Last words.....


If I had one last chance to tell someone about what I have learned, and what matters most in beginning a journey to be an entrepreneur. I think I would sum it up with, what do you think of yourself?

I'm not saying how do you perceive yourself, or what do others think about you, but if you were all alone in a room, and you looked deep inside what would you see.

Maxwell Maltz once said "Our self image, strongly held, essentially determine what we become."
If we know who we are and what makes us and everyone around us truly divine in nature. We can be what we are destine to be. We don't need the success of having our own business to be fulfilled or happy. We don't need to be our own boss to enjoy our work. What we need in understanding of what is important, and then make that happen.

There three question to ask one's self:

1). What matters most.
This could be family, God, spouse, and even opportunity. Whatever it is put that on the top of things you will not be willing to compromise.

2). What am I willing to sacrifice:
If you want you spouse to come first maybe you won't work those long hours and won't be able to do the business you want to do.

3). When I am dead what did I do:
This question can be tricky, but what do you want to be remembered for in life, and who do you want to remember you/

I will end with this. Life is hard! Anything worth having is not just given to you. you must work to achieve what ever that achievement is work is the answer. Everyday you have a choice and that choice can shape what you are. Brenna Smith said "You are determining your future everyday. Will the decisions you make lead you closer to the person you want to be tomorrow." So what ever comes you way don't give up! Don't ever give up. It's always worth the fight.

As I reflected on what I would write this week my thoughts turned to the old adage "The past is behind us; learn from it." I would add to this "and be thankful."

I think as in life, school, work, and family. We should look fondly on what we have learned and be grateful for our time in the past, as we look towered are future. Being grateful for what we have and what got us there is a characteristic that can shape our lives for the better. It can help us make good decisions in work and everyday life. If we understand that we are blessed this can bring about humility, which can be one of our greatest assets in what we can achieve going forward. if we are not grateful we can become cynical and a sense of entitlement can take over. Then we are like salt that has lost it's savor and are good for nothing.

Some may look at humility and a thankful heart as weakness. There can be a thought that to make it big you need to take no prisoners and be a shark, but I will say there is a fine line in being driven and successful to being so driven that you become a criminal. Not just in a legal sense, but you may rob others and yourself of what is most important.

When you look at the top of the corporate ladder, and you see the big wigs of huge business. What comes to mind?
Maybe you think lair, cheater, selfish, or evil. Why is this? What has changed in our society to make us thing that of another person who has been given the keys to success.
Simply trust is gone, and the realization that people in charge of big business only care about the money and not how they get the money.

What happened to sound ethics and good character?
I find myself thinking about my future in business. Now I am never going to be a CEO of a multi million dollar company, but I will still be in charge of me. Do I want to be look at as someone who isn't trust worthy, or greedy. The worst feeling is to have a boss who will take all the credit but non of the blame. I think the thing that is forgotten the higher up you go is all business is a people business, and the golden rule still applies.

So what is the real answer here to fix this issue? I think Charles Handy said it best when he said "We should... measure success in terms of outcomes for others as well as for ourselves." This is the business model that has been lost in the most recent history. The need to remember that what we do counts, and it effects more than just us. Lifting others should be a life long goal for all of us, and we have that chance everyday in business.

"We all have filters in our minds which change the way we see things." (Stephen W. Gibson)


When I was a teenager I remember wanting money so I could buy things. I wasn't worried about rent or food, I wanted new clothes or shoes. I wanted the latest CD from my favorite band. I had no plans for what was next I wanted things now and with out delay. Now as I am older I see money as a way to give to others, and to proved what is needed for my family. Now don't get me wrong I still love a new pair of shoes, but that is at the bottom of my list of things that I need.

So what changed my attitude with money. I just changed my view of what was important. The view we have of money can be very important in our lives and can shape the way we live. This could be for the better or for the worse it is ultimately up to us to deiced. If I would have kept my teenage view my family would be in a lot of trouble. I couldn't get clothes for my kids, or have a place to live. My selfish view would only hurt those around me. We can use money to help those in need and to provide opportunity to others.

The question everyone want to know is how do I get more money? I think the right question is how do I become prospers in life?  One of the best examples of the concept is found in the Book of Matthew Chapter 19. Here a rich man comes to the lord to ask what he must do. "What lack I yet." When the lord told this man to sell all that he had and give to the poor and follow him the man would not. He had all the riches one could want, but desired more. the thing that separated this man from being truly prosperous is he was not will to sacrifice something in life that is good, for something that is better. His thought on what mattered was not in line with what truly does matter.

The Challenge to Become......

In the world we live in I truly feel there is more of an emphasis on intellectual knowledge and less on personal character. It is what we are that is most important, and it is what we are that will leave a lasting impact on the future. On our journey in life it is most important to choose who we are, and to develop our character.

So how is this done? What do we need to do to become something?

The answer is choice. We need to choose what we want to be, look at the characteristics that embodied this desire, than cultivate each characteristic in our selves. Jim Ritchie told a story once about how each individual has two wolfs, one is good and one is evil. The question asked was which wolf would end up wining? The answer is the one you feed. This is true with what we want to become. We need to feed the wolfs in our lives that will help us be better and become something that can influence change for the better. This is a challenge it takes self motivation and desire. To become is a process that will stretch each individual like clay, till they can be molded in a greater image.

"...In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something." (Elder Dallon H. Oaks)

What is the best way to lead?

This is a question I am not sure most people think about all the time. Sometimes we are just natural leaders, for good or bad, but people will follow. Others may be put in a position were they must learn how to lead and work at it. Ether way, we can and should all be leaders in life, but what is the best way?

The answer is by example. People watch people, and notice things that are different. You can tell someone who is there for the attention the moment they walk in the room. You can tell when someone is genuine in a matter of minutes, and you can tell if someone lives a life of higher slandered by watching what they do and what they say. This is how great leadership works. If you live a life that exemplifies humble greatness, when it's time to get others to act your credit will not be questioned, because you have been an example to others of who they would want to be, and most important you want them to be right there with you.

Being a leader is not putting yourself above others it is lifting up those around you so they can stand beside you.

However long and hard the road my be.


In May 1940 Winston Churchill went before the House of Commons in the mist of a Nazi invasion and war and said "...You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory-victory at all cost, victory in spite of all the terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be."

This should be the aim we all have in business and in life. Now victory can mean different things to different people. Some may see victory as have money and lots of it, some may see victory as simply getting there degree, and others see victory as providing for there family. I am of the latter, my personal victory when all is said and done is to be there for my family, to give them all I can.

As I have gone down my path in life, the one constant is at times the road gets a bit rough and times can be hard. In those moments you may think giving up my be the easiest thing and provide rest. The truth is if you give up you will be in the same place that you wanted out of, and things won't be any easier they will just be a different type of hard. The best thing to do is dig deep and move forward, at some point you will reach the summit. Trust in yourself and most importantly trust in God, and you will get there.

Win/Win

This is a concept from the book 7 Habits of Highly effective people. By Stephen R. Covey.
This concept is one I think would be the most beneficial in our personal life, business life, and even in the nation. must people selfishly think "How will I benefit from this move." With out any regard to those around them or there thoughts. I once knew a manger who wouldn't let one of his employees move up in the company, simply because this employee was doing a good job, and if he moved up it would hurt the mangers department and maybe he would't look as good. This is not a win/win.

It takes great integrity on both sides to have a true Win/Win concept work in business. Why handicap your success by keeping it all for yourself? This doesn't make sense. I think the mane reason this practice is slim out there in the world, is most people don't want that kind of accountability, and courage is a factor that scares even the biggest employer.

So what to do about this? Simple stand tall be the one to have the win/win attitude, and bring others with the same mentally along for the ride. Together you can have more than just have success.

"The height of a man's success is gauged by his self - mastery; the depth of his failure by his self - abandonment." - Da Vinci

When I think about the different paths in life, and what can make a person successful, I think of the path of self - mastery as the most important of them all. Each one of us have moral agency, we are agents unto ourselves, and have the ability to act and not be acted upon. When someone says I couldn't help my self, I think, do you know what your saying? If this is true than no one is truly free. It's like when someone says they fell out of love, as if love is not a choice and being in love has no barring on the people involved it just kinda happens.

This is in it's self false and a bit foolish. Each of us everyday have the ability to choose right or wrong, good or bad. Ultimately it is up to us. When I look at myself as I choose my path in business, I have some rules and standers I will not break and always follow. If I choose to break these rules, I can not say this is how the business world is I didn't have a choice. I will always have a choice. My success in life will be in who I am and what I have become,

What truly matters most on your journey.....

I want to focus on what matters most this week. I think when most people look at there life after collage, and as they start up a business, the money, and personal achievement is at the forefront of everyone's mind. wanting to be successful isn't a bad desire, but I think we need to keep a little better perspective. I was watching a video this week and there were different age groups questioned. The age group over 60 was asked about things that matter in business and life. I will periphrases what was said, because I don't remember the exact quot, but it was something like, what did I do that mattered, did i make a different, and who did I love, and who loved me.

This is some profound thinking. When we are young our thoughts are not to the end of life and what matters most. It is the now, but now is only a short time and then it is the past. No one wants to look back with regrets and realize they could have been more, or could have done more. When I deiced to go back to school it had nothing to do with getting a better paying job, but everything to do with being a better husband and father. Education and my degree will give me the freedom to be there for my family and that is what I believe truly matters most.

Deciding who you are...

So this week when I was reading the book The Ministry of Business by Steven A. Hitz, and there is an exercise where there is an exercise where you wrote your own personal constitution. This was a fantastic exercise, and really helped me really look at who I am now, and who I want to become as I continue my journey towards business.

What i took from this was what is most important to me is how I treat others, and what my character truly is. This was very interesting to me, because I have always felt that I don't care what people think and I will be who I am without apology. Interesting enough I think that immature stand changed when I had kids. Mostly  because I realized I am not just representing myself but them as well. This is true in business. My character doesn't just represent me but what I associate my self with as well. If I am a man of sound judgment and good character, outsiders might look at the company's I run or associate myself with, as company's of sound judgment and good character.

This is an important step on my way to finding personal success and fulfillment in my business endeavors,

Education = Opportunity

This is the focus on what I am going to say this week.
As I have read this week and watched a few videos the underline them I got from all of this is, being educated brings opportunity in your life. I have always found it interesting when people say you don't have to be smart to go to college. Which I agree with, but collage isn't about being smart it's about being educated, and learning how to educate yourself properly. Let's say I'm a smart guy who wants to open up my own coffee shop. If I know nothing about my clientele, or what I am going to serve to make my product stand out. If I know nothing about simple economics, such as supply and demand. I am not going to do so well. This has nothing to do with smarts, but has everything to do with being educated.

I want opportunity in life. I want the freedoms that come from education. Most importantly I want to make a differences. If I am not educated I can only make a small differences, and possibly the wrong kind of differences. I think the greatest part of education and opportunity is we have the power. We can choose to be educated or not, and we can choose to have proper direction in life, or not, but ultimately we are in charge of ourselves. The choice to be educated will bring the choice to have opportunity.

"If you want the big ship you better build a bigger doc."

I read this quot this week and I can't remember who said it, but this is all about setting goals, and not letting fear dictate your path. All of us have dreams. As children some might say we had outlandish dreams. I think truly we didn't give ourselves limits to our dreams. we didn't have fear. I wanted to be Chuck Norris, in fact I would still like to be Chuck Norris, but It's seeing this dream as it is. I wanted to do Martial Arts, I still can the only thing stopping me is me.

It is important to dream small and big. dreams can be considered goals. If you don't have goals in life what are you really accomplishing? Life is not meant for us to accomplish mediocrity. We are meant for much more than that, it is fear that keeps us from becoming more. The fear of failure is a funny thing. If you don't try then you won't fail, but I see it as if your not trying then you are failing. What is the worst that can happen if you try for your dreams and you come up short. That just means you get new dreams and you keep trying. Giving your beast at something no matter the outcome is always a success on some level, but it's up to the individual to really give there best.

I look at Randy Pausch, and he was able to do some very fulfilling things in his life. This is a man that didn't find success everywhere he turned. He had to deal with rejection and climb walls to achieve his dreams, but he did achieve them. Maybe his path was not what he had envisioned, but the destination was still the same.

The Starting Line

As I start on my path to becoming an entrepreneur I find like in most endeavors what you personally are matters most. Having person ethics and virtues provide a great foundation to weather the storms of life, both in business as well as in your personal life.
I think the greats thing I have learned as I start this path is the value of being educated. Richard L. Evans said "There is no particular virtue in being uninformed, certainly no virtue in ignorance." This is my start, to be informed. It is up to me to be informed, I choose what effort I put into my education, and if I am honestly stretching my limits. If I am not will to do this I may not be will to stretch myself in my business endeavors. 

It is also important to do what you love no matter the monetary out come. Why be miserable?
 President Gordon B. Hinkley said "...life is to be enjoyed not just endured." There is no reason to put yourself in  miserable situation when the ability to have the freedoms of enjoyment are at your finger tips.

I still have much to learn on this Journey like:
The Hows?
The Whys?
The Why Not's?
This is an exciting time I am grateful to be able to learn and grow.