“It’s Gone.” What Losing Millions Taught Me #entrepreneurmindset #financialindependence

I had personally guaranteed $40 million worth of real estate, and listen, that money's, that money's gone. It's gone, gone. It's not coming back. Holy crap. You need this thing. You can't just ignore it. You can't just pretend like it doesn't matter because money doesn't solve all your problems, but it solves all your money problems. There's a lot of problems that revolve around money, and I had to learn that the hard way.

Anthony Vicino, an author, creator, and entrepreneur who built a million-dollar window washing business, co-founded a climbing gear company, and went on to raise $40 million in real estate.

So what is it like to go from that high high to all of a sudden watching these things fall apart?

There was a 6, 7-month period there from October through about March of last year where it was just real dark days. As you both navigate the, the reality of holy crap, we have a sinking ship here. How do you forgive yourself? Um, I'll pause there because it's a lot. It's not about what you own, it's about what you— There was just, over the last year, there was a period of time where the universe was definitely saying, here are the lessons that you need to learn now, and you're going to learn them. And the most, um, most uncomfortable way that you can. And there's so many lessons. The biggest one, though, is there's a confidence shift that comes once you realize you have the ability to make money. Then it's a skill that can't really be taken from you. And for the first time in my life, that's when I felt like nothing can ever break me financially again, because I know I can always make it back. Is interesting given everything that's happened this year.

What do you wish you could go back and tell yourself or that would have helped you?