Fall seven times, but bounce back

Lessons from experience. Many entrepreneurs have had to start all over again when their lifetime empires come crashing. They lose much more than just money. It is a lifelong dream.

My friend, who we shall call Geraldine, lost her job two weeks ago. She has been working in a fairly specialised industry and she had to train all of seven years before she could get her first qualification. Now that she has been laid off, not many other employers will be eager to pick her up, since her experience and training are not relevant at all to their industries. I could appreciate her feelings, but what is done is done and a new life awaits.

When we had this talk, she was inconsolable (still is, I understand), but my intention was not to pass on consolation. I told her that all we could do is acknowledge the situation and start planning for the future.

The truth is, not many of us are where we would have wanted to be and many of us blame this on something, or someone; that boss who fired you, your parents who forced you to study a particular course that you did not like, and so on.

There is a lot to blame. You want to go on? Be my guest. The economy, the dollar rate or even the fact that you were born Ugandan and not Russian, for example.

Self belief
Every motivational speaker will tell you that you are what you think you are...and that you cannot go where your mind has not been. Very true. It is during moments like these that we need our positive attitude the most.

Give your mind free will to take you places. You will be surprised what you come up with.
But not many of us will make sense of these facts. We will be inspired for a while, go home with a happy face, but reality sets in by morning and we are back to where we were, jobless and oftentimes hungry. I suspect the reason I was told this is so I can get my friend a job, isn’t that what friends are for? But she didn’t say.

But even if she had, I doubt I would have been useful in that aspect. You see a positive attitude and no money or skills will always beat a poor attitude and skills; throw in some experience too, if you like.

Starting over
Ask how many entrepreneurs have had to start all over again when their lifetime empires come crashing. They lose much more than just money. It is a lifelong dream. But the only way is to cry a little, pick your self up and start building again.

That is what termites do every time someone crushes the ant hill (to be honest I don’t know if they cry). But they build, sometimes from scratch yet again. Sometimes they change location, and start again.
Having lost a business once, my biggest lesson then was to perhaps start all over from a totally new environment.

I know people who have re-invented themselves several times and tried out something new every time what they were doing failed. A lawyer turned disc jockey, dentist turned comedian and they have succeeded at their new vocations.

They did not whine about their many years of training and preparation for the legal and medical fields respectively.
So, I say here, what I said to Geraldine then. Take time off for the shock and anger to wear off and resume living. It is going to be a little hard, but it doable. Since you received specialised training, do you think you could even start on your own?

Serve the under-served clients in that field! You could even forget education for a while. Imagine if you had not gone to school, how you would have done in such a situation! Start there.

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