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.