Week 4- My Greatest Strengths

This week was fantastic for me in that while I was finishing reading and writing my book report on the book called "The start-up of you" I realized something really great about myself and I would like to include an excerpt from my paper so I can remember it later.

First, my greatest strengths, I would like to think that I have many but this book allowed me to realize that in reality in my current point in my career I have a few very important ones. The book put it as
“you may not see inexperience as an asset to highlight, but on the flip side of inexperience tends to be energy, enthusiasm, and a willingness to work and hustle in order to learn.” (p. 33). Little did I realize that my inexperience (I have only been in business for 1.5 years) in turn has actually allowed me to be able to have all of those qualities listed above. There is not one person in my entire office that will work harder to learn and do whatever it takes to get my job done. One of my favorite quotes says “it’s not about your age, it’s about your effort and it’s not about your experience, it’s about your attitude.” This to me is a huge asset that anyone can use in their career currently or down the road. It is important to confidently know you can complete any task that is placed in front of you. Realizing your strengths and what is most important to you is vital in the process of finding out what career options suite you best now and in the long run.

I have now been able to realize that something I thought was my greatest weaknesses has now become one of my best assets. In the future I want to always approach situations in such a way that I always have this amount of energy, enthusiasm and willingness to work and hustle in everything that I do not just now early in my career.

Week 3- Skin in The Game

This week I was able to reflect a lot about my current job situation. This happened to be exactly what I needed to do this week especially when it came to Jan Newman's comments about having Skin in the game.

I currently work for a small company and have for the last year and 8 months. I have put in any amount of time and effort needed to help this company succeed. This has meant anything from taking before and after hour phone calls and texts to working 70+ hour weeks on a salary pay with no extra incentive or bonus. To top it all off I was promised a raise over 9 months ago that has yet to be given to me even though I am paid about 50% less then what I should be paid for my current position and responsibility. The reason I have stayed is because that is what I was the right thing to do and also because I saw the vision and upside of the companies vision long term which I have believed in since day one of working at this said company.

Watching these videos this allowed me to be reminded of the long term benefit of having skin in the game will have for me in the long term from the large amount of time and effort I have put into this company. I have an amazing boss that is extremely loyal to me and helps me in more ways then I can even count to mentor me and teach me how to be the best business person that I can be. I also work with some other amazing co-worker that I love working with on a regular basis. Lastly, the long term possibility for where this company is going is huge. All those things together and many more have helped me to realize that putting in extra time and effort is only something that can help me now and in the long run.

I hope that this will be something that I will continue to remember in any job that I have in the future. Making sure that I have skin in the game is going to be something that I have in every job that I hold in the future in order to make sure I am invested in whatever endeavor I am pursuing at that time.

Week 2-Having a mission and career

This week has been very interesting for me as I have had a lot of changes happening in my life. First off my boyfriend and I are getting more serious and making plans which is great and I love it. Second, there have been a lot of drastic changes at my work from people being laid off to changing of the business all together. Both of these things have allowed forced me to think about what is most important to me in my life and where I see my life going now and in the next 5, 10 or even 50 years.

So.....this lesson and the article called Stars and Stepping Stones could not have come at a better time for me. Towards the beginning of the article where the teach gives the student advice and states that he needs to find something that needs to be fixed and go fix it so he can not just have a good job but a career and a mission. This is not something I had thought about before when picking what I would like to continue to do for the rest of my life. My new plan is to reflect on this more in this new year and see how I can best apply that to my current job or what job would best help me fulfill that goal in the future.

Along with this I wanted to apply this to every facet of my life, including my personal, at home life. I strongly believe that as I work backwards to the present and make goals accordingly I will have a great path to follow now and in the future.

This is a picture of my boyfriend Kyle and I right before Christmas at his work party. 

Introduction/ Week 1

This week has been and interesting one being able to learn an introduction to this class and learn more about the ins and outs of how to best succeed in this class. This week I did not learn a ridiculous amount of new things but it was great reminder for me of things that I need to make sure that I continue to remember. This week I was able to be reminded of two different things.

First, I was able to learn how important that it is to communicate with others in online classes. This is not only to be able to create relationships with people in the class but to be able to learn things from them. If I do not take the time to get to know others and communicate with them regularly I am going to miss out on so many great opportunities for learning.

Second, my ability to not be able to do everything but that I could do most things if I was organized and put my priorities in order. Putting the Lord first in all things and making sure that I am reading and praying every day will help me to be able to align my life with the proper priorities and that the rest will fall into place. I was able to be reminded of this during the week because while I am working full time, have an important calling to attend to at church and also am in a serious relationship with someone that I need to have as much "balance" as possible in my life. For this I am extremely grateful for the gospel and the peace and center it brings to my life.

I am extremely excited to be taking this course as anything to do with start ups has been extremely interesting to me. I have also had the privilege of being able to work in a start up currently and with other start ups in my work currently.