he explained
Chandler followed this realization by rolling up his sleeves to work with various professionals to identify and resolve the programming and limiting beliefs that were holding him back, and during that process, he watched his fear, anger, self-doubt, and unhappiness fall away. More importantly, he began to experience immense happiness — something he hadn’t felt in years.
He started to get more done at a higher level and did it more quickly. He was also thinking more clearly, and his relationships were better than ever. He felt like a sports car that just had its governor removed, opening up a whole new level of performance. The possibilities were endless.
It was then he decided to make a major career change. While he had achieved tremendous success in real estate, he was so moved by how this experience changed everything in his life that Chandler was inspired to help others experience the same kind of breakthrough. So, he built a new business around exactly that.
Chandler explains, “You see, we’ve all been taught a lie, and it’s that if we just work hard and follow the rules, we’ll end up doing well financially. Unfortunately, a lot of smart people believe that, and when they work hard and follow the rules, but still don’t end up where they feel they should be financially, they get frustrated. They often feel that either the system is rigged against them or that they’re not smart enough — and neither of those things are true.”
He says it all stems from our self-worth, which is damaged because of childhood programming, often by our parents, who were doing the best they could at the time.
Chandler expands, saying, “Unfortunately, almost everyone has a problem with self-worth because we’ve all experienced childhood programming and few have taken the steps to resolve it. Even worse, most people don’t even realize it. They just know that something seems to be missing in their lives, and they think money can fill that void. This is often how entrepreneurs are created. They think money will give them the self-worth they desperately need, and they dive in, ready to take on the world.”
So, after working to overcome his own challenges with self-worth, he then sought additional training so he could help others through the same process. This included deeper training on the strategies and tactics used, as well as training on coaching so that he could guide his clients to the outcomes they were looking for.
“The difference between how I feel today compared to how I felt back then is like the difference between night and day,” Chandler says. “But it’s about a lot more than just feelings. It’s also about the potential this mindset shift opens up in us. It’s about the increased impact you can create for more people because you’re now no longer held back by subconscious thought patterns that don’t serve you.”
So, how many of us are really being held back due to low self-worth?
According to Chandler, most of us are, and the scary part is that most don’t even realize it.
“Now I know you’re probably thinking, ‘No way, Brad! I know my worth and I love myself! I don’t have that problem.’ That may be true, but — and please don’t take this the wrong way — it’s probably not. If you’d have asked me a few years back if I had a strong sense of self-love, I would have enthusiastically said, ‘Hell yeah, I do!’ If you’d have asked me if I had self esteem, I would have enthusiastically said, ‘Of course!’ And if you had asked if I cared what people thought about me, I would have enthusiastically said, ‘Absolutely not! I know exactly who I am,’” he says.
This isn’t hypothetical for Chandler because, like his clients, he’s going through the same thought process himself.
That inspired him to create his free Self-Love Quiz so others could get an accurate and objective measure of where they stand, even if they don’t consciously realize it.
He explained that If you want to start making better decisions, you need to look through your life for red flags that signal a lack of self-worth, like negative self-talk, arguing a lot or feeling the need to be right, self-destructive behaviors, relationship problems, difficulty sleeping, anger, depression, or anxiety, to name a few. These red flags are a sign of a much larger problem lurking under the surface.
“I’ll give you an example,” he said. “A while back, I was working on a flip, and it was easily the single biggest project in my life. When I saw the potential profit I thought I would earn from this investment, logic went out the window, and emotions took over. Things were going wrong at every step as my losses stacked up, but I just couldn’t walk away. I was certain I could save the deal, reap a massive profit, and then bask in the glow of admiration from other investors because of my prowess, but I was wrong and suffered a massive loss as a result.”
Chandler continued, “The real problem wasn’t that I was so wrong, though. It was that I allowed my self-worth, at that time, to drive emotional, rather than logical, financial decisions. At first, I thought I just made a series of bad financial decisions. Once I dug deeper, though, I realized I was trying to prove something — both to myself and to others.”
He said, “First, it was, ‘Look at how much profit I can earn from this deal!’ Then, it became, ‘I’m going to look awesome when I turn this around despite everything going sideways!’ And it soon turned into, ‘There’s no way to fix this, but I can’t let it go because that will make me look bad!’ So I held on as my losses racked up, with the final total weighing in at over one million dollars.”
The situation was bad all the way around, but it did come with a silver lining. This experience, coupled with his willingness to ask and answer the tough questions, led to a life-changing breakthrough.
Chandler said, “I dug deeper into why this happened, and deeply analyzed my actions and thoughts throughout the deal. That’s when I realized that everything I had done was about stroking my own ego. At the time, I didn’t have a strong sense of self-worth — but I didn’t know it consciously, so my thoughts and actions revolved around proving to myself and others that I was, indeed, worthy.”
That, Brad Chandler says, is how he ended up on his mission to challenge people to find a qualified professional — whether it’s him or someone else, to help uncover the self-worth they deserve. He knows it will be absolutely life-changing because when you do, not only will your financial situation improve, but your mindset, relationships, and health will as well.
Greg Grzesiak is an Entrepreneur-In-Residence and Columnist at Grit Daily. As CEO of Grzesiak Growth LLC, Greg dedicates his time to helping CEOs influencers and entrepreneurs make the appearances that will grow their following in their reach globally. Over the years he has built strong partnerships with high profile educators and influencers in Youtube and traditional finance space. Greg is a University of Florida graduate with years of experience in marketing and journalism.
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