Entrepreneurial Journal Blog

The habit that has the most meaning for me is habit number 2: Begin with the end in mind. I have anxiety, and a lot of the time, I let that anxiety hold me back. When  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provoked thoughts by saying "Visualize being at your own funeral. What sort of things would you like to be said about you? Visualize being at your 50th wedding anniversary. What kind of family relationship do you have? Visualize your retirement day. What do people in your industry have to say about you?" I realized that I get too caught up in the "now" to be able to see the end. I have a vision for my life. At my funeral, I want loved ones and family members to remember me as a kind, loving person who helped others. At my wedding anniversary, I think I would want my family to tell me that they know how much I love and care for them. My retirement day had me stumped. But then I thought about what the book said about how personal leadership is an ongoing process ...

I wanted to start off this post with two of the most impactful quotes I read this week. "The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile." -Plato "The height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by self-abandonment." -Da Vinci  This week, I feel that I was focused a lot more on mastery and the different characteristics that are required to develop it. Eldon Tanner shared two essential attributes on the journey to self-mastery--determining your course and having the willpower to stay on it. Plato shared that mastery starts with yourself, and Da Vinci shares more about how mastery can affect outside success. It made me wonder where I am on my own path to self-mastery as well as mastery. Do I embody a strong and good character? I believe I can. To be honest, questioning how well I am or am becoming a master seems a little overwhelming, but a story shared by Ge...

This week, I was impressed by a few things from the study block. One of the first things that stood out to me was that you should not be focused on a single point on the horizon. Keeping your horizon broad leaves you so much room for opportunities that you might miss or pass on if your horizon isn't being kept open. Let your opportunity match and meet with your passions. In my case, I have disregarded my passions for so long because I thought that they were too insignificant. In A Hero's Journey, the speaker talks about how their program at Acton promises that you will learn how to make money. Although income is essential for any successful business, not making enough money has always stopped me from pursuing my passions when the opportunity comes around because they don't seem like financially secure investments.  A lot of times, I wonder if my passions are going to help me reach my potential because, in the big picture of things, they seem like insignificant goals. Life i...

After reading and taking notes on the study block about how to measure your life, one of the things that impacted me the most was what Sharon May's mother said to her. She said," Either do it or stop talking about it." This week, I thought a lot about my fears, especially when filling out the week 4 worksheet about deconstructing my fears. I pondered what one of my biggest fears was about pursuing esthetics and starting my own independent business. I am afraid of failing at what others look at as a "backup plan." I was talking to someone about my ambitions and when they asked me for clarification on what an esthetician was, they said," Oh yeah, I was thinking about doing that if I couldn't make it as an engineer." I remember the flash of horror on their face as they realized what they had just said. To be honest, I think a lot of people feel similarly about the beauty industry, and that is it an easy or "cop-out" career. Then, I realized,...

This week, one of the most memorable things I learned had to do with creating and committing to a personal code of ethics. Honesty was the first commitment on my list because, in business, I feel that it is rarer and rarer these days. "Integrity will ultimately make or break you." That's why it was important to create my own list of what I will do and what I will never do. I said that I will never be dishonest in dealings with my fellow man, let others take advantage of me, or prioritize things that aren't important. I said that I will always put my best effort into myself and my entrepreneurial journey, serve others, and listen to others' feedback and improve from it. I think it is important to set this code of personal ethics before I begin my journey because commitments are harder to break after you have actually made them. I was also impressed with Elder Lynn G. Robbin's breakdown grade levels of our fellowmen. After I read through them all, I made a commi...