I don’t spend much time worrying about losing the things that matter to me. Because I’d rather spend time loving them while I have them.

(Even when I’ve lost someone I love, I never looked back and thought to myself, “I wish I would have spent more time worrying about losing them.” Nope. I was simply grateful for the time I’d had to love them.)

Someone did ask me in an interview once what I would do if I lost everything related to my business. No website, no book, no contacts, no track record…nothing.

It was an interesting question and it got me thinking:

What would I do if I lost everything when it comes to my business?

Have you ever asked yourself that question?

Here’s what came to my mind: I would rebuild.

If we lost everything, it would be devastating and painful.

But not everything would be lost because while you can lose the trappings of success, you can never lose your experience and knowledge.

While you can lose the trappings of success, you can never lose your experience and knowledge. @katenorthrup (Click to Tweet!)

We live in a time when, as long as you have access to the internet, you have access to tons of knowledge that will teach you how to do just about anything, including grow a thriving business leveraging the internet.

So if I lost everything, but I still had my knowledge and experience, here’s what I would do, first, second, and third:

  1. I would decide who I wanted to serve.
  2. I would figure out how I could best solve their problems using my unique expertise and experience.
  3. I would use the internet to find these people and communicate how I could solve their problems in a way that connects with them and inspires them to take action.

Business is cyclical and some of what worked ten years ago isn’t working now. As business owners, we’re in a constant state of reinvention. And nothing is guaranteed. At any given time we stand to lose everything, except our knowledge and our experience.

That’s why it’s critical to become lifelong students and to be open to changing the set of our sails as the winds shift.

We live in a tumultuous time of social and political upheaval that will most assuredly lead to economic upheaval.

The only way to ride the waves instead of being pummeled by them is to invest in your own education and stay engaged and flexible, fully committing to being of service without getting overly attached to the HOW.

I’m curious: What would you do if you lost everything? How are you investing in your ongoing education and flexibility so that when changes inevitably come, you rise rather than being taken under because you didn’t see it coming?

Tell me in the comments!


Kate Northrup is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, and mother who supports ambitious, motivated and successful women to light up the world without burning themselves out in the process. Committed to empowering women entrepreneurs to create their most successful businesses while navigating motherhood, Kate is the founder and CEO of Origin Collective, a monthly membership site where women all over the world gather to achieve more while doing less. Her first book, Money: A Love Story, has been published in 5 languages. Kate’s work has been featured by The Today Show, Yahoo! Finance, Women’s Health, Glamour, and The Huffington Post, and she’s spoken to audiences of thousands with Hay House, Wanderlust, USANA Health Sciences, and more. Kate lives with her husband and business partner, Mike, and their daughter Penelope in Maine. Find out more and receive your free copy of the 5 Simple and effective ways to get the results you want in your business at katenorthrup.com.

 


Image courtesy of Roberto Nickson.