Final Week

This week I will post my own "Last Lecture" of all of the key things that should be learned from taking this course.

I don't want to number them, that feels too official. I'm just going to talk about points of things that I learned and I think they will all just kind of meld together. A big take-away I got from this class is about following your passions. Maybe entrepreneurship isn't your passion, and that's OK. the thing is finding something that you love and do that. That is what really makes everything worth it. Don't seek after money because you'll be miserable and may not even make a lot of money, but if you follow your passion, you probably won't make a lot of money, but you will love what you do so much that it won't matter so much.
Another thing is to make ethical guardrails early and check on yourself often to make sure you are following the guidelines you set yourself. By putting those in place early you will make it so much easier on yourself to make tough decisions that could be a bad decision, but because you know how you want to act when faced with those decisions you will make that decision easier on yourself to not do it.
Set a plan of where you want to go as your end goal in a career sense and the stops you are going to take to get to that point. By knowing where you want to go you can see the jobs that will help you acquire the skill set to get to that end goal. The stops may not all be right or may not come quite as you plan them, but you can at least be heading in the right direction. If at least you work towards your goal you may get there, or you may find yourself doing something better that you hadn't anticipated, but the heading on the horizon is what is most important.
Don't focus so hard on the next job you get being the last job you're ever going to have. There are so many jobs that people have and most people don't stay longer than 11 months. You pick up skills and connections that get you to the next stop and then you repeat the process. Always keep looking for the next thing that is best for you. You will gain so much experience on the way.
Also, always try to keep learning. Be a lifelong learner. Pick up as many skills and talents as you can along the way. It will help you get to another step and you can learn more there.

WEEK 13

I didn't quite understand what the man in our first video this week was saying. He mentioned career paths and dealmakers, but I wasn't quite sure at all what that meant. The second video I loved. He mentioned how most people work for a company for about 11 months and then move on. The idea is put in our heads that we stay with one company and move up the ladder in that company to get to where we want to be. I feel like a shift has happened though where that doesn't make as much sense anymore. Most of what happens is working at many different companies and finding new things and learning new things and then from there moving onward and upward. Moving to a new company with the skills you learned at the last one and hopefully learning more new things and repeating. It is so easy now to do that. He also mentioned that we shouldn't try to specialize in something. Technology advances so far and so fast these days that you could specialize in something and then eventually it becomes obsolete. New software is always coming out that makes our jobs easier. Also this ease in changing jobs makes it not as important where you first start because you probably won't stay with them forever. We are always on the lookout for something better. This idea used to terrify me that I would always have to work for the company I start with for a really long time, or that I just might not be able to find somewhere that I would want to work for for that long. However, that doesn't matter. You gain experience and skills and progress to gain more experience and skills. That is what is really important.

W12

This week there was a long video about entrepreneurship and consecration. A lot of what I picked out of the videos was to do something that changes things for good. As an entrepreneur we can make a big difference in other peoples lives. We can help others with our business, but we can also use what we do and the money we make to help those in need. There is so much that needs to be done in the world. Even big things like getting rid of smallpox has been made possible in the past few centuries. With a combined effort from people who wish to help a little here and a little there, so much can be accomplished. There are lots of projects in Africa and developing countries to give them clean water. There are many other businesses that could be used to receive money to give to those that need it. By developing that technology we can make a big change. Of course God is on our side if we do the things he asks of us. He can help us be that great change.

• Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?
• According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?
• What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?

Virtue and Integrity are vital to an economy because you need to be able to trust the companies that they won't try to take advantage of customers and situations. As customers, the more times you feel slighted by a company the less likely you are to buy from them, but if all the companies are doing it then you just decide how to get by without that thing. As a business, and other businesses are doing things to cheat markets and customers, you feel that there is no way to compete or make money against these all powerful monsters. Because of this, they back out and leave, leaving customers with only bad companies to deal with. Without Honesty and Integrity there is no trust, and without trust, there is no growth.

The "real justification" for the existence of businesses is to make a profit so that they can do something more or better. This creates progress.

Week Eleven

The videos seemed a little contradictory this week. Some of the videos week mentioned that you cannot be a successful business person and also live a balanced life, but some of the videos said it was possible. One of the entrepreneurs this week said that he had the goal of never saying the word "can't". He had a family and I would imagine that by bringing that up he meant that there are times when you feel you can't do both, but he would do both. There is the idea that you cannot be successful in a business sense and have a balanced home life too. I think it is definitely possible. Especially after the interview I had with my dad about being an entrepreneur. He at first thought that his only choice was to do what the hospital wanted, but as time went on and he was forced to make time for himself, the church, and his family, he learned how to make it work for him. By having more experience working, he learned how he could make those decisions to give himself more free time to do the other things he wanted to do besides work. There is slack that can be used to make time in a personal life, you just need to learn where you can pick up that slack and do what you want alongside the things you need to do.