WEEK 14: REFLECTION

During these fourteen weeks, I learned a lot about entrepreneurship, the behavior that an individual should adopt before going into the entrepreneurship firm. If I had one final lecture to share with a group of students on what I have learned from this course, it will be what I learnt from week two: Create A Life Of Meaning. To start my lecture, it is important to ask these questions:

• ·        What is important to you?
• ·        Why do you get out of your bed in the morning?
• ·        What do you want to have accomplished by the time you get seventy?

Life is a journey, not a destination, but that does not mean that life should be an aimless journey. The most successful and fulfilled entrepreneur are always advancing towards a vision that gives meaning to their lives. If this relentless pursuit were persistence transform ideals into mission.

For someone to succeed in life, he must begin with the end in mind, once you know what is important to you today and know where you are heading up,  and you have discovered these goals and your end purpose is clear, you can begin to set a life plan goal, backing up decade by decade from the end. Examining each stage of your life by viewing your life as a continuous journey, identifying the achievements at each stage will act as steppingstones towards your final goal.

My last advice to someone wanting to begin the entrepreneur journey is:  the entrepreneur journey is not a rosy bed, or a journey full of honey but rather a journey full of stones and experiences, and failure is one of them. He should know that one is not born as an entrepreneur but rather people with hard work, patience, courage, experiences etc. became great and successful entrepreneurs. Have your purpose in mind and press forward towards achieving your dreams. Above all, when facing difficult time remember that there is a God that watch over you and care for you, Pray and ask for help and directions throughout the journey.

My word of direction is in the entrepreneurship firm, three things are needed to succeed and it is important to have them:

• 1-    A good plan
• 2-    Human resources
• 3-    Financial resources.

        

GRATITUDE: BEING GRATEFUL

The great paradox of our times is most of us live charmed lives, at least when compared to most of humanity throughout the ages, yet we’re more angry, anxious, and depressed than ever before. For all of our comforts, we continually find reasons to be unhappy and unfulfilled. In many respects, we’ve forgotten just how good we have it.

Studies have shown that expressing gratitude increases self-esteem and resilience. It also increases determination and energy. People who express gratitude have fewer aches and pains, fewer psychological problems and get better rest. All of these factors help them to be more productive.

Gratitude makes people connect better and win the trust of others. It can help you sell better. Being thankful also makes you appreciate the efforts of your team members and improves team morale, making you a better leader.

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted. Under the aura of excitement, riches and glory that surround it, entrepreneurship requires hard work and contains hard knocks. Being grateful when you are living in the trenches of entrepreneurship is difficult. But it is during these times that gratitude should be practiced deliberately and actively.

Start by simply saying the words to those around you, whether friends, family or strangers. They may be meant for a restaurant staff who brings your coffee or a bus driver, for a colleague who is just doing their job or for your mother when she has cooked a favorite dish. These simple words are sure to bring on a smile – a much needed antidote to your despairing mood.

Look around you for the common everyday things you take for granted, like the bed you sleep on and the blankets on it, hot meals, cold showers, the house you live in, and all the appliances in it. This list needn’t be a long one and could even include people and events. Now imagine how your life would be without them, and you will recognize the comforts that surrounds you. Give thanks for these good things in your life. Just a minute spent doing this will change the way you feel and work.

THE IMPORTANCE OF VIRTUE AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS

For most people, virtue and integrity are the most vital to a developed and advanced economy. Firstly, let us try to understand these two words and see their importance to an economy.

Virtue is defined as a conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principal. Doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. Virtue is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. While integrity is seen as fundamental to being men, is being truthful, accepting responsibility and honoring commitment and covenants. It is also the quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity.

After these definitions, we can proudly confirm that virtue and integrity are the foundation of a strong economy. Markets rely on rules and laws, but those rules and laws in turn depend on truth and trust. Conceal truth or erode trust, and the market’s game becomes so unreliable that no one will want to play. The markets will empty and share prices will collapse, as ordinary people find other places to put their money – into their houses, maybe, or under their beds. The great virtue of capitalism – which provides a way for the savings of society to be used for the creation of wealth – will have been eroded. We will be left to rely increasingly on governments for the creation of our wealth, something that they have always been conspicuously bad at doing.

When there is no virtue and integrity, people are no longer running their companies for the benefit of consumers, or even of their shareholders and employees, but for their personal ambition and financial gain. With this, we can confirm that for an economy to be strong, people must have virtue and integrity.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS MONEY

Our financial mindset or attitude toward money has a major impact on our long-term financial success. Many of our view about money come from subconscious beliefs during childhood or pass experiences with money. Today, I am going to talk about money, as I see it. The way I see money is based on what I have learned and from my experiences. I am the kind of person that belief that money can be a source of happiness and joy in a home. No matter who we are or no matter our rank in the society, money Is a necessary part of our existence. And it is not a bad thing at all if someone put interest in looking for money genuinely.

Also, I belief that money is a blessing that covenants people receive from God. 3 Nephi 24:10 says :” Bring ye all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith; saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” From what follows we can confirm that money is a blessing from God.

I also believe that when God open the windows of heaven and bless us, it is our turn to impact our substance into the poor and the needy. I will say that money is not what many people intent to believe, the love of money or obsession with accumulating money from others un-righteously, no matter what the method, may be evil, but money of itself is neither good or bad.

My view of money affects my life in a positive way. I have a clear perspective to seek for it genuinely and working hard, help my fellow beings and in doing all of this, I am developing greater love for my maker.

If we acknowledge that all blessings come from God and believe that blessings are based on obedience to God’s Commandments, the blessing of wealth and the abundant of life is given. Then we that wish to accumulate wealth, and believe that we can do good things with it, had better be about learning and keeping the commandments so we can receive this promised blessing.

Components for Achieving Big Dreams

Some of the necessary components for achieving goals and objectives are vision, desire, action plans, teamwork, optimism, decision, determination, persistence.
Of all the items mentioned, I consider perhaps the first that is needed to achieve goals and objectives is vision. As many authors wrote on the subject, I think that if we cannot make our dreams come true in our imagination, we will never see it in real life. That phrase has marked a lot my way of working recently. Now I always start with the end in mind, I wonder if what I am doing will help me achieve my dreams and if not, I set short-term goals that are in harmony with what I would like to do. Meditation and prayer are very important and I used them as a guide and support for making wise decisions.

Thinking big is another principle that I am learning to put into practice. And this is related in retrospect to our vision. As I am working with the end in my mind, I know that working with a short- and long-term measurement system helps us to know how close we are to our big dream and the things that we still need to do. At first, thinking big seemed a little intimidating, but over time I learned the valuable lesson that every small decision adds to our big dream and with that perspective I am reaching daily, weekly and monthly goals.

Taylor Richards in his motivational talk “Think Big” giving on March 21, 2011 said: ''Do not over underestimate yourself. You can do it, you can accomplish the goals and dreams that you set and if you involve the Lord, you can do the impossible, you can do amazing things, you can do great things”. This talk motivated me in building self-confident and unwavering trust in God Almighty. Also, to achieve my big dreams, I must develop some attributes such as: "perseverance' 'and "tenacity", the sense of responsibility, honesty, and maintaining my integrity.

Disciple Leadership

In this week readings and videos watch. A great lesson of discipleship and leadership were discussed. What is most important in combining both leadership and discipleship to overcome challenges that may present themselves in life’s journey.

From what I have learnt this week, the definitions of the two key terms, ‘’disciple” and “leadership” broadens my understanding.

The definition of disciple, according to Oxford English Dictionary, is one who follows or attends upon another for the express purpose of learning. Elder David A. Bernard describe a disciple of Christ in a devotional given on August 31, 2004 at Brigham Young University. He said “A disciple of Christ is one who is following and learning to be like Christ, learning to think, to feel, and to act as he does. He or she is striving to gain the mind of Christ… a disciple is the one who loves the Lord and serves Him with all his or her heart, might, mind and strength”. In conclusion I can say a disciple of Christ is one who implement Christ teaching to his or her life and help others to do likewise.

Leadership on the other hand is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization.  President Kim B. Clark, in one of his talks giving to Brigham Young University students, said: “the call to a disciple-leader is a call to minister. It is a call to lead as Christ leads. It is a leadership with a small “L”. He went ahead and describe the meaning of leadership with a small “L” when he said: “It is a kind of leadership that builds and lifts and inspires through kindness and love and unselfish devotion to the Lord and His work.

In summary, What I learnt this week is, “we are living in a time of turmoil and wickedness and we need to cultivate a Disciple-Leadership qualities ( Christlike attributes) to overcome challenges faced during life’s journey, prepare ourselves to return to our Father in Heaven and be saved, reach out and help other children of God to do the same.

Overcoming Challenges

Many at times, people enter into the field of entrepreneurship with the intentions of building a profitable business which can help them to make money, be their own boss (self reliant), help others around them by providing job opportunities, and do what they really love doing - which bring happiness. With that perception one can be ready to overcome all the challenges that will present itself on their way to achieving their goals. The business firm is not a bed of roses where everything is peaceful and calm, but rather a battle field, a place of experience and failure.

Challenges are part of the road leading to experiences and success in the entrepreneur firm, some of those challenges can be fear (fear of failing, making mistakes, people judgment, investing in the wrong business venture etc), disappointment, mismanagement of resources, illness and death.

In this week reading assignment, I came to learn some of the things we can do to overcome those challenges and explore our potential as children of God.

• Have a good mentor that you can learn from his/her experiences and guidance, one that will help you through coaching, counseling, etc, to make wise and structured decisions.

• Develop positive attribute and though; though that will elevate your spirit and lead to positive attitude such as “I can make/do it”, “this is a learning face, I will surely do much better next time” etc.

• Be perseverance and determine to achieve your dreams as shown by Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Nephi courage and determination set an example for us.

• Draw strength from family. In the journey of being a successful entrepreneur, family can be of a great support. Their presence, support and advice can be very helpful.

• And finally put your trust in the Lord to carry your burden and comfort you when through the overcoming your challenges.