5 lessons I learned after losing my business

I can't believe it took losing my business to learn these lessons. These are 5 things I wish I knew before I started my first business. No 1. You are not your business. Your business is a wealth vehicle, not who you are. When your identity is tied to your company, your company makes or breaks you. When I separated my identity from my business, I became happier. No 2. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Most things are out of your control. Planning you can do. Things right get taken by things you didn't choose. Market shifts, timing, all of these things. Thinking about what could go wrong gives you margin, just not enough. And what I couldn't control, ultimately led us to where we are now. No 3. Cash buys you time. Cash buys time, time buys options. Revenue feels like success, but liquidity, leverage and security. Leverage and security. No 4. Your business isn't your baby. Isn't your baby. Sacrificing everything for my business. Growth came from systems and doing the right actions over time, not blood, sweat and tears. No 5. Growth happens from doing the thing. Just because things didn't go your way, doesn't mean you didn't grow. I've grown a lot. I've gained so many skills along the way. Losing my business didn't just erase the company in my hands, but the 100% is nothing is wasted because I've extracted the learnings.