What happened to January?

I looked a the calendar today and was floored to realize that it was January 26th!  January is typically a slow month but I have had so much going on with school and work that this month has literally flown by.  I have decided that the more strongly I pursue my educational endeavors, the crazier my life seems to get.  I suppose that this is my own version of a refiner's fire.  I need to prove to myself just how badly I want this education and I need to get used to the crazy in my life if I ever want to start my own business!

Through all the craziness of the week, there were some things that have been helpful.  Here are a few things I learned from this week's materials:

"Why Are Ethics Important?"  Frank Levinson

The thoughts he presented are easily summed up in one simple phrase, "Never compromise on ethics."  There is always a right way and a wrong way to do things.  As I look back on my time with my current employer, I'm amazed at how many times I have seen questionable ethics at play.  They are never really blatant wrong doings, but more like simple compromises.  It is possible to see how those simple compromises can lead to outright unethical behavior.  I have promised myself that I will never compromise my integrity or personal ethics to advance my career or my business.  

"Action Hero Ken Zolot"

It was really interesting to listen to this interview with Ken, a successful entrepreneur and educator.  The information he shared that I found to be most useful was the list of questions that a successful entrepreneur should ask concerning a new business endeavor.  

• Who cares?
• Why do they care?
• Who are these people?
• What are they going through in their lives?
• What is the real problem you are solving?

As I have contemplated the idea of starting my own business, I am often left wondering where to start.  I feel like this list of questions is a great starting point as I try go decide the direction to take.  This list definitely coincides with information I recently heard on a business podcast called, "Business Boutique."  It was explained that today's average customer doesn't care why you're in business, they want to know what problem you are going to solve for them with your product.  This confirms that I definitely need to create a product a service that will help my customer's lives.

"The Formula and Happiness" Jim Ritchie

This six part formula that Jim presents is so simple that it doesn't seem like it would produce results, but I know otherwise.  Here are the six simple steps:

1. Get up early.
2. Work hard.
3. Get your education.
4. Find oil.
5. Make your mark.
6. Prepare to serve and give back. 

I have worked on parts of this list at different times in my life and can definitely tell that working those steps can lead to success.  Right now I am working on getting my education.  I wish I would have completed this step when I was younger, but it is never too late to learn.  My husband and I are currently working on making our mark so that we can prepare to serve and give back when the opportunities present themselves.  

This week has taught me more about time management than I ever thought possible.  After returning from my work trip, I found myself with a late start to my weekly school tasks.  I have found myself waking up early and staying up late this week to get it all done.  It's been difficult but worth it, even if I didn't realize what the date was today!  I am enjoying my classes and being able to immediately apply what I've learned into my current job.  I am definitely looking forward to learning more!

Inspired

This week I've had the opportunity to do a little dreaming as I created a bucket list for myself.  As I have gotten older, I don't really take the time to dream about things as much as I used to.  But it was a nice break to think about my travel dreams and life long goals that I have yet to realize.  After reading this week's material, I was reminded that I should take more time to think of the things I want to do instead of just thinking of all the things I have to do.  

Below are some things that stood out to me from this week's reading material:

"Treat Live as an Experiment" Tom Kelley

I really liked the suggestion that we should be willing to take risks in life and to be willing to fail.  Sometimes I am so afraid of failing or doing something wrong, that I allow it to hold me back from even trying.  I really like the idea to "fail forward."  Often times I think about failure as a setback or similar to taking two steps backward, but failure really does push you forward. 

It was interesting to learn about the origin of WD-40.  I had no idea that the name of this product directly correlated to that unsuccessfully number of failed attempts at bringing this product to market.  

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I've heard many references over the years to this lecture. but I had never taken the time to read it.  I found his experiences to be inspiring and his insights to be profound.  He spoke a lot about his childhood dreams and then about how to enable the dreams of others.  I liked what he said in regards to experience, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."  It's so easy to look at a situation going in an unexpected direction as failure and a sign to give up, but how else do we gain our experience?  

He spoke about brick walls and the obstacles they represent in our lives.  "Brick walls are there for a reason; they let us prove how badly we want things."  He went on to say, "Brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough."  I believe this is how he achieved so many of his childhood dreams.  He wanted to achieve those dreams so badly that he wasn't willing to let those brick walls dissuade him in the least.  I particularly enjoyed learning to what great lengths he went to in order to realize the dream of experiencing zero gravity!  

At the end of his lecture, he gave a list of pointers that I think is worth mentioning:

• When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.
• Show gratitude.
• Don't complain.  Just work harder.
• Be good at something, it makes you valuable.
• Word hard.
• Find the best in everybody.
• And be prepared.  Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

"It's not about how to achieve your dreams.  It's about how to lead your life.  If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself.  The dreams will come to you."  

This was another busy and stressful week.  I had to go on a trip for work to a trade show and that threw a wrench into my school workload for the week.  But as I sit on a hotel room doing homework, I can't help but feel inspired.  I have had the opportunity to attend several classes the last two days that have motivated me to implement changes in my workplace.  I've also had the opportunity to meet so many business owners from across the country and hear about how they got started and how their businesses have evolved.  Walking the show floor has exposed me to results of hard work and creativity. 

Even though I have struggled this week to get everything done, I am grateful for the opportunity to go attend the trade show this week.  It has inspired me to keep working hard and striving to achieve my business dreams.  

W01 - Overwhelmed

This has been an extremely stressful week for me as I have combined the challenges of starting a new semester of schooling and all of the new year projects that I am in charge of at work.  Regardless of the challenges that I am juggling, I am extremely grateful to learn from this class and consider it a significant first step in my long term goals of owning my own business one day.

Below are couple of the things that stood out to me from this weeks learning materials.

"The Start-Up of You:  Executive Summary"

The main thing that I loved about this summary was the synopsis of Chapter 2 which explains how to develop a competitive advantage.  This is a challenge I am currently facing at my current job.  Our business is trying to figure out our competitive advantage in today's constantly changing retail market.  It is stated very simply in the first sentence, "Differentiate or die."  

The ability to differentiate is something that has held me back from starting my own business for several years.  It's overwhelming when I think of the current players in the market I would like to enter and I generally conclude that there will be no place for me to compete or improve the space.  But this small section of reading reminded me that I don't need to be better than everybody else.  I just need to find my niche and be better in that one spot.  

"Living Life as an Entrepreneurial Hero"

This article reminded me that the path to business ownership is a journey and an adventure.  It's not going to be easy and most likely will be quite difficult.  I figure that as long as I'm doing something that I love, the difficulty of that journey can't be any worse than the drudgery of working for somebody else feels at times.  I liked the simple reminder to "dream big but start with small steps."  This is how I have to approach life and it only makes sense that it is applicable in a business setting.  

"Life is too short to put up with jerks."  The best line ever!  I think this will be my new mantra.  Not only do I seek to eliminate jerks from my working life, but I don't ever want to be any one else's jerk.

As I complete the first week of this semester, I am looking forward to diving further into self-discovery as I pursue my long term goals of owning and operating my own business.