Last Lecture

Looking back on my life, the one thing that I wish I had done differently is making decisions.  Not the decisions that I made, but the way that I went about making decisions.  I would encourage all of you to learn how to make decisions and then stick to them.  This has been the single largest area of my life that I have lost time.  When we think about it, time is the most precious resource that anyone can have.  If I had learned to make decisions about what I wanted in life earlier, I would have had more time to pursue those goals.

All of the best things in my life have come from when I was decisive and went after what I wanted.  My biggest triumph was getting my wife to agree to marry me.  From the moment that I met her I realized that she was the one for me.  Because I made that decision, I was able to focus my attention on getting her hand.  We said our marriage vows nine months after meeting.

The next most important thing that happened in my life came from the decision that my wife and I made to have children.  I was married the day before I turned twenty-one and was a father by twenty-two and a half.

Among my biggest failures include things that I did not make a decision on for some time.  I could not decide what I wanted to get a degree in and so I put off my education until I had an abrupt change in my career.  Because I did not have a degree, it was difficult to reenter the work force in my previous position as a store general manager.

My wife and I made a decision after I had lost my job to look at moving away from Illinois.  We realized that living there had served a purpose, but we no longer needed to be in that part of the country.  We decided to move to Idaho and it has made a world of difference for my family.  When I compare the value set that people in our neighborhood have in Idaho as opposed to the values that our previous neighbors had in Illinois, it is like night and day. 

I realize that not everyone will make the same decisions as me, and that is OK.  The most important thing that they can do is to make decisions.  Don’t spend all of your time trying to analyze the outcomes.  Trust those that care about you to help you make good decisions.  Listen to your loved ones.  They can give you a perspective that you may have never considered before.  At the minimum you will have strengthened a relationship with someone important to you and that will help as you encounter difficulties in your life’s journey.  That is a good place to start.

Gratitude

As I reflect on this week’s readings and videos, I realize that the most impactful reading was the talk by President Monson on gratitude.  I realized that there are many things that I am grateful for which I have not been showing any gratitude.  This talk helped me to realize the type of person that I want to be.  I want to be someone that shows gratitude for all that I have and for the relationships people have with me.

I need to show more gratitude to those around me.  This will cause by entire disposition to change and will draw more people into my circle of influence.  When I think of people that are successful I realize that most often it is people that others want to be around.  If I can develop gratitude muscle so that I don’t have to consciously think about showing thanks, but simply doing it by reflex, then I will have become successful in this part of my life.

I have found that I am normally not very expressive with my emotions.  When I do take off my emotional mask and let others know how I am feeling, the return of emotional energy is great.  It can feel almost overwhelming at times.  This may be part of the reason that I have not shown my emotions too frequently.  This is another thing to put on my list of goals to accomplish.  I am sure that my family will be more than happy to help me achieve my goal and will support me in pursuing it.

Doing What I Can

This week I have had time to think about what I would like my entrepreneurial endeavor to accomplish.  I want to be able to help others.  I know that I will be able to care for my family regardless of what I do, so I want to do something that is useful to others beyond me.  If I can create a business that helps solve one of the world's problems then I will feel as though I contributed to society.  I realize that I may not have a big effect on the global situation, but I will have done what I can.

When I was reading about the micro-loans and how they were able to improve the lives of those that are trapped in poverty because they are denied credit, it made me think of credit in a new light.  Is credit simply the ability to borrow money for a time, or is it a trust that is given to a person that they are responsible?  I think it is more of the trust that is important.  Having trust among businesses allows them to have transactions.  If there is no trust, then companies would not get materials shipped to them to turn into products unless they could pay for them in full in advance.  Also, the company purchasing the materials would not be willing to pay for them until they could be inspected for quality.

In short, our economy would come to a grinding halt.  Because of this I feel that trust is one of the most critical pieces that economies need.  This includes trusting individuals to do as they promise.

As I watched the talk by Elder Gay, I was touched by the story of the teenage girl that lost her parents in Sudan.  The strength that she showed from having gone through that experience is remarkable.  I hope that I can gain that type of conviction.

Virtue and integrity help businesses to trust one another.  This allows them to create wealth.  It allows individuals to pool their collective wealth to be used to create more wealth.  If we lose virtue or integrity, people will withdraw their wealth from the collective pool and the economy will collapse.

The real justification for a business to exist is if it can make or do something better than others that is a benefit to society.  If it can’t make or do something that benefits society in some way, it is more of a parasite than a useful entity.

Two solutions that Handy proposed that I agree with are to share the fruits of labor more evenly with those that are providing the intellectual capital, not simply the money.  This will help to inspire employees that are making a more significant contribution to continue to innovate.  The other idea that I liked was having a number of employees of the company on the supervisory board.  This will help the company understand the real life challenges that employees are facing and help them to keep the needs of their most important resource taken care of quickly.

Money & Life Balance

This week has given me an opportunity to reflect on what type of life balance I wish to have as an entrepreneur.  From discussions with classmates as well as my spouse, I have come to the conclusion that keeping my marriage whole is the most important thing I can do.  If I find myself in a situation that my marriage is suffering, I will stop what I am doing and reassess what I can do to strengthen my marriage.

I will make sure that I put some controls in place before I run into issues with my marriage.  Among them will be regular family meetings to measure each family member's current feeling of inclusion in what is happening with each other and the business.  I will make sure that my wife and I sit down and have a thorough discussion as to how much time needs to be spent with each other.  We will also discuss what types of things are important to each other in maintaining our family unit.  Examples would be to not check voicemails, text messages, email, etc. while we are having family time.

My attitude towards money is very simple; I consider it to be a tool.  Like all tools it has uses that are very desirable as well as uses that are not desirable.  I know that I will need a certain amount of money to support my family.  Once I have that amount, I am open to donating the remainder to helping other.  I know that having enough money saved up so that I am living off of the residual income will greatly enhance my ability to give to others.  It will also allow my wife and I the time we want to be able to serve missions together.

The way that I view money will have a profound effect on the way that I live my life.  When I am focused on attaining money, I will not be paying as much attention to other aspects of my life.  If I am viewing attaining money as a means to an end, I will still be able to focus on those things that truly matter to me.  Things like my family, giving service, fulfilling my church callings are what bring happiness into my life.  I want to keep them front and center in all of my endeavors.

Some rules that will help me to prosper include following the six steps in the Ministry of Business, having 10 or more friends that are older, younger, and the same age as me.  Having older friends will help give me perspective.  Having younger friends will give my energy a boost.  Having friends that are the same age as me will help to keep me grounded.  Another rule for prospering would be to continue to live a modest lifestyle.  This will make it so that I have the funds available to do what I want while not having to work an insane amount.

Becoming - Administrator vs. Entrepreneur

As I listened to the talk from Elder Oaks about becoming converted, I thought of how I could apply that principle to my goal of being an entrepreneur.  I fully realize that I am currently in the testimony stage of being an entrepreneur.  I know that being an entrepreneur is a good thing and I can tell others that same truth, but I am not ready to be one yet myself.

So the question arises, how do I change from being an administrator to being an entrepreneur?

I have to change my overall thinking pattern to allow myself to look more for the opportunities and less at the protection of current resources.  In some ways I am more of an entrepreneur, because I am comfortable at making a decision and going forward with it instead of requiring approval in advance.  In other ways I am very much an administrator because I see what will be needed to succeed and want to ensure that I have all needed supplies before starting.

One step that I feel will help me in my road to being an entrepreneur is to get out of debt.  I watched another video from Taylor Richards about being debt free as he pursued his entrepreneurial dream.  I realized that getting out of debt will help me obtain a level of comfort that I require emotionally to be able to take the risk of being an entrepreneur.

Understanding what I am capable of and comfortable with will help me to make choices that don't keep me up all night because I am stressed out.

I am not comfortable with change in general.  I know that it happens and that I can't stop it.  I feel that once I get my other areas of life in order, I will have more confidence in dealing with rapid change and striking out as an entrepreneur.

Leadership

What is leadership?

This is what I thought about most this week.  Knowing what makes a great leader and how to become one will be essential to me in my entrepreneurial endeavors.  As the saying goes, a leader without anyone following them is simply a guy going for a walk.

I want to be someone that people are willing to follow.  I was reminded by the readings this week about leadership with the small "L".  I was also reminded of the level five leader.  In many ways the level five leader is a leader with a small "L".

Being humble and self-effacing, but still driven toward your goal of greatness is a quality that I want to build within myself.

How do I go about doing this?

I need to lead by example.  If I am unwilling to do the thing that I am asking of others, few will listen to what I have to say, let alone follow me.  The example that I set will set a tone for my entire business.  The sense of urgency that I return phone calls to clients.  The way that I listen to others and try to understand them before I make a decision about what needs to be done.  All of these things will help to build the example of what I am looking for in others, but I must first establish them within myself.

I think I will focus on this first trait before worrying about the others.  If I am not able to lead by example, the rest really won't matter much, because I will be a guy going for a walk.

Rocks in the Road and Slaying Dragons

As I went through the readings this week, I kept thinking about a common theme.  There are going to be challenges in my future.  Some of them will be difficult.  Some will seem insurmountable.  Whether it is a rock in the road that I need to move in order to help others avoid misfortune or a dragon that I need to slay in order to complete my task, I will be challenged.

This is not a new concept.  I have been taught since my earliest years that anything worth having needs to be worked at.  We will eat by the sweat of our brow.  If I am not willing to put forth the effort to overcome my challenges, and challenges I will have, then I will look back with regret my entire life.

What are some of my challenges?  This can be hard to say.  I know that I am good at analyzing a situation and seeing the benefits of different outcomes.  It is more difficult for me to think of the situation in the first place.  My creative side is not as strong as my analysis side.

Another of my challenges, which may turn out to be one of my dragons, is that I am very introverted.  I have learned from various jobs to interact with others and to even speak publicly when needed, but it has a huge toll on me.  At the end I am exhausted both mentally and physically.  I can thrive in small groups, especially when I know some of them.  When I am put into a large group, say 10 or more, I become quiet and uncomfortable.  I tend to lose my ability to make small talk.  This was one of the challenges that I face when I was a store manager back in Illinois.  I am not sure that I will be able to slay this dragon.

I am trying to learn how to interact with large groups of people and not feel overwhelmed at the same time.  I think I need to sharpen my sword and polish my armor.  When they are ready, I may have more confidence in my task ahead.