Week 8 - Getting the job done.

This week I learned a lot about myself and I know exactly where I need to focus my attention in order to move to the next step of becoming a great entrepreneur. I need to work on getting the little things done. Sometimes the little steps in a process seem to feel like an annoyance to me and I really have a hard time getting them done. I like to be the big picture person and come up with great ideas that then other people work on the little steps. I learned this week that the little steps are really important and I need to stop asking questions like "why should I do this" or "is this really important", and stop making excuses to myself and allowing myself to procrastinate the unpleasant things in my business. I just t=need to jump in and get them done. I have realized this week that even if I don't do those little things, they do not go away. They will sit there and hang over me until I complete them, so why not just jump in and get them done as quickly as possible? I know that as I start doing this that I will feel less of a weight on my shoulders because I will have less things to think about on my "to do" list, and I may be able to find time to relax more often.

Week 7 - Challenges

One thing I have realized through the process of owning my own business the last 5 years is that owning my own business is never without problems. There is always something that needs attention and improvement. Owning a business is not just about having other people work for you and make you money, and you get to sit back and relax while the money rolls in. I believe that your business will bring in money according to your efforts. There is always improvement to be done and employees to train and new ideas to develop. So, how do you find the best ways to spend your time and efforts, and get the most out of your resources and time? This week I watched a video called "the five whys" found here: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2296 The ide this video shared was to examine where the root cause of your problems are and then start there and work all the way back up to the evidence of the problem. I liked this concept because it does more than just create a huge list of little things to fix about my business. It helps me to have a real understanding of the problems, and then to be able to choose the best and most effective places to work on. I think this will be really helpful to improve many small things by focusing on a few root problems. Another thing I have been learning about this week that really stuck out to me was the idea that as an entrepreneur I should be asking for help. I have been resistant to this idea in the past and I have wanted to solve my own problems. I am starting to see that I can progress so much faster with a little mentorship and help from others. I had an experience recently that forced me to ask for help in my business. I had resisted this for a very long time, but eventually it came down to a situation where I felt I had no other choice. Luckily I had a family member that was the perfect mentor for my problem and was very willing to help me when I asked him. The problem was not an easy solve, but my mentor put in many hours of his time, and much effort and thought into helping me solve my problem. In the end we got things worked out, but I have learned from this experience that asking for help is a wonderful tool, and I can't let my pride hold me back from progressing.

Week 6 - Whats a business for?

Why should I start a business? What is a business for? The first thing most people would say is "to make money". I think that is part of it, because of course I want my business to be profitable and to be worth my time financially, but there is much more to it than that. Here are some reasons I want to start my business: -I believe that my ideas will make the world a better place. -I want to share my creativity with others. -I want to enjoy life and help others do the same. -I want to spend quality and quantity time with my family. -I want to have plenty of time to devote to my church callings. -I want to be able to help my extended family and my friends when they need help. Whether that is financially, or with my time, or other resources that I can share. -I want to challenge myself and learn as much as I can. I want to continually progress and expand myself. These are the most important reasons that I want to start my own business.

Week 5 - Self Mastery

This weeks reading made me thing about what I am doing to help myself along, and what I am doing that is preventing my own success. I think I can agree that the most difficult challenge for an entrepreneur to overcome is their own short comings and their own doubts. I know that can be true for me, so this week I am thinking about what I do that is sabotaging my own success and how I can turn those things into strengths that can help me along my way. One thing I realized is that I like things to be perfect, and sometimes that holds me back from moving on until I feel that everything is perfectly put together. I don't think this is helpful in business because things are rarely going t be perfect at every step. Movement is the key, so I am going to try to keep movement as a big part of my plan. Move forward even if things aren't exactly the way you want them. They will get better as you learn and progress. Another thing I learned about myself is that I am good at coming up with great ideas, but I would prefer if someone else did the little details for me while I focus on the big picture and direction. I like to be the creative mind behind the ideas, but the follow through down to the details is a challenge for me. I think that noticing these two things this week has been really enlightening for me and will help me to improve the way I do things in the future. Taking notice of weaknesses is the first step to mastering them and turning them into strengths.