EA's Journey - One Class at a Time

Week Thirteen A Journey of Gratitude What does it take to be an entrepreneur? A good idea? Business skills? Luck? Maybe a combination of all three? It seems to me it kind of depends on the idea. If you are good at making cakes and there aren't too many bakeries in your area you will probably do fine and you wouldn't need to graduate from Harvard Business School to open a cake shop. But there are some ideas out there that came because someone studied a particular field that not just the average Joe is going to think of because he doesn't have the knowledge in that field, say the tech, or oil, or medical industry. I guess you good find a business partner, but really he would have to find you because you wouldn't know anything about it. So you would need to have your own set of skills to make yourself of use to him. I feel a few of my children have the entrepreneurial spirit, but only one went to college and the other three have ideas and skills but no college

Week Twelve Change Maker What a marvelous thought; be a change maker. I love people who have a vision and the courage and determination to bring their vision to life. Even better is a person with a vision to help others. Elder Holland spoke of Mother Teresa. What an amazing woman and when she had someone challenge her that what she did made no difference she had an answer for them, she said, it was about love and not statistics. On another occasion, she said, “What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean, but if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].” What a profound statement. We don't have to cure or help the whole world just cure or help someone. I often think that I don't have a way to change the world, I guess that is not my calling or I am just not up to the task, but in reality, I know that any service is acceptable before God.  Elder Gay in his talk  Entrepreneurship and Consecration  given at a BYU forum blessed us with some very

Week Ten DREAM BIG I have to say this week's readings and videos were not my favorite. Really kind of dull, like this blog =).  Entrepreneurship to me means a private business. But we learned this week and it makes sense that even if you work for someone else creating for them makes you an entrepreneur. I thought of my husband who works in the tech industry before he entered management he created products and obtained patents for his ideas doesn't that make him an entrepreneur? (It has actually happened since he became a manager too just not as often.) Or does it? He created something but he did not have to get his own funding, he did not have the risk that an entrepreneur, as I thought of them, does. If his idea doesn't take off he already received a bonus and a plaque no other rewards are coming either way. Well, enough of debating with myself. The book "7 Secrets That Will Transform Your Life" by Woody Woodward sounds very interesting. Do you

Week Nine A Message to Garcia -  A powerful short analogy to show people how important they can be and how important it is to do what your boss asks you to do. But more importantly, be known for doing what you say you will or whatever you are asked (within reason, of course). A synopsis of the story is that an urgent message needs to find someone that is extremely hard to find and the letter writer who wants to get the letter to Garcia is told to give it to Rowan. Why Rowan? Because he is known for his quick action to get things done. He doesn't ask a lot of questions or give excuses as to why the task cannot be accomplished. He just gets it done.  The whole piece instructed the reader to be like Rowan and went over the details of how to go about that task. This post is not nearly as exciting as the story so you should be sure to read it yourself. Good to Great. What a great thought! Why do we stop at good? When we can continue on and be great. This applies to every ar

Week Eight Over Coming Challenges When challenges come our way and they will come, how should we react? If we are prepared we shall not fear. Challenges make us stronger and well, they challenge us to see what we are made of. Who will we turn to? How will we treat others as we power through them? Will we rely on the Lord?  Some challenges are personal like death or illness and still affect our business. Some are because of the business, lack of startup funds, employee problems or errors, or legal issues. The reasons for the challenges are endless. How we handle them can be life-changing to us or to those we work with. As an entrepreneur, we are sure to be challenged. I think expecting challenges helps us be prepared - kind of like the Boy Scouts. Education, determination, faith, and a family and friend support system will also help.  Because of my lack of inquisitiveness,  The Five Whys are sure to be helpful to me. A problem tracked down from its root will provide

Week 7  "Moving Forward With a Driving Passion "       The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  by Stephen Covey- summary  Picking a Habit that means the most to me is a little tricky because of the way they build on each other and the excitement I felt as I read each habit. As I pondered this question I thought back to when I felt the most excited and had the Biggest aha moment (because there were many of them) and I chose Habit 1 - Being Proactive. It is not in my nature to be proactive. It is in my nature to blame, justify and react. Though, at my age, I have made improvements, as I read I could see how much further I could still go and it was exciting. I want to be a confident 55-year-old woman and I don't want to waste too many more years working on it. I want it now. Well, I can choose that now and then choose to make my actions in line with a confident 55-year-old woman. I can act and be responsible for my actions not react.  I can be proactive an