Use up those Productivity Points 5/19/2015

This being my first semester back to school, it has been a big adjustment mostly with time management. Time easily slips through my fingers if I am not paying close attention. I waste time on assignments if I am distracted. With a job it's hard to stay ahead on homework; but this week is different. This week I have been determined in doing all my assignments early. So far it has been going great, I am accomplishing a lot, but then I find that I am not spending very much time with my friends and not having very much fun. There must be a balance in all things. Each productivity point is precious. The clock is always ticking. I can't become so consumed in homework and my job that I forget to have fun and show love toward those I care about. A quick phone call to a family member makes a big difference. Finding ways to serve people will brighten up even the grayest day. Moments of laughter with friends are precious moments, and many times I find myself so consumed in the task at hand that I don't take a second to look around me at everything that's going on. I don't take the time to analyze someone on the street (without being creepy of course) and wonder how their day is going, wonder how they are doing emotionally and spiritually, show a little interest in my fellow brother or sister, and maybe greet them with a smile or a hello. There are so many things to be done and not enough time to do it, but "decisions determine destiny" (Thomas S. Monson). And "by small and simple things great things come to pass" (Alma 37:6). This week, I will be actively engaged in the task at hand. I will take in all that is around me. I will use my productivity points wisely. "I will live this day as if it is my last."

Priorities - 5/13/2015

I had a big reality check this week. I hadn't gone to the temple in two weeks. I had begun studying my scriptures late at night so I wasn't getting as much out of my studies. I was starting to get lazy with my studies. My homework was still getting done but I was just going through the motions and I wasn't getting much out of it. There were a few things that happened that helped me to realize that I was slowly headed downward, and so I decided to switch things up. "I will persist until I succeed." I'm doing so many things and time is slipping right through my fingers. In "A Journey to Personal Transformation," it explains how we have to be ready for the time when we are thrown into the desert. We have to be willing to put our nose to the grinder. As Og Mandino puts it, "When others cease their struggle, then mine will begin, and my harvest will be full."
I loved the reading "How Will You Measure Your Life" by Clay M. Christensen. He talked a lot about finding your life's purpose. He explained that when he was in school, he painfully set aside an hour a day to read, study, and ponder his life's purpose. It was really hard to set aside the hard studies of econometric to search for something that seems less profitable in the moment, but Elder Christensen made this promise to all the students at Harvard Business School, "I promise my students that if they take the time to figure out their life purpose, they’ll look back on it as the most important thing they discovered at HBS. If they don’t figure it out, they will just sail off without a rudder and get buffeted in the very rough seas of life. Clarity about their purpose will trump knowledge of activity-based costing, balanced scorecards, core competence, disruptive innovation, the four Ps, and the five forces." This is my main goal and drive this week: I have put together the beginnings of a personal constitution. At first I was doing it just to turn the assignment in, but after reading the chapter in "The Ministry of Business, I was sold on the effect that this could have on me if I took some time on it. So I will look over my personal constitution, revise it, and constantly add and change things as I see necessary. I will start out by spending 30 minutes a day on my purpose, and work into an hour a day of finding out what my purpose is in life. I will report back in a week to see what I have found, and to bump the time up from 30 minutes to an hour. 

5/5/2015
This class has quickly become my favorite! I actually spend time on the readings because I'm anxious to learn. The big thing that stuck out to me this week was the importance of morals and, in particular, integrity in the business world. There are so many successful businessmen (successful to worldly standards) who have torn their own moral standards to shreds. The money must not be the main vision or it will quickly destroy me. It is so easy to slowly fall off track with integrity. It's not just about telling the truth, it's about honor. It's about continual improvement every day to give the world everything you got; to make tomorrow a better day than today. We then bring in scroll 2 in "The Greatest Salesman in the World." What does love and integrity have in common? Everything! They are inseparably intertwined. Someone cannot possess integrity without at least a sliver of charity, and someone who truly loves those around him would never cheat or lie. As I apply these virtues more and more, I will see people through different eyes. These eyes will transform me into the best man I could ever be. I may lose some battles, I may work harder than the competition, but I will go home each night satisfied with the Spirit of the Lord to warm my heart. B-level businessman is not enough, A-level is the only option; the only intelligent way to go. This will present some extreme challenges. Priorities can be shaken up without us knowing. If humility is not exercised it will get out of control quick, and without love I will surely fail. My big goal this week is on love. I will not talk negatively about anyone this week. I will seek to build people up. I will search for the good in every person. When they see my face they will be able to feel my love for them. They will not distinguish me with "just being an RM," but a disciple of Jesus Christ. This will be a big challenge. We as humans are naturally trying to find fault, especially when someone is out-performing us. Loving doesn't mean being a pushover, in fact sometimes love means being bold, it means explaining to someone their weaknesses or correcting someone so they can learn and grow. But I will look past the mistakes of others and observe until I find a praiseworthy attribute. Everyone has at least one. I can't do it in a creepy way, words and questions aren't needed, just observance and unconditional love.