Last Lecture

After everything I've learned for this course, I would say that my parting advice to someone thinking about taking on the task of an entrepreneurial journey is to dream big and work hard. Take other peoples' advice into consideration. Always be willing to learn from others. You'll never know it all. There will always be something new to learn. Prioritize your life. Put the Lord first and everything else will fall into place. Nothing great is achieved without hard work and dedication. Never be afraid to ask for help. Include those you love in your journey; it will strengthen your relationships and you will have more success in the end. Don’t let yourself get so caught up in your work that you neglect the people you love in your life though. It’s important to take breaks and moments to breathe air outside of your business. I have never had my own business, but I have taken on large tasks. The things that have helped me find success in those tasks were my family and hard work. Nothing can replace either one of those things.

 Family is one of the most important things in your life and nothing should get in the way of taking care of them or nurturing your relationships with them. Success without family is empty. There is no point in being on top of the world if you’re there alone. To my point about breaks, I would link it to family. My family has been a great help in keeping me grounded as well as motivated. They believe in me but help remind me to not get laser focused on one thing in my life. When we take on big tasks, it’s very easy to become so focused on them that we forget to take care of those we love and ourselves. We need to remember to do both. My last piece of advice is to establish principles. Know what you will or won’t do. Establish lines of conduct that you will not cross. People will ask you to do a million things and sometimes the things they ask of you are incorrect. When someone is pressuring you to do something, it can be difficult to say no. No matter what the immediate consequences are, stand with your principles and do not let anyone bully you into compromising them. Perhaps more importantly, do not let you convince yourself into compromising on your principles.

Week 12

A lot of this week's content focused on the fact that having a business isn't about making money. Yes, you need money to live but it shouldn't be the focus on your business. You should be keeping your eye on how your business can help others. What can your business do that no other business can to help people? I find this question really inspiring. It's the biggest reason why I'm interested in entrepreneurship. I want to be able to not only live a comfortable life, but to also help people who are unable to fully help themselves, who need that extra hand. If you keep your eye set on that goal, then you can find true success.

In order for an economy to truly function and to function well, its members must be virtuous and have integrity. All of an economy's rules and laws depend on trust and truth. If the members of an economy don't possess those qualities, the economy will eventually collapse. Charles Handy states that the "real justification" for businesses is to use that created wealth to do something more or better than they already are. Two of the solutions he poses are for businesses to value their employees' talents and they need to be more responsible and basically pledge to do no harm. I do agree with both of those things. Employees create a company's culture and if they don't feel valued, they do not put in their best effort. It makes it harder for a business to do no harm when its employees don't care about how their work impacts others and the world around them. Fix the employees' attitudes, and you can then have a company that truly works to do no harm first and that works to truly help others. This isn't just the responsibility of a company though, this is everyone's responsibility as people living on this earth. It should always be, first do no harm.

Week 11

Out of all of the material this week, the financial fitness video with Jim Ritchie has stuck with me the most. Work-life balance is something everyone struggles with no matter if they are an entrepreneur or not, but financial fitness - that is something that draws my attention. I have wanted to be financially independent for quite some time now. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to achieve that yet and I'm okay because that's just not where I am in my life. However, I want to be working towards that goal.

I don't know anything about investing but I'd like to learn more over time and see if that is an option that is right for me. Ultimately, with Ritchie's video, I am left with a motivation to save more than I currently do. I've really latched onto his idea of having a fixed amount that goes into savings each paycheck. I am getting married soon and actually spoke with my fiance today about us doing this and we've both agreed to it. I like the security that savings bring. I'm looking forward to implementing these financial goals and learning more about investing. I want to have a financially secure and independent life.

Week 10

One of the thoughts spurred by this week's work was that as an entrepreneurs we should try to pursue our dreams. We need to make sure we're putting thought into how we're doing it and be smart about that process, but we shouldn't be afraid to pursue dreams. We may not find success the first time around but we learn each time we fail. You don't truly fail until you give up though. Google gives employees time to pursue their own creative pursuits and that has resulted in major success for the company. When you let people dream amazing things can happen, so why not dream yourself? You have to be committed to it though. Elder Oaks talks about being converted to the gospel and it makes me think of being dedicated to your dreams. You need to make sure you balance your life, but don't just dismiss your dreams because they're difficult. Most peoples' dreams are difficult and seem impossible, but quite a few people achieve them because they didn't just dismiss them. They worked hard and pushed themselves, and if we keep the Lord at the center of our lives, we are more likely achieve those dreams we have.

Week 9

When I think of the word management, I don't automatically think of it as leadership. That's very much what it is though. Being a leader is not the equivalent of being the boss. A boss gives orders but a leader pulls with you. President Clark gave a great reminder of leadership by turning to the Savior. A good leader leads by example, with vision, and with love. When I reflect on some of my past managers I can recognize some of these qualities in those managers who I liked. People like working with and for someone who is willing to help them and who has a vision. One of my least favorite employers got on my nerves mainly because he seemed to not have a vision and did not seem to be leading much. It was frustrating and the business suffered because of it. I think it's really important remember that as an entrepreneur, you're very much a leader and you don't just need something like vision to start things. You need it to help motivate others as well.

Some of the videos this week talked about the type of people you should hire/work with. Not everyone can be a leader, but everyone including leaders needs to be a "nice" person. Someone who genuinely tries their best and treats others with respect and the way they want to be treated. I do think they are probably some of the best workers and, as a leader, respect goes a long ways. If you respect your leader, you put more effort into your work. Leadership principles can be applied in many aspects of our lives and I'm looking forward to learning more about how to be a better leader.

Week 8

Elder Holland's story about how he was moving his family many miles and had to walk the 35 miles back to town for help really struck me. He broke down in the same spot twice but that didn't stop him. As hard as it was to keep going even through the discouragement, he kept walking and going. He didn't give up. Life can be really difficult, especially if you choose to be an entrepreneur. If we learn now to not give up with less difficult circumstances and trials, then it will be easier to persevere when the large ones come along. We will have already cultivated a habit of perseverance.

It's tempting to give up sometimes. I believe that we only ever truly fail when we give up. A few years ago, I lost half of the work I'd done on a novel. I'd already been working on it for a long time at that point and I was half way through a revision when I lost all of that work. It has been extremely difficult to start working on it again, but I've never given up on it. Perseverance is rewarded and I hope, someday, I will see the reward for my perseverance with that project.

I was reading through Mastery last week and it really struck me that I want to master a skill of some kind. I'm not sure what and I still don't know if I want to be an entrepreneur. However, I do know that the qualities that I am learning about in this class have the ability to help me in whatever I choose to do, and I'm looking forward to learning more about those qualities.

Week 7

Of all the seven habits, be proactive was the one that stuck out the most to me. With some parts of my life, I struggle with being proactive. Sometimes I'm better at it than other times but it's something I can definitely work on. When I'm excited to start something new, I'm very good at being proactive, but when I hit that plateau that eventually arrives I struggle with it.

In his talk, President Hinkley talks about getting all the education you can. I struggle with continuing my education sometimes. It’s a lot to handle when you’re already trying to work full time. It’s tempting to just quit going to school and just work, but President Hinkley reminded me that it’s important for us to get all of the education we can now. This isn’t just important for us in the afterlife as we are firmly taught by general authorities and in church curriculum; it is also important for us now in this life. Anything good is from God and you never know what bit of knowledge might come in handy later, especially as an entrepreneur.

I’m excited to start implementing this principle now. I want to start practicing being proactive so that I can develop that habit now when I’m young. I hope to learn more techniques to help me with this.