What if you could do it all over again?

Being a writer, I have a thousand ideas a minute and an active imagination. Anyway, I had this ‘what if’ thought… what if I lived to 88 and died after a fulfilling and complete life. But on the instant I closed my eyes I found myself aged 13 once again and starting high school, but still the same person as the 88 year old who had just died.

Say I knew roughly everything that was still going to happen. What would I do differently? Write a book immediately, or start a business and make sure I was very wealthy by the age of 20… but would I?

I would know when and where I was going to meet my wife Ursula, for example. Would I do anything differently? Probably not, because if I did, would that jeopardise one of the best things that’s every happened to me? Would it jeopardise the future existence of my children, friends, family – people I love, know and like?

Would my doing things differently jeopardise their very existence?

It was at that point that I realised the chance to do it differently is no dream at all, but a nightmare. Why? Because everything we are – even in business – is distilled down, in its purest essence, to the relationships we have. I would be terrified of missing out on all those people I’ve come to know, like or love.

They say we come in to this world with nothing, and we leave with nothing. It’s not true. We all come into this world with relationships, and we all leave with relationships. How healthy they are is up to us.

Networking, business, referrals, selling, marketing… it’s also all relationships.

If something is failing in your life, like business, referrals or sales – look to your relationships and you’ll probably find the problem there.