Entrepreneurial Dreams?

This week I have really enjoyed the discussion boards where we have been able to share our dreams and goals with others in the class and get feedback and opinions on them. I have found this to be very helpful in the past to distill my sometimes crazy ideas and narrow my focus to be able to accomplish what ends up being the most important to me. Bouncing ideas off others can be a two-edged sword where sometimes they can discount your ideas and make you discouraged and other times it gives you great encouragement and help in fine tuning your ideas and moving forward. All-in-all, I think it is a great exercise for entrepreneurs. I really look forward to continuing in this vein the rest of the semester. We have a great instructor and great classmates with a wide variety of goals and experiences.

 

This week’s reflection questions.

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams? Randy Pausch was able to achieve many childhood dreams because he really wanted to. We can achieve our dreams if we focus on them, put ourselves in the right situations, and position ourselves to have those opportunities open up to us. A great example of this was one of the most difficult ones he achieved – working as an Imagineer for Disney. If he were to write down or try to plan how he could do that, he would not have written how it actually happened. He was able to achieve it because he became one of the best in his field and then looked for an opportunity to leverage that to achieve his dream.
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not? Dreaming is very important. When we dream we consider what may be possible, even if that possibility is very remote. Just the act of dreaming sets in motion the beginnings of plans and goals. It lets us think, “what if…” I think that the ultimate draw of the gospel is hope. What if we can be cleansed of sin? What if we can be changed through the atonement of Christ to a new creature? What if we can have an eternal family? What if we can live in celestial glory for all eternity? These “dreams” or hope lead to faith (dreams) and then action (plans and goals).
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream. One of my childhood dreams that I could, and did achieve, was to have a beautiful wife, family, and children. A childhood dream that I probably will not achieve is to invent a flying car. One of my entrepreneurial disappointments has been my inability to translate an idea or invention into a business.