Entrepreneur's Journal

Life feels like a series of challenges.  Money, family, moving, jobs, schooling, and then add a pandemic into the mix where nothing is normal. I love the counsel that Elder Holland gives, “Don’t you quit… you keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead… and still counting. You just keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.” David Carrington taught us to, “clearly know who we are and what our brand is and consistently execute the brand.” If we are unclear about our path or what our purpose in this life, you can easily get swayed and deterred from your goals and purpose.   What is my purpose? As I consider my future, I have a hard time seeing past the end of my nose. When I think about my long-term goals, I can see a little past my nose. ;) But only when I put a few goals in between that some of that distance feels a little clearer. I feel like I can move and adjust as I walk down my life path. I feel like with goal...

It has been some time since I have read Steven Covey’s, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and I found the 5th habit, “Seek first to be understand, then to be understood”, struck a chord with me. With my personality, I tend to want others to understand me but in my ‘rush’ to be understood, I have forgotten to give that same respect to others.  I have not been an empathetic listener and am concentrating on what to say, rather than hear and understand what they are saying. I am going to do a better job of thinking with them rather than thinking about me in my conversations. Covey, in 7 Habits, discusses having private victories as we master the first three habits and public victories as we master habits 4-6. So why will these victories fill my life with passion and purpose? I can’t imagine that I will have any purpose or direction without understanding how to react to situations or how to have focus or direction for my life, let alone manage that time within my days. Wandering aiml...

Interesting how my life seems to be in a crazy tailspin and that is the very lesson that I needed to learn and understand from my studies. I really enjoyed learning. I enjoy the process of something being a huge struggle initially and then that moment of ‘aha’ to where my mind, and it feels like my soul, connects with the concept. I know some of my connections happen when I am struggling so hard in my personal life and then some comment or article resonates with me. Or it might have nothing to do with my personal life and that understanding is just that, understanding.  God wants us to grow in wisdom and understanding. He wants us to learn little by little so we can grow and to take that knowledge and understanding with us to the next life. I hope my mind will retain all these amazing things that I am learning. I know that I learn best when I struggle.  I must really need to learn because I was given a crossroads moment. I never look at an opportunity to serve in church as som...

This week we were asked to watch a video “A Hero’s Journey”. I had several impressions as I viewed it. I loved his perspective of finding great role models and to interview different people from various age groups, and especially those from the older age group. I have always had a great amount of respect for those grandparents or people that are years ahead of me. Sad thing now is that gap is getting smaller as I draw closer to that ‘old’ age and I can see some things that I sure hope I am getting smarter about. I was also impressed with his question of “what is something you lose time doing?” Both of these caused some reflection in me. We won’t talk about the guilt associated with asking myself if I have contributed something meaningful or if I am a good person. I can always improve but can’t we all? When I consider the elderly people in my life, I am impressed with the aggregate whole of their lives. I am impressed with their persistence through trials, their faith to endure, and the...

What an interesting week! In the midst of sending off my son and his fiancé back to Utah and Idaho (after a long visit that included using just one bathroom, since the other was torn apart in hopes of having it redone before the girlfriend came), remodeling the kitchen, and having my father-in-law here to help with the mess, the final straw was the Internet not working at BYUI. With my stress levels at an all-time high, I am not sure I can claim any good marks from my behavior, which ranged from tears to temper tantrums that looked like the silent treatment to a bit of criticism toward my husband. Ironically, writing my core values showed me how far from the path I was straying. I, for one, am very grateful for the atonement. I am glad I was able to go through the exercise of evaluating myself honestly and deeply. It is hard to look at your faults and be honest that you are just not behaving in any way that is productive, let alone Christlike. So, even though this week was a tough one,...