The Last Lecture (for now)

This semester was a really interesting time for me. It was my first semester back from serving a full-time mission (for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and it was a big adjustment.

            I took this entrepreneurship class because I want to open up an art community center and I decided that understanding how to start-up and run my own business was a smart idea.

            I’ve learned a lot from this class in regards to what it takes to be an entrepreneur and there are a few things that I feel are most important to me and maybe they’ll make a difference for someone else as well.

Find a good idea. Love it and believe in it.

            This might seem painfully obvious to you but it still needs to be said. There are a lot of different people that we learned from that stressed this idea of finding something you love. It’s hard to know how to look back through our materials to find the sources, especially since I returned all my books. However, the gist of it is this, going after an idea solely because it’ll get your rich or because it’ll make someone else (like your parents) happy isn’t the way to go. Sure, you might get rich and someone else might be happy but will you fill the peace of personal success and happiness?

            I’ve really learned this semester that I need to believe and love the idea that takes me down the path of entrepreneurship. If I love and I believe in it, I’ll have success. Maybe I won’t make as much money as another idea might make for me btu I’ll be happy and that’s the best wealth.

Priorities!

            These are huge. Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of time, energy, focus, money, and basically all you can give it. So it’s important to make priorities, to set goals, boundaries, and rules for yourself before you jump in. I learned from a lot of different people that you can have a family and be an entrepreneur but you need to make time for both. I think that’s been something that I’ve personally worried about. I do want a family but I do love the idea of my art community center. So for me to be real about how I can do both, I need to make decisions about my priorities before I get in too deep. If I know that I’ve made the decision to have family everyday before I start my business, then that is part of my business and I’ll be more likely to stick to it.

            So set your priorities, whatever they may be, if you want a family take that into account, if you want to travel (yes, I do!) prioritize it in. Whatever your other responsibilities or extras might be, you’ve got to decide and make plans for them to balance with all that your start-up will take out of you.

Serving the Lord and others.

            This one is simple. Find ways to incorporate the Lord into your work. Be honest. Have integrity and rely on Him. This will bring you more success than a business without the Lord on your side, I promise.

            Then when you’ve gained success find ways to bless the lives of others because yours has been so abundantly blessed.

If you need help, you better extend some first!

            This was a great principle that really has helped me. I don’t remember which week it was or who said it but the idea has made a profound impact on me. I’m going to need help on my journey to success in entrepreneurship (and in all aspects of life really) and so the best way to network with people so you can get help is to first know and offer any help you might be able to give to them. Seems simple and it is but I just really love it and definitely want to implement it more into my life and my business ventures.

No Fear.

 This is a big one for me. I scare myself more than anyone else. I can be uber critical and unbelieving. This is something that cannot exist if I want to succeed. The same goes for ya’ll. Don’t be afraid to go after your great ideas, the ones you love.

Don’t be afraid to fail. You can always get back up and try again. MANY, MANY inventors and entrepreneurs failed lots of times before they got it right. Take Edison and his lightbulb.

Don’t be afraid to succeed either. I don’t know if anyone else is like me but I think that sometimes I don’t want to try because I’m afraid of the success. Maybe I’m crazy.

Don’t be afraid.

I know there is much more for me to learn about entrepreneurship and I know that these principles will help me when I take it on in real life. I look forward to the learning curve!

(also, I still can't spell 'entrepreneur' right 100% of the time, but I've gotten better!)

Gratitude

This week we learned a lot about gratitude and I feel like it's such an amazing reminder. I have so much to be grateful for and I sometimes I forget that.

I think in business that gratitude will play a huge role. If we are grateful to the Lord for the opportunities that He gives to us, then we'll be more likely to have faith when things don't work out. If the Lord wants us to succeed in something, if we do our part and give thanks, He'll help us. But usually, when things don't work out it's because He has a different plan for us (a better one).

I loved this quote from President Monson's talk, "We fairly skipped our way back to the chapel. Our hearts were lighter than they had ever been, our joy more full, our understanding more profound. This simple act of kindness welded us together as one. We learned through our own experience that indeed it is more blessed to give than to receive." He taught about how his class gave their saved party money to a family in need. I know that those times when we are giving that we do feel more blessed and happy. The Lord gives us so much and I think that when we live our lives the way He's taught that that is the best show of gratitude that we can give to Him.

I also learned from Stan Christensen that it's best to choose a job that interests you and that will be fun. He said, "...people say, wow I'm just going to do this job for two or three years. I'm going to hate it but it's going to get me to the next level. I think the most important criteria when thinking about how to choose a job is pick something you think is fun that you're going to enjoy. You're going to prosper, do well in things that you're having fun with and so it isn't about sort of pain at work. You know there's a reason they call it work. There's a reason they pay you. It's not all fun. There's going to be some of it that's probably drudgery particularly in junior level jobs. But I think that taking a job just so you can move forward and get to another job is generally, you know, the pain of that outweighs the gain. You have to choose a career now."

I think it's true that if we really want a job that will bring us to the next level, it's going to be something we enjoy.

I think that if we seek out a grateful heart then that will help us be happy in our work.

The Sense of the Possible

In the article "Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World" by Muhammand Yunus he taught me about how we need to change our mindset about poverty and how people are affected by it, including us. One of my favorite quotes was, 

"We have created the present world in this particular manner because our minds were trained to behave in a particular set of ways that led to this formulation of the world. If we train our minds to think differently we can create another kind of world. 
     For example we accept the fact that we'll always have poor people around us. So we have poor people around us. If we had believed that poverty should not belong in a civilized human society we would have created appropriate institutions and policies to create a poverty free world. We wanted to go to the moon--so we went there if we are not achieving something my first suspicion will fall on the intensity of our desire to achieve it."

I think that's so profound. I love how powerful even what we think can be in the world. I think it's awesome the power of opinion is in an individual.

Also, in Elder Gay's speech I learned that I need to be the kind of person that doesn't just do what they're told but the kind of person that will actually solve the problem. A person who takes initiative. 
He brought this question to light, "If you only had a few years would you live differently than you do now?"
Elder Gay also talked about Erik Weihenmayer, who was the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest, said that he was motivated by the sense of the possible. I really liked that. I want to be motivated by the sense of the possible.

Perspective, Priorities, and Play

This week I learned about perspective, priorities, and my attitude towards money. 

I also learned that I have a pretty unhealthy attitude about money. I treat it like an enemy. I learned that I need to work on that and make sure that I have a more positive attitude about money.

I really loved what Stephen W. Gibson said in his article about obedience and money:

"How do you make money? By following the laws it is predicated upon. (Doctrine and Covenants 130: 20-21).

20. "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated -"

21. "And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."

If we acknowledge that all blessings come from God, and if we believe that blessigns are based on obedience to laws, as I do, and as the Lord explains here, then we must believe from reading this scripture that the blessing of wealth creation or the abundant life comes from, again, keeping the laws upon which that blessing is predicated.

Then we, who wish to accumulate wealth, and believe that we can do good things with it, had better be about learning the laws and keep them so we can receive this promised blessing."

I just never thought about applying that gospel principle to things other than God's laws. But of course that makes sense. Everything about the gospel helps our lives to improve. I just love that thought and I want to research about it and ponder what other things I can apply this principle to.

I also like how the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness pointed out that we are already pretty happy. I think it's important to remember that we have a lot to be happy about. It's great.

"1 The old saying that “money will not buy you happiness” turns out to be supported by all of our latest scientific research. You likely are as happy today as you ever 

will be. More money, power or sex will have little, if any, effect on your long-term 

happiness, satisfaction or fulfillment.

2 Despite all of your daily worries, you likely will end your life quite satisfied, 

though not necessarily fulfilled.

3 The greatest threat to you leading a fulfilling life is a misguided pursuit of happiness that blinds you to the possibility of a more meaningful Hero’s Journey."

I just think it's good to remind myself to evaluate my priorities frequently. To not be afraid or against money. To make sure I make time for family and friends AND for fun. It's good to play, not just work.

Get OVER it

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

-Theodore Roosevelt

This week really just taught me that I'm going to have to take some risks. A lot of risks. I think to do that I'm going to need to be a lot better at believing in myself and my ideas. I really liked this quote from Theodore Roosevelt because life will be more exciting and vibrant if I shoot for things I dream about than if I play it safe.

The Heart of Entrepreneur article really made realize that I'm much more on the trustee end of the scale, worrying about security and feeling threatened by change. I need to work on being more of a promoter, taking risks, and seize opportunities. Of course, I don't want to be at either extreme, balance is good in all things.

Also I want to remember this question:

"So the question for the would-be entrepreneur is:
How can I make innovation, flexibility, and creativity

operational?"
                              -The Heart of Entrepreneurship by: Howard H. Stevenson and David E. Gumpert

Also, being confident is important but so is being humble. Don't be worried if you're not number 1 (at least not right away) just be happy that you're even in the top 100! 


Basically, it's time to get over my fears and launch forward with faith. Have fun while I'm doing it. Learn from my failures! Relish in them even. Then jump back into the game.

Be hot or cold, yes or no.

    This week I learned that you shouldn't quit just because the going gets rough but if the going isn't going anywhere. 

    I learned that staying loyal to your vision and your standards is crucial just as President Hinckley explained in his 2003 talk, Loyalty , "I think of loyalty in terms of being true to ourselves. I think of it in terms of being absolutely faithful to our chosen companions. I think of it in terms of being absolutely loyal to the Church and its many facets of activity. I think of it in terms of being unequivocally true to the God of heaven, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ." 

I also loved thinking deeper about how this scripture can apply in my life: 
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15–16).

I aways thought about this scripture in regards to my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But thinking about it with a set of entrepreneurial glasses on made me think differently. I need to be strong with the choices and I make and stick with them. I need to not compromise on the things that matter most. I know there are times when we need to shift gears or to compromise but it's not on those deep core things.

I also really liked in the Harvard article when it talked about building and shaping with the things you have where you are. I think that it's really important to know how to work with what you've got and love it.

I also really liked the stress on growing the roots. Not worrying about having a ton of funds at the start because it'll help you grow those roots. It'll make you resourceful and I think stay humble. 

Will you be the strength to my weakness?

I have to say the mentor session this was the pits. It just seemed to take forever and I felt like I was repeating myself in it and from past mentor sessions.
But I guess when you have similar questions it forces you to think more deeply and reading back you can see whether or not your ideas/desires are actually consistant or if they shift about.
I think it also helped me to be honest about my strengths and weaknesses. Not really stuff I didn't already know but forcing me to put it to "paper" makes it more real and makes me realize that I need to improve a lot and to really use my network to find people to help be the strength to my weakness.

This was a part of Elder Hollands remarks that was really great:

"My concern this morning is that you will face some delays and disappointments at this formative time in your life and feel that no one else in the history of mankind has ever had your problems or faced those difficulties. And when some of those challenges come, you will have the temptation common to us all to say, “This task is too hard. The burden is too heavy. The path is too long.” And so you decide to quit, simply to give up. Now to terminate certain kinds of tasks is not only acceptable but often very wise. If you are, for example, a flagpole sitter then I say, “Come on down.” But in life’s most crucial and telling tasks, my plea is to stick with it, to persevere, to hang in and hang on, and to reap your reward. Or to be slightly more scriptural:

Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days. [D&C 64:33–34]

I am asking you this morning not to give up “for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.” That “great work” is you—your life, your future, the very fulfillment of your dreams. That “great work” is what, with effort and patience and God’s help, you can become. When days are difficult or problems seem unending, I plead with you to stay in the harness and keep pulling. You are entitled to “eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days,” but it will require your heart and a willing mind. It will require that you stay at your post and keep trying." (However Long and Hard the Road, BYU, 1983)

I think that this is really important issues for people my age and younger. Sticking to it. I think the attitude of entitlement is a plague of my generation. That feeling of deserving the rewards and instantly too. We really have a weak work ethic. That's why I like Elder Holland's words. He's reminding me that I need to stick to it and work hard because I'm laying that great work of myself. After all, we can't accomplish much in the world of others if we're not doing anything with ourselves.

I think something else I learned from President Monson's talk was that unity or vision in a business is really important. He talks about the unity of the quorum of the twelve and how they work together to build up the kingdom of God. They have a common goal that they all help each other work to achieve. I think that's important with business partners and employees for greater success.

Find that something you have passion for...

This week I learned more about what it can really mean for me to be an entrepreneur. I was reminded about how money is less important than passion. That I will always be happier if I love what I'm doing, even if it means making a little less money.
I also really loved what President Hinckley said is his speech, Stand True and Faithful about choices and being true:

"You constantly are faced with difficult choices. Your problems are not new, but they are intensified. You are subjected to temptations that areattractive and appealing. You represent the future of this Church, and the adversary of truth would like to injure you, would like to destroy yourfaith, would like to lead you down paths that are beguiling andinteresting, but deadly."

"We believe in being true. How very important it is to be true to ourselves.Each of us has a thing we call conscience. We know the difference between right and wrong. We do not have to be instructed concerningwhat is good and what is evil. I think we know that. We know when wehave done the wrong thing, and we suffer pangs of conscience. We knowwhen we have done the right thing, and we experience a sense ofhappiness. To be true to ourselves means being an example of righteousliving in all situations and circumstances."


I was reminded about how the customer is right and that we can learn so much from what they have to say. Sometimes those great new ideas will come from them. I also learned that being capable is important. You can dream up ideas all you want but you need to be capable enough to go after them and make it happen.

I learned that business can be better if business people are better. If we make decisions to do more than what the law says then improvements and progression can come more quickly. Especially, when we look outside ourselves more.

I also really liked the explanation of 'real justification' that came from the What's a Business For? article. Basically it means that a business is there so that something can happend to make something more or better. It's about improving some aspect of life.

Cash MONEY! and self CONTROL!

Ok! This week I learned so much about cashflow. I knew about it and I knew you want assets and income. The richgrad video's illustration really helped it click in my mind. To be honest, that guy really annoys me when he's doing those videos but the way he visually explained the different cashflow scenarios or the poor, the middle-class, and the rich. It really made sense to me.
It looked a little something like this!


Practice is what the journey is about. 
Also, with the So You Want to be an Entrepreneur? book did help me recognize some myths of entrepreneurship that I personally had. Including that you have to be rich, smart, and young to start out or that you have to have the latest greatest invention to be successful. Oh and that you don't just flippantly go around taking risks that put your whole self in jeopardy all the time, but you make educated and calculated risks often.

I hope this is okay for the blog; I figure that it is since it's supposed to be a place we record things we want to know where to find in the future. But I wanted to paste my entry for the LDS perspectives discussion this week because it was a really important one for me:

"This is a great talk for me. I was just thinking yesterday that I need to engage my self control/ self mastery more. I know that's it there because I've used it a lot before. But I really loved how Elder Tanner talked about his 100 percenter grandson and how he was consistant and made choices and sacrifices to be 100% in his church attendance. This taught him to have great self mastery and it's an amazing example of diligence and devotion to the calls of the Lord. So how do we do that too? I think one of the biggest things is to recognize where you are not in control of yourself, or rather, you're letting your natural man walk all over you. Once you've recognized where the problem is, then you can start to remedy it by doing all you can and petitioning the Lord for help. I've got some things to work on.

Elder Tanner quoted some philosophers and artist and that part really stuck out to me,

"Plato said: “The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

And da Vinci once said: “You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself.” Then he goes on to say that “the height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. … And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.”

It just really struck me that if we cannot master ourselves or exercise dominion over ourselves how are we ever supposed to run a kingdom and have dominion over anything thing or anyone else? Even on a smaller scale, how will I be a good wife or mother if I cannot control myself?"

It just really hit me at the right time. I need to use my self-mastery in all aspects of my life.  

A Master Dabbler.

       I really liked the "Successful Entrepreneurs Born or Made?" article because of the way it stressed hard work in being successful. I think myself and my generation are really sick with the 'entitlement' trait and instant this and instant that. It makes it hard to be patient and difficult to be persistant.
In this culture of instant food, instant photos, instant mail, and just such a quick turnaround. Preserving and working hard to achieve something, I think, is one of the big differences between great success and just getting by.

This quote from Elder Faust's talk was one of my favorites:
"Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges. Paul Harvey, the famous news analyst and author, once said: “Someday I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that someone will ask me, ‘What’s the secret of it?’ I shall say simply this: ‘I get up when I fall down.’” 

<sup>I am a good starter. I get good ideas and I love the start of them, I think it talks about this kind of person in the Mastery book. I'm a dabbler. I try this and that but then don't have the patience or perseverance to master it or finish or what.

So this week I really see that I need to work on that. That's what I've really learned. The question is how do I work on that, right?
I remember my mom telling me once that she had all these craft projects she had started and then stopped and started a new one. What she did was made herself an ultimatum. She said she needed to finish one project before she started any new ones, which meant she had to finish all these olds ones up. She also gave herself a deadline. She had to finish all her 'unfinished' projects by the end of the year or she had to get rid of them. I recall that it really worked for her. So maybe I need to do something similar to that.

I also learned that I am more prepared and more equipped to become and entrepreneur than I'd previously thought. Good news, eh?</sup>