My Last Lecture

I honestly feel like one of the most important things I have learned from this semester has to be from two of our readings. I enjoyed the book "The Start-up Of Me" and was really struck by the concept of "permanent beta." From a business, personal, and religious stand-point I believe being in permanent beta is truly one of the hardest attitudes and abilities we can have to acquire. We in the human race hate change. We want to feel comfortable and as if we are in the right. In business, in life, and especially as a God fearing individual we need to constantly "become something more."

In religion we speak of damnation as being tortured and screaming and lamenting. However, damnation can all be stopping your progression.


We dam up water all the time. The waters progression is hindered and it becomes stationary or idol. So it can be for us as Entrepreneurs and as people. We can stop growing and learning and innovating and this will cause us to be dammed as well.


If entrepreneurs do not continually grow and learn they become as a vegetable. When veggies are green they grow. We should be green all our lives so that we can grow and grow.

If a vegetable becomes "ripe" it rots. We must not think we have made it. We cannot become ripe. We must stay in permanent beta and remain Green all our days so that we do not rot in our lives.



The second book that I felt like I gained a lot from this semester was "The Dip." I think it is a very important skill for us to obtain to know when NOT to start endeavors and when to quite failing endeavors. I by no means have this figured out yet but I do believe this is an art that one must continually learn. I think the important thing is to really analyze why we are quitting and why we aren't quitting. 


Quitting gets such a bad reputation but if we are honest most things in life to become a better person require quitting some bad habit.


In conclusion I feel like the most important things for me that I have taken from this course is the ability to continually learn. No person who is successful in life remains successful in a state of idleness.I believe for success to be achieved throughout a life time one must continually learn each and everyday. In turn, learning means mistakes. We will make a lot of mistakes but like Robert K. teaches in the Rich Dad books and tools we can financial educate ourselves. If we financially educate ourselves mistakes are still made but we can reduce the risk involved. If we take a lesson from God he created everything "Spiritually" before he "physically" created it. We too must create our days spiritually or in our minds before they can come to pass. No vision was ever brought from the dream world to reality by sitting back and thinking about it. We must act, we must fail, we must learn from that and we must do, do, do. We must bridge the game between what is real and our dreams so that they can leave peacefully and happily together.



I am very grateful for this course. I want to say that I do not need this class for electives or even to graduate. I have tried very hard to get an A for this reason. I took this class because I have a passion for entrepreneurship and I wanted to. Thank you for having a wonderful course with quality information. I do not regret taking the class that I was "advised" not to take. I think we need to remain green and continue to grow even if I end up with an A- or go against the status quo. Is this not what being an entrepreneur is all about? Finding truth and the outlets that will make you better and sane through this life. I appreciate the minds of the world. I glory in the Entrepreneurship and I salute those brothers and sisters who can answer the age old question "Who is John Galt." May we ever exercise our minds.


“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 



Thank you for the part you played in my permanent beta.

5 Critical Skills

There are five critical skills that are needed to be a successful entrepreneur.


The first of these skills would have to be that of sales. Sales for an entrepreneur is vital. From launching a new product to finding funding an entrepreneur needs to be able to win people over in crucial sales situations. Sales is the skill of people. This skill enables you to win people over but more importantly sales enables you to understand and get along with people.

The second skill would have to be Communication. Entrepreneurs are people people. They need to be able to communicate it all it's form within their market share. As an entrepreneur you will be speaking with and talking to anyone ranging from CEOs to costumers to their very own team members. Communication is vital.

In an ever changing world entrepreneurs who desire to be successful need to remain GREEN or in better terms they need to have a desire to learn. Our world is ever changing and entrepreneurs are only successful through hard-work, luck, and INNOVATION. The only way to be innovative I believe is to have dreams but also know what is already out there ready and available. If I think it's a great idea to create indoor plumbing because I grew up in a shack (this would be a great invention but it already has occurred) we need to be at the forefront of OUR market share our micro-economy.
The next topic would have to be FOCUS. It is good and fine if you can sale, communicate, and even learn a lot HOWEVER, if you cannot remain focused you will not accomplish anything. You need to have goals that you are focused on.
The fifth skill would be time management. If you cannot manage your time to make skills 1-4 be put into action than you will be very disappointed. Time management is the majority of the leg work. You need to be where you need to to communicate and/or sale. You need to have time to carry out all these important tasks.
                                                          In conclusion I would say that if one would develop these five traits than they are on their way to success. This does not guarantee success in business but you will be a successful individual. If you are a successful individual it will much easier to be successful in business and make needed relationship with other successful people. Success begats success.

Vision

What does it mean to have vision? Vision is defined as: the faculty or state of being able to see. What is it that makes one a visionary entrepreneur?  It is the ability to see when others cannot. When life, friends, colleagues, surround us and scream in our ears "THIS WILL NEVER WORK!"

These are those who tell you to stop what you are doing because they cannot see what you see. So what is it that you see? What is your vision? Is it worth fighting for? These are a few of the questions I have been asking myself this past week. The answers? Well for me the answers are summarized in these photos.
 
 Country home with wrap around porch.
 

 Land. Lots and lots of land. I want to build a homestead and become self sufficient. I want to grow crops, fruits, veggies, and produce energy for my family and friends.
 
Occupational Therapist.


 
 Open my own Rehabilitation Center.

 
Be a faithful member of my church. Have a strong and loving family.
  Be free.

Mark 8:36- For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?





What does it matter if we are the most successful individual and something and lose everything that is important in this world? I think of the men in my life who have forsaken their families for trivial earthly pleasures ranging from: drugs, alcohol, pornography, infidelity, and much much more.

Why do we as humans lose sight of the things that truly matter? Why is it so easy for us to look at the rich and famous and believe this is something worth aspiring for? I recall a talk show I watched on the all time greatest quarterback Tom Brady. They asked him how he felt with all he had done... His response was "I can't help but feel like this is something more out there." I remember distinctly feeling like this man had the "perfect" life by many bystanders. He was married to a super model, he is the greatest quarterback of all time, he is rich, he is famous, he has a beautiful family, heck, he even has a kid with another woman who happens to be his best friend before he married the super model and she likes him and so does the kid. Everything seems to be perfect in this man's life yet he still feels there is something more out there. Frankly there is. The gospel of Jesus Christ.


Why do I bring this up in a blog about entrepreneurship? I do this because I think that Tom Brady could and is a role model in my life and he is searching for the very thing that I have and take for granted. I think as we remember these things that the Lord has given us so much and we need to prioritize and not lose site of the big picture. We shouldn't get caught up in the he said she said bull that happens all to often in our society.

Be strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak.

2 Chronicles 15:7 - "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak."

 

 What does it mean to be strong? How can we develop hands that are not weak?  I find it interesting that in the languages of the world that we use "hands" to describe what one does. How do you use your hands?

Strong is defined as: "able to withstand great force or pressure." When we look at life and we see who the real leaders are we see that these individuals are those who remain moral, decent, and/or note worthy individuals during and throughout pressure and trail of great force.

 

As an entrepreneur are your hands strong? Do your values crumble when you feel bad or are weak? In your moments of weakness do you spend your time focused on you or those your decisions may effect? I feel like a leader is one who stays strong or can maintain their goals in alignment with the bigger picture during the lows of life. True leaders are those who even when tempted know who to run and flee from temptation.

I have been thinking a lot about the role of leadership and what it means to be a leader. The world is quick to label individuals with intangible traits such as enthusiasm or public speaking as great leaders. We see that these traits or in some of the best known leaders.




There are plenty of leaders who live each and every day not in front of crowds who make just as much of a difference if not more then many. These leaders are just a lot more known. What about the school teacher who leaves a lasting impression in one of these men's lives? What of the silent leaders who leave lasting messages for peace without uttering single word.



What about the leaders who protest injustices using the means of art?



Who in the end pay severe prices...
Fear not because these leaders send their messages even when there is much pressure to stop. Ai Wei Wei was beaten for speaking out both with his words and art against the Peoples Republic of China.

How about the leader who is faithful, loving, kind and perhaps never known? All this elderly woman may do is pay her tithes and give her very last mites. Is this not a leader leaving a teaching that the greatest master of all time taught us with?



There are so many real leaders that are seldom heard of or thought of when the conversation of leadership arises. When we look at our lives however, how many of us were inspired to follow our dreams by one of the public figures? Or were we more influenced by teachers, parents, spouses and the everyday heroes who may never be labeled as such. Let us stay strong and let our light shine. For in each of us there is a light.

                                                                   

                                                        Ode to Loyalty
                                         
                                          

        Many people throw around the the phrase "man's best friend" when referring to dogs. I found it interesting through the discussions from this week's homework assignment which centered around loyalty that there were many comparison with dogs. Some of the thoughts I had were serious and others were silly yet, insightful. I would like to approach this post a bit differently this week. I want to express the importance of loyalty in business by comparing two types of dogs as a metaphor for the environment and employees entrepreneurs should strive to surround themselves with in their businesses. With no further adieu I'd like to draw your attention to the above picture. Here you see a little boy and a "loyal" dog. This dog is one that parents, and children alike have no fear of the dog getting angry and biting them. This loyalty is born through training, experiences, and love. A loyal dog is one that many times you hear stories of coming to the rescue when you are in need.

                                 
The loyal dog earns the respect and love of its owners gaining "special" treatment and "extra" love. So it is with a loyal employee. I will elaborate a bit more after we speak of the next dog.Dog number two is the dog of which is feared like that of the "BEAST" from the movie The Sandlot.

                                 
This is the dog that children and employees fear. The dog is not trained, not obedient, and surely not considered loyal. Loyalty has more to do with obedience in the worlds of dogs and business than it does anything else. Everyone knows that annoying dog who defecates all over the house making a mess and causing problems ruining your home and the things you worked so hard to obtain. Is this any different than the employee who is constantly running to HR or their manager with the problem of the week which seems life or death. This could be the individual who sleeps all days and hardly moves or wont work without some sort of incentive. You have to give them a treat to get them to go through the motions of going outside (like a trained dog). In the long run this dog sleeps all day, eats all day, and will never listen to what you say. This "monster" wastes resources (Eats all the food) and in the end does nothing because it would rather sleep and lick its nose. This is the same dog that will lash out at you an try to bit you if you step to close or try to get it to be obedient.



 


No matter how big or small this dog is it could be the worst "friend", "pet", or "employee" you come in contact with. My step mother in law has a Shiatsu dog that is not trained and acts exactly like the above. This dog has ruined carpets and made children bleed. This is not nor will it ever be a "loyal" creature.


In conclusion, no one has heard of the famous dog "Gizmo" because he is bad and does nothing but causes problems. However, there are many loyal dogs like Lassie or Buddy who have movies made about them.


So it is with the good employees. Hopefully they are the ones we keep around and work with. Let us train them, learn from them, love them, and through time trust one another.

 

When is it okay to quit? I love how Seth Godin points out that we NEED to quit many things to enable us to be able to focus our best efforts on the right things. I have been thinking what things should I quit so that I can make it through the dips in my life at this time. What are some of my personal endeavors that I should quit? The first thing I thought of was wasting time. I need to "quit" wasting time and come up with wholesome recreational activities. I spend way too much time playing games, filling my mind with random information, or surfing social media. I looked at the things that I own that help perpetuate this problem and the big thing at fault I found was my Ipad. I actually decided that I should get rid of my iPad to make my life more productive. I contacted my facebook friends and put my ipad up for sale. I think this is one example of quitting the right things to accomplish the bigger goal in this case (doing well in school).  
 The goal is to be able to use a bigger perspective to make decisions so that I can focus my efforts during my plateaus in life and when I fall into a dip I can realize that I will be able to rise to new lengths.
  No matter where we are there will be climactic moments on the horizon and great dips before we get there We truly must master ourselves and "quit" the right things and to not get discouraged when perhaps we cannot see on the horizon where our next climactic experience will be.