I always knew that I am going to achieve something significant in my life and I work hard for it. But I was all over the place, every time I made a mistake I had a great excuse: “I am a risk taker, so put everything down to experience and move on.”
*Leaving this note to let you know that I am sharing my life experiences with people who have bigger dreams. I don’t have much to offer for chronic complainers and negative people in fact I stay away from them.
Really, Hasitha, move on? Move to where?? to make another mistake, and then another, another and another? I carried on making mistakes because I thought I’d learn lessons from them. But I never fully addressed the issue, or the root cause of these issues and challenges I faced. It was too late when I realised the difference between being a risk taker and being stupid. This attitude led me to a disaster in November 2018.
In November 2018 I went from hero to zero within a matter of weeks. I lost almost every penny I had apart from the unbreakable courage and intense life experiences that I have been through. Suddenly, the friends I had were nowhere to be found. I had bills to pay, and salaries to give but, on some days, I didn’t even have enough money for food.My office only called me to talk about expenses. Those people who used to wait for my calls didn’t want to answer my phone calls. I noticed a significant change in the tone of voices of almost everyone who were very close to me. Their tone: Hasitha you are done and you are no longer needed.
I was not in good shape. I was stressed. I was sleep deprived. I spent about a month thinking what I should do. During those days, I learnt the biggest lesson in life: “How it feels when someone becomes no one.”
I didn’t like that feeling at all. I hated it.
I was confused: I was emotionally exhausted. I was overthinking with little to no sleep. I was planning a way to come out of it. It was all too much for me.
I couldn’t believe what was happening around me. I was on my way to be financially free, healthy and happy, I couldn’t admit that I failed. I couldn’t admit that I have no people around me anymore, I couldn’t admit that I wasn’t mentally and physically ready to face such a disaster, I couldn’t admit that I have only earned money but no one around me.
I eventually came around to admitting all of my mistakes. But doing so gave me more pain. It wasn’t about losing money, but when I finally accepted what was happening around me, I realised that I have built a life focused on money. I wasn’t in charge of my life. It was money. Money was in charge of my life: money decided my relationships; money decided my health; money defined happiness. In essence, I was a slave of the modern monetary system. I thought money was working for me but, in fact, I was working for money.
Anyway I had to start from somewhere. Crying over the spilt milk wasn’t my thing. I always knew that I was a badass entrepreneur. I knew that I would never give up. I knew that I was gifted with common sense. To tell you, I actually have a good taste for music and I can crack a joke despite how bad the situation is.
I don’t believe in luck. I work hard. I believe in experience. I get better every time I face challenges. So I asked myself: What else do you need?? I knew that I was good at making money. I had no doubt on that. But it wasn’t only the money that made me feel miserable. So now, I wanted to explore new knowledge, on how to plan a successful life, genuine relationships and be happy.
I told myself: Don’t focus on what you don’t have, just focus on what you already have. Don’t ever drop your shoulders and say “I am done.” As I always say, one life, do something about it.
The turning point: Since I had no one to talk to, I picked up Screw It Or Do It by Richard Branson. The book was sitting on my desk for ages. It was the first non-academic book I ever read in my life. I finished reading it in a couple of days.
To be frank, nothing went into my mind, but reading helped me stimulate my mind, and at that point, that’s all I wanted. With the little money that was left, I bought another book (Money by Rob Moore). Again, I finished reading that book within a few days.
The more I read, the more I realised that I am not alone. There were many hard-working, smart people who have faced disasters. I went to the same bookshop again and bought my second book (Way Of The Wolf by Jordan Belfort). So, Yes, I spent the little money I had left with to buy books. This was what helped me recover. My brain knew how hard I worked in life, and how big my dreams were, so it produced great decisions to deservingly achieve what I aimed for.
All I did was: read books and avoid negativity. Thanks to my intense experiences in a competitive business field, and in life in general, It helped my brain to produce better results utilising my previous experience and new knowledge I was feeding.
My brain started working again: It doesn’t matter how hard the situation is, the human brain can do wonders. All you have to do is motivate it, feed it with relevant and sufficient information and command it with what you want in life. It will do the rest. By mid-January, 2018, my gym membership was cancelled (of course I didn’t have money to pay for it), so I started jogging on cold winter mornings. I did whatever it takes to keep myself healthy. I got used to doing water fasting which tremendously helped me detox myself and saved me money. I restructured one of my companies using my experience and the new information I gathered. I created a new product to start immediately and another product to be launched in 2019, within 14 months. I was so focused on fuelling my body and brain right, and in return, they kept giving me great ideas and results. When I look at myself in the mirror I don't see sadness. I forgot that I was going through a disaster.
I kept doing what I was doing: By mid-March, I became a book addict. I exercised every day. Yoga helped me focus. My main aim was detoxing my body and giving tangible information to my brain. I even stopped focusing on operations of my holding company. I trusted my employees and asked them to carry out the tasks.
First thing first, I wanted to improve myself. In about two months from restructuring Transaction Plus, it started making money. I became a better decision maker. I became a vegetarian. I kept doing water fasting, which I learnt from the days I had no money for food. I didn’t spend time meeting possible clients, if they are not intentionally genuine nor positive. I also built a new system to spot opportunities (which I will write about in a separate article) so I can avoid them in my life. I gave my best to my clients like I always did, but this time, I gave them more value. I stayed focused and continued feeding enough information to my brain, so this time I can make him work for me more productively. I became super busy adding value to myself; I was very excited about life that I didn’t have a reason to worry about what, where and how I lost.
By July 2018, Transaction Plus was growing at a healthy phase. All the major UK banks joined us in supporting our enterprise development scheme. We had enough customers, but as I mentioned I tried my best not to facilitate clients who were not intentionally genuine.
Things got back to normal : By the end of 2018 I made more money than what I made in any other financial year. The products I created at Transaction Plus generated regular wealth. I developed more clarity running my holding company effectively. I felt healthier than ever. I started seeing some positive, smiley faces around me, when I met friends, we would talk about empowerment, travelling, fitness, happiness and of course making wealth. I understood that creating wealth has nothing to do with chasing money, it’s about adding value to yourself and then passing it to others, constantly and timely.
For the first time in my adult life I had time for myself, to think why I started chasing a bigger dream in the first place, to think what I really wanted in life. I still have the same goals, but how I am getting there; the way I chase them, has changed. What happened 14 months ago was a disaster (I will do another article about it), but now it’s a blessing (in disguise).
My message to you: Just don’t give up, refuse to lose, add more value to you constantly, keep the relevant and let go of the irrelevant. That’s what I did and that’s how I rose again. Remember that if you stop and look around you, there’s already enough to be excited about life. So be excited about it.
My brain passed the test! It did exactly what I asked for. My brain doesn’t just go through hard times it grows through them.
Thanks for your time.
Hasitha Rodrigo
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