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.