Week 8

My favorite video in the lesson this week was by Jeffery R. Holland entitled Good Things To Come. I’ve always reveled in Elder Holland’s talks, lessons, and firesides. He has so much power and inspiration behind what he teaches. Elder Holland knows how to pick words that fit the scenario perfectly, and the words he choses describe his thoughts impeccably leaving you with the feeling of actually experiencing the event he is speaking of.

The gist behind the video Good Things To Come is that no matter how difficult things may seem now, how impossible, how dark, how terrible, good things will always come. I’ve learned this lesson in my life through my own and my children’s trials. I’ve had experiences with grief, pain, sorrow, heartache, and true despair. Without going into too much detail, I have had such anguish that I literally could not believe that the sun would rise tomorrow. Yet, indeed the sun did rise again. The day was new, and mine to continue forward and never give up. 

I am truly grateful for this course. It has a lot of positive reassurance that I am capable of being successful as long as I push through the hard times and never quit.

Week 7

This week we have been studying the 7 habits of highly effective people. Those seven habits are:

1.     Be proactive

2.     Begin with the end in mind

3.     First things first

4.     Think win/win

5.     Seek to understand, then seek to be understood

6.     Create Synergy

7.     Sharpen the saw

While all the habits are important, and they all feed off the others, the habit that I feel is extremely important is, begin with the end in mind. When we begin with the end in mind, we have a personal direction to guide our daily activities, without which we will accomplish little toward our own goals. Beginning with the end in mind is part of the process of personal leadership, taking control of our own lives.

When I took a self-defenses class we were taught to strike at something that is behind the thing we are actually striking at. This allows certainty of striking hard. I believe that habit number two is the same principle. Shooting for the end helps to strike success.

I would like to actually read the 7 habits of highly effective people. I think I will be a better person in general by applying these habits into my daily life.

Week 6

I enjoyed the readings for this week’s entrepreneurial class. There readings were:

Success Is Gauged by Self-Mastery

April 1975 General Conference

N. Eldon Tanner

How Entrepreneurs Craft

Strategies That Work

by Amar Bhide

So You Want to Be an

entrepreneur?

Don’t jump in unprepared

There were also 3 videos, and they were:

The Entrepreneur and the Family

Three Lessons About What It Means to Be an Entrepreneur

Loyalty to God and Family

While I enjoyed and learned a bit from all the assignments, the one thing that I didn’t agree with was the comment made by Steve Blank in The Entrepreneur And The Family. He said that if you are single, stay single. I’m sorry, but I have a conflict with this statement. Marriage and healthy relationships is the one thing that keeps a person well rounded, happy, and ultimately successful. I did concur with Mr. Blank’s idea that if you are already in a relationship or marriage, you need to define limits for the amount of time you spend in your entrepreneurial efforts, and make sure you “schedule” in and your family time.

When things are difficult for me, and all else in my life fails, I turn to my family and those I love the most. I can’t imagine not having that stable ground to fall back on. Having a loving husband and important family members, are the one thing that brings true joy in an otherwise difficult world.

Focusing on your endeavors should be high on your priority list, but if you don’t have someone at home to help balance out your happiness, be well rounded, and provide joy, then your endeavors are meaningless.

Having a spouse to complete you is what God intended for man. This is the only way to be successful.

Week 5

This week during my entrepreneurial class, I watched a video entitled A Hero’s Journey. This video was very thought provoking for me. I want to write here; in my entrepreneurial journal what it was that stuck out most to me so that I can remember this later.

There are two quotes that were said in the beginning of the video. One was, “You have a mission beyond your dreams if you have faith and courage to find your calling.” The other, “Live every moment of your life like it matters, and live like you have an important mission.”

These quotes really made me think. Do I personally have a mission in life? If so, what is it? Am I living EVERY single moment as if it matters, or do I waste a lot of time? Unfortunately the latter is most likely.  But that’s why we are here, to learn life lessons.

I also liked the example of finding life role models and asking them the question about their triumphs, regrets, and the lessons they wish they learned earlier in life. I have always been a, “learn from other’s mistakes so I wont make them” kind of gal. Knowing what people 60 and older value most in life is a real tool that I can use throughout my life.

Here are the three things that people over 60 would agree were the most important things in life:

1.     Have I contributed something meaningful?

2.     Am I a good person?

3.     Who did I love and who loved me?

These things should be upfront and foremost when making big decisions, and they should always be the first things to think of while making goals.