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The Art of Self Mastery

"The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile."    - Plato


This weeks studies were centering around the art of self mastery. N. Eldon Tanner gave a talk entitled, "Success is gauged by Self-Mastery." In the talk he stated that there were 2 elements of self mastery. One was to determine your course and set the sails of moral standards in your life. The second was to use will power to put wind in your sails to carry yourself forward.
The idea is to set your standard before you are challenged with the storms and then use your self control and willpower to stay on the right track.

We also studied a piece called "So You Want to be an Entrepreneur?" from the Acton School of Business. The piece reviewed three critical areas of knowledge you need to have a hold of to get started. 1.) Industry knowledge about the competitive structure of the industry you are in and having personal contact with trusted experts. 2.) Business knowledge about how to run the daily operations. 3.) Knowledge about how to raise capital.

In a rather lengthy article by Amar Bhide entitled "How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies that Work" he focused on taking a conservative approach to entrepreneurial endeavors. His study showed that 71% of entrepreneurial ideas actually are born/replicated/modified from ideas encountered at previous jobs. He noted 3 guidelines to success.
1.) Efficiently screening opportunities to weed out unpromising ventures.
2.) Analyzing ideas in a low cost/less assuming way to focus on a few important issues.
3.) Integrating action and analysis so you aren't waiting for all the answers before you start an you are ready to be flexible and change course if you need to.

He also touched on how perseverance and tenacity in your business practices need to be balanced with flexibility and a willingness to learn.

Steve Blank touched on how he was able to preserve his family during his endeavors. He set certain ground rules that he always followed including eating dinner with them every night at 7pm. The following link includes a list of all the things he did.

https://steveblank.com/2009/06/18/epitaph-for-an-entrepreneur/

He said "Make rules or the startups will consume your life." When I read that I couldn't help but look across the table at my husband burning the midnight oil as he is in a particularly busy phase of building his real estate business. It feels like there is never enough time in the day for everything we need and want to accomplish. At the moment we are trying to figure out how to better give our kids the best of us rather than what is left of us during our time with them.

Wences Casares gave 3 Lessons about What It Means to be an Entreprenuer
1.) Entrepreneurship is a calling that chooses us  and is inescapable.
2.) Time is our most valuable asset.
3.) Entrepreneurs create the most value by doing the same thing for a very long time.

Jan Newman reminded us to not crunch our time down on God or our family because our greatest legacy will be our relationship with them.

This weeks readings form Mastery and all of the other parts of the lesson gave me a lot to think about in my own personal life. It made me see a lot of flaws that I need to fix. I hope that with the Lords strength if I humble myself I can get there and do that. The things that really matter need and deserve my attention.


 

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