Going bankrupt and losing everything

Going bankrupt and losing everything taught me to truly understand business. Going bankrupt is a sign that you have already overused your exhausted tools and resources and you have no other ways to produce more. People are already using their maximum potential everyday. They are already performing at 100% capacity of their current version of themselves. They are either at 100% of full productivity, grit, and perseverance; OR at 100% of laziness, fear, and useless resources. I was in the latter when I lost everything.

Going bankrupt taught me many lessons in life and in business. Here are the five major ones: 

1- Knowledge is NOT power. Why? Because, what if you have the wrong knowledge? Your power becomes destructive for you, for your business, and for the people around you. What is a real power is the right knowledge put constantly into practice. Knowledge alone is useless if you don’t practice it enough to make up your own version of wisdom. This is why most of the financial professors who teach you about money at school are broke. They are full of the wrong knowledge about wealth and money. When I had the restaurant, I had the wrong knowledge as well, and I have practiced the wrong advice for way too long. I hired what I thought were the right people, but all they had was the wrong knowledge. My ignorance and their ignorance led me to bankruptcy. Which was the obituary of my old self and the birth of my new self. 

2- You must work to become 10% better every day. You are the creator of your life. Do not give up your power to the acclaimed gurus that you follow in the hope of reaching your goals and your dreams. You either create the life you want, or you ditch it. The year I went bankrupt, I realised I had no vision, no goal, just a broken plan of misleading hopes. I bought into the idea that a good degree at school will set you for life. I was addicted to experts who shared mediocre advice. Some advice they never practiced. This realisation set me to work tirelessly to become a multiplier, who is able to 10x every action and every result.

3- Choosing the right people around you is everything. Everyone around you is your partner. Your team is your partner, your supplier is your partner, your friend is your partner … This is why you are the average of the five people around you in life and in business. If you have losers and lazy people disguised as employees, they will make you a failure as a business owner. Hire based on their character, and don’t be afraid to fire quickly until you build the right team. On the other hand, your contacts are your contracts, and the quality of your contracts are equal to your revenue.

4- Life is not linear and business is not one level. Business is really a reflection of the person you become in this life. The more you become in life, the more you can create in business. There are four levels in life, and three currencies in business. 

Life has four levels that perform together in full harmony. Each one must be satisfied and fulfilled by itself to empower the other levels. 

Level one: The Physical 

This is where everything physical manifests in a form or in the creation of a form. This level is about money, health, possessions … and time itself. At this level, everything looks scarce and limited. People who are stuck at this level live a life of scarcity and fear. I was stuck at this level for so long, until I realised that this level is just the fuel for the next ones.

Level Two: The Mental 

The power of your mind is endless in shaping your life and manifesting the physical things you desire. The right knowledge is the fuel of your mind. The right knowledge is the food you consciously use to reprogram your mind. My mental was hooked by the negative programming that I am not enough, I am not good at sales, I am always last … I am still working on cleaning the negative programming from my mind.

Level Three: The Emotional 

The emotional level is the level that triggers actions to reach your goals. The emotion is the drive of taking action to get what you want. Having  negative mental programming set me on a negative emotion, that froze me from taking the necessary actions every time I faced a challenge. The challenges started to pile up, and the destruction was obvious. I hit it with a great speed.

Level Four: The Spiritual 

It is the highest of all levels. It is the reason why the other levels exist. When the other levels are not in harmony, this level will not be in harmony too. This level is the only level that stays after you leave this planet. I knew this fact from science more than from church. I knew the importance of it, but I was lost in the challenges of the other levels.

5- Money is not the only way to measure success in business. The way you can measure success in business is through the three currencies: 

1- Money 

2- Time 

3- Energy 

Every currency has its way to calculate its return. 

1- Money: ROI (return on money invested)

2- Time: ROTI (return on time invested)

3- Energy: ROEI (return on your efforts invested)

Money is the by-product of the time and the energy you can produce. The more money you make, the more quality time you can produce, the more elevated energy you will experience. Energy is about lowering your stress and increasing your levels of satisfaction and fulfillment. That is what creates real happiness. Happiness does not live in the pile of money you stack.

In summary, if you take into consideration the points above, you are not only becoming extraordinary in the craft you do, but an impactful human entrepreneur who changes every life you touch.