Wrestling podcaster and author Eric Bischoff spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall this week for NBC Sports Boston.
During their discussion, Bischoff spoke about some of the financial ups and downs he’s experienced over the years. After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy just a few years ago, he’s proud to say he’s currently worth “seven figures” once again.
Here’s video of the 40+ minute interview, with highlights below:
From Chapter 11 Bankruptcy to Millionaire
“I filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is a corporate bankruptcy, not a personal one, because I invested a massive amount of my own money into a new venture that we had every right to believe was going to be a successful one, we had high quality people involved, did the work, blah blah blah. But the market changed and I lost a fortune.
And it was like, ok, because I’m a risk taker, I’m an entrepreneur, that’s what we do, we lose 7 or 8 times out of 10, but those 2 or 3 times we win, we win big. That’s just the nature of the game, it’s like being a professional gambler in a way. I took the risk, I knew it was a risk going in, I knew I was too old to be taking that risk, by taking all of the money and all of the assets I had and putting it up against this idea, but I believed in it, so I did and it didn’t work.
So, I’m filing Chapter 11. I’m 60 years old and I’m filing for Chapter 11. I didn’t want to talk about that. But, I now have a net worth in the 7 figures, I’m all good, I paid off every one of my debts 100%, that is in my rear view mirror. I reinvented myself at 60 years old and in really less than 3 years, I’ve paid off all of my debts and like I said, have a net worth in the 7 figures.”
It’s all about Gratitude
Bischoff’s upcoming autobiography is titled Grateful, so it should come as no surprise that he speaks passionately about the importance of practicing gratitude each day.
“Learn, discipline yourself, learn to start your day recognizing what you have to be grateful for. It wasn’t easy for me, you know, when I filed for Chapter 11, it was a bad time for me. But, fortunately, I’ve got a great wife, and she reminded me every day.
I’ve got it tattooed on my wrist – it says, ‘Grateful.’ We all.. whether its your health, whether its the fact that you get to see another sunrise, because a lot of people don’t, a lot of people I know don’t, a lot of people I’ve been close to for years, can’t anymore. We all have something to be grateful for, but once you start recognizing, as insignificant as it may feel in the moment, but then you look at it differently, all of a sudden, you’ll start realizing all of the other things you have to be grateful for, and the more grateful you are, the more positive you are. The more positive you are, the more likely it is you’re going to come out of your crap. That’s what worked for me.”
“It sounds so simple, we’ve all read those books, we’ve all seen those bumper stickers, we’ve all heard those conversations, and it seems so simple, but man, when you’re down, things are going against you, you’re emotionally getting your butt kicked, it’s not as easy as it sounds. But once you master that art, and you start off every day that way.. again, I’ll speak for myself, I’m not trying to tell other people what to do. What I learned, and what you’ll read about in the book, is just waking up every day being grateful changes everything.”
Grateful byEric Bischoff is due out November 11th. You can pre-order it now.
