Deep and Not-so-deep Thoughts

Finding Passion at Age 50

While watching a video, “Passion vs. Money” by Guy Kawasaki, Garage Technology Ventures (http://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/269/Passion-vs-Money), I found myself wondering, what am I am passionate about? As we get older, cross off bucket list items, and find ourselves in the grind of providing for our family, I think we can lose our sense of adventure and passion. How do we get it back? What if we never had much to begin with? Is starting another business something I could be passionate about? What about continuing my education past a bachelor’s degree? What about serving a mission with my wife. These are all some of my over 50 goals. But sometimes I wonder whether these are goals I can be passionate about. What have I been excited about in the last 10 years? Building a treehouse was great.

Truth

Another theme this week was being true. I really appreciated the strong testimony of President Hinckley when he said, “The truths of this gospel are everlasting and eternal. Philosophies change. Customs change. Culture changes. But with all of these changes, there are gospel fundamentals that have never changed and never will change.” (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/stand-true-and-faithful?lang=eng) When all else seems mixed up, dark, and disturbing in the world around us we have the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ to hold to that are firm and reliable.

So you want to be an entrepreneur?

So you want to be an entrepreneur?

That is a great question. One of the videos this week addressed the question succinctly when the speaker said, if you are going to be an entrepreneur and you are single, stay that way. While being an entrepreneur and having a family can happen, it takes discipline and a conscious effort. Another speaker described how he found a balance by setting out rules that he followed. Some of his rules were to be home for dinner with his family every night and spend time with them on the weekend. Another speaker mentioned that you need to work smarter, not harder and that those who were successful with their own business ventures did not necessarily work 18 hours a day to achieve that success.

Self-mastery

 

The other area of focus this week was self-mastery. I really enjoyed some timeless wisdom from N. Eldon Tanner in his talk “Success Is Gauged by Self-Mastery” where he said, “If you want to be successful or outstanding in any field of endeavor, it is important that you determine while young to be a great boy, and not wait to be a man to be a great man; and then have the courage and strength and determination to discipline yourself, apply self-control and self-mastery.” While I am not a boy, I can look back and see where self-mastery has been key to obedience to gospel commandments and principles and important to achieving goals and success. One thing I have learned in life is that self-mastery is a daily struggle. If I didn’t have my goals and righteous desires in front of me I might just lazily waste my life away. The urges to succumb to the natural man are strong and persistent. Keeping an eternal perspective is one way I counter those desires. Nothing great was ever earned or achieved without self-mastery, discipline, hard work, and persistence.

Who do you Admire?

Who do you Admire?

This week we put together a personal Board of Directors, dream team style. As I looked at who I admire, leaders in history, and those who have influenced me, I realized my list was a reflection of my values, virtues, and principles I hold dear. Still, those who I chose don’t all have identical values and some are flawed, but aren’t we all? One of the things I feel that is important when you choose who to surround yourself with is not that you pick people who are just like you, but that you pick people who can complement, encourage, and drive you to be your best.

Here is my Board:

Chairman – Jesus Christ

            I would think this is an obvious choice as someone who can give you guidance and direction. Not only is he perfect, he knows me perfectly. He also loves me and I have faith that he has my best interests at heart. He only wants the best for me and knows what learning and growing experiences can help me to be like him. I am reminded of these sentiments as I think of the Savior as the Chairman of my Personal Board, “Think of those early disciples who walked and talked with the Savior during His earthly ministry. Imagine the thanksgiving and reverence that must have flooded their hearts and filled their minds when they saw Him risen from the tomb, when they felt the wounds in His hands. Their lives would never be the same!” (O How Great the Plan of Our God! by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency)

Director – Brigham Young

            He would make a fascinating member of my personal board. I am a very curious person as it seems Brigham was as well. I enjoy speculating on the mysteries of God and asking a lot of “how” and “why” questions. I think he would be very interested in today’s social, economic, and political issues. He seemed to have a grasp of these social constructs as it pertained to his day, and the complexities of them in our day would surely be fascinating to him. He was also a great proponent of being industrious and I would like to learn these principles from him and see how he balanced those with spiritual precepts.

Director – Abraham

            Another fascinating spiritual giant who could help me understand the priesthood, sacrifice, obedience, and the power of covenants. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am part of the family and posterity of father Abraham and an heir to his blessings and promises. I would think that as premortal beings, we were somehow associates and to have that privilege in this life would be a great blessing as well. “Father Abraham recognized the value of this grand key as he recounted his experience: ‘I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, … and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.’ (Abr. 1:2)” (The Key of the Knowledge of God, James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency)

Director – Charlie Huff

            My father, mentor, and the most influential person in my life when it comes to integrity and work ethic. From him I learned the value of hard, honest work, the value of time and money, and eternal principles and the plan of salvation. While having his own faults and flaws, he has been a role model for me in my life. I value his knowledge and wisdom.

Director – Steve Jobs

            Who wouldn’t want a successful businessman, innovator, entrepreneur, and visionary like Steve on their Board? I think I would enjoy his perspective on life. I appreciate when he said, “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other opinions drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Director – James Madison

As a staunch constitutionalist, I appreciate the courage, vision, and wisdom of our founding fathers. As a key part of the drafting and writing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights I honor and value his knowledge and experience in creating a form of government most applicable to a telestial world in line with gospel principles. “What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_madison.html)

Director – Bono

            To add some color and creativity to my board, Bono would round it out. I have been a U2 fan for years and appreciate his musical talents and his sincere desires to help people all over the world. I would place him in charge of charitable events and efforts. “To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal. If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel.” (Lyrics from U2 song, “Mysterious Ways”)

Time Management Real Life Lesson

This week was an incredibly full week as I came off of a great spiritual weekend of instruction, counsel, and guidance from prophets and apostles in our Semi-annual General Conference. What an outpouring of wisdom from modern-day prophets and apostles and the inspiration I so desire for my personal and professional life. As I finished “The Ministry of Business” how correct principles magnify business success by Steven A Hitz with James W. Ritchie, I was reflecting on how the Lord truly is interested in all aspects of our lives. The scripture that recurs many times in the Book of Mormon came to mind where the Lord promises, “For the Lord God hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land” (2 Nephi 4:4) and “men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25) What a blessing it is to have inspired guidance, learning, and knowledge imparted to us so freely.

As far as being a difficult week, it was because I let an assignment in another class suck up my time and distract me from my other classes. In that class, we had a business management simulation where each hour represented a day in a factory and we had to manage the orders coming in and purchase capacity on machines. I found myself glued to my computer, waiting for the next day to see how our team’s decisions and strategies were playing out. It was addicting. I found myself putting off other important assignments until the last minute. Looking back, I see how I managed my time poorly and allowed myself to become fixated on this one thing. This was a good lesson for me to learn and look to avoid repeating in the future with school or even in my career or business.

Recovering serial entrepreneur?

This week as I pondered the case study of Magdalena Yesil, self-described “serial entrepreneur,” I reflected on my own entrepreneurial ventures and current career choices. I was able to see some similarities but also some things I didn’t want to experience. One of the negatives was the obsessiveness and drive which some entrepreneurs have to succeed. While it makes them very financially successful, I think that in some ways, personal relationships suffer and I definitely want balance and less stress in my life. One of the things I have struggled with is the guilt of moving away from entrepreneurship towards secure employment. This has been somewhat magnified because of my degree emphasis on entrepreneurial management. While I do struggle with this I also enjoy the personal growth opportunities that come from the materials I am able to study because they have such great application to personal improvement.

Going into General Conference this weekend, I really appreciated the quote from President Monson that Steven Hitz and James Ritchie included in The Ministry of Business, “Vision without effort is daydreaming; effort without vision is drudgery; but vision, coupled with effort, will obtain the prize.”

 

 

I am looking forward to the outpouring of instruction from modern-day prophets and apostles and the inspiration I so desire for my personal and professional life. I think it is great timing for us to have General Conference and then next week work on our personal constitution.

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.

Beginning the Journey

A new Journey - Entrepreneurial Discovery (Rediscovery?)

As I evaluate my choices in life and the role the entrepreneurial spirit has had in those choice, one book has had a profound impact on me. The book by Robert T. Kiyosaki: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. What the rich teach their kids about money – that the poor and middle class do not!, epitomizes my somewhat schizophrenic attitude toward entrepreneurship. At some points I have been the "rich" dad and other times (currently) the "poor" dad.

One thing I have learned through these choices is that there are several financial philosophies that people from different walks of life subscribe to; from get rich quick to get rich slowly, from play it safe to takes risks and gamble, and from the idea that money is the root of all evil to the idea that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (I Tim. 6:10). In the gospel we learn that there are many philosophies, some worldly, or temporal, and some eternal, or spiritual. There are some that are true, while others are false. One of the purposes in life is to come to know who we are so we can realize our divine potential. Critical in this pursuit is determining eternal truth from the philosophies of man. I know that the source of truth is our Heavenly Father. When it comes to a true financial philosophy we need only to look to his counsel found in scripture. The one I’ve found most pertinent is: “But before you seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good…” (Jacob 2:18-19). I feel that if I use this as my guiding financial philosophy I will be keeping an eternal perspective while still providing for the material needs of this life.

Another principle I've learned is that financial acuity and wisdom must be learned. Robert T. Kiyosaki's rich dad said: “My brain gets stronger every day because I exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more money I can make.” As I compare financial principles with gospel principles, I see great parallels between gospel principles and financial principles espoused in this book. The principle of gaining knowledge was put very succinctly by Joseph Smith when he said: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection” (D & C 130:18). I have a testimony that as we increase our knowledge of true principles it will be a blessing to us in this life, both in temporal and spiritual ways. The classes I have taken in the BYU-Idaho Pathway/Degree Program have taught me many great temporal as well as spiritual principles that I have already been able to apply in my life and in the financial choices I make. 

In this class, I would like to journey into my mind to maybe answer some questions I have been thinking about.

1.      Have I already started, owned, and closed the last entrepreneurial venture I will go into in my life?

2.      Can I have a secure career in the Water/Public Service business and an entrepreneurial venture, at the same time?

3.      Is my desire for a secure career with benefits and retirement stifling my creative side?

4.      If I have a great business idea, how do I put it all together? The team, financing, operations, etc.?

5.      When do I want to retire?