BUS 110

Looking at The 7 Habits , Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind,” feels like it hits closest to home. This habit is about picturing where you want to end up and then planning your actions to get there. Rather than just reacting to life, it’s like creating a roadmap for what you truly want. Having this clear focus helps keep me on track and makes my daily choices feel intentional and meaningful. Knowing my end goal makes me less distracted by things that don’t support it, which brings more purpose to my actions and keeps me grounded. The seven habits build up from personal growth (Habits 1-3) to success with others (Habits 4-6). Habit 1, “Be Proactive,” emphasizes taking charge of actions, which builds reliability and confidence, essential traits when working with others. In my experience as a Scrum Master, I saw Habit 5, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood,” play a critical role in my work with teams. Truly understanding each team member’s perspectives and concerns before o...

In " How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies That Work ," the main idea is that overplanning can be just as harmful as not planning. Too much analysis can cause you to miss opportunities while jumping in without thought, leading to failure. Successful entrepreneurs find a balance between thinking things through and taking action. They look at opportunities quickly, focus on the important aspects, and stay ready to adjust as they go. In "So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?", the focus was on three key areas of knowledge needed to start a successful business: deep industry knowledge, the skills to run daily operations, and the ability to raise money. The most important is deep industry knowledge—understanding your industry, competitors, customer needs, and how everything works. Without this understanding, making good decisions and spotting great opportunities is very difficult. President N. Eldon Tanner’s talk on self-mastery emphasized the importance of self-discipline an...

 In "A Hero's Journey," the main idea is that everyone has a unique life mission that can succeed if we dare to do it. The speaker talked about how this mission is about us, but at the same time, it’s not just about us—it's about making a difference in the world. Living a "hero's journey" means treating every moment like it matters, learning from setbacks, and seeing life as an adventure. The real prize isn't what you get in the end; it's how you grow during the journey. In "Most Entrepreneurs are Not Rock Stars," David Friedberg discussed how being an entrepreneur isn’t always glamorous. The media often shows rare success stories, but most entrepreneurs don’t end up rich or famous. Instead, it’s about solving and sticking with problems even when things are tough. Randy Komisar’s talk on "How Do You Find Your Passion?" gave some great advice, too. Instead of stressing about finding that one perfect passion, it’s better to t...

This week, I thought about taking control of my life and measuring success beyond just work. Jim Ritchie's Launching Leaders video  highlighted how building self-esteem helps us be more productive and have more control. He also talked about the importance of real connections, which made me see the value in genuine networking. Jeff Hawkins' talk about making smart choices instead of just working long hours changed my view. Success isn’t about working myself to exhaustion; it's about making better decisions. Tom Kelley’s idea about doing what you love really hit home. When we love what we do, we try harder and get better at it. This connects to Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life? , which encourages us to align our work with our purpose for lasting happiness. Elder Wirthlin’s message about the importance of small actions inspired me to focus on little things that lead to positive changes. Moving forward, I want to make smart decisions, build self-esteem, inv...

This week, I learned a lot about the importance of honesty and integrity in business and personal life. One of the key takeaways was from a story by Frank Levinson in Why Are Ethics Important? , in which he shared how hiring a dishonest CFO caused big problems for his company. It showed me how even smart people can cause harm if they lack ethics and that being honest in business is crucial for long-term success. This is something that frequently occupies my mind right now with the development of LLMs.  Another story that stood out to me was Sheri L. Dew’s talk, True Blue, Through and Through . She talked about how integrity is not just telling the truth but sticking to your values, no matter what. She shared a story about President Joseph F. Smith, who stood up for his beliefs even when they were risky and earned respect. These lessons hit home because I value honesty and fairness. As I build my career, especially in content creation, I know I’ll face situations where I might be te...

Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” is about chasing your dreams and making the most out of life, even when things get tough. Despite knowing that he didn’t have much time left due to a cancer diagnosis, he used his final lecture to share life lessons and encourage others to pursue their dreams. Why Randy Pausch Achieved His Dreams Randy achieved so many of his childhood dreams because he was determined to not let setbacks stop him. He wanted to experience zero gravity but found out he couldn’t join as a professor. Instead of giving up, he found a way by joining in a journalistic capacity. This creative thinking and never-give-up attitude helped him overcome challenges​.  Outside of the box, thinking like this is something I use frequently in my life to get the thing or outcome I want. About 6 weeks ago, I owned no 3D printers but saw the Bambu A1 on another creator's channel and thought, "finally, an idiot-proof printer for me to start with," and reached out to the manufacture...

 This week I read about how some find it important to keep a journal and how that can apply to an entrepreneurial journey. One might need help remembering a specific lesson that they learned in a class, but keeping a detailed journal of everything that had been taught could enable them to find that information. I've never found note-taking time-worthy, nor journalling for future recall (although I do frequently link  https://www.ryanmercer.com/ posts to people to save me the time of (re-)explaining something to someone).  A perceived point for takeaway from the material was that this should be a consistent practice. Writing a journal regularly, whether every day or once a week, was indicated to help keep track of progress and learn from good and bad experiences. If it is made a habit, one can track their own growth and understand how they got to where they are. I see this as a bit of a myopic line of reasoning, though, as we are the sum of all that happens to us, not a s...