My Entrepreneur Journal

The habit of the 7 Habits that had the greatest impact on me as I read was Habit number 3: Put first things first. Ever since I read it the other night, I have been trying to evaluate how I'm using my time. Am I putting urgent, non important things first? Or even worse-Non urgent, non important things first? I have realized I do a lot of nonimportant things first in my life and that's not great, no matter how I frame it to justify it. And as I have thought about this, I have realized how the church and gospel ask us to put non urgent, important things first. These things include reading scriptures, saying our prayers morning and night, serving others willingly through ministering, fulfilling callings, etc, etc. These things are super important, but don't have deadlines, except self imposed ones. And no one is giving us a grade. So it can be hard to make time for them, and to make sure they get done in a time frame that they really should be done. And to establish regular pa...

This week as I was reading some of the harder to understand readings and picked up on little concepts as I read, I realized a goal I have. I would really like to start a small business, namely a snoshack, to learn some business basics while I'm learning about business and figuring out what I want to do long term. This is a kind of silly thing, but something I have always wanted to do. I love the idea of starting a small business that benefits my community and provides a resource in town (I live in small towns) while providing some jobs for teenagers. But right now isn't the right time for that as I don't know how long we will live in our current town. Someday I will do this though. Besides that, I really appreciated the videos this week. I loved hearing a man talk about prioritizing his family while starting a business and what kind of rules him and his wife set up to make it work. It reminded me of how my husband and I did things while he was in Physician Assistant schoo...

As I watched the video "A Hero's Journey" I felt a lot of emotions and thought a lot. These videos and readings each week make me really reflect on who I am and what I'm good at. I really appreciated that the speaker gave good "homework" to help you find yourself and your mission in life. Like, asking 5 people in your life what is the thing you are better at than anyone else in the world? and to include specifics and examples. I can't wait to do this. Because I really don't know what people would say to me, about me. He also talked about what is a problem that I feel I came and was sent to earth to solve? I have some inklings of some things for me, including women's rights, and helping people who are born without as much as me. I feel very passionately about those things which is also what he suggested. He said to consider what injustices and opportunities you can't resist. I also really like how he hit on how we really were all born to fulfi...

This week the readings were really insightful for me. Okay, they are every week. But the principle I really liked this week was hit on in two places. Clayton Christensen said how while at Oxford he dedicated one hour a day to pondering and reading and figuring out what his mission on earth is and he said it was a sacrifice but it helped him a lot. I really need direction like that in my life right now. Then one of the videos talked about a guy who decided to study himself like he studied bugs as a kid and wrote down his observations in a notebook. About himself. For 2 YEARS! That's a long time and a lot of dedication to figuring it out. Which really is a representation of reality, but disappointing that it can't take less time. But I think I'm confused enough to really pursue this and work to dedicate time daily for this answer for myself. I am a bit overwhelmed right now with school and my 6 kids under 8 years old. And so carving out that time is hard to do, but I have tri...

This week has been a good one for me. I have really enjoyed reflecting on my own integrity and honesty in all of my dealings. I have caught myself a few times texting someone or saying something to someone in an exaggerated way to either make them feel EXTRA special about something my kids did or said, or to cover myself a bit more with something I messed up, and have changed it to not be exaggerated. There have been some other times I have caught myself doing little things that I wouldn't normally think twice about that I realize aren't totally full of integrity. Like, would I read this article or watch this video on Youtube if my husband was looking over my shoulder? If not, then I probably shouldn't do it. I want to be the same around him as I am when I'm alone. Even if it isn't necessarily "bad" but rather just silly and dumb to be wasting my time on, like celebrity gossip. I have tried to get rid of the gaps of who I am and how I'm different alone...

Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams? I believe that Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams because he wanted to and he worked hard to get an education and rub shoulders with people who would open more doors for him. Because of his efforts in these areas, opportunities came up and because he had dreams that he thought of and remembered, he recognized related opportunities and things that came up in his life that he then SEIZED and made possible and worked to make them make his dreams come true. I love this, because often I think we view life where we are victims of our circumstances and see things pass by and think it had to be that way, but I loved the way he really seized opportunities that passed by him and did what it took to achieve them. I need to be more proactive that way and expansive in the things I allow into my life. Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not? This year I have been shown ov...

This week as I read the readings, I couldn't help but feel love from my Heavenly Father who guided me to this class and place in my life. The idea of "The Startup of You" and going down a path to figure out who I am and what my goals and talents are, is exactly what I need right now in my life. A year ago, I realized and finally admitted to myself how badly I wanted to be a medical doctor, but had always held myself back from fully committing to this desire because "Moms don't become doctors". But I felt God instilling me with the confidence I needed to pursue it and my husband was supportive, even though I had just found out I was pregnant with my sixth baby in 7 years. I got my degree in Marriage and Family Studies back in July 2012 from BYU-Idaho when my oldest child was 9 months old and so I started going online for Anatomy and the lab as well as Abnormal Psych. I did this feeling in my bones how right it was for me, and got all A's in my classes ...