I really like the study material that we were required to study this week. I think the talk that stuck out to me the most was Sheri Dew’s talk, True Blue, Through and Through. She talked about A virtue that is simply smart to integrate into our lives. Integrity can be explained as being honest, but it goes so much deeper than that. That is what her talk was about. It made me think about my own life, and if I can honestly say that I have integrity or not. I like to think I do, but who doesn’t? I pride myself in being honest, but when no one is looking, do I always do things the right way? No. If I am being honest, I don’t. There are so many things I need to improve upon to be a better person. I remember a story my mission president told me, and I feel like it is a good example of integrity. He was being looked at for a high-level position at a well known company, and this company flew him to china along with the other candidates to talk about job details. They “wined and dined” each candidate, and then put each of them in their own hotel room in one of the nicer hotels in China. He said around 11 o’clock at night someone knocked at the door. When he answered he said there were two beautiful women at the door, saying they were sent by the company as entertainment. He said he politely declined and went back to his night. The next day he was notified that he got the position, and that the other candidates were sent home, because they invited the women inside. When they got a chance to explain in more detail, they said they sent the women because they knew that all of the candidates were married men, and they wanted to know who had integrity. I understand that the story is a pretty extreme one, but I always remembered it because, in reality, the only people that would have ever known were the people with the company. No one at home would have ever known, and I believe that is a huge temptation for many people. He didn’t know anyone was watching, and he chose to do the right thing. Again, extreme example, but a good one nonetheless. I look forward to challenges in the work force. I want everyone to know they can trust me. Where do I start? Right now.

I feel like I have learned a bit this past week about my future goals and aspirations. It kind of goes hand in hand with what I was thinking about last week. Last week I realized that I need to find what I am passionate about, but I was only thinking about what I was passionate about business-wise. This week I feel like that scope was increased. Not only do I need to find what I am passionate about in the business field, but I need to find a career that will support me in my passions outside of my career. I need to find a job that will allow me to spend as much time with my family as possible. Also, a job that will help me reach my end goal, which is to start my own small guitar shop as a business. This week as I watched the video on Randy Pausch, I learned that I need to push through my brick walls. When people come to me and tell me that my goals are lofty, or might not pan out the way I think they will, I need to keep pushing. I need to stay dedicated. I feel like without dreams life would be sort of dull. Even eternally I think it is important to have dreams. I think another way to think of dreams is to have hope. I may be wrong, but I think hope is synonymous with having dreams. One of my dreams as a child was to become a rock star. I really don’ think it was a great goal, because as I get older it becomes less of a dream. Mostly because I know it would take too much time away from my family. I think the dream changed, though. It is still in the vain of the music industry, but I would love to start a guitar shop. It would allow me to be surrounded by musically talented people, I would be able to teach guitar lessons to those willing to learn, and it would allow me to spend plenty of time at home with the people that I love. That’s it for now. I am sure that I am going to continue to learn more as I take this class.

So. This is my first post. I am kind of excited, because entrepreneurship is completely new to me. I started entertaining the though earlier this year, so I have A TON to learn. This week there has really only been one thought that has consumed my free time. What really stuck out to me this week is the idea that passion is the first ingredient in making a successful business. When I first thought about starting a company my thoughts were all about making money. “What can I do that will make me rich?” is a good representation of where my mind was when I first started thinking about starting a company. Honestly, I think I have a couple great ideas, but I don’t know if they would bring me lasting satisfaction, because the only reason I came up with the idea is because it would make me a lot of money. After reading a few articles and watching a couple videos for this class, I realized quickly that only wanting to start a company to make money was not good enough. The only problem is, I really don’t know what I am passionate about. I mean, I have passions, but can I start a company around them? I am not sure. So, my next step is just that; I need to find a passion that I can start a company around. Or, maybe, I need to find a company that I can start a passion around? Ha ha I really don’t know. I hope that by taking this class on entrepreneurship it will help me learn a little bit more about myself and what I am truly passionate about. Other than that I don’t think I have had too many thoughts, but I know I have my work cut out for me.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton