Last Lecture

I feel like there are too many thoughts, mental images and feelings I have learned this semester to just summarize a few of them or to choose the best ones. But if I have to, I will summarize the things I have learned into two main categories..."Go for it!", and "Have Integrity".

"Go for it!"
More often than not we are prone to thinking small, I believe the phrase we often use is "being realistic". We all know of people who have gone big, who live their dreams, but it just doesn't seem realistic to think that we will be able to achieve the same. I mean, obviously not everyone can be a huge success, we need employees and average people too, right? I mean I wanted to be a big movie star when I was a kid, but the odds are pretty small for success in that field, and you are more likely to end up as the wait staff in a restaurant in Los Angeles than end up on the big screen. But instead of risking failure I could go after a realistic goal, like getting a job with good benefits that pays a double digit salary. The lower you aim, the less you have to fall if you fail, that feels less scary....Or at least that is one way of thinking about it. The other way is to realize that there many opportunities just waiting out there, and even more left to be created. Are you ready to seize them? Someone has to! Why shouldn't that someone be you? D&C 38:30, "...if ye are prepared ye shall not fear". Prepare to seize opportunities. And remember that failure is just a part of life, try try again!

"Have Integrity"
No matter the opportunities we take advantage of, having integrity is key to eternal success. Money, power and success can be a slippery slope to a place we never imagined we go if we don't set firm guardrails around us and have our life, (business, family, etc.) deeply rooted in gospel truths. We can't be two different people, what we do in one aspect of our life will affect us as a whole. And we are under covenant to take His name upon us, we represent Him in every business deal we make. We should never do anything to slander that name.

So set your guardrails firmly in place, prepare yourself to seize opportunities, and then go for it!

Enjoy yourself

After listening to Stan Christensen and reading about Randy Haykin I feel that we should not just pursue the path of greatest wealth or power but truly do something we can enjoy. Christensen advised against taking a job just to get somewhere, but he said to do something somewhere you can prosper. This advice seems echoed in how Haykin drove his career path. He chose jobs and companies that fit where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, and when he wanted a change he created that as well. My grandpa said that entrepreneurship is very fulfilling, and I think as long as you are enjoying it, going where you want to go, doing those things you hoped to do, then it will be.

Christensen additionally noted that work is called work for a reason, they pay you for a reason...it's not all enjoyable. Even Haykin has things he hates to do, or hurdles he must climb in his journey. However if the good things, the enjoyable things, those things that bring us closer to our goals outweigh the bad things, then I would call the overall experience fulfilling and enjoyable. There is plenty of things I don't look forward to, but there is even more that I do.

Money, money, money...

What is my attitude toward money? Throughout my life I have had very different views and created various "lenses" through which I saw it. Luckily I have had the opportunity, particularly in the past few years, to read, hear, and learn from those who had a healthier view of money. They weren't scared of money like I was, I was scared to have it and scared not to have it. The lack of money in my early marriage and our fear of drowning in a sea of bills and debt created a very hostile environment for us. We were unhappy with each other and blame was spread around. Those  individuals who knew better then me have taught me some important things to help guide my view. First, they taught me to stop being afraid of it, money is just an object, albeit an important one, and there are more than a million ways to get some if you want it. Second, they taught me that by giving it away, I would be more likely to succeed. Giving, not being greedy with the money we get, is the best way to live and provides the best breeding ground for financial wealth. Plus, we must remember that our life on this earth has no set time frame, we never know when it will be over and our physical money will not accompany us to the other side. However the good works we are able to accomplish with it and the people we can touch for the better can be our legacy forever.

So of the 6 rules that Stephan W. Gibson gave for prospering,
"Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him
  Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings.
  Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant.
  Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters.              Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity. Rule
  5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated. Rule
  6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive."

I believe rule #3 is where I am working on right now. Using what money we have to create an environment which is self reliant, is my next big financial goal. There are so many things that lend themselves to this like, year supplies and gardening, learning skills like sewing and repair, creating a financial reserve and investing smartly, staying out of debt and sticking to a budget, and so many other areas that can help.

Humble

          I love how Taylor Richards of Taylors boats was so humbled and surprised each year that they made the it onto the top 100 boat dealers list. I would say that many people would be thinking they were, or at least hoping that they were number one. And even thought they ranked near the top ten percent, they were humble and grateful for it.
           As successful as I hope to become I don't ever want to "expect" to be number one. I want to strive for number one, but I want to always remain gracious and hopefully delightfully surprised if I were to be told I was near the top. Humility in business combined with an ethic of hard work and integrity feels like a winning combination.

     I loved reading, "A Message to Garcia" from the Acton Foundation. I will definitely refer back to this as I engage in leading my own business and hiring my employees. I liked some of the advice they offered like making employment conditional, making sure to only keep those who have proven their worth. They said, "Underachievers may change over time, but only if they make the decision to change themselves. Your assignment is to get the job done, not run a counseling service for underachievers". I thought this was insightful, having been on the hiring, and being hired end of an employment situation. There were times when I have had to continually coach, cheer-lead, and at times drag an employee through their own daily tasks. I am also sure that there have been instances that I have been under-qualified and unassertive enough to be that employee as well. In both instances, time, energy, and moral were lost. This need not happen to any company who is able to put more thought and quality into hiring new human resources.
     I also loved the advice to, "Find a “deep burning need” you care about. Your lifelong mission will be more fulfilling if it serves the needs of others. Look for opportunities or injustices that speak to your heart. Find where your gifts, tasks you enjoy and a “deep burning need” intersect and you will have found your calling." This has been the biggest idea I have been pondering this semester. There are many ways to make money, but I want to find the right one for me.

Human problems

I love the perception that all technical problems are really human problems at their core. How true. If we could truly dig the very start of a problem, how often would we find a human error or problem? And if we were to find and correct each "human problem", how much less would "technical" ones occur? After listening to Eric Ries talk about his "Five Whys", I would like to set a goal for myself (my future self) to be the kind of manager/business owner that doesn't just deal with the immediate problems but seeks to find the underlying human element to it. I want to acknowledge every level of my company and those people that keep it going, or slow it down. To work this way, is similar to a doctor diagnosing a disease opposed to just treating  and catering to symptoms. I also think that this type of system would really make myself and employees responsible for their actions. If they, or I, are not preforming duties well enough then we can diagnose and seek to fix that. I hope I can continue to learn new and better ways to manage a business and the people who are so needed for its survival.

Habits

          It is hard for me to choose just one habit among the all important seven which will be of most use to me in the future. They each seem to need each other. And in a world where there is SO many ideas, habits, and information, Covey has narrowed it down to only seven.
          I like the concept of win/win. Especially in business it can be made to seem that if we want to be successful, you must beat out others. What a game changing concept, that to reach our goals we should help others to feel good and "win" as well. Our employees can win, our partners can win, our customers can win and even other business can win if we have the right attitude. This particular attribute reminds me of how the Savior would conduct a business. And if I can feel that the savior would approve of my business plan and conduct, then it is full steam ahead in my eyes.
         Another habit which could have heavenly attributes would be to begin with the end in mind. When I think of this, I think of having an eternal perspective. Can we see where we want to be, are we heading down that path? Not only in our personal life but in our business dealings. I want to be able to forego the instant gratification of the now and see the big picture.

As short and sweet as it was, I really felt moved by Jan Newmans talk. I definitely fall into the category of people who think that I will be successful and use that success to build the Lords kingdom. Newman helped me to see that it's the seemingly smaller acts like being a home or visiting teacher that really count. By doing these things we show the Lord who's side we're on. Not to say that we shouldn't strive for success in business, but we can realize that it isn't the most important thing, or even the second most important thing. Our spouse, our family, and most importantly the Lord are of the highest value as they are the only things that matter eternally. One of my favorite quotes from M. Russell Ballard  says, "What

matters most is what lasts longest, and our families are for eternity." I want to remember to always be willing to take a calling extended to me, be a valiant visiting teacher, and to never "crunch" my family in pursuit of worldly aspirations. 

Already from hearing this talk, I was reminded to check up on some woman in my ward and help them out. And when my daughter came asking if I could lay with her, I was able to walk away from my compute and schoolwork and do just that. So grateful to have an eternal perspective!

Hero's Journey

After watching "A Hero's Journey", I was left reflecting on the key questions that those people interviewed over 65 deemed important near the end of life. Who did I love? I can only hope that at the end of life I can say with confidence that I loved my family, my husband, my children and that they knew it. Who loved me? As much as I hope that my family feels of my love, I can only hope that I have lived in a way to deserve their love as well. We may be sealed together forever, but I want them to want to be with me forever as well. Was I a good person? I hope I can be remembered as someone willing to easily give service, someone honest, trustworthy and full of integrity.

"It's not about you, it's all about you", I know that I have gifts and talents that if focused. could help others. I want to figure out what comes easy to me. I liked the idea of asking other people what our gifts are, as others will notice things about us that we don't or that we take for granted. This would be a valuable insight to getting me one step closer to my "calling".

Fear

As Franklin Roosevelt said, " the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself". This week  I  have been asked to do something great and terrifying at the same time...address my own fears. I was asked to address my fears about business in particular. If I would have been asked what I was afraid of in starting a business, I probably wouldn't have been able to give an answer...I didn't think I had any. But to my surprise, once I truly pondered this question, the fears could have poured out of me like hot syrup onto a pancake of truth. The act of externalizing each fear and finding a solution before it came to fruition is freeing. I feel more confident that I can avoid these unwanted circumstances, and even if I should be asked to face them that I would be prepared to do what was necessary to claw my way back to even. The most surprising, although it shouldn't have been, was to see that my family's future was my greatest fear. How would this affect us? I shouldn't have been surprised by this pattern, my family is the most important thing to me here, and in Eternity. And would there be a risk with taking no action? Every decision, weather the decision to act or not to act, have a risk or consequence. We can't stay in the same place, life is continually changing and moving on. I want to be proactive in my life and not let my inability to act be my choice! 

What to do...

To do, or not to do....that is the question. This week has made me think a lot about preparing to 

choose the right. Not only choosing the right, but actively preparing to recognize when I am 

choosing wrong. Setting up these boundaries now is a great tool that I don't think many people have had the opportunity to take advantage of. In the talk, "Choices" by James E. Faust, he said, 

"Elder Oaks had decided years before that he would never drink alcohol, and so in the moment of trial he did not have to make this choice again". This example is relative to how I feel this preparation will be for me in the business world. Choosing now what I will or will not do, before I am in those possibly hard situations, will help to define the right course. It may seem silly to prepare so early, but this also reminds me of a story from Elder Robert D. Hales. In his book "Return", he describes his flight teams month long preparation before a long flight. The preparation was tedious and may have seemed silly but in a desperate moment that training saved their life. To prepare before hand so you don;t have to question or wonder what to do in an invaluable asset in the gospel and in life. 

What Calling is Calling?

Last week I was concerned about realizing what talents could lead to potential callings. This week I felt very blessed to read the article "What Is Your Calling in Life?" by Jeffrey A. Thompson. He says that. "In fact, finding our calling in life involves the same process as discovering our spiritual gifts." This statement got me thinking about my patriarchal blessing, as everyone is told one of their "gifts" in their. As I considered that gift I felt that I too may very well fall into the category of talking/socializing as I was perplexed about in my last post. For this precise event Brother Thompson said, "As you consult your spiritual gifts, you may find that you don’t feel an urgent pull to practice medicine or educate children, for instance. Maybe instead you just like working with people. That is the most common thing I hear from students who are perplexed about what type of work they should do. If you think your spiritual gifts lie somewhere in that ambiguous area, I challenge you to delve much deeper into what your specific gifts are. How do you like working with people? Our strongest gifts tend to appear early in life, so it might help if you think back on your childhood and about how and what you played. " This was very helpful information and had me think back to my early childhood experiences with friends and peers. I was VERY shy and usually had only one good friend at any given time. I remember when I was in fifth grade I felt a desire to have more friends and began to use what I had learned from observing my peers for so many years(as many shy kids do), and implement those traits that people were drawn to. I was naturally good at reading and being aware of others feelings, and in response to those observations could create an environment that would help them be more comfortable. I was easy to get along with and peers who had a hard time fitting in else ware seemed drawn to my company. While never "popular" in the traditional sense I was able to go from having almost no friends to creating a friend network throughout many "clicks" or "groups" at my schools. From these pondering s I feel that my calling is coming into greater focus, although still not crystal clear. I want to use my ability to relate easily to others to help them somehow. I am excited to bring this vision into greater focus through my study at BYU-I!

After hearing the last lecture of Randy Pausch, he was able to accomplish his own childhood dream through persistence and belief in himself. His parents were supportive not only in his adult life but as a child they supported his creativity and dreams and let him paint on walls and truly express himself. These things contributed to his great success. As a child I wanted  to become a veterinarian, a love of animals and taking care of things led me to this. However as I grew I found many and varying areas that I was interested in and that has led me to where I am now. However I feel that if I had wanted to pursue my original goal, I would have been able to with the same support from my family like unto Pausch's. 

The start-up of me

This week has been a great motivational push to dream big, set goals, and make it happen! Through reading, "Living Life as an Entreprenrurial Hero" by Jeff Sandefer, I have been trying to really focus on my own talents. I am interested in so many things and easily tossed about on the waves of the latest ideas and trends. So this idea is very grounding and I feel will be a great influence to help me hone in on my "calling". As I thought on this subject a few thoughts came to mind. I have a desire to be organized, however the process of organizing can be tedious and unfulfilling.  Jeff points out that we should look for something, "where you lose track of the hours spent in it, and one where you would practice for the sake of practice alone." So in this spirit, I enjoy creating...painting, building, crafting. I also can lose myself when talking to others, I suppose I enjoy socializing, could this be a talent? I will have to continue to pay attention to the things I enjoy and what things come more easily to me as I go about my day to day activities.

I thought it was an important reminder and forewarning through much of the text, that failure happens. However, failure is not a sign that you should give up, but rather an opportunity to try again. Something to be accepted early on, some failure is imminent, but if we can have an attitude and characteristics developed to deal with everything not going "as planned" then it will be alright. It's how we deal with the failure that determines if it will sink our ship or simply change our course. Good to remember!