Pursuit of Happiness

    This week I read the article titled Life Liberty and  the Pursuit of Happiness: a Cautionary Tale, published by Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence. This article discusses the elements of true happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction and  argues that  contrary to popular belief, money, wealth and power will not bring happiness. Rather, it is when you find and use your gifts to do something you enjoy, that also benefits others, that true happiness can be found.One of the conclusions of this article is that  a real hero's journey requires understanding  your past, understanding the world as it is and  then connecting to a transcendent power.  This journey will require you to lose preoccupation with yourself in the following ways:2)develop loving relationships, 3)have gratitude, 4) Connect to the transcendent.
  After reading this article,  I realized I need to work on developing  loving relationships.This is my weakness right now. If I want true happiness as an entrepreneur and in life, I need to forgive past injustices and start over. If I hold on to the painful past, I will not move forward, and  I won't have the support I need to take risks and begin to use my God-given talents to bless others in more meaningful ways. Once I have developed those relationships, I will be able to take the next step on my hero's journey..

Thinking Big

   This week  I learned the advantages of thinking big and making time to be creative. I listened to the owner of Taylor's Boats, who taught  listeners to never underestimate yourself. In sharing his experience, he  shared his experience his first year of being invited to a big dinner for companies who made it to the top 100 boat retailers out of 7,000. He expected to be close to the 100th company. It turned out his company was number 11 that year. In his second year, he also expected to be in the lower tier of companies.   To his surprise , that year he was number 6  in North America. He concludes his presentation saying " don't let anyone  tell you you can't do it."

     The second thing  I learned  was to take time for creativity.  Marissa Mayer, a Google executive,  told viewers that  their company sets aside 20%  of employee time in creative pursuits. Nearly half of all new  projects launched  came from the creative moments set aside every week for employees. She concludes that if you give employees  license to be creative, it can bring a huge amount of innovation.
   
     When I build my company, I want to encourage creativity in my workforce. However, to get started,  I need to dream big and not let anyone tell me I can't.

People Make the Difference

   This week we learned that we need to have ethical people in our business organization and that it is the people that make the difference between good and great companies. Frank Levinson, founder of Finisar,  said that the personalities of team members are "vital to success." He explained that unethical people cause "stress, tension, and ultimately division" within a company.  Jim Collins,in his book, Good to Great  listed characteristics of great leaders. This list included  hiring the right people, and being humble, but passionate. These traits are essential to have in a leader in order to make a company great.
     Since every great company needs a great leader, Jim Ritchie, in his Launching Leaders presentation, discussed some example of great leaders. All of these leaders have common character traits. The most prominent character trait  is the resolve and courage to stand firm on principles. Some of the examples he mentioned were Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc, Mother Theresa, Margaret Thatcher, and many others. These leaders all had the ability and resilience to bring others to higher ground.  They were willing to sacrifice for  a greater cause.  Ritchie concludes that  great leaders
 "cause things to happen."
   When I start my business, I will want to hire ethical people who have the potential to grow into great leaders and who can make a difference in the world. I want to be the type of leader who makes a difference and causes good things to happen.
 

Perseverance

The most important thing I learned this week was that now matter what happens, I need to persevere. This is really difficult but it is essential if I am to achieve any worthy goal. Jeffrey R. Holland said it well in his address to BYU students in January 1983. He said, " It is simply a truism that nothing very valuable can come  without significant  sacrifice and effort and patience on our part." This means that in order to achieve anything of lasting value  in this life, we must make choices that will enable us to continue onward, regardless of how long it takes. Holland says later in his devotional address  that

"the baking of life's best cakes takes time." This means that we need to be patient  in the process  of achieving our goals. we have to be wiling to wait for our dreams to come to fruition. It may take more practice, more experience or just more diligence until our vision is realized.  Nicola Tesla put forth this diligence and effort,even when he failed to receive recognition. Reverend Robert Sirico's thoughts, titled  The Persistent Innovator,  concludes that Tesla's was a  "resounding model of perseverance in the face of obstacles. He pursued his dreams, his ideas, even when doing so was hard, draining, and even demeaning." Sirico  continues, " We need brilliant men and women like Tesla: we need people with a broad vision of what can be and what really is of lasting value, people with strength to surmount obstacles and maintain a  definition of success that is deeper and more authentic than what we find in today's... tabloids." I want to have that  kind of perseverance.I want to be that kind of entrepreneur.