Week 3

Another challenging week of managing my ever limited time. I am finding that plowing through all of this home work can be a daunting task. I am happy to say that I couldn't do this without the help of my Heavenly Father.

This week I watched a short video about Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Dominoes Pizza. What an inspirational story. He desire to give back what he has earned, to the point of taking a vow of poverty and living in a dorm room shows his amazing convictions. It seems he has found a way to make his gifts count here on earth.

In my B-283 class, I have been brewing my organic vanilla to sell for my $100 challenge. I have some early  buyers already lined up. I just hope I have enough product to match the demand. If it sells too quickly, I may have to raise the price. I also have almost finalized my "big idea". I need to talk with a few people to research the feasibility of being able to make it a reality.

Magdalena Yesil was very interesting to read about. Her value of learning and being able to adapt to each company she either developed or worked at was amazing. Ms. Yesil seems to embody the spirit of entrepreneurship to a tee. She sounds like an exciting person to be around and to work with.

In B-183 we watched a Stanford video regarding ethics. I posted this, " My fist lesson on business ethics/integrity was as a fourteen year old working for a painter over the summer. I lived in Kansas at the time and summer in Kansas equals hot. The painter asked me to scrape one side of the house while he went and checked on a bid he had placed. He gave me the parameters with which to work and said he would be back in a few hours. Well he left, I scraped paint on the side of the house for awhile (a really fun job if you have done it before)  and then laid down in the shade. I woke up to his car turning into the driveway and hurriedly went back to work. He came and assessed my progress. He asked what if I had been working the whole time, I lied and said yes. He then called my bluff and said that if I ever lied to him again, I would be fired (and rightfully so). In any event, that lesson has been seared into my soul, don't lie, always tell the truth and do your best. I vowed to give my best effort, even for the most menial task. When we are beyond reproach in the way we work for others, or in a business we create, it raises the bar for those around us. As Frank Levinson said, "With good ethics you can attract the best people." <==== I really like that quote...

While we are learning a lot in these classes, I can't help but be a little sad about the pump and dump nature of school. We fly through these weeks so quickly I feel like I barely retain any real valuable knowledge until the next week rolls around. I know that is the nature of school, but it is frustrating non the less.

Week 2

This week was very interesting. My weekend (plus Monday) was filled with travel to my first grandchild's blessing. Portland to Rexburg with 3 kids in the car equals a controlled, chaotic, environment. Around 27 hours of driving and only 2 hours of fighting. I call that a successful car trip. It really cut into my study time, but my spouse (also in school) drove to Rexburg so I could read ahead and get a jump start on planning the next week.

I have not always liked to read blogs because I feel that only scratch the surface of an issue or problem. Rarely, if at all, does a blogger delve deep into solving a problem posed in a blog, they just post and wait. It can be frustrating to read blogs at times because.

For my B-283 class we have been given the assignment called the "$100 Challenge". I think this will be an exciting project. I have my idea already creating and in process. I only hope it will be ready to sell before the end date. My product is making organic vanilla extract. I have been dabbling in making vanilla extract for about 2 years. It requires a little bit of prep time to make the vanilla, but once complete, homemade vanilla extract is so much more flavorful than store bought, bulk manufactured vanilla extract. I purchased a web site when I first got the idea and have been working out price points by researching other sites that make boutique vanilla extract. I have also been researching the rules and regulations regarding the production of vanilla extract and formatting a system with how to comply with these rules.

I am really excited to see this through. I pray that this venture is successful so that I can donate to my Kiva person and help them out as much as possible.

In my B-183 class we had the opportunity to write out our list of 50 things to do before we die or a bucket list. It was great to go over some of the items I have finished on my bucket list and to start a completely new list. Many things have changed since I first wrote my list when I was 20. I look forward to completing this list with my wife.

I really enjoying reading "What Is Your Calling in Life?"  by Jeffery A. Thompson. I found this article compelled me to take an introspective look at my life and discover or rediscover what my calling in life is. I really enjoyed this statement regarding discovering your calling, Thompson states, "Our strongest gifts tend to appear early in life, so it might help if you think back on your childhood and about how and what you played. Were you the kid that always got the neighborhood baseball game going? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for organizing others into collective action. Were you a natural storyteller? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for presenting ideas in a compelling and dramatic way. Were you the person who other kids always sought out for sympathy and acceptance? Maybe you have a spiritual gift for listening and discerning others’ emotions. Other types of gifts that you may notice in yourself include the ability to praise others effectively, to identify and encourage others’ talents, to organize information in a concise manner, and to see a problem from multiple angles.

These sorts of gifts may not suggest a particular career path to you, and that may seem like a disadvantage. I challenge you to try thinking differently. The gifts I have just listed have market value. They are also highly portable. You might express those gifts in many professions or organizations. Consequently, finding your calling in life may not be a matter of finding the one right job. Instead, it may be that your calling is to bring your unique spiritual gifts to whatever position the Lord blesses you with."

What a profound statement. I had never thought about searching my childhood to find out what I might be good at, but as I thought about this statement, I could see many of the things I am good at now visible when I was a child. I have just developed and strengthened those talents. I am thankful to be learning again. Even though these classes will stretch me with everything else going on, I will give it my best.

Week 1

My first post for my b183 class. This should be an interesting journey. I hope that I am able to concentrate and figure out what I will need to do to break away from the world of employee to being an entrepreneur... I do understand the purpose of this type of record keeping. It will help me understand the journey I am on and see the ups and downs i encounter along the way. It's like hiking, which I love so much.

Pres. Hinckley's address was cause to reflect. I really appreciated his statement of, "the work of the world is not done by geniuses, but by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way."

Guy Kawasaki presents a great point. If you do what you love, even if the money doesn't follow, you will be doing what you love so it may not matter... Interesting in that so many of us settle and do a job we hate just to provide when in fact we could have more satisfaction in doing what we love...

This week we are getting introduced to the format of our various classes. What is due when, what the workload will be like, can I endure to the end...