Entrepreneurial Journal Blog

 Based on the reflection criteria this week, I will go over some of the 7 habits that were most meaningful to me, and which ones will help me find my passion and purpose.    I think that all 7 habits are extremely important, but I think that the most vital one for me is "Beginning with the End in Mind."  To me, this has been the one that I have lacked the most.  I think it is something that I haven't done a good job of doing lately, which has caused me to lack a sense of direction of what I am doing with my life.  It was good for me to sit down and think about what I want to accomplish here in the next 1,5, and 10 years of my life.  Where do I want to be when I'm 33?  I think that asking myself those kinds of questions helped me realize that... A) Our time is limited B) My actions today determine who I am tomorrow C) I need to put first things first!   By beginning with the end in mind, it helps create clarity in my life and a sense of p...

 I think that I learned a lot of valuable lessons this week.  I think that something that I really need to improve is my self-mastery.  I think that it is something that has somewhat held me back.  I think we all have dreams that we haven't acted upon.  We have all said at some point "One day I'll do it."  I think now that I'm getting closer to being done with college, I've realized that I've been saying that for a couple of years now.  One of those things for me has been going to the gym.  I used to be in really good shape when I was playing football in high school.  I had a couple of knee surgeries my senior year, and ever since then I truly haven't gotten back to what I used to be.  Not saying that I'm out of shape, but I'm nowhere close to what I used to be.  I can remember myself getting back from my mission and saying that I would get consistent again.  The longest that I've stayed consistent is probably 4 months straight...

 The readings this week had a lot of good insights.  This week had a general conference talk called Perseverance by President James E. Faust.  In his talk, he talks about necessary skills that we can learn on a mission.  He numbered them as follows: 1. How to organize and use time wisely 2.  The importance of hard work—that you reap what you sow 3. Leadership Skills 4. People Skills 5. The value of gospel study 6. Respect for authority 7. The importance of prayer 8. Humility and dependence on the Lord My favorite quote is when he said, "Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges." I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to play sports in high school.  It taught me so much about hard work and perseverance.  It taught me how to work hard for what I want, and if I don't get it, to get up and try again the next year.  It taught me how to make a plan in order to reach my goals.  It ta...

 I enjoyed this week's readings.  I learned a lot.  I learned about the importance of doing what you love for work.  I think oftentimes we make decisions based on finances.  Obviously, finances are important, but money can only motivate us to a certain extent.  There was a study done by Princeton that showed that a salary of $75,000 a year is the plateau for creating day-to-day happiness.  Anything over that doesn't have much impact on an individual's happiness.  In other words, if we are pursuing a career for money, we will end up disappointed. I think it's more important to do what you love.  If you don't love what you do, you will be less likely to put in more hours, which will make it harder to be successful.  I think that this was an important realization for me.   I think that this is something that I should apply into my life. Another thing that I learned from this is that it is more important to make great decisions eve...

I liked reading about integrity this week.  I think that it's something that we are starting to lose in our society.  President Joseph F. Smith called integrity "the cornerstone of character," which I couldn't agree more.  It is a vital character to have in all relationships, from being a husband/wife to being a coworker, friend, or leader.  It means to do the right thing, even when it's the hardest choice to make!   It reminds me of a story from when I was younger.  When I was in middle school or early high school, I was doing some work for my grandpa in his backyard.  He lives on about two acres, and about 1.5 of those acres is garden.  It's quite large.  Me and my younger brother, who was in 6th grade, were moving manure that had just been dropped off.  We were driving one of his old Chevy trucks that he prized greatly.  On one of the loads, I started backing up to turn the truck so the bed was closer to the garden, making i...

 I think a big reason why Randy Pausch achieved so many of his childhood dreams was because his parents didn't put any limits on him.  He was able to draw on the walls as a kid.  Pretty soon he was writing chemistry formulas on the walls.  I think that limits can be put on us by ourselves and/or by others.  It reminds me of the quote by Henry Ford, which says, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't -- you're right." I think that it's important for us to have dreams, ambitions, and goals.  Without them, what really is the purpose of our life?  It is human nature to have dreams and ambitions.  These ambitions give us a sense of direction, and a sense of purpose.  The beauty of it is that they can be whatever you want.   Growing up, one of my dreams was to play football at my high school.  When I was in elementary school and middle school, our youth tackle football team would go watch the games together with our coache...

  This week was a great start to the semester.  We opened up by getting to know some of our other classmates and reading through the syllabus.  We also had the opportunity to study a couple of talks, reading materials, and videos.  I think that there were some good insights from the study material.  One of my favorite insights was from Elder David A. Bednar, who suggested that we should avoid the academic path of least resistance.  After all, we are here to learn and to strengthen our knowledge in our field.  Cutting corners will not help us whatsoever in the long run.  I think that it is important that he called that out.  I think that all of us have been guilty of doing so.  Like President Hinckley said, we cannot betray ourselves in any way.  By cutting corners, we are betraying ourselves and our families.   This week we also read material about the importance of journaling during our entrepreneur journey.  Journal...