Final Lecture Journal Entry

This week's journal entry is meant to share what I have learned from this course as though I was giving a "final lecture" to a group of students. Here it goes! What do you think of when you hear the word "entrepreneur"? One of my first thoughts has always been the freedom that entrepreneurs enjoy by being their own boss. My mind initially goes to small business owners. I rarely consider the idea of having large business growth. But being an entrepreneur can mean so many things. What always scared me about entrepreneurship was that I had to be creative, something that I am not. This class has taught me that hard work and dedication in any given field will show you where improvements can be made that can provide an opportunity for a new business to thrive. Another common thought about entrepreneurs is that they never stop working, which detracts from their family life. This may happen often, but it doesn't need to. It is important as a person considering starting a business to decide now what your priorities are and not to let the pressures of business overtake other important parts of your life. I am not sure I have the passion or drive to build a business that will grow and become something great, but maybe that's because I haven't found what I am passionate about yet. It is important not only to find a business idea with potential for growth, but also something you are interested in, otherwise it would be difficult to put the time and effort in that is required to start a business from nothing. Throughout this course, one thing I have enjoyed the most is reading about those people who made a large impact on the world without letting it go to their head, or at least who recognized their pride and made a change. These are people who not only have a lasting impact on the lives of their consumers, but knew that God intended for them to use their money to better the lives of others. The humility of these leaders is something I will not soon forget. Their attitudes and choices have made a large impact on my life, and I hope to live a life similar to theirs, no matter how much or little money I may earn in my lifetime.

Week 13 Journal Entry

I enjoyed reading President Monson's talk this week, "An Attitude of Gratitude". He mentions some of the people that we need to be remember to be grateful for. I love reading talks about gratitude, because it causes me to reflect on what I am grateful for. We also read about Randy Haykin this week and had to consider whether or not an entrepreneur life was something that was for us. I have thought about that a lot through this class, and I'm not sure it is right for me. When we learn about people who have these great ideas, I've thought, "I'm not really that creative. I don't know if that's something I could do." Today, I was reading Harvard Business Publishing's Core Curriculum on Entrepreneurship, and it talked about that very thing. Having a great idea doesn't necessarily just happen to some people and not others. Most of the time, it is when you are learning and growing in an industry (or in anything) that you find the ways things can be improved. I loved the advice to just keep learning and improving, and anyone can be an entrepreneur.

Week 12 Journal Entry

This week was so interesting with the focus on making a difference in the world and becoming a social entrepreneur. I am very interested in non-profit work, so this appealed greatly to me. Having an article written by Muhammad Yunus was good to read. My mission president has mentioned him to me, because Unitus, that helped found, was based on the principles of Yunus. Also, I really loved the talk given by Elder Gay. I didn't know that he was one of the people who helped found Unitus as well! What an inspirational man. I love that he talked about having the picture of the Martin Harris farm on his office wall as a reminder to not covet and to consecrate our wealth to the building up of the kingdom of God. There are a lot of lessons that I learned from this talk, but it was especially emotional to me to hear the story of the young woman in Darfur. I hope that I remember not only how blessed I am, but that Heavenly Father intends for me to use those blessings to help rescue His children.

Week 11 Journal Entry

I really enjoyed the mini case studies this week. What a great opportunity to think ahead to a difficult situation and figure out the better decision to make before it happens. It made me consider being a youth and how we were taught to make difficult decisions before the situations came up, so we wouldn't be pressured by our peers to make a wrong choice. I think even though we are not youth anymore, that doesn't mean we aren't pressured by our peers, though the pressure may come from different places and the choices are not as black and white as they were back then (though not all of them were even back then). This was definitely one of my favorite assignments so far.

Week 10 Journal Entry

This week I most enjoyed my entrepreneur interview. Getting the opportunity, with the push of the assignment, to reconnect with my mission president and get his advice on business matters was really inspiring to me. He had some great thoughts that helped me get a more grounded perspective on what non-profit work is really like and that it's not always (or even usually) as glamorous as it's made out to be. I also really enjoyed Elder Oaks's talk about conversion vs. testimony. This is something I've contemplated before, but something I needed to be reminded of. Who I am becoming? Am I letting the Gospel of Jesus Christ really change my life, or just going through the motions? I definitely felt the Spirit telling me there are things I need to change.

Week 9 Journal Entry

This week (a lot of it anyway) felt a lot like a review week for me, which is a good thing! In one of my previous classes, I read the book "Good to Great", and I have read the talks "Brigham Young University - Idaho: A Disciple Preparation Center" and "Leadership with a Small l" multiple times for different classes, so I knew what to expect. It also helped me to focus on my mentor interview and prepare for my essay next week since these were principles I had previously learned. I love the principles of the book "Good to Great". I love that it focuses so much on a person's character to become a great leader, because that is something anyone could work at and do. It is inspiring to me to think about, although when I think of it I realize how far I have to go to become a great leader (and that includes for me being a great leader for my children, not just running a big company). Still, it humbles me and makes me draw closer to my Savior, recognizing that I have divine potential that I can only reach with His help.

Week 8 Journal Entry

This week's lesson was entitled "Overcoming Challenges". I loved the multiple aspects that this topic brought up: business challenges, life challenges, relationship challenges, etc. When reading the devotional by Elder and Sister Holland, I was struck by the changes I can make to improve the relationships I have with those I love. I LOVE my husband. I love being around him, talking to him, just really doing anything with him! I think the amount of time I try to spend with him shows him how much I care about him, but there is a lot more I could do for him. He really appreciates a clean house (and he sure helps me out with it!) but I think if I did a better job of having it ready for him, I could show him how much I care about the things he cares about. When it comes to business, of course there will always be challenges, but I liked the video we watched called "The Five Whys". Every problem needs to be looked at and taken back a few steps to make sure we actually get to the cause. I like that he said not to spend too much time on it, but maybe an hour, and then if the problem recurs, put in another hour, and so on, until there is a solution. If the problem wasn't something that comes up a lot, you won't have wasted a ton of time on training for a rare issue, but if it is something more complex and common, you can slowly put in the time and effort needed to correct the problem.

Week 7 Journal Entry

This week's topic was "moving forward with a driving passion". Some things I liked, some I didn't. I'm not a huge fan of the Guy Kawasaki videos. He seems a little arrogant to me, like while trying to explain how money is important, he tells us he's owned Porsche's, and not just any Porsche, top of the line ones. It's hard for me to get past that. President Hinckley's talk I loved. I love that it was directed at Young Women, first of all. I probably heard that talk growing up, and I love the optimism and enthusiasm I always feel from him. He touched on so many important things, but I loved that he talked about the importance of education, and also having integrity in all our choices. That's who he is to me: someone with extreme integrity in the way he lived his life. Finishing "Mastery" and writing the book report was also something I enjoyed. I always seem to want a quick fix for how to accomplish things, but it's the same in life as in the gospel: the same tried and true principles always apply, and it takes hard work and dedication to reach your goals. I'll get there someday, I hope, but that book gave me some really good insights to think about as I embark on the road of mastery.

Week 6 Journal Entry

The readings were so powerful to me this week, not just as a business student, but as a wife and mother and friend. Elder Tanner's talk especially hit me hard. I was at first reading it thinking about "mastery" as in keeping the commandments -- the ones like the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom that I have striven to live since I was young. Then he shared a scripture in Proverbs 16:32 that says "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." I REALLY need to master my anger. That is something that feels like it has gotten worse for me as a mother with kids who sometimes just won't listen. It doesn't apply to this class I'm taking necessarily, but I just wanted to share it anyway since it was the most powerful to me this week. Also, reading and watching videos talk about how hard it is to have a start-up company as well as make time for family really has me wondering if I'm ever going to make time for a business. Sometimes I think about how I might want to have a career after my youngest starts school, but then I always think about how I want to be able to volunteer at the school often and be able to have lunch with my kids every once in a while, and so many other things that I would miss out on. I still have time to think about it, but I always end up thinking that it's not worth it to me to sacrifice that time with my children, especially as they go through trials and may need me to be available to them more. So that's where I'm at this week.

Week 5 Journal Entry

This week I learned a lot about mastery and perseverance. Creating a "personal board of advisors" for my life was a difficult assignments, considering I could choose anyone, living or dead, and there are so many people to choose from! Plus, trying to vary the people I chose so that I would get different viewpoints was hard, because it seemed easiest just to choose all prophets or members of my faith, and I think it's important to have even different religious viewpoints accounted for, because with the exact same beliefs we may not have different ideas as often. Watching "A Hero's Journey" was enlightening to me. Jeff talked about how the three questions that remain for those at the end of their life are: Have I contributed to something meaningful? Am I a good person? Who did I love and who loved me? These questions are something I want to remember and consider throughout my life, so I can be sure of the answers to them when I get to the end of my life. I loved as well that he talked about mistakes he made in his life that he hopes we will learn now and not wait to make the mistakes ourselves. Mostly, how important it is to spend time with our family, and how that should not be replaced by working too hard. As a stay-at-home mom, I do spend time with my kids, but is the time spent well? Am I making memories with them that they can remember, and teaching them things that will bless their lives? This is something I can improve, now, while they're still young and I still have the opportunity.

Week 4 Journal Entry

Wow, what a week. Doing some of these assignments has been a little emotional for me. While I was trying to write my Personal Constitution, I was struggling with unhappy feelings towards my family, and that was really hard to do. I wanted to write my Personal Constitution with the Spirit guiding me, but I didn't expect to feel the need to repent before doing schoolwork. My Personal Constitution was just that, very personal to me. Defining the most important values in my life was a little bit difficult. I also loved reading "How Will You Measure Your Life?" by Clayton Christensen, again. He is someone I admire a whole lot, and I always love reading things by him because of the Spirit I feel. It reiterated to me the importance of putting my family first. Even though I am not working right now and am a stay-at-home mom and that might seem easy, I need to focus more on my relationships with each of my children and with my husband and make sure no one is neglected.

Week 3 Journal Entry

This week a lot of the readings and videos had to do with honesty and business ethics. I loved discussing this topic, because it is something that is extremely important to me. I've heard people say it is almost impossible to get to the top without compromising on your integrity. I do not believe that is true though. I think some people may get to the top by compromising their values, but it is hard to stay at the top when this happens. People want to work with people they trust, so it is important, if you want to really make it in a career, to be trustworthy. I have read "Making a Living and a Life" by Elder Lynn G. Robbins before, but reading it again was a good reminder of the priorities I need to set in my life. In every way, I want to put the Lord and others first before money. If I have my priorities straight, I will never allow a temptation to rob me of my integrity or allow money to become my first motivation. I also really enjoyed writing a personal code of conduct for myself this week. It took a lot more thought than I thought it would, because I wanted to make sure they were things I could really promise never and always to do. Thinking about those things and writing them down helped me to see what values are the most important to me and what I need to remember as I go throughout different situations in my life. It makes me grateful for the gospel and that there really are many things that I have decided not to ever do, no matter what happens.

Week 2

There are so many things to write about this week! Coming up with the 50 items for my bucket list was quite enlightening, but hard. The first 10-15 came out rather quickly, which was so surprising to me, considering they were pretty random and not related to one another. I think those are the things I really want to accomplish. I will look back on that and make it happen. The rest took a lot more thought and a couple days. My favorite reading from this week was the talk by Jeffrey A.Thompson, What is Your Calling in Life? I loved how he eased my anxiety about finding the right career. JP and I had a great discussion about that talk tonight and how great it can be to unite the gospel and careers. The gospel of Jesus Christ should penetrate all that we do! Questions I am supposed to answer: Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams? He believed he could, and he not only believed it, he worked hard to achieve his dreams. He never gave up on his dreams, but adjusted them according to what was possible. Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not? Yes. It helps to give me hope. Reaching for something makes life meaningful, whether it is a career or any other goal. Dreaming is like setting goals. Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream. When I was younger I wanted to be a choir teacher. I started to study this in college, only to have life take me away from it for awhile. I believe I could achieve this dream, but it has changed a little. I have other dreams that I have gained as I have lived a little more, but for that dream, I would change it a little to teaching others music in a different way, such as piano and voice lessons.

Week 1 Journal Entry

I feel a little confused as to what to write this first week in my journal. Maybe it's because I want to write down answers that I have received, but I feel like this week has left me with many more questions than answers. So I'll start there. What is my goal? What am I passionate about and good at that could be of use as an entrepreneur? These questions seem too difficult to answer, maybe because I don't yet have a plan for where I want to be in ten years. Honestly, a part of it is because I'm not sure I want to be doing anything entrepreneurial in ten years. I am a stay-at-home mother, and I love it. My youngest child is just 1 year old, so my children are still very much the focus of my day-to-day activities. And I don't yet know if I want to work after my youngest child starts school because I still want to be extremely involved in their lives at that point. Maybe that is where this class, and the degree I am working toward, will be beneficial to me. I don't know if I want to work, because to me what comes to mind is going and applying for a random job (probably in an office of some sort, just because that's what I know), and doing something that most likely wouldn't be meaningful to me. I hope to learn more about myself through this class, more about what I am passionate enough about that I would feel fulfilled doing it. I am grateful to be in a position where money is not an important factor in this, because my amazing husband is so wonderful at taking care of our family. So what is it that I am passionate about? Besides my faith and my family, what other things give my life meaning?