Week 11

I cannot believe how perfect Muhammad Yunus’ article, “Microlending: toward a poverty free world” was for me. Everything he said applied to me personally and I know that I will be able to incorporate his ideas into my future business. My whole business idea revolves around loaning less fortunate people money to help them create their business, like Kiva. With the input from Muhammad, I feel like my idea is becoming stronger and worth all of my effort. Sheryl Sandberg’s video “Make it Personal and Make it Work” was so insightful. What I took from her video is that I should always remember and stand by my visions. It is important to have a vision that is good for the present day, but also something that will stand the test of time. It made me think that if I did have an idea that wouldn’t work for the future, I probably shouldn’t do it or continually evolve it (which we should do anyway).

I need to include these quotes by Muhammad so that I don’t forget them:

“An individual’s social consciousness and the urge to do good things for people on this planet can be as burning and even a more burning desire than personal gain.”

“I strongly believe that we can create a poverty free world if we want to. We can create a world where there won’t be a single human being who may be described as a poor person. In that kind of a world the only place you could see poverty would be in the museums. School children on tour in the poverty museums would be horrified to see the misery and indignity of human beings in the past. They would blame their ancestors in a massive way for allowing this inhuman condition to continue.”

”Don’t give up dreaming. Be a dreamer. And keep on trying to make the dream come true. Dream about the world you would like to have. If we all dream about a better world, I can guarantee you that we will create a better world.”

“I simply wish to encourage all of you to remember: irrespective of what you learn in school always be ready to unlearn and relearn.”

Week 10

This week we read the article Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. “The secret is that most of us are already quite happy.” I love this quote because it reminded me to be thankful for my present life and to not always look toward the future for my happiness. We all have the choice to be happy in this very moment. “Giving your time and your money to another human being is one of the most powerful ways to develop your own sense of gratitude.” This quote makes me thankful for the guidance we receive from our prophets today. We are constantly told that if we want to be happier, we should go serve someone. This advice perfectly corresponds with what the article taught us. I have a testimony that service is the cure to being unhappy and not loving someone as much as we should. “You finally will see that it’s only by losing yourself in a quest to serve others that you find your true self.” I’d like to always remember this guidance: “’How can I be happy?’ is the wrong question. ‘How can I create something meaningful for others?’ is the right question because it helps others and will change you in a profound way.” I also really enjoyed the e-corner videos about balancing our lives with work and family. I think that this is one of the most important things we should learn in this life in order to become truly successful-both financially and personally. 

Week 9

I feel like chapter 6 in “So You Want to be an Entrepreneur” was the most beneficial to me so far. It talked a lot about the reasons people use for not starting their business. I have found that I was using some of those same reasons. One major concern for me was that I’m so young and inexperienced! I know that I’m able to handle difficult things, but I just didn’t know if I was ready. The book taught me that if I think like this, I’ll never be ready. I have so many advantages of starting early-why waste them?! I don’t have family relying on me, I have a husband who is doing well and starting law school soon, and I’m not tied down to any one career path. If I’m going to start something, now is the perfect time. I can’t believe I’ve been putting it off for a busier, more hectic future ahead. One thing I’d like to remember from reading “The Heart of Entrepreneurship” is this question: How can I make innovation, flexibility, and creativity operational? This stood out to me because it summarizes where our thoughts should be when building a business. I don’t want to retain the “administrator” mindset, but keep innovating and creating new things for people to enjoy. I loved this week so much because it gave me hope that I can actually do this! Now I just need to keep to momentum…

Week 8

This week was great! My favorite thing was reading “The Start Up of You” because it let me think about my future goals and aspirations. I outlined exactly what I want out of my life, which to put it simply, is to create a happy and successful family and business. Doing these exercises gave me time to think about if what I want to do…is actually what I REALLY want to do. I get super excited when thinking about my future, which I take as a good sign to being on the right track. I loved the article “How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution” because it incorporated my previous studies in political science to what I’m currently studying, business management. As I wrote earlier, I was never excited about studying business because I’ve always been so dedicated to my love for politics and international studies. I learned this week that you don’t really ever have to choose just one thing you love. You can always find a way to learn and do things that involve your favorite things, just like how the article involved politics and business. I have always been worried that I’d have to give up my dreams of international relations, but now I realize that it has just given me a better background to improve upon.

Week 7

This week taught me many great lessons. First, I read in So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur about how important it is to ask friends and family for advice and investments. Honestly, I’m not comfortable at all in asking people for money, but I guess in this business it is expected. I need to really come out of my shell and make connections and don’t be afraid to ask people for advice. The Heath Bradley e-corner video taught me that people want to help us in our goals and endeavors; we just need to ask! Elder Holland’s talk However Long and Hard the Road really impressed me. He spoke with such authority and learned from his own experiences that what he is saying is true. He spoke about a quote from Winston Churchill that never impacted me until today: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” I love this quote by Winston Churchill because he conveys just how far he is willing to go to protect what is his. No matter what conditions, he was willing to press forward. I want to remember the feeling I had when watching Elder Holland speak this quote. I know that I must never give up on what I believe, or on my dream of creating a business.