Entrepreneurship Journal - Week 7 "Brick by Brick"

The miraculous story of the Salt Lake City temple being built is truly humbling. The entire process required so many hours, so much labor so many resources that were miles and miles away. How could they ever start such an ambitious project with the end goal so out of reach it seemed impossible? Because they knew it was their duty.

Too often have I given up in my life. I was in public school and suffered for years before quitting so I could be homeschooled at home and learn at my own pace. While I was at BYU-Idaho my second semester, I got into enough of a dilemma with my schoolwork that I could either stay, endure, and get very poor grades, or I could go home and recuperate. I went home, recovered for a few months, worked three part-time jobs before coming back to BYU-Idaho, and now I'm back to prove that I can do difficult things.

It is always tempting to think that quitting is the easier option. The sad truth is that quitting is always easier than plowing your way through challenges. But if we don't put effort into overcoming our adversities then we will not progress or be blessed from being able to not only endure our challenges, but conquer them.

I am slowly, but surely, learning how to conquer my challenges instead of evading them. After reading this story of all the sacrifice that went into building this house of the Lord I know that I can overcome any trial. I also know that when I overcome I am building the foundation for my life brick by brick. How? When you learn how to conquer challenges you are improving yourself and becoming a stronger person than you were before the trial was given. As more and more of these figurative bricks of victory are laid, your foundation as a strong and able person will only increase more and more until you have a solid structure of integrity and accomplishment.

As my favorite quite goes, "Nothing worth having comes easy." In this particular case, the trials we are given will only demonstrate to us that we are capable of so much, as long as we stick to our goals and keep our destinations in sight.

Here is the wonderful I am referring to, it is an excellent read:

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/holland-jeffrey-r_however-long-hard-road/

Entrepreneurship Journal - Week 6 "Becoming a Master"

This week I read a book called 'Mastery', written by George Leonard. In a sentence, the book explains how we can fulfill our full potentials by not only mastering our skills, but becoming masters of ourselves as well.

One of the passages that stood out to me the most was how we tend to want the immediate result, but this mindset is dangerous to true mastery because it takes away our patience and defeats us when we're not gratified immediately by our work. This sentence from the book explains it very well: 

"The modern world, in fact, can be viewed as a prodigious conspiracy against mastery. We're continually bombarded with promises of immediate gratification, instant success, the fast, temporary relief, all which lead in exactly the wrong direction.... it not only prevents us from developing our potential skills but threatens our health, education, career, relationships, and perhaps even our national economic viability."

Goodness, all this can happen from simply wanting the now? But I've been guilty of that so many times and I am still fighting battles between patience and intolerance almost every day. 

Perhaps the road will be a difficult one, but the path to mastery is one that should be taken slowly but surely in order to experience the satisfaction that can only come from a lifetime of study and discipline. If I can practice effective goal setting, try to practice good character attributes and practice my skills often, maybe one day I will be a master of both my passion and myself. 

Entrepreneurship Journal - Week 5 "To Be A Hero"

A hero's journey is not as easy one, and we should never expect it to be. Nothing worth having comes easy, especially success. But in order for that journey to begin we must take that first step, that first risk, that first plunge into our full potential. But this first step is what keeps so many from life-changing success. Why? Because that step will determine the rest of your career, and your life.

Where will you be in five years? Ten years? Twenty? Here's the harsh truth of it all: you don't know. Sure, you might have the same house or the same job, but all in all you will be a different person during each stage of your life. There are so many things that you will learn throughout your life that will hopefully change you for the better. It's inevitable that as we progress in life we will slowly become better, more hard working, more wise.

Knowing that we have the potential to change the world scares us. By instinct, humans do not like change. We prefer the path of least resistance. Change is difficult and uncomfortable, so it's very understandable how the fear of personal change will keep us from taking that first step and fulfilling our destiny. That comfort zone that you have set for yourself only extends so far as you let it. Bursting through that barrier is possibly one of the most challenging feats we have to face, but the rewards are so great that we can't even imagine them.

With that being said, breaking that comfort zone is much easier said than done. It's one thing to think it; it's another to actually do it. Taking those first few steps will lead us to a world filled with possibilities that we would never have experienced without expanding our horizons and breaking the prison we have instinctually built around ourselves. This is a skill that takes years and years to practice and that very few master. Little be little we become bolder and bolder, and the world around us keeps expanding with every attempt against our prison. The key to breaking your captivity is persistence to try things that will help you progress towards a better you.

Only after hundreds of challenges and disappointments was Hercules finally awarded the title of hero.  Every hero has a journey, and if you start your journey or persistent progress today, you too can become a hero.