How 5 Entrepreneurs Came Back From the Brink

Roberto Orci
1. Chaos creates opportunities.
Moving can be as stressful and traumatic as death, public speaking, and bad bosses. He was born in Mexico City before moving to Toronto, Canada, at eight years old. Then he moved to Houston for junior high and high school. He spent years on the debate team. He wanted to give the world another lawyer. Then, he had to move again in the middle of my junior year.

His new school in Santa Monica, Calif., didn’t have a debate team. He felt depressed because he could no longer practice my passion. But the school had a film class, taught by a very popular teacher. In that very class, he met Alex Kurtzman, and they started writing together shortly after. Law went out the window as they put 20 years into Hollywood, co-writing the scripts for “Mission Impossible III,” “Transformers,” “Star Trek,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” and more.

“The chaos in our lives can also open opportunities. The trick is to stay calm in a storm and not miss them. You can always reinvent yourself.” — Roberto Orci, Hollywood super producer and screenwriter whose movies and TV shows have grossed over $ 5 billion worldwide.

Com Mirza
2. Believe in miracles.
On his eighth failed company, he was in a state of financial, mental, and spiritual meltdown. But through grit, hard work, and hustle, he launched his ninth company with zero money. Instead, he sold two partners on the business idea and used their tiny amount of capital to begin.

He developed a piece of software and tried to sell it. After being rejected six times in one day, he seriously questioned his faith while teetering on the edge of his ninth successive collapse. He was on his knees, praying for a miracle.

Then, out of the blue: he landed his first sale. Then three more. He was suddenly profitable, making $30,000 to $40,000 a month. He paid off the debt he owed to everyone, which had accumulated from back-to-back failures.

“I finally believed that I could chase my dreams with conviction. I worked hard on upgrading my belief system and mindset. Success and failure are all inside your mind. Win in your mind and you’ll win against the world.” — Com Mirza, “The $500 Million Man” and CEO of Mirza Holdings; failed in eight companies back to back and today, runs a nine-figure empire with over 600 employees.

Craig Handley
3. Trauma leads to triumph.
The biggest thing that affected Handley’s life was getting bullied in junior high—not just by a few, but by a lot of kids. In a bid to avoid the bullies, he’d wait after school or take a long route home, like through the woods. It shaped him positively and negatively.

The positives: He fought. In high school, he started lifting weights like a madman. Vowing to be big and powerful, he added 60 pounds of muscle by my sophomore year. He worked harder than anyone to prove himself worthy of love and respect—to be somebody. If anyone said something was impossible, he’d prove them wrong. That drive built the life he has today.

The negatives (which he worked on reprogramming): He feared. Your brain thinks your fears can kill you. Fear made him strong, but he has since struggled with weight loss because he is afraid of being small.
“Every life-defining moment affects your life positively and adversely. Have you explored your painful moments and worked on them to become the best version of yourself?” — Craig Handley, co-founder and CEO of ListenTrust.

Steve Griggs
4. Build on mentors.
As a union construction worker, Griggs’s dad woke at 4 a.m. every day and embarked on a one-hour commute for New York City to feed his wife and five kids, pay the mortgage, and keep the lights on.

The construction industry is very cyclical. Many times, things were great, and other times, when there were no construction jobs, they would simply lay you off with a small unemployment check until the next job came along. Whatever the case, Griggs’s dad always put food on the table and most of the time, kept the lights on. That taught Griggs persistence and to never give up. Although it didn’t prepare him for the ups and downs of owning his own business, it stopped him from flat-out quitting.

I struggled for years until I met entrepreneur Grant Cardone in 2016. I started watching his videos about money, finance, and business. A light bulb went off, and I remember thinking, “Holy crap, I don’t make near enough money. If I keep going like this, I’ll be broke and on food stamps very soon.”

“Cardone transformed my thinking about how to dominate my niche. I listened to his advice and went ‘all in’ investing in myself. I hired international branding expert David Brier and revamped my marketing and website. I hired video genius Rob Syslo, Jr. and started running commercials on Grant Cardone TV. I haven’t looked back since.” — Steve Griggs, founder and CEO of Steve Griggs Design; designs and builds custom residential backyards for affluent clients who want fast results.

Chris Plough
5. Develop a success operating system.
A long time ago, a software company took a chance and hired Plough as a systems administrator. He was appreciative and spent two years working hard, learning, growing, and becoming truly phenomenal at his job. Regardless, the company had to lay off a third of employees. They cut him in the first round. Emotionally, he felt destroyed and lost — the job was my identity.

A year later, some of the core executives left to start a new software company. He was one of the first people they called, which began the path to founding, growing, and exiting his own eight-figure logistics company.

“I learned three core lessons, which have become part of my ‘success operating system’.
One, you can do everything right and still fail. Go all in on a mission or project without expectations. Remain open to all possibilities while giving your best. Paradoxically, this increases your chances of success. Two, gauge true success over an extended period. Don’t judge yourself solely on near-term results. Weigh the immediate and long-term results to understand the true impact of your actions. Escape the rollercoaster ups and downs that destroy many entrepreneurs. Three, while many things are outside our control, putting your destiny in someone else’s hands doesn’t provide security. You give up power over your future. True freedom involves taking full responsibility for your life.” — Chris Plough, author, speaker, advisor, and founding partner of ExponentialU; he equips epic entrepreneurs for the world that’s coming.

Source : https://www.entrepreneur.
com/article/298638