It can be challenging to give up on a business, indeed, as so many people hold onto relationships that are no longer nourishing or providing value, many entrepreneurs hold onto business that are costing them a lot of emotional energy and financial resources.

We all know of people that have built a business, investing their blood, sweat and tears into the process - only to find, at some point, it all comes crashing down and they need to “let go” but they hold on, clinging for dear life - but losing a lot in the process, as a a result.

In some ways this can be likened to trying to resuscitate a dead business, which if we look at this in the metaphor of resuscitating a dead person - we can see there is little value in keeping on administering CPR if the person has already died.  Yet, as a result of our emotional attachments to our business, we cling on, and struggle to let go of the dream we built.

However, in holding on so tight, we are not free to rise up again like the true phoenix spirit of an entrepreneur; choosing instead to get consumed by the fallacy of sunk cost, which is where we find so many business owners throwing money at a problem, only to find it’s a bottomless pit.

In this sense, dealing with insolvency is a highly emotional process, that is much more than a legal and administrative process.  Of course, being supported by a professional team such as Neil Davies & Partners Solicitors will certainly help ease the administrative burden and navigate through the potential pitfalls of corporate insolvency - but the one thing you’re going to need more than anything else is perspective.

In that vein, here are three ways to help shift your perspective and remain positive despite the adversity you might be facing in your business and personal life.

  1. SHIFT THE MEANING

No event has any true meaning other than the meaning we attach to it; thus, there are no “good” or “bad” things in life, it’s only how we perceive them, that makes them how they are.  Understandably, if you’re going through an insolvency process it can be heard to attach a positive meaning - but if you see this as a chance to restart and rise up again, you will feel a lot better about the situation.

  1.  SHIFT YOUR FOCUS

So many times, when encountering tough times people walk around with their head down, focused on what has gone wrong.  This is understandable, but it’s important to shift your focus to the future rather than the past.

  1.  LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE

Life tends to give us a lot of lessons, indeed, it can come and thump us over the head with some life lessons, but it’s usually only through experiencing such tough times that we learn and grow - meaning, this experience, albeit unpleasant, has value in the sense that it can teach you a lot if you are open to using the experience - rather than letting the experience use you.

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