When I made the transition from corporate America into the entrepreneurial world, it became very clear to me that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. 

It’s this not knowing that hurts salespeople, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. You’ll hear so many salespeople, entrepreneurs, and small business owners talk about this cliche, how they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Or better yet, they talk about how much their Ph.D. cost them. That’s their Ph.D. in hard knocks. I jokingly tell people that I got my Ph.D. from UCB SHK (University of California Business School of Hard Knocks.) 

Getting My Ph.D. at the School of Hard Knocks

My Ph.D. cost me roughly 2.8 million dollars. That’s so impactful I’m going to write it again. My Ph.D. from the school of hard knocks cost me roughly 2.8 million dollars. To be honest with you, I think I got off pretty easy. I think I got off pretty cheap. Trust me, I’ve heard of others who have paid much, much more and I count my blessings daily. 

When I was going through an ugly business partnership breakup, a really good friend of mine put her arm around me and said, “Honey, my Ph.D. cost me 15 million dollars and I had to file bankruptcy.”

At the time, it didn’t take the sting away. Now, when I look back on it, I realize I really did get off cheap. I hear these stories time and time again. 

As you know, it turned out that my Ph.D. from the school of hard knocks was the biggest blessing in disguise of my entire life. I literally tripped into my passion, or as John Maxwell says, “I failed forward.” 

Honestly, knowing what I know now didn’t make it sting any less than and it doesn’t make it sting any less now. My life right now would be a heck of a lot different with 2.8 million dollars more in my bank account. 

No Regrets

I have no regrets. I live my life with no regrets. I live my life with lessons. I live my life with learnings and with gifts. 

I like to look back on events and reflect… What learnings did this situation create for me?

And I have to say, the biggest ones fell under the umbrella of, “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” These are the things that, looking back and learning from, have helped me to build and grow several successful businesses since then.

Activity (Go Grab Some Paper and a Pen)

I’d like you to grab a piece of paper and write out the phrase, “I KNOW,” really big. Now, draw a big huge circle around that. Next, put a line through that circle, over the words, “I KNOW,” all the way through the circle. 

Let this stand as a powerful visual tool for you. 

The biggest injustice we can ever do to ourselves is telling ourselves, “Oh, I already know that.”

I’m going to get really real right now (and pretty blunt): If you already knew it, why aren’t you doing it?

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this, yes, you’ve heard it before but when you heard it, you weren’t ready yet to take action. You were at a different stage in your business and your life than you are now. Now, you can hear it differently. You can take that old learning and apply it differently to take you, your life, your business, and your bank account to the next level. 

Now that you understand success sabotage, let’s find out how to overcome it! Check out my audio training, Success Sabotage 10 Things We Don’t Know that We Don’t Know, to learn exactly how you can avoid success sabotage! 

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