Last Lecture--Entry 14

At the beginning of this journey, I knew things about myself, but through everything I learned new things about myself as well.  When you begin your own journey, first write down a list of your strengths and weaknesses in your character and personality.  This is something that I wish I had done a long time ago.  Find the strengths in some of your friends that compliment your weaknesses.  Where are they strong where you falter?  The companions on your journey through the entrepreneur life are the ones that can either lift you up when you are down or just drag you down further.  In the Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship that is created, all of them complement each other in some way.  Aragorn is humble to Boromir’s ego, Sam is trustworthy to Merry and Pippin’s mischievousness, Gandalf is wise to Frodo’s naiveté, and Legolas’s calmness to Gimli’s pompous nature.  You want to have companions that compliment your strengths and weaknesses.  Don’t forget that your spouse is your greatest companion.  You need to remember that they will always be there by your side through your joys in your journey, and your downs as well. 

One thing I really want to talk about is loving what you do.  I have seen so many people who are unhappy in their current careers that they don’t know where to go, and some don’t even know what they love because they have invested so much time and energy into something that they now realize that they don’t love.  When you get into the rut of not knowing what you love, you have to look back and remember what you used to love doing before your old career took over your life.  Just a little side note: If you let your career that you don’t love take over your life, you may have lost everything while doing so, your hobbies, your family, your friends, and since you realize that you don’t love this career anymore, your job.  Your entire life and the things and people you love in life are gone. 

But if you decide now that what you’re doing or about to do isn’t something you love, look at things you do love.  Will you still love in five years, ten, and twenty years?  Is this something you want to keep in your life, or will you plan on moving on to something else later?  Do you have the support behind pursuing what you love?  If you say yes to these, then you are at a good start to moving forward in an entrepreneurial journey. 

Loving what you do can be anything.  You can do anything and be anything you want to be when you do something you love.  You can change the world when you learn you do what you love.  Or if you don’t think it will change the world, you may just change one other person besides yourself.  You won’t know who that is, but you will see it when their eyes light up and the smile brightens the room.  You will realize you have changed their world even if you don’t think you have had an impact on the entire world. 

Something about doing what you love is go learn more about it.  You can say, “Hey, I love golfing.  Let’s start a golf club.”  Well, how long have you played?  Do you know instructors?  Do you golf by yourself or with others?  Do you belong to a club already and want to know more about running one?  If you just enjoy the game, don’t pursue it.  Just because you love something doesn’t mean it is your calling as a career choice.  I love movies, and would love to own a movie theater one day; however, right now I only enjoy going to the movie and watching them.  I am not ready for the business aspect of running a theater of my own.

One of my favorite pieces of advice for myself is always, “How does a child see it?”  I have three children, and they all have different perspectives on things than I do in life.  If you have children in your life, sit down with them, play with them, and talk with them about your future goals and journey.  You will get questions that you may have not considered the answers to when you do.  Humans by nature are curious.  Children by nature aren’t just curious, they are inquisitive.  They want to know the who, when, what, how and why of everything thing from how the grass grows to how to clouds form.  If you can begin seeing things from a child’s perspective, you will get answers to questions you may never have even thought of before.

In closing, I just want to say that these are the tools that have helped me the most.  I want you to remember that the people you have in your life will be the ones you will become most like and will either help you or hinder on your journey.  Doing what you love is crucial to loving what you do and enjoying your life to the fullest.  Finally, getting down on the ground with a child and seeing things as they do can help you find answers to questions you may have yourself, or even questions that need answers that you never thought of before.  You will gain a new perspective in your entrepreneurial journey as you do these things.  To quote Bilbo Baggins, “’It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,' he used to say. ’You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”  And as Frodo had Sam, never get on that road without your perspective and goal clear, you love where you’re heading and your companion will go on this journey with you.

Gratitude--Entry 13

This week has been a wonderful experience.  Sad, too, as I have learned that someone I worked with at my first job through high school and friend who later had become a successful entrepreneur, passed away yesterday.  It really made me reflect on what I am truly thankful for in my life at this time.  President Thomas S. Monson said, "We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."  These past couple of weeks have been very trying on me physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I realize now that I wasn't being truly grateful for everything I already have in my life.  This talk by President Monson, and even the Visiting Teaching message this month have really helped bring me back into focus on everything I needed to help me through this tough time.  I am truly thankful for the Lord and the ability that He has given all of us to cast our burdens to Him and make it so that we can rely on Him and His help through all of our trials, no matter the size because no matter is too big for Him to help us through our hard times.

Another thing that I really loved learning this week came through the eCorner Video by Stan Christensen.  He talks about how to avoid the wrong job in our lives.  He says, "A lot of bad decisions come from unnecessary assumptions."  He even listed off assumptions such as: worrying about the resume and what other people will think of it, choosing a job that will only get you to the next level,  thinking we have to choose a career now, and specialization will get us on the best route to success.  Maybe this is exactly why I want to be a published author, as well as run my own business in the future.  In my studies of learning the craft and art of creative writing, it's almost like you're doing everything he says TO DO, and ignoring everything NOT TO DO.  A good author doesn't worry about the resume--they are telling their story through another means.  I see the author's resume shown through their stories they have produced, an author is looking at getting sales-yes, but they aren't truly looking for the job that will take them to the next level, they chose a career--but it is filled with multiple career enhancing and learning opportunities, and they become "specialists" in everything.  I read from one author once that he enjoyed writing so much more than anything else because he was able to become an expert in whatever he was writing about at that time.  As an writer, you are continually studying and learning and enhancing everything about you.  Many authors keep their current careers for stability, but they truly know what makes them happy.  I've seen so many writers that have such great gratitude for what they have in their life, and who they have in their life.  For this example I have in my life, I am grateful for those to look up to, and I am thankful for everyone in my life right now and for their support.

eCorner Video: Avoid the Wrong Job by Stan Christensen
An Attitude of Gratitude by President Thomas S. Monson

Changing the World--Entry 12

This week I had the opportunity to read a talk given by Muhammad Yunus about changing the world.  In his short talk, he was very inspirational through speaking about trusting those first so that they can trust you.  Also that we are all creative and need to be given that opportunity to show our creativity.  Sometimes that means we need loans and every person should be given that opportunity to even have access to money.  Through his own studies, he found that banks would not give loans to those living in poverty because they didn't trust them to pay back the loans.  However, he trusted these people.  He knew their dreams.  He wanted to help them achieve these dreams.  So, he created the Grameen Bank which gives loans to those who otherwise would not have access to that money.  I'm so impressed by his trusting nature and reporting back that 97% of the loans are paid back and most of the people borrowing money are women.

In reading his talk this week, I was sad to hear about fast food workers wanting to raise the minimum wage in the state of Illinois to $15/hour.  I understand that minimum wage is $8.25/hour right now and is in talks to be raised to $11/hour by 2016.  I have worked minimum wage jobs and those are jobs that are great for teenagers to learn financial responsibility and integrity.  Sadly there are some of the people wanting this minimum wage that don't accept the responsibility of working while at work.  There are hard workers that would want to move up into management to make more money, but that's the reason there is a minimum wage--to get people to move up and work hard for what they earn.

My husband is an airline pilot and he made less than $15/hour equivalent in his first year of becoming a professional airline pilot.  Many people we came across those first couple of years of him being a pilot were hard to talk to because they were, "Oh, the money must be great!"  Sadly it wasn't.  I had to work a job that paid no more than $10/hour because that is what my skills gave me at the time, and half of my paycheck each month would go towards care for my oldest daughter (who was 2 at that time).  Now when people comment on the money with his job, we say, "Yes, it's nice, but the schedule is crappy."  We would like to make our cake and eat it too, but you can never have both sometimes in our lives.

What Muhammad Yunus did for me that I think I will learn to instill in my children is trust.  Learn to trust others in a way that you know that it is a good thing to trust them.  If you do not feel it a good thing to trust in, then don't, but because you won't get the trust in return.  We need to follow our dreams and trust in ourselves as well, and that is the first step in learning to trust others in our paths as well.