Money isn’t real.
That’s the revelation that changed everything for Dr. Joe Vitale, one of the original teachers from The Secret and a featured expert in Pillars of Power: The Hidden Secret Behind Achieving Greatness. After years of homelessness and poverty, grumbling about every bill he paid and wondering why everything cost so much, Vitale had an awakening that flipped his entire relationship with wealth upside down.
“Money is an illusion,” Vitale explains. “I’ve traveled enough around the world to know that if I take American money to another country, most of the time it’s not going to be acknowledged unless I get it exchanged into their currency. The money isn’t real. Money is an illusion. As soon as we realize we’re just using it as a symbol for exchange, we start to make peace with it.”
But the deeper revelation went beyond currencies and borders. Vitale discovered that money, at its core, isn’t physical at all. It’s energy. And if you go deep enough? Money is actually spiritual.
“When I started to quit chasing the outer form of money and started to work from the inside out, I started to attract it more easily and more quickly and more effortlessly and with more fun,” Vitale says. “I think that was probably the beginning that it all begins on the inside.”
This fundamental shift from external pursuit to internal alignment became the foundation for what Vitale calls the Awakened Millionaire, a concept that bridges the gap between spirituality and material success. An Awakened Millionaire is somebody who has made peace with spirituality and peace with the material, walking the balance of juggling both.
“It was almost like a moment of Satori, a moment of enlightenment, a moment of insight, where I realized that being material was empty, and being spiritual all by itself was unfulfilling,” Vitale recalls. “You needed to have both to be healthy, wealthy, spiritual and wise.”
From Headlines to Inner Work
Vitale’s definition of greatness has evolved dramatically since childhood. As a kid, he wanted to be famous as a baseball player, a boxer, a magician, a detective, a lawyer, and an author. Greatness meant newspaper headlines and external recognition.
“Today, I would say greatness is more of a spiritual awakening that is unique to me or unique to the person going for that greatness,” Vitale explains. “The greatness is a demonstration and an achievement of living from the inside out. That’s a big change from just wanting to be famous as a kid.”
This internal focus aligns perfectly with the mission of Pillars of Power, which brings together thought leaders including Jack Canfield, Ken Honda, Marie Diamond, Sharon Lechter, John Assaraf, and Dr. John Demartini to explore the hidden foundations of extraordinary achievement across five critical areas: money, relationships, health, mental wellness, and spirituality.
When asked which of the five pillars matters most, Vitale refuses to pick just one. “All five pillars are necessary,” he insists. “To ask me which one is most important is to make it all weaken and to make it lopsided.”
But pressed to choose, he selects spirituality as the anchor. “Spirituality is what’s sustaining me and everybody else. If I just focus on any of the other pillars, that could cause a collapse in my life.” His second choice? Relationships. “We’re in relationship with everybody and everything, including ourselves.”
He illustrates the interconnection with a simple metaphor: “Have you ever seen a three legged stool? Take one of those legs off and you can’t sit on the stool. It’s not going to hold you up. You need all five pillars to be held up in life.”
The Submerged Iceberg
Vitale’s most significant contribution to the personal development movement centers on what he calls counter intentions, the hidden beliefs that sabotage conscious desires. This insight addresses one of the biggest frustrations people experience with the Law of Attraction: they think positive thoughts, visualize outcomes, write affirmations, yet nothing changes.
“The greatest confusion with the Law of Attraction is that people think it works on the conscious mind,” Vitale explains. “What I learned early on was that it’s actually working on what you are subconsciously, slash unconsciously thinking.”
He describes the conscious mind as a tiny piece of the iceberg. “We consciously think, I want more money, I want the relationship, I want spiritual awakening. But unconsciously, subconsciously in that submerged iceberg are all the limiting beliefs, negative beliefs, all the data of the mind that doesn’t agree with your conscious intention.”
So while someone consciously desires more money, their subconscious might be broadcasting: money’s bad, money’s evil, money corrupts, people will come after me, what about the taxes, there isn’t enough. “All of that submerged subconscious data will block your conscious intention,” Vitale says.
The solution requires deeper work. “You have to do the inner work. It’s the questioning work. It’s whatever tools that come to mind, whatever tools you’ve learned, whatever coaching you can get. Anything and everything needs to be applied to clear up the blocks. The blocks are not on the outside, they’re on the inside.”
The Ancient Practice Nobody Does
When it comes to practical steps for manifesting wealth, Vitale champions one of the most powerful yet resisted techniques: tithing. But he approaches it differently than traditional religious teaching.
“Most people have heard about tithing from a minister, from a church, from some sort of religion. That’s all fine, but I’m going beyond that,” Vitale says. “I ask people to look within themselves and say, who or what nurtured me, inspired me, gave me a leg up, put a spring in my step over the last week or last month. Whoever, whatever that was, you give 10% of your recent income to that because you are reinforcing your own spiritual nourishment.”
This creates what he calls the divine flow. “Money has to circulate. Most of us say, I’m not going to give away any money. I’m clamped down on it, which is telling yourself there isn’t enough. You’re coming from scarcity. Soon as you open the door and you start giving, now you’ve opened the door for money to come back to you.”
The money circulates and usually returns multiplied, about ten times the amount given, as long as you’ve made peace with money first.
Gratitude as Currency
Perhaps Vitale’s most radical insight is this: the sole purpose of money is to express appreciation. Its only use is for gratitude.
When he first had this realization, he tested it for exceptions. Paying the electric bill? “I’m pretty grateful to have that service.” Buying a car? “Thank you for making the car. This is really cool.” Groceries? “I’m pretty grateful to have food. Money is used to say thank you.”
He contrasts this with his earlier mindset during poverty: “Why does it cost so much? Why do I have to pay for this? Why isn’t it free? All of that is coming from that lockdown, limited scarcity thinking.”
“When you move into gratitude and you realize the sole purpose of money is to express gratitude, is to say thank you, you have opened yourself up to the divine flow, a staggering flow,” Vitale explains.
This perspective shift transforms money from a source of stress into a tool for expressing appreciation, fundamentally changing the energy around financial transactions.
Living from the Inside Out
Dr. Joe Vitale’s journey in Pillars of Power demonstrates that true greatness emerges when internal alignment creates external results. His evolution from homeless and broke to internationally recognized author and teacher proves that the path to abundance starts with clearing subconscious blocks and recognizing money as spiritual energy rather than paper and coin.
Alongside fellow thought leaders including Jack Canfield, Ken Honda, Marie Diamond, Sharon Lechter, John Assaraf, Dr. John Demartini, and Jerry Sargeant, Vitale contributes a crucial piece to the documentary’s exploration of how spirituality, leadership, and science intersect to create extraordinary lives.
His message is clear: stop chasing outer forms of success and start working from the inside out. The transformation isn’t just possible. It’s inevitable once you understand where the real power lives.
ABOUT DR. JOE VITALE
Dr. Joe Vitale is a world-renowned personal development expert, bestselling author, and one of the stars of the blockbuster films The Secret and Zero Limits. Known to millions as “Mr. Fire,” Vitale has authored more than 80 books including The Attractor Factor, Zero Limits, The Awakened Millionaire, and The Miracle.
Once homeless in Dallas, Texas, Vitale transformed his life through the very principles he now teaches. His expertise in manifestation, clearing subconscious blocks, and aligning spiritual practice with material success has made him one of the most influential voices in the personal development movement.
Learn more at www.mrfire.com
ABOUT PILLARS OF POWER
Pillars of Power: The Hidden Secret Behind Achieving Greatness is a groundbreaking documentary that brings together some of the world’s most influential personal development experts to explore the foundations of extraordinary achievement. Featuring thought leaders including Dr. Joe Vitale, Jack Canfield, Ken Honda, Marie Diamond, Sharon Lechter, John Assaraf, Dr. John Demartini, Jerry Sargeant, and Barry Goldstein, the film examines five critical pillars: money, relationships, health, mental wellness, and spirituality. By fusing insights from spirituality, leadership, and science, Pillars of Power reveals the hidden principles that transform ordinary lives into extraordinary legacies.
Learn more at www.thepillarsofpower.com
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