So New Year is fast approaching as I sit here at the village hotel in Leeds writing this blog post. Five hours to go before the clock strikes 12 and the new year of 2014 begins.
365 days ahead of us to determine how good a year we will have. Are you going to make every day count? To me every day is so important, and has been ever since I set out on my journey of recovery after bankruptcy
I can’t help looking back to New Year’s Eve 2007. Three days earlier I had received notification from my solicitors that Curves International had won the appeal to allow their claim to stand in the UK against me, and on the 17th January I was going to be made bankrupt.
My world seemed to be falling apart. Everything seemed so unfair particularly curves incredibly shameful behaviour and complete disinterest with anything other than filling their pockets.
There was no excitement on that New Years Eve just visions of the potential nightmare waiting ahead for me. I was certainly proven right and the year 2008 was the most difficult I’d ever faced.
Nothing can prepare you for bankruptcy. Prior to my problems starting I was very comfortably financially. My personal bank account had a 5000 pound overdraft facility, which I never used and my main credit card had a 10,000 limit and although I never used it, even in my tough times nor when I knew that I had 20 days before being declared bankrupt. Yet almost immediately after my bankruptcy my bank account was closed and credit card cancelled. It amazes me even now that when you have money banks and credit card companies want to throw more money at you but when you have nothing they don’t want to know you.
I was most ashamed knowing that my name would appear in print and the world would know about my downfall. I couldn’t stop thinking about what people who knew me would say.
I know 1000’s of other people have to find the road of recovery after bankruptcy. I admit it isn’t easy but certainly achievable. I have learnt so much from, it and plan soon to help others through my Never Give Up Teachings on this site.
What I learnt was be prepared to take a detour. Changing direction could be the catalyst to your restoration and it certainly was for me. The fuel to my rise was both following my dreams and working on something I simply loved doing.
Allowing myself to break away from my old business and go off in a totally new direction.
I moved my focus to personal development my long time obsession and I went online initially to build a blog. To me a blog is simply a place to express your opinion, share your knowledge and allow others to see your journey through life.
I soon discovered how much I loved doing this and began building an online business to allow me to continue to do so. This is a difficult journey in its own right .
There are so many pitfalls and sharks ready to promise you the earth, take your money and provide you with worthless information. What I’ve found is many who make money online protect their knowledge so as not to allow others to take away some of their income. Others haven’t a clue themselves how to make money, but simply believe they can fool others and take the benefit out of the sort niche of making money online.
No matter how hard things were for me and how desperate I was to make money and see my recovery after bankruptcy come to be, I never got taken in, and between me and my business partner Neil we set about experimenting, doing things by trial and error, discovering what worked and what didn’t.
We were both driven by our ambitions and our dreams. These could provide us the determination to break through all obstacles that came our way, and continue to provide us confidence even when things simply weren’t working out.
We have a big year ahead of us but there are no doubts in mind how successful it will be. How can I be so confident. Well that is simple for me to answer. There are certain traits that you must have to succeed. The mindset that I adopted that were able to make me enjoy my recovery after bankruptcy included specific traits that were so important in this part of my journey.
I’ve already mentioned 2 keys to success.
1. Follow your Passions
2. Do something you love to do
Here are a few more.
Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself
Once I snapped out of my drudgery, my feeling sorry for myself, and got my act together to allow me to start putting my life back together again I was able to start moving life forward again.
Never Over React
After disaster strikes it’s only natural to find yourself in a downward spiral. I just couldn’t get a grip on my feelings and reactions. Once I learnt to manage my emotions I no longer overreacted to things that happened, keeping my balance, dealing with everything in my stride.
Accept Responsibility
When my darkest period came I forgot so much of what I knew and had accounted for my previous success. I found myself complaining about everything, whining and blaming everyone I could for what had happened to me. Yet once I accepted full responsibility for my life, understanding that I am the master of my reality I stormed forward on my way to delivering my dreams.
Develop Mental Toughness
The road back for me has certainly not been an easy one, but nor was the journey I first took when I built my successes that brought me my own business and beautiful home. I had to work hard, long hours and deal with many problems and obstacles, I was resilient, persistent and totally believed in myself. Once I adopted again an attitude of mental toughness where I could perform under pressure showing resilience and an inner drive to succeed I was able to fulfil much of my potential.
Commit to Continuous Personal Improvement
Every one of us wants to achieve exciting and fulfilling results in all the key areas of our life and to do this you need to reach your peak performance on a constant basis, both personally and professionally. There are strategies to elevate your income, put your career on the fast track and accomplish more than you ever dreamed possible. Personal Development is a process of learning and growing, steadily and continually. It has been said that life is a journey, not a destination, so you have to constantly be learning something new.
All these traits, plus many more, were key to my recovery after bankruptcy. I hope many of you are able to adopt them in your mindset.
Things are working out great for me. I’m not at the end of the road, but I’ve certainly moved a long way to recovery after bankruptcy. Tomorrow I’ll be on an aeroplane taking 7 days out from my busy schedule to enjoy the sun on the beautiful island of Lanzarote.
Have others reading this been able to enjoy recovery after bankruptcy?
