A dear friend of mine from New Zealand had his home burgled on the weekend. He took his family away for a great weekend to Lake Taupo for what he said “was the best break ever,” only to return home and find the front door open and belongings stolen. The most significant thing that was stolen however was his daughter’s innocence. For the first time she had to process the fact that there are ‘bad people’ in this world.
So how does one deal with such an event? Any parent will tell you that the best way to raise children is to continually distract them with more positive matters. (Children are easily distracted not because they are naive but because they live in the present.) The idea here is not to dwell on the event. Sometimes people spend too much time analyzing what went wrong and how it affected them emotionally. The issue grows in proportion to the amount of time they spend thinking about it.
It is no different in business. Ideas are stolen or ‘borrowed’ all the time. But I see so many entrepreneurs waste a lot of their focus and energy dwelling on it rather than getting on with it. They focus on the review mirror instead of the road ahead.
So whether you have been burgled in life or in business, the best way to deal with it is to learn from it, get over it and distract yourself with more positive matters. Focus on your mission and your goals. Wake up every morning and take action. Continue to eat well, exercise, love, laugh, create, innovate, communicate and build solid relationships with family, friends and associates. Very soon you will forget about the event.
What you choose to do in your future can never be burgled.
Sam Makhoul.