Entrepreneurial Journal Week 7

 Stephen R. Covey has, at this point I’d call it an infamous book about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. To paraphrase Jim Ritchie from Launching Leaders, when someone that knowledgeable condenses effectiveness and success into (only) 7 habits, we should listen and study!

From all seven habits, the most meaningful to me was the first. Be Proactive. I would love to believe myself proactive one day. Currently I am not - or at least according to my paradigm I do not see myself as proactive. 

**Side note, Covey defines paradigms as how we see and understand the world. This understanding is directly tied to our character. This is because of the way we view events and ourselves, it’s a road map to how we act. 

Anyway, I do not see myself as proactive, especially when Covey describes that characteristic as a self-starter and a decision maker. I have mini panic attacks daily because of the multiple decisions that are required of me from my children. 

Any decision from “what food will the toddler eat today? How can I pick the right choice without wasting food when he says yes to everything I offer?” To intense pressure to lead with “Mom, [insert sibling’s name] keeps [insert disagreeable choice]!” 

I am not proactive. I feel trapped in a corner over EVERY uncomfortable decision. I panic easily and anxiety riddles my body at every turn. So out of all the habits, I long to employ the habit of ‘Be Proactive’. 

Interesting to note, Covey says once we have mastered the first of his stated 3 habits, we graduate from being dependent, to independent. However, it is only through mastering the last habits 4-6 that you move from independent to interdependent. This state of working hand in hand with people is when we are the most effective. I’d say it seems to coincide with the gospel teachings of charity and the law of consecration. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 6

 I’m not a 100 percent-er. N. Eldon Tanner once spoke on self mastery and used this term to represent someone who is 100% in a chosen thing 100% of the time. Although I am committed to my covenants, my husband, and my family I am not a 100 percent-er as a general statement. Let me explain further: George Leonard the author of a book called Mastery described three distinct learning patterns from his students of aikido. These patterns he then determined, represent us in all of our paths of living. There is the hacker, the obsessive, and the dabbler. I’ll quickly describe what each learning pattern means and how it applies to me.

The hacker: once understanding the technique or skill of a thing, the hacker plateaus and is comfortable with stagnation. 

The obsessive: committed to fast, perfect results. The obsessive over does things and pushes too hard, they do not comprehend occasion for development and create a roller coaster life with deep falls. 

The dabbler: loves the dream and idea of newness, but fervor declines quickly and they move on to the next dream or subject to engage in that opportunity. The dabbler doesn’t actually want to change, but rides the rush of adventure. 

When I say I’m not a 100 percent-er, I think I have all three of these learning patterns that were described by Leonard. I often dabble or hack and occasionally obsess into my life plans. I expect to do 50% of a thing and somebody else to meet me half way (they do the other 50%). For example, I’ll rinse all the dishes in the sink, but won’t proceed to put them in the dish washer. The dopamine has stopped, so I stop the task! I need somebody else to do the other 50%, in this example, put the rinsed dishes into the machine to be sanitized. 

Being this way leaves a lot of room for improvement. However, on the positive, I believe being a ‘meet half-way’ persona makes me emotionally flexible, more agreeable, less contentious, open mindset and more. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 5

 A hero’s Journey. No author name for the speaker was given. He spoke for 22 minutes about destiny and changing the world through entrepreneurship. He wove a tale that began where most of us begin: self doubt. He said we often think ‘do I have what it takes to succeed’. He proceeds to share some insights on how to move past the initial self doubt we humans experience. We should hold on to our desire to change the world. And we need to stop worrying about the wrong things. We were challenged to ask 10+ people who we consider to be role models. Interview them about their triumphs, regrets, lessons they wished they had learned and applied sooner etc. The speaker than shared what those interview commonalities were.

So what really matters in life? I love how the common themes from the experienced role models (people over 60 years of age had enough life experience to share life lessons worth listening to) were summed up in three questions:

1. Have I contributed something meaningful?
2. Am I a good person?
3. Who did I love and who loved me?

These themes are a simplified yet profound road map to good living. It provides purpose and direction that is worth study and execution. If we are to do something meaningful with our lives it needs to make a contribution to us, to the world, in a positive way. This means we need to focus on a passion and it needs to use our special gifts, yet we need to remember this is a business class, it also has to tie into making a living. 

For example, I just love this quote he says: “…people would pay a great deal to watch Michael Jordan play basketball, but not a red cent to watch him play baseball.” I probably love this because I’m a child of the 90s and it makes sense to me.  We need to have focus. We need to stick to a calling that fits our special gifts if it is to be meaningful.

Additionally, I love this thought from the speaker: concerning our meaningful contribution. He said a calling must serve others but it also must matter to us. Ask yourself, what problem do you feel you were put on this earth to solve? I still don’t know what this means for me. I’ll need to ask my role models some questions first I guess. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 4

 It’s been another great week for learning. This semester’s class emphasizes focus on who we are as individuals and how that applies to business. Tom Kelly shared some thoughts that were most poignant for me. He began by quoting Francis Ford Coppola “Do what you love. You’ll be better at it.”

 He then shared Jim Collins ideas about three circles: What are you good at, What are you born to do, What will people pay you to do. Let me expound; Tom Kelly emphasized this idea that the first circle (what are you good at) lives the curse of confidence. Just because you are good at something does not mean you are meant to do it. You might be the fastest typist in your class he says, but that shouldn’t be the reason you become a data entry professional. There are people who are born to do some things. You’ll know it, not because you’re the best at it, but because it makes you happiest when doing that function. Using our typist analogy again, this means that if you’re the fastest typist you know, and you are in a state of flow (fully immersed in the activity) feeling passion and fulfillment while typing, then you are born to be a typist. Last, you need to do something that others will pay you to do. You might be the best typist and in the zone when you do it, but if nobody will pay you to do that job you’ll need to move on.   

Jim Collins was referenced for using a journal as well, not of occurrences but of when he was at his best; when he was in the zone and feeling fulfilled. This was his journal of being ‘in a state of flow’. This journal (two years in the making) lead him to his career. When did he feel at his best, happiest? When he was teaching and when he was working on systems. He did that for a time, until he eventually moved on to another calling.

Here are a couple of important points to me from this 5 minute video we watched in class. 

1. I should make better observations of when I feel fulfilled. I found a notebook and started writing in it last night. 
2. Jim discovered what made him happy and he turned it into a paying job. But equally important to me is that he didn’t feel trapped in that ‘calling’. He did that, felt fulfilled, but moved on and did something else too! I often feel trapped by the ‘one idea’. I love so many, many things-a little bit. I don’t love one idea or one thing a lot. So this brings me hope that I can find my calling and my calling can change over and over again. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 3

This has been my favorite week of study so far. Most of the study made sense to me, the worst being Frank Levinson. His talk kept using abbreviations that I didn’t know! So I was constantly pausing and looking it up in a new tab. How grateful I am for Google. This much casual access to the internet’s accumulated ideas was not available to me the first time I was at school. Just to name a couple examples of my searches: 

Define PO in business (purchase order) and Define VC in business (venture capital).

To speak more highly of Frank Levinson, I want to point out a couple of his must haves for a start up. One ideas was to have cheap furniture. He said spend everything you can on great people and great equipment. Customers will even ben influenced to spend more money on your product if they see you ‘need it’. Another idea he had that stuck with me was no pride. He went on to emphasize the importance of leaving pride behind as you work on a start up company. For example, when a customer trashes you or your product, use that information to fix it. Learn from that opinion and more forward in a positive way. 

I have to mention how impactful Lynn G. Robbins address was for me. He used Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ in several examples of good business and good living go hand in hand. He said, “The motives that drive people are the hinges upon which major outcomes swing”. He then used Ebenezer Scrooge as an example of a ruthless businessman, when his motives were money and pride. But throughout the story, he experiences a change of heart. His motives changed and he became a charitable and more honest human being that affected the well being of his employees, his community, and himself. 

Lastly and equally as impactful for me was Sister Dew’s talk on integrity. To summarize a thought she had: Do you care if the professor is fair? Do you care if your banker is honest? Wouldn’t you like to know your surgeon didn’t cheat his way through residency? Do you care your date/spouse tells you truth about their life, past, feelings etc? I do care. And I care how other’s view my integrity. I strive to be honest, and kind, and to do what I said I would do. I recognize my imperfections in this endeavor, but I strive and work towards integrity just the same. 

Entrepreneurial Journal Week 2

 Randy Pausch achieved so many of his childhood dreams. It makes a person wonder why and how. Thinking about his last lecture I’ve pulled some thoughts about his personality and want to make note of some attributes that he suggests make achieving goals a reality. 

Randy was tenacious. He believed a person should never give up. He lived a full life of fun and happiness, no matter the circumstance. He believed in the analogy you can’t choose the cards you’re dealt but how you play your hand matters. He believed in hard work, I mean to say dreams are more than just thoughts, dreams are achieved by luck but luck takes work. He said of luck it’s the place where preparation meets opportunity. 

Randy also mentions several times this analogy of a brick wall. He said we run into a brick wall on our way to fulfilling dreams. That brick wall is meant to keep others out and for us to show how badly we want to achieve our dreams. 

I also found his thoughts about not fulfilling a dream inspiring. He said he learned more from not achieving the national football league dream. He also shared “at some point you just realize there are some things you are not going to do, so maybe you just want to stand close to the people.” I find this a marvelous quote as it relates to my own failed or lost dreams. 

I think dreaming is hope in its’ infancy and I believe it is crucial to mortality. Hope and goals (or dreams) is what makes getting out of bed worth doing. It provides purpose and drive and motivation to be happy. Randy thought that dreaming bridges cultures and makes the world a better place. I agree with him. Being hopeful and working hard towards good things really does make the world a better place. The key is to help and support others along the way. 

In my younger years I used to dream of being a professional ballroom dancer. I have no natural athletic ability, I never stuck with any dancing lessons, I simply wanted the talent and ability to naturally and magically come to me. So I don’t think this dream will ever come to fruition. However, I know that this desire grew when I was a senior in college; grew to the point I actually acted on it. I signed up for a basic ballroom dance class, loved everything I learned and later signed up for a fun-natured, one-day competition for novice dancers. It was thrilling! It was the closest I’ll ever be to that dream being fulfilled, and it was enough to make me happy. 

Entrepreneur's Journal Week 1

So much reading. Winter 2025 semester has started at BYU-I and I'm in Business 110 (Introduction to Entrepreneurship) my first business class. I can hardly spell Entrepreneurship how do I expect to understand anything from this class. I feel very outdated, underprepared, and a bit overwhelmed. So we start a journal to show growth. I purposefully chose to post here, on my blog, because I'll actually look back at this journal and consider the changes and growth that are promised from investing in learning and writing about it. 

 We have three books assigned to us this semester for this one class alone. One assignment from today had 4 articles and 4+ videos to study with a quiz. I find [specifically] for 100 level classes, the first day of class having assignments due on that same day to be objectionable. Where’s the processing time? Yet here we are, stretching and growing. Reading and comprehension has never been a strong suit of mine. I still recall my mother reading high school text book homework to me out loud…that was over 20 years ago now. How grateful I am for my mother. Hey! There's growth showing right there: I don't ask my mother to read me my homework.

 One of the videos featuring Guy Kawasaki, was relatable and understandable. He said: Do what you love (a cliche for sure). But the example he used about himself and his Asian culture career expectations made his point beautifully. In a nutshell: if you love your work, the enjoyment of that work is the reward wether you get paid a lot or not. This resonates with me personally! I'm 40 years old now. I have no career, I have no real plan (as of right now), but I do know a lot about myself; I like to set my own work schedule and dabble in multiple different interests as an example. 

 One more thought, Reid Hoffman said something about ‘YOU’ as a brand. You as a brand represent substance, meaning your capabilities, talents, success stories, relationships etc. I really liked this concept. It reminds me of the studies I did earlier at BYU-I about marketing and branding (what vibe do you want your brand to represent). I think we as people are our own brand. Begs the question: What does my brand say about me…