My Last Lecture

After now completing the BYU-Idaho Introduction to Entrepreneurship course, I have a much clearer perspective of how to begin, and what to expect of, an entrepreneur’s journey. An entrepreneur’s journey is one of self-discovery and reflection. Each week of class I learned something new about myself and I had the opportunity to reflect on the lessons I learned in this blog, my entrepreneur journal. Now I would like to share some of the most important things I have learned with those who want to begin their entrepreneur journey.

Before even beginning your entrepreneur journey you must solidify your priorities. By that I mean make sure that you decide now that you will always put your family first and that you will never compromise your morals. Your family will be a support to you as you are a support to them. Also, as you strive to be a person of integrity your life will be filled with greater happiness than you can imagine.

Next you must decide what your dreams are and what your calling in life is. Following your dreams will put you on the path of doing something that you love. Dreams also often provide a vision for how you can make the world a better place; helping others should be your main goal for your future ventures. In order to find your calling you need to discover your God given gifts and use them to serve your fellowman. As you endeavor to do what you love and use your gifts to help others, you will find great satisfaction in your life and career.

Once you start moving forward on your entrepreneur journey, you will find that there are many challenges along the way. These challenges should not deter you from your vision, but should be looked at as an opportunity for growth and change. In Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s BYU Devotional Address, “However Long and Hard the Road,” he declares, “it is simply a truism that nothing very valuable can come without significant sacrifice, effort, and patience on our part.” From that great message take courage and hope. When trials come, see that your goals are still worthwhile and keep moving forward. 

Along your journey take time to reflect on lessons you are learning and understand the person you are becoming. You have infinite potential that can help you to change the world. Reflection along the way can also help you to stop and see all the blessings in your life. When you do this, your heart will be filled with gratitude and you will have greater motivation to keep working hard and serve others.

In closing I would like to say that my heart is full of gratitude for the lessons I have learned about my entrepreneur journey. I hope you, the aspiring entrepreneur, are excited as well to commit to a path of life-long learning!

Gratitude

For my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class I was able to read a wonderful talk by the beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. The talk was given in the April 1992 General Conference and the title is “An Attitude of Gratitude.” While reading the talk I learned a wonderful lesson about how powerful gratitude can be. President Monson says, “We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.” As I read those words a thought came to me: If I my mind is busy thinking about all my blessings and the good that fills my life, I won’t have time to be negative or think of what I still lack. Also, if I strive to vocalize the positive and good things about my life, I will be able to lift those around me who may be in a slump and stuck thinking about what they don’t have rather than what they do. An attitude of gratitude is completely up to each of us and we will be so much happier if we will make it a habit to always think of our blessings.

My mother is and always has been a great example to me of an attitude of gratitude. Whenever any of us kids were feeling particularly negative or whiney she would start to sing the hymn “Count Your Many Blessings.” Even when we were especially upset she would keep singing and it would always brighten our spirits. She would also tell us of the stories of trials the pioneers had to endure, and yet they were still grateful to just be serving God. Those stories put into perspective all the rich blessings we had and it made us a little more grateful. I am grateful for my mother who taught me how to have an attitude of gratitude. My hope is that I can pass the attitude of gratitude on to others, especially to my children.

Together We Can Change the World!

This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class the title of the lesson was “Change the World.” That phrase seemed rather daunting to me and I wondered what that phrase truly means and how I could change the world. I received many insights about changing the world from a lecture, “ Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World,” given by Muhammad Yunus at Brigham Young University. One of these insights comes from Muhammad Yunus’ teaching, “If we all dream about a better world, I can guarantee you that we will create a better world.” Those words of hope helped me to see that changing the world, does not mean ending global warming, ending poverty or solving world hunger single handedly. It really means spreading hope and making a difference by working together. As we serve those around us and spread hope for a better world, the world will be changed for good. The key in Muhammad’s words is “we.” If I decide to start my own business, I want it to be something that will truly help people to work together to change the world. Also, I can make a difference by teaching my children the importance of serving and their great potential to change the world along side others.

Each individual human being has infinite potential to be a force for good. As we serve and realize our potential to do great good, we will begin to see change in ourselves and change in those around us. Together we can change the world.