Mastery

Becoming a "master" at something is a journey, it takes time, energy, persistence, practice, and it never ends. Self-mastery is a hard thing to do, because I am human and make mistakes, I often do not make the right choices or control my actions. This is also a journey that does not end. When I make mistakes, I know I have help to lift me up again. I have hope and courage that I can get up and try again. I believe this is a quality of an entrepreneur. We will always have support as long as we are on the path of self-mastery.
One thing I want to become a master of is how I choose to spend the time that I have. I realize time is a valuable resource and it is very limited. These decisions determine my success, because if I spend my time wisely it will help me toward my goals and endeavors. When I waste time, it puts me behind, and I feel unaccomplished. Time management will help me prioritize what I choose to do with the time I am limited to. It will help me be efficient and be able to accomplish more in life than I would otherwise expect to. I will feel more fulfilled.

Are successful people lucky?

If I could take one thing away from what I have learned this week, it is that successful people may have been lucky, but that luck did not make them successful. When it comes down to it, it is hard work and persistence that gets them to where they are. They get back up when the fall. Jeff Sandefer interviewed some successful individuals in terms of money. He asked them if it was skill, character, or luck that got them to where they were. One of them that was a proponent of character said that being persistent was the key element in success. Luck was the difference between being a millionaire and a multimillionaire. They would have been successful anyways, because they had character. People get lucky all the time, they come into an inheritance or win the lottery, but if they can't handle it and aren't ready for it, they won't be successful.
I have also been asking myself why I want to be an entrepreneur and thinking about what it is going to take. I see entrepreneurs as making a difference in the world, striving to make it a better place. All the while they risk success or failure. They are starters, organizers, planners, creators, and much more. They endure hard things, and are able to overcome, because that is what they do. It seems like this is what all human being should strive for. This is what I hope to strive for.

How will you measure your life?

One of my fears is that I will get old and look back on my life and feel like I could have done more. I fear that I won't accomplish everything I wanted to. I want to have had a "full" life, with experiences, stories, and been successful at work, home, and at church. That is one reason I like the sound of being an entrepreneur, because I feel like it will take me down the path to accomplishing many things.
Elder Christensen put it into perspective for me when he said, "I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched." He also encourages us to have a clear purpose in life and live by it. I don't want to wait for the purpose to find me, because it may be too late by then. It is my responsibility to seek it out and ask for God's help in figuring it out, like Elder Christensen did. 
In order to be successful, I feel like I will need to learn to become good at balancing many things. There will be a lot of things that will fight for my attention like work, family, church callings, hobbies, self improvement, etc. The important thing will be to set my priorities now and align them with my purpose in life. I want to go by God's measuring system.

 

Honesty and Business Ethics

I believe being honest and ethical is key to doing business. It is important that the people that I make business relationships with can trust me and believe that I will keep my word. Especially with a startup business, it is crucial that you get customers. You need customers that are willing to trust that you can deliver. Your business is new and they know little, if anything, of your business. They could have gone to a different business they know well, but they are taking a chance on you, so you have to earn their trust. To have long term success in business, honesty is essential.
I appreciated Frank Levinson's advice on starting a business. He advised that when starting up a business, to avoid using Venture Capital. He said use your money, bank money, etc. Venture Capital can come later when you are needing the money to accelerate growth.
On another side note, I have been thinking about my motivations for being an entrepreneur. I am becoming more aware of the hardships that I may face in starting my own business. I keep hearing that you need to put everything you have into your young business if you want it to work. I realize it will take long hours, but will it it be worth the sacrifice? I hope it will be. I liked Frank Levinson's advice again, where he talked about having his family come to his office so he could spend time with them at work. Even at Christmas, they went to his work to help fill orders, then made it home to finish opening presents. I know it will take sacrifice, patience, hard work, and hopefully success will come out of it.