Romantics contend the three most powerful words in the world are “I love you.”

Wonderful as they are to say and to hear, they just can’t stand up to “I’ll start over!”

These are the three practical, down to earth, little words that built America, colonized by émigrés who vowed to leave all behind, good and bad, and begin anew.

I believe it is precisely our unwillingness to drop what we’re doing, abandoning our comfort zones, and leaving our habits behind, that prevents us from taking total control of our lives and succeeding as we should.

For example, you might own some stocks and nearly every advisor you’ll speak to urges diversification, spreading risk among lots of equities. Certainly, this is a hedge against underperformers, but it isn’t a path to maximizing gains.

To do the latter, generally, you need to go OVERWEIGHT on certain issues. Owning a lot of one winner will do more for your wealth than trying not to lose.

The risk? That’s obvious.

If your choice tanks, you could lose everything.

It hurts, and depending on your situation, it could be economically devastating if you tell yourself, “I can’t start over.”

But most can. Even aging and certifiably old folks like Colonel Sanders and Ray Kroc, the geniuses behind KFC and McDonald’s made their fortunes well after 50.

Sanders was over 65, and angered by his paltry Social Security checks, and that motivated him to START OVER.

Read biographies of successful entrepreneurs and you’ll see the phrase: “He has made and lost several fortunes.”

The ability to earn a fortune is linked to the willingness to lose it, or at least to risk what you have now.

As they say in baseball, you can’t steal second base without taking your foot off first.

The next time you hesitate to risk, or to seize an opportunity, ask yourself, “If it doesn’t work out, can I start over?”

I think you’ll find, to your surprise and delight that the answer is almost always, YES!