283 Week 2

I enjoy the many things I am learning in the B283 BYUI course.  This journal serves as an opportunity to reflect on those things.  Each week I will post an update on my $100 Entrepreneurial Challenge, I will post my summaries of the Acton Hero's work we are doing because I find the stories inspiring, and I will note other things that stand out from the material, as well as answer any questions the instructor has asked us to answer.

In particular, we have been asked to comment on the following: What are things that you are looking forward to learning and experiencing? What were some specific insights that you found while reading your book and reading some of the blogs? Why do you think that keeping an Entrepreneurial Journal will be a valuable tool?

• I am looking forward to learning how to write and execute a business plan.  I also always look forward to learning about "heroes" as I noted above because I know I can be inspired and learn from their experiences. 
• I am reading the book, Good to Great, and feel it is full of powerful messages that I can use in every aspect of my life. I love how the author breaks down his content into clear concepts and ideas and then uses real world scenarios to illustrate his points.  I look forward to absorbing all that book has to offer and completing a book report which will help me recall the information again in the future.
• I'm exciting to be expounding on this tool, this blog, which began with course B183.  It will be nice to have everything in one place for future reference.

$100 Entrepreneurial Challenge Update:

I would like to help Maria Concepcion in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.  She is seeking $1100 in order to improve sanitation and put a toilet into her business.  I chose this borrower for several reasons.  1) My donation will be matched, thus getting Maria the money faster, 2) Maria is an entrepreneur and is working to sustain life for her four children. 3) Sanitation is an issue in her region, and my donation might contribute to the decrease in the spreading of disease. (https://www.kiva.org/lend/1215439)

I searched through borrowers to find someone who would use my donation to empower their own efforts.  I wanted to help someone who was willing to help themselves.  I found Maria and saw that she has four children, and runs two separate businesses to support her family.  I felt my donation was going to help her help herself.

In the gospel welfare program, we learn about the importance of self-reliance.  The Lord would have us learn to work and to support ourselves through our efforts.  We also learn that the Lord would have us be generous.  When we are generous with others, he can be generous with us.  These gospel principles are applied through this effort with Kiva.

I am hoping that a generous donation to Maria will improve her working conditions and allow her to bring more income in for her family.

By doing this project, I am also learning to work for myself and learning how to potentially build from what I have learned to start a business and support my own family.  This is a win/win situation.

Acton Hero Bruce Thompson:

Bruce Thompson, owner of Hyperion energy, “a company with billions of dollars in assets”, learned many life lessons that I found incredibly valuable.  I noted in my study of Mr. Thompson, that much of his perspective on life, came to him when he developed Lou Gehrig’s disease.  Often, traumatic events wake us up to what is most important in life.  There were two things he said that stood out, most particularly.  He said, “Set limits.  …The work will always be there.  Work hard every day and then set an end time knowing the work will still be there tomorrow.”  His message was that it is of greater value to go home to your family and see your kids grow up.  He concluded with the following message, “Business is not life.  It’s only a part of life.”  He explained that our families, our relationships, our faith are the things that last and that really make the difference.  This is where we should “set [our] mark”.

Acton Hero Corey Bell:

Corey Bell is the founder and owner of TriFusion, a business that customizes the IT world.  As a young man, he put himself through school, obtaining his undergraduate and graduate degrees.  At the young age of 29, his parents passed away, and he took in 9 of his 12 siblings to finish raising them.  Through this hardship, he struggled, but survived.  He made a few comments in his video that stood out to me.  The first was, “The richest place in the world is the graveyard.”  He went on to explain that it is filled with unfulfilled dreams and hopes.  Corey Bell doesn’t want to die with any unanswered questions, he said that he lives his life every day fulfilling his own dreams and making sure that at the end of his life he has no regrets.  After discussing the trials he faced as a young graduate raising his nine siblings he stated confidently, “Everything is possible if you want it.”  That was a powerful statement because it was backed by experience and evidence from his own life. 

Mr. Bell also discussed how too often we walk through life thinking someone owes us something.  He responded to that attitude with, “But we owe the world something.”  He explained that we have to count our blessings and then go and get whatever we need through hard work and perseverance.  He also explained that to truly be fulfilled, we have to give and be a light to others, but he warned, “We must have something to give,” if we are to be of use to others.

I was touched by a running theme throughout the study of Mr. Bell.  He is driven by his ability to help others. He put great emphasis on trying to live his life as a person of impact. It would appear that his success has only come because he has put the needs of others as a priority in his life.

Bucket List:

Having worked laboriously to consider what I want to accomplish before my life is over, I established a bucket list.  I would like to keep it where I can find it, so that I keep my eyes on the prize, so to speak.

1.      Serve a full time mission alone or with my spouse
2.      Spoil grand babies
3.      Stay in a rental out on the ocean where the water is crystal clear and there is no one for miles
4.      Write and publish a gospel/doctrinal book
5.      Teach religion courses for the church full time (whether CES or at a University)
6.      Take an oil painting class
7.      Take an acrylics painting class
8.      Have a home painting studio
9.      Get a master’s degree
10.   Live near my best friend
11.   Work as an ordinance worker in the temple
12.   Take a photography class
13.   Take a cruise around central America
14.   Win a photography contest
15.   Be the choir director of a large choir
16.   See a volcano
17.   Go on a hot air balloon ride
18.   Touch all the 7 continents
19.   See the Mayan ruins
20.   See the pyramids in Egypt
21.   Go on an African safari
22.   See a Broadway musical live on Broadway
23.   Eat a Chicago hot dog in Chicago
24.   Start in New York and work my way west through church sites
25.   Go to Hawaii
26.   Go to Australia
27.   See a polar bear in the wild
28.   Go on a photography vacation with my Aunt
29.   See all 5 of my boys serve a full time mission

30.   Take a pencil drawing class
31.   Learn another language
32.   Invent something useful
33.   Be a keynote speaker at a national conference
34.   Direct a musical program with speaking, solo, and choir parts for the community
35.   Get my doctorate
36.   Be a professor at a university
37.   Swim with dolphins
38.   Rent a hotel room where the back door opens to a private beach and there is a hammock
39.   Take the whole family to Disney world
40.   Take an Alaskan Cruise
41.   Buy an ATV
42.   Own an RV
43.   Zip line through the forests in South America
44.   Visit Jerusalem and “walk where Jesus walked”
45.   Write and publish a fictional novel
46.   Be a guest speaker at Time Out For Women
47.   Shake Elder Holland’s hand
48.   Shake Elder Eyring’s hand
49.   See the inside of every temple in America
50.   Sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir