He/him, developer, builder of things both tangible and abstract, practitioner of yoga and ukulele... All-around complicated monkey.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tobyplaystheuke
Actually, been there done that. Lost everything, and spent fifteen years rebuilding something different.
When life is stripped down to nothing, you sort of learn to focus only on two things: "Why?" and "What next?"
Why? Not why has this happened, but why do we rebuild? Thinking about the "what next" is a meaningless direction, unless and until you've established why you're doing it. Building a million-dollar company is meaningless as a why, though it's a solid what. Why the money? Why the reputation? Why the connections? When you lose everything else, what keeps you moving forward is your "why".
What next? Once you have an idea of what it is that is motivating, finding the steps to get there is key. Look at the options (and having nothing actually opens more options than one might think), and consider: does this option move me toward my "why", or away from it? Is this an ethical choice out of line with the person I want to be after I get there? Is this something that will help me keep that focus, and will drive me toward my reason? If not, don't do it. If so, hold it tight.
But it took a while to reach that point. Honestly, when first losing everything, it takes a while to realize: your heart still beats, your lungs still pump, you still are moving. You're still here, so you haven't reached that "why". But it takes a while to realize - losing everything isn't the end of the story. It's the beginning of a new chapter.
Actually, been there done that. Lost everything, and spent fifteen years rebuilding something different.
When life is stripped down to nothing, you sort of learn to focus only on two things: "Why?" and "What next?"
Why? Not why has this happened, but why do we rebuild? Thinking about the "what next" is a meaningless direction, unless and until you've established why you're doing it. Building a million-dollar company is meaningless as a why, though it's a solid what. Why the money? Why the reputation? Why the connections? When you lose everything else, what keeps you moving forward is your "why".
What next? Once you have an idea of what it is that is motivating, finding the steps to get there is key. Look at the options (and having nothing actually opens more options than one might think), and consider: does this option move me toward my "why", or away from it? Is this an ethical choice out of line with the person I want to be after I get there? Is this something that will help me keep that focus, and will drive me toward my reason? If not, don't do it. If so, hold it tight.
But it took a while to reach that point. Honestly, when first losing everything, it takes a while to realize: your heart still beats, your lungs still pump, you still are moving. You're still here, so you haven't reached that "why". But it takes a while to realize - losing everything isn't the end of the story. It's the beginning of a new chapter.
Really? That's amazing!!