Staying True to Values and Continuing to Grow

May 8, 2021

    This week, the focus of the assignments provided was geared to have us think about what matters to us, and to understand the importance of being ethical and honest in our business practices as well as in our non-vocational lives. 

    On the surface, this is an easy concept to grasp. You say to yourself: "Stealing is wrong, so I won't steal." It almost seems silly to need to state and restate such simple personal guidelines. But, the world has a way of over-complicating everything, and even our core values can become difficult to recognize if we spend enough time in the grey area of what's right and what's wrong. 

    Unfortunately, the most difficult part of staying true to our beliefs comes from the fact that many others will cross our paths who do not share the same beliefs. Some will openly reject values such as honesty in our dealings with our fellow men. Others - more dangerously - will claim to believe as we do in theory but practice in ways which contradict our personal values. When we meet these individuals, we may begin to question truths we came to understand and adhere to for as long as we can remember. It's important to have integrity and stand up for what we already know, lest we lose that knowledge to the guessing game so many others play with in life.

Lessons Learned

• Pay attention to your own personal values and beliefs. 
• Continue to seek knowledge and pursue the things which you have a passion for.

Lessons Not Yet Learned

• What trials might I come upon which will challenge my sense of ethics and personal values? Basically, as I am not a fortune teller, I won't know until I've undergone the trials for myself.

A Reference and Categorization Method

    The case study involving Magdalena Yesil provided a refreshing perspective on the importance of staying true to your personal goals, understanding your personal values, and overcoming challenges in your own way. I was impressed by her story, and reading it reinforced my opinion on the importance of seeking new learning at every given opportunity. The focus is not supposed to revolve around accomplishment or success - but on growth and on enjoying the journey.

Entrepreneurship and a Life Plan

May 1, 2021

    Life Plan

    Life Plan

    Life Plan... That's not so easy.

    This week, I attempted to create a bucket list of things I want to do in my life, with my life. In addition, we were supposed to create a stars and stepping stones chart showing our goals and how we intended to get to them. Here's how that went:

    I'm AWFUL at brainstorming on the best of days, but I was able to create a list of 50 things. The biggest lesson I took from this assignment was that I'm way too hard on myself. Every time I thought of something I might want to do, it was immediately followed by a voice that weighed how reasonable and realistic the goal might be. All too often, this was a voice of discouragement and doubt. Eventually, my need to create a list with 50 items on it brought me to push back that voice (for the most part); this allowed me to be able to get enough items on my list to feel better about setting it aside.

    The stars and stepping stones chart was a little tricky to get started, because I was worried over whether I was doing the assignment correctly. I didn't put great effort into preventing my doubts from spilling into this paper, because I don't feel capable of completing an assignment like that without full honesty. Therefore, I had to honestly describe the huge deciding fork in the road to my future, and plan down both paths of the fork with satisfactory goals.

Lessons Learned

• I'm too hard on myself
• I lack confidence (Already on the list from last week's post)
• Thinking into the future scares me
  

Lessons Not Yet Learned

• Am I missing stepping stones I may need in my stars and stepping stones chart to succeed?
• How to filter out the voice of doubt and act with faith
  

A Reference and Categorization Method

    In the video "Treat Life as an Experiment," the speaker talks about how it's important to take some risks in life and be willing to fail in order to find success. I like the terminology "failing forward." He talks about how to take bite-sized steps towards the bigger goal, using an analogy of opening a 300 page book. 300 pages is intimidating, but 10 pages is less intimidating. Therefore, you start with the 10 pages. I think I'll be less hard on myself overall if I focus on a single step towards any of my bigger goals, rather than on my capabilities in the now of completing them in the future. The future is not now, and now is nowhere near the future.