Several years ago I posted on Facebook that I’d lost 15 pounds in six weeks. Of all the topics I’d covered before that, this one received the most “likes” and comments. I was shocked. Naturally, people really wanted to know my secret.

If you want to make more money or lose weight… keep reading.

The surface answer to how I lost the weight: I went on a raw foods cleanse and joined the gym after a long hiatus.

The majority of people who tried this would not get the same results. That’s because there is so much more to the story than diet and exercise.

The real story about my long-desired weight loss?

When I got pregnant with baby #2, I set the intention of manifesting my ideal body after his birth. I lost a ton of weight in those first few months, but my body would not release those last 25 pounds.

My baby’s sleep pattern kept me from sleeping through the night for a couple of years. That lack of sleep made me feel very unlike myself. I was out of balance with two kids, a business to run, and no energy.

When you feel like that, you begin manifesting lots of stuff you don’t want. I got sick more often; I was cranky; and while my gross income kept rising, so did my expenses.

Every day I looked in the mirror and was irritated by what I saw. The same thing happened every time I looked at my expenses. There came a point where I said, “My mission is not to lose weight or decrease expenses. I have to be okay right where I am right now—tummy pooch and sky-high bills included.

By the way, it wasn’t like I wasn’t doing anything to solve my weight and overhead issues. I consistently exercised, from the moment I healed from childbirth. I also implemented all the strategies my team and coaches suggested to increase my profits and decrease my expenses. But I still saw no huge improvement in either department.

However, once I stopped complaining—inwardly and outwardly—about my situation and made peace with myself, things began shifting. I was inspired to do a raw food cleanse because I felt for years that my diet was out of balance (I rarely ate fruits and veggies).

As I prepared for the cleanse, I realized I wasn’t truly enjoying the exercise program I’d been doing. I immediately stopped and joined a gym to do one thing: lift iron—my favorite way to exercise since I was 16. I hadn’t been in a gym like this for over five years. It was exhilarating!

Then I was challenged by my team and coach to hire more help. I did, but it fell apart before we made traction. However, it led to new choices that made me feel better about outsourcing.

And during the month that I was making all these changes, I redid my entire schedule so it was 100% supportive of my desires concerning family and business.

The results: weight loss, a huge shift in the way I related to time, profit margins significantly increasing, and… I was extremely happy. I felt more at peace than I had in years.

So what’s the strategy?

• Stop whining and complaining about what is. Make peace with it, even if you want something very different from your current reality.

• Make small changes to create peace in your life right now, with what you have.

• Take action on your inspired ideas to feel fulfilled, not because you’re desperate for results.

A very important part of my success was because I didn’t base my joy on my results. There were many days during this process that I had to release irritation when the scale, my bank account, or free time didn’t look the way I wanted. After I created my ideal schedule, lots of things threatened to push me back into my old mode of operation.

I made peace with the mission, not perfectly implementing my cleverly crafted plan. I saw goals as a work-in-progress and had no doubt where I’d land… but I wasn’t attached to the outcome. =)