SHARPEN THE SAW...

Steven Covey in his book   "THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE” teaches the importance of being able to apply these principles in the personal, professional, and family life of a person who seeks success and is highly effective.

The 7 Habits provide an incremental, sequential, integrated approach to the development of personal effectiveness moving us progressively from dependence (on others) to independence (taking care of ourselves) to interdependence (looking after others and combining strengths to multiply our individual effectiveness).

The first three habits are the basis for private victories in which we develop the fiber of our own character traits.

The second three habits are for public victories, those situations where we work with other people.

The final habit improves the effectiveness of our lives in all areas.

Habits 1, 2, and 3 deal with self-mastery or private victories

and lay the foundation for other habits.

 Habits 4,5 and 6 deal with public victories.

 Habit 7 is the habit of renewal of the four basic dimensions

of a meaningful life.

The 7 habits are habits of effectiveness based on principles that

make long-term beneficial results possible.

The 7 Habits give the ability to work from the inside out to build the character of total integrity.

Personally, within the 7 habits, the one that has the most meaning for me is the last habit,

Habit Number 7:  SHARPEN THE SAW

Don’t get so busy sawing that you don’t realize you are using a blunt saw. Take the time on a regular basis to sharpen your saw in the physical, spiritual, mental, and social or emotional dimensions.

Renewal is the principle – and the process – enabling us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement. 

The upward spiral consists of three steps;

1. To Learn

2. To Commit

3. To Do

Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit and do on increasingly higher planes.

To keep progressing, we must repeat the cycle over and over.

Real change comes from the inside out.

"Achieving unity with ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and

working associates is the highest and most delicious fruit of the 7

Habits. Building a character of total integrity isn’t easy but it’s

possible. It isn’t a quick fix. By centering our lives on correct

principles and creating a balanced focus between doing and

increasing our ability to do, we become empowered in the task of

creating effective, useful, and peaceful lives." ( Steven Covey)

 

So... You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur encompasses not only professional and financial aspects, but also requires the development of other important aspects in our lives. 

Among these aspects, we find : Loyalty to God and family as well as Self-mastery.

             Loyalty to God and family

 Jan Newman in a conference taught: “There's a couple of pieces that you can never let get compromised and that's your loyalty to the Lord and your loyalty to your family... Don't ever be too busy to take a calling in the church. Because when you need the Lord's help, He'll know where your heart is and it won't be on his side of him. If you think about it, the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants Section 112, says “I require two things: a willing heart and mind.” Think of this a thousand years from now, no one is going to ask you what company you ran, how much money you made, your greatest legacy will be your family and your service in the Kingdom of God.”

We always need to put the Lord and our family first in our lives if we want to truly succeed. When an entrepreneur understands the dependency he or she has on God and His help from him in all aspects of life as well as the time and attention given to the family, he or she has succeeded in their life from her. There is a lot of successful business but the rewards are temporary, however, in these aspects success is eternal.

 Self-mastery

Plato said: “The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

Da Vinci once said: “You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself.”

Self-mastery, self-discipline, and self-control are vital aspects to develop in our lives in our endeavor to accomplish our goals. As President Tanner has taught: "If you wish to achieve financial success, if you wish to be happy, if you wish to be healthy, if you would be morally clean, if you wish to find religious peace of mind, there is only one sure way...have the courage and strength and determination to discipline yourself, apply self-control and self-mastery."

The areas of knowledge for starting a successful business

                                                                     -Industry knowledge

                                                                     -Day-to-day operations

                                                                     -Raising money

Industry knowledge

This knowledge falls into two general categories: the competitive structure of the industry and personal contacts with trusted experts. Understanding the industry's competitive structure means knowing the history and current status of customers, suppliers, competitors, product substitutes, and barriers to entry. You also must build a network of personal relationships within the industry. Without these contacts, gathering accurate information is too costly and time-consuming. Industry contacts make vendor selection, marketing, and employee recruitment much easier. In addition, a good reputation in an industry is one of the most important competitive advantages.

Day-to-day operations

Daily operations include many issues, from accounting, production, organizational and administrative dilemmas to general business philosophy. All of these must be woven into a consistent set of principles and procedures.

Raising Money

Raising money is the least important and most generic of the three skills. Money is the fuel for a start-up business. In all phases of entrepreneurship, and especially in fundraising, reputation is everything. A good money raiser is part salesman, but that salesmanship is built brick by brick on a foundation of competence and honesty.

I consider these areas important because they are the basis of any business. If an entrepreneur follows and applies these areas, he or she has a better chance to succeed. They are a guide to applying to any business project.

So... You Want to Be an Entrepreneur? 

                         The answer is Absolutely YES!!!!!!!

Key Lessons from "A Hero's Journey" 

One of the most meaningful lessons I learned this week was taken from the lecture delivered to the College of Business and Communication by Jeff Sandefer entitled “A Hero’s Journey.

“What does it mean to choose a hero’s journey? It means to live every moment of your life like it matters because it does. It means to live as if you have an important mission because you do. It means seeing struggles as adventures and setbacks as lessons.

He suggested finding great role models and asking them great questions.

 We should ask ourselves these three important questions:

-Have I contributed something meaningful?

 -Was I a good person?

-Who did I love, and who loved me?

    Never give up your search for a calling. Use God-given gifts, and do something that brings you great joy. He encouraged us to try this activity in order to find what brings joy.

He said: “Try this: think of the last time you lost track of time while doing something. Something that you would practice merely for the sake of practice alone. Something that could become a lifelong discipline that you’re committed to master. If you find one of your precious God-given gifts intersects with finding great joy, you’ll be very close to the call”

In this Hero´s journey, we need to be surrounded by great people.

“Choose your fellow travelers well, for it’s a trip you only take once”.

It’s all about you because using your gifts to change the world will change you in the process and you will realize you serve a force in the universe that is far bigger than you are.

If you don’t choose a hero’s journey, then who will? And if you don’t start now, then when?

This journey is a lifelong process. We need attributes such as perseverance and diligence, establishing goals and direction in our lives, and taking the opportunities that arise in order to achieve our mission and our purpose. On this journey, we can ask ourselves :

Do you have the courage to take that first step on your hero’s journey, and will you take it today?

I believe that the answer should be a big: YES !!!!!

 "How Will You Measure Your Life?"

 

“The question is not one of managing time, but one of managing ourselves with the time we have. The so-called little things are really important if we are to gain eternal life.”

I love this quote by Elder Whirhlin because most of the time we think that we need to manage our time, and organize the hours we have each day to spend with activities and tasks when the truth is that we need to organize and manage ourselves within that time. One way to accomplish this fact is To Do what we love.

In a conference Tom Kelley, General Manager, IDEO, based on the experience of someone he knows. He suggested keeping a “laboratory notebook of ourselves. It is Not a journal where you write what you do each day, in fact, it is an everyday record of the things we enjoy and that make us happy. The person who tried this kind of "experiment" for two years discovered what he loved by asking these questions every day and recording his thoughts and feelings: When did I feel at my best? When was I in a state of flow? When did I feel the happiest because that's really important? It could be interesting for each one of us to try this experiment and see the results.

 

3 Principles for Success:

 

1- The Tri-Quation

2- Productivity Pyramid

3- A Personal Constitution.

                                                     Number one: the Tri-Quation.

In the first blank, you can see the word “Self-Esteem”, in the second blank: the word “Productivity,” and in the third blank, the word “Event Control.“

“As they’re all equal, as you're experiencing high self-esteem, then by definition, you’re in high productivity mode and have good self-control over the events in your life. And conversely, when you’re down, it will soon come to the surface that your productivity and control over your life are also going to nose-dive.”

 

Number Two: The Productivity Pyramid.

 

 

The pyramid is made up of the following elements:

Foundation, your beliefs, and your values.

Long-term goals, short-term goals.

Daily task lists.

“The foundation of The Productivity Pyramid is your values or core beliefs. We all have a set of principles that matter to us. Without a set of values, we tend to wander aimlessly through our lives. The next level of the pyramid is goals. When setting goals, it’s important to break them down into long-term or short-term goals. These goals will help us transfer the values we have identified into habits. Creating a daily task list is the next level of the pyramid. By breaking down your short-term goals in a daily task list, you’ll begin to feel a growing sense of control over your life. Your personal productivity will increase each day. As you gradually reach these goals, you will become the type of human being you always wanted to be.”

 

Number Three: Your Constitution.

 

“Our personal constitution is a document where you decide the type of person you want to become. Because, as individuals, we’re always striving to better ourselves.

A written description in an “I am” format where we picture ourselves in a finished state having become that particular value.”

 

“It is vitally important that you discover the path to taking control of your time, and actions and enable you to become the type of person you most want to become.” 

 (Jim Ritchie, Launching Leaders Co-Founder)

 

 

 How Will You Measure Your Life?

By following these teaching, trying to be better each day, and being aligned with God´s purposes for you.