We are just getting started...

As I write my last words for this course, the first thought that comes to my mind is gratitude. Gratitude towards Heavenly father and His Son Jesus Christ for having provided this wonderful opportunity to me, to learn about these principles taught in entrepreneurship which I hold them not just dear, but even sacred. I truly feel that everything I learned in this course is part of the Gospel of the Master. I have been able to feel their love through this exquisite knowledge I have received and will live them with exact obedience for the rest of my life.

As I do this, to apply these principles and become a better person, I will always ask myself “who loved me and who did I love?” As a married person, I have come to know in this course that self-reliance and becoming an entrepreneur is not about me, but for those who depend on me, my wife and daughters. I have learned that providing for my family is not only bringing money home, but living a worthy, righteous life which will allow me to have more power in the Priesthood and a stronger companionship of the Holy Ghost so I can deliver the safe place my family needs to protect them from the evilness of the world.

Also, coming from a third world country, Chile, where most of its population is demanding to the government for help to improve their life quality without doing anything from their own, I will always remember that I am the master of my life, so have no one to blame for the consequences of my choices, whether be good or bad. If I make a good choice, I will give thanks to the Lord for His guidance, and if I make a wrong one, I will repent and ask God for forgiveness. Hard work, discipline and individual responsibility, as I learned about them in all these amazing books I read in this course, will be the core values in every aspect of my life.

Finally, I want to testify how remarkable it is to be able to achieve your goals and dreams. That sweet flavor of victory after having been able to “defeat the dragon” will be my personal motivator for the rest of my life. I know if I believe in myself, press forward and exercise my agency and judgment uprightly, I will find the Lord’s grace in His sight. I want to look back, as Mr. Richie stated, and not regret any opportunity I left behind, but to know I was able, with my God on my side, to accomplish everything I set for myself and family. And to know I did it with clean tools, not breaking any commandment. As I do this, my feeling of gratitude will increase because Heavenly Father in His great wisdom allowed me to live such a wonderful life.

"I have fought the good fight..."

At the end of this semester, I must say, entrepreneurship has been the course where I have obtained the best knowledge ever. It was so great to see how the gospel relates to provide for my family, become self-reliant and help others to do the same in order to live a worthy life before God’s eyes. I will always remember everything I have learned from this experience. The books I was commanded to read were both delightful and full of new knowledge. I have been transformed into even a more believer person, that everything is possible if I work hard to accomplish my dreams. I will always strive to do what Heavenly Father and my family, wife and daughters expect me to do, and I know as I do so, I will improve myself and become a worthier person to return to my Lord’s presence. I have been able to see how poverty can be overcome if every person stops blaming others for their circumstances and instead work hard and diligently to get out of that situation and enhance their life quality. Finally, I must always remember to stay humble when success is achieved and help those who still have not reached that level of self-reliance.

"The earth was created so there can be eternal families"

As I was reading the articles and replying my classmates, this thought came to my mind. Marriage is the most solemn contract, which is between a husband and wife, states the Chilean law. This means, for the state there is no other covenant more important than the union between a man and a woman. So it is for Heavenly Father. He gave as a first commandment to Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the earth, establishing the main purpose for which they and all their descendants were created.

This shows me how important It is to establish my marriage, and by extension my family as my most important business and entrepreneurship ever. As I do that, I will understand everything else I do must be to strength my most important business and not take any risk and make any decision that would cause any harm to it. So, I have promised to myself to always be there for them, to provide them in every need they have, to never miss any milestone and always be able to let them know how important they are for me. I know as I do that, I will be able to obtain the greatest profit of all: Exaltation and eternal life, with my wife and children.

Entrepreneur Interview

As I prepare for my interview I am very excited about the experience I am about to have. I have always known that the best way to know something is by asking the people involved and not asking to other sources. Therefore, I am looking forward to know what outcomes you can obtain by living the principles we have been taught throughout this course. Also, I want to know how challenging is to startup a company here in Chile, how you can be able to overcome all the bureaucracy and legislation behind the startup and running your business, and what help you can get from institutions, like a bank giving you a loan, among others.

Above all, I want to know how much mental strength you need to have in order to succeed, How much you family and beliefs helps you to stay on the path and what is needed to keep going, even though the failures and opposition you get for doing this. I bet it must be a very rewarding experience to wake up every morning and truly do what you love, turning your passion into your best tool to provide for your family and ultimately, being able to deliver a service to the society and leave a mark on those around you.

Follow the Leader

This week I was able to remember certain things I learned in pathway, and they are the importance of being a positive leader. I have seen how crucial it is to show to those under your leadership how committed you are, by showing them through your actions the significance of whatever you are leading. In the Church, for example, my responsibility as a Young Men President is to be there, providing and ministering to the youth in whatever they need. I need to be able to show them how the gospel must be lived. The Lord said we need to be like Him, so when you are a leader, you are His representative, and that means to reflect His light, His example in others, thus people follow you by following your actions and at the end, they are following the Savior. This means leading by example is the most effective way to teach anyone in your path. In Communication I learned about persuasion and how it is done. But, to follow the model given by prophets and apostles, first I need to live the principle and then I will be able to tell others how to live it. That is the Lord’s way to lead His Church. I love the fact on how you can feel the truth when you hear a sincere, righteous Church leader calling to repentance. You can do it because you can feel hi/she is living the principle, and that is ultimately what a true leader needs to do to in order to take others to a higher ground.

Who motivates the motivator?

After having read all these wonderful articles and texts, I cannot help but think of what I learned in my mission regarding the importance of planning, setting proper goasl and work hard to achieve them. It is so easy to feel distress; trying to get the motivation from inner self I believe is one the hardest challenges any human being has to face. Sadly, we have seen family and friends leaving this state of probation because they were not able to muster the enough courage to face and defeat their conflicts.

I testify the best way to motivate ourselves is the Lord through His Spirit. There is no better influence than the Holy Ghost. Members of the Church have been able to defeat the deepest depressed states because of that. My mother is one of them. She was going through a very serious depressing state, she thought nobody loved her, and considered to commit suicide. What made her change her thinking? It was a couple of missionaries who told her about a Heavenly Father and His Son, her brother Jesus Christ. They told her she was loved by them and great things were waiting for her if she decided to live the Gospel. And she did. And through hard work, serving a full time mission, being sealed in the temple and doing her best to keep her family strong and united has brought so much happiness to both her life and the lives of others. She knew how to motivate herself, with the help of God, and now she is one of the many cases who have been able to achieve all  of her goals, setting an example worthy to be imitated.

Mastery - Final Notes

I will not copy paste my book report. But I do want to leave some thoughts behind about this wonderful book. The knowledge provided in this book is remarkable. To truly know how to be an expert in any area is something you do not learn anywhere. You have to properly choose the people, the texts, among other things to help you to achieve this level of capability.

I really want to be able to master a lot of different skills, and as it is stated properly in the book, we must do our best to perform almost any task with do in our lives. I truly feel it will give more dignity to whatever we are doing.

Having said that, I need to admit something. I have gained a deeper respect to my wife. I could not stop thinking about her while I was reading to do the chores of the house with mastery, because she is so great at taking care of our home. She is such a great housekeeper, has raised our daughters so magnificently, I feel very blessed for having her as my eternal companion. I hope to be like her someday, to strive for perfection to  whatever I do, no mattering how meaningless the task might seem.

Together forever

What stood me out this week from all the articles I was able to read was the importance of planning and willpower to achieve whatever we have set for ourselves. It’s so important to always remember what we have set in order to stay in the path. That is the self-mastery principle taught by President N. Eldon Tanner. Also I will like to remember the importance of certain elements provided by Heavenly Father to stay in that path. And those elements are the members of my family, my wife and daughters.

This gives me such a profound, deep meaning to my temple and baptism covenants and tells me how important these priorities are in my life, my Lord and my family. I will always remember whatever I set to myself is first to please them all and later for me. I know that is what will bring me true happiness. The relationship I hold between them is eternal and at the end we are part of this one group with only one purpose: To live all together forever with everlasting happiness. So every goal I plan must always be present Heavenly Father and my family. If I fail to include any of them in my planning, then the goal is not a proper one.

"Faith without works is dead..."

This week, through the story “Spreading Happiness”, I was able to learn and confirm something I have always had in my mind: When you follow your passion there is nothing bitter or heavy to perform; everything is delightful and everyday a beautiful day to be lived.

Another that really hit me was something stated in the “Are Successful Entrepreneurs Born or Made?” article, which was how entrepreneurs saw money, something not in their top priorities. That goes against most of the people in the world believe, they tend to think entrepreneurs are all about money at any cost, but as it is declared in the text, “some even felt that excess riches were more a burden than a blessing”.

Finally, the key ingredients to become a successful entrepreneur presented in the mentioned article tell me a lot about the type of person I must be, a determined person with skills. But, in the end, I totally agree that character is the most important character to accomplish anything. Skill without character “is dead” just like faith without works. The most skillful people in the history will not make it at all if they do not have the resolution to act and proceed with purpose to achieve whatever they have set for themselves.

"...Fear thou not; for I am with thee"

I know in my book report I am supposed to leave my impressions regarding “The Ministry of Business” but I really want to keep track of this entrepreneurial journal and I must say, what an awesome book I just read! I will make sure I read it a lot of times in order to truly embrace all the principles taught in this masterpiece. Now having said that, I will proceed to answer these following questions:

1. If you pursue your calling with discipline, intentionality, and the help of fellow travelers, what are the chances that your worst case scenario will really happen?  

R. I have the trust that my people, those who really love like my family and friends will help me to set me back to the road and even start again the persecution of my dreams.

2. As you look at your list of fears, what themes emerge? What is at the core of what you really fear? Financial ruin? The judgment or disapproval of others? Physical harm? Endangering the ones you love? Embarrassment?  

R. I truly want to avoid any suffering caused by my actions to my wife and daughters. I would never forgive myself if because of my failure they have to undergo difficult situations.

3. What is the risk of taking no action – not following your calling? How do you plan to deal with fear when it pops up on your entrepreneurial journey?

R. This is why I will follow my dreams anyway. Because I know the best things in life are behind this wall of fear. I know, I truly do. I want to be able to look back and say “it wasn’t that bad” and keep going and defeat whatever gets in my way. I need to make sure the Lord is on my side, so living the commandments to stay always worthy is the key element to achieve whatever I have set to myself. 

"...the nobility of the resources used"

This week I learned so many things. Sometimes, and I will say this in a very humble way, you think you know enough to be saved, like you had achieved certain level of maturity, but no, there is still so much more to get. I remember this saying from President Gordon B. Hincley, “a truly educated man never ceases to learn”. And this week I have seen this in my life once again. What an awesome book is “The Ministry of Business”. I love how this book shows how anyone can be successful in life just by keeping the commandments and following simple, specific but determinant steps. This relates to the next message I, “Making a Living a Life”; to go out and provide service to anyone in my path as a final step of becoming truly successful. And finally, the way we achieve this always has needed to be through clean, righteous means, which is what Sister Dew. Actually this reminds me what a soccer coach said, Marcelo Bielsa, "Do not let failure destroy your self-esteem. When you win, the message of admiration is so confusing, you are so stimulated by loving yourself and that deforms so much. And when you lose, the opposite happens. There is a morbid tendency to discredit you, to offend you, only because you lost. In any task  you can win or lose, the important thing is the nobility of the resources used”.

Who am I?

Even though I have to write the knowledge I have gathered in this course, I am going to allow myself to mingle what I learned in other courses that can be easily linked to entrepreneurship. This time I will join what I learned in Sales and Business and that is to start to “act as if…”, and that is acting from now like the person who I want to become, and in a way, that is one the main purposes of this course, to discover myself and see what my calling is, and even though I might be quite far from that goal I need to start to think and act as I was already in that position. This is the mindset of achievers, the ones who establish a goal, and do their best to reach it and succeed where failing is not an option. Now, I wonder what it would be of the world if Edison quitted after just “some” tries, or any other entrepreneur. It is totally evident that the great things in human history were made by these types of men. Inventions, discoveries, wars won, championships and titles in sport games and so on. Moments where they put their whole soul to their personal goal, a goal which is part of the process of finding their calling and then magnifying it. So, in the end, I see finding my calling will not only do good to myself, but also, and most importantly to the people around me, as part of my service by imitating the example of all these great people.

Now, I will proceed to answer the questions:

·         Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

I think there is more than just one reason. One of them was his imagination and how he allowed himself to let his mind to be free. Another reason is his parents. They never placed any difficulty to his way of thinking, quite the contrary; they always foster in him the spirit of discovering.

·         Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?

Of course, I believe that dreaming is when your draw the outline for your life, it gives you the reason to leave the bed every morning and a purpose in life.

·         Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

During my childhood and even my teenage years, like most of the people at that age, I wanted to be or a soccer player or guitar player in a rock band. Of course, I can not achieve them, and I am happy for not doing it because they way most of these people live is really far away from the Church standards, like, for naming just one situation, church attendance would dramatically decrease, causing me to lose the sight for the most important goal, exaltation with my eternal family. Now, that I have grown up the lesson I get from that is all of our goals must be in line all together. If one goal will not help me to achieve another goal, I need to review them and see which one is more important to get rid of the less one.

1st week: The start of a journey

In my very first week in BYU-I, I feel so happy to finally be able to start my goal I had set for myself.  I have a lot of things to say, because I have learned so many things in just one week that I hope to retain all this knowledge and live it at its fullness. It is so meaningful to see the Church taking care of its member by teaching them how to progress both spiritual and temporally. I totally agree with everything taught in this first week, which is to know how give meaning to our lives by setting goals, a principle I learned on my mission. Working hard, doing sacrifices, and reaping the fruits of our personal labors are what truly give value and worth to every person. That will enable any person to provide to his family and personal needs. I have high expectations for this course, because I want to know what tools are to be used in order to become a better provider, doing what I love and achieve a full self-reliant status. Actually I am very curious to know this "one million dollar" idea I got in my mind can actually come true. I know the Lord will be by my side, because doing all this is part of His plan, He wants us to be like Him, an absolute self-reliant person with eternal goals to work for.