What I have learned

"Success consist of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm." -Winston Churchill
Some of the most successful people in the business world have failed over and over again and the reason we do not dwell on their failures is because their success has outshined all of it. If you are going to be a entrepreneur then you have to learn to embrace failure because each lesson will lead you to more success. Jeff Sandefer said "choosing the life of a entrepreneurial her begins with a paradox: you have to dream big but start with small steps. No matter how difficult this path gets I will continue to push forward step by small step until I have reached my goal. I will then set a new goal and begin the process again step by small step."
I believe the hardest part about becoming a entrepreneur is taking that first step, too many great ideas and great companies were never started because the dreamers feared failure and never took the first step. I have learned as a new father that my son fears almost nothing because he has not been taught what to fear either by experience or by someone teaching him to not do certain things. We can learn a lot from children as business leaders because children are brave, honest, and forgiving. Children will take a first step in almost anything and can fall into danger if not given the proper mentor or parent. Children will say anything to anyone because it is the truth and the truth is the greatest gift that everyone will try and take from us. Children are forgiving to anyone that does them harm almost instantly but they are most forgiving to themselves no matter how many times they have fallen and found trouble. If we could apply these simple lessons into starting a business we would have no regrets after taking that first step.
Everything I have learned these last few weeks from my classes and from interviewing and reading other business leaders failures and success is that time is the most valuable commodity we have, It is the only piece of our lives that we have full control over. "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."-Anonymous. That is the key to a successful life is what we did with our time. Did we use all our time and energy to chase a dream and start a business? When that business failed did we spend all our time and energy doing everything we could to make it successful? Was that time we spent failing over and over again chasing our dream educational enough that when we try again we will do it better? Do not let time and fear take the what might have been when you look at your past. Let time and fear be your motivation of would could be in your future.

Leadership in life

"I think there is an emotional element to leadership-Charisma." By Randy Haykins.  

Leadership is the cornerstone of a great business no matter if it is small or large without leadership you have nothing. As we have studied different entrepreneurs throughout this semester I have come to love and admire the great leadership it takes to start a business.  

Randy Haykins also said "Leadership is identifying the future before it's happened. A good leader has more than vision, a good leader sees a endpoint. And then somehow garners sufficient resources around him or herself to work towards that end." I think of Steve Jobs when I read this quote because he started a computer company was then fired from his company he started. The company then struggles and bring him back and what does he do he changes the tech industry with the iPod, iPad, and the iPhone. A computer company that now leads in music, and telecommunications because a leader saw a future that no one else did and then surrounded himself with the resources to find the end. 

We are all destined to leave a footprint of our lives in this world we all want to be remembered. Some want to be remembered throughout time and by millions and millions of people, while others just want to be remembered by their loved ones and friends that they have done so much for. It is this drive that makes great leaders in business those that will do everything they can to leave a mark and if they fail or succeed they will just be happy they tried. 

Experience is Golden

I finished the book "A Field Guide for the Hero's Journey" by Robert Sirico & Jeff Sandefer. It is a collection of journey's from different people and what they have learned about life and business. Reading this book you have a chance to reflect and apply the lessons learned from these different chapters. 

Wanting to be a entrepreneur is a lot like this book and the different views we have about life. When you are a child you think your parents know everything because they can answer any question you ask them and you don’t know if it is truthful or not because you have complete faith in them. As a teenager you start to question what they know and start to think they are to old and do not understand that times have changed. As a young adult living on your own and supporting a family or serving a mission your parents gain a little more credit and you start to wonder how they handled life and their advice is welcomed but still cautious. When you have children your parents suddenly have all the answers and the most respect possible because you just don’t understand how they did knew so much. When you are old and frail you have suddenly become the genius and now your advice is valuable to your own posterity.  

Starting a business is the same way at first you think everyone has all the answers and you trust almost anyone, different experiences and time passes by you listen a little less and think you know everything. A success here and a failure there suddenly you seek the advice of those veterans that have been consistent at running their business. Before you know it your retiring and giving your own advice.  

We have to learn from those that are willing to teach us about business and proceed with caution and care. IF we are not willing to learn from those that have gone before us we will just fail over and over again because we think we know everything.