Keep Moving Forward

My thoughts today focus on the short video we watched titled “You can do anything.” Meet the Robinsons is one of my sister’s favorite movies. For me it is a fun movie, but the thing in the movie that hit me the hardest was the main characters motto “Keep Moving Forward!” Since I saw that movie I have tried to apply that motto to my life. Never give up on your dreams. Taylor Richards emphasizes the importance of never giving up as he applied this idea to the gospel. If we are able to involve the Lord in our goals, He will guide us and give us the opportunities to succeed. It has been very interesting to see the path my life has taken since returning from my mission. All of my plans prior and during my mission have not played out because other thoughts and paths have opened and I have no doubt it has been through the guidance of the Lord. I feel like I am where I need to be and I am doing what I need to be doing. I really don’t know exactly what the future has in store but I will continue doing what feels right and I don’t doubt it will work out however it is supposed to work out.

Next Taylor Richards talked about the importance of not underestimating ourselves. A coworker of mine lately has talked a lot about the idea of limiting beliefs. Essentially it is when we limit our capabilities by telling ourselves we cannot accomplish something. I want to make sure I am not limiting myself by underestimating my abilities.

It has been a great week to think about what I want to accomplish in life. I still don’t have the answers, but I am trying really hard not to limit myself.

Honesty is the best policy

This week I have thought a lot about the real impact honesty and good work ethics can have on a society and an individual. President Hinckley in his talk “Stand True and Faithful” explains that we cannot be our best without living righteous lives, and that is exactly the same for a business.

Honesty leads to trust. In the reading “What’s a Business For?” I thought a lot about trust once again both on a personal level and also on a business level, and the reading takes it to an even greater level, our whole economy. I think of my time as a missionary and having a conversation with an individual who explained to us how they are planning to store up an armory and not using banks to hold their money when they didn’t need to. This man has lost trust in our society.  

At work a new position became available and my manager explained that in his pie chart of what the employee needed to have 40% of the chart was trust (and it was the biggest of all pieces). He said if he cannot trust this employee he would not be comfortable giving them the responsibilities. 

Changing topics…

I started and finished reading “The Dip” this week. First off it was short, and second off I really liked it and wanted to keep reading. One thing that I have thought about quite a bit is the importance of sticking with goals. Seth Godin focuses on quitting things that are hindering us, and also sticking with things we determine to be valuable. If there is something we truly want to do, then we need to make the commitment to do it and set goals to achieve it. I am finally at a point in my schooling when I can see an end date (for my Bachelor’s at least). So much of my time has just been signing up for classes semester after semester and not really thinking about my end goal. Now that I see it I am more motivated and more involved.

Priorities

The videos watched this week from Jan Newman, Wences Casares, and Steve Blank were really interesting and insightful. These videos caused me to think a lot about the idea of priorities in life. If we are focused on things that don’t really matter we won’t find true happiness. Jan Newman talked about how people try and cram and keep everything in their lives even as life gets very busy. This is when we have to looking at what really matters. In my life I strive to focus my time between 5:30pm and about 7:30pm on my family on weekdays. It doesn’t matter how much I have to do, if I cannot have that time with them then is what I’m doing really that important? Obviously it doesn’t always work out, but I try and compensate at other times if this occurs, and at times it also means much later nights but that’s okay. The Mentor Session this week hit on the idea of one reason for becoming an entrepreneur is to be able to manage your schedule more so than when you have a structured job. While I do think this can be a benefit it is not a guarantee and the book admits that this does take some time. This can be scary because I know of families that have crumbled apart due to the stress and long hours that are being focused on the work aspect of life while the family importance was left behind. In a business we need to be thinking about our priorities as well. The Mentor Session talked about how when people have money as their main goal they are not as successful. A question I need to ask myself when considering a business venture would be, why do I really want this business to be successful? That question can have more than one answer, but if those answers only focus on things like money then it probably isn’t a good path to take.

A Hero's Journey

I really enjoyed listening to Jeff Sandefer's speech "A Hero's Journey" and that is what I will focus on in this post. As he started he talked about his concerns and struggles at the college age not knowing if he could truly be successful. These are thought's I have had as well, it is interesting growing up and thinking that these adults who work every day. In your mind (or at least my mind) I felt every adult knew exactly what they were doing and that the professional world was just perfect. Now that I am entering that world I am realizing it was not that simple. It is somewhat scary but also somewhat encouraging. This is my journey now, and Jeff gives some simple but powerful pieces of advice that I need to focus on.

1. Live every moment of your life like it matters, because it does.

A week or two ago I went to lunch with a senior level manager. The manager I report to in turn reports to this man. We talked about my path and what I want to accomplish. He gave me some advice that I relate to this advice given by Jeff. He told me that if I have a goal to be at a certain level in a certain position in five years, then I need to start working at that level today. Sometimes it is easy at work, home, or even school to simply go with the flow. I can go to work, do my job, and leave and be successful. I will have earned my paycheck, but I won't be preparing myself for the future.

2. Live as if you have an important mission, because you do.

I feel that every one of us has an important calling in life, the biggest question for me is, what is that mission? I have been given personal instruction and advice indicating that I can do much in this life to help many people through my professional efforts. Nothing indicated what it is I am supposed to do... I have thought about this for the past eight years and still don't know what I am supposed to do. However I have seen the Lord's hand in my journey. I have said it multiple times but I would not be where I am if I followed my own path, and I love where I am at.

3. What matters most isn't the prize at the end, but how the hero is changed in the process.

To me, this is a result of following the first two pieces of advice given. I think of myself on my mission and also the many missionaries I was able to work with. The Spencer Peacock who flew home to LAX was not the same Spencer Peacock who arrived at the MTC two years prior.

Lastly I really liked the perspective given when Jeff said these are the three questions anyone over 60 will ask to see how influential they have been in this life.

Have I contributed something meaningful?

Am I/Was I a good person?

Who did I love and who loved me? 

It is very easy to get so involved in the many things going on in life that we forget to step back and remember what matters most. Jeff provided some excellent insight and needed advice to help all of us focus on what is most important and also what will help us achieve the most.

 

What are you born to do?

In my English class we have learned about the word kairos. It refers to timing, the timeliness of when something occurs. For me this week has been a very timely one with relation to what I am learning and thinking about in school and what I have to do at work. Being a new year I have to set goals for what I want to accomplish this year, and what type of learning opportunities I will have. I am at a crossroads of sorts. I have two paths to take, I can focus on leadership attributes and head down the management road, or I can learn more about programs and technical skills I would need to be an individual contributor at a higher level. Both would yield promotion opportunities and I feel I would do well in both areas. But between a career assessment I participated in, watching the video by Tom Kelley about doing what we love, and a lunch meeting with my boss’s boss I feel I am coming to my answer. What was I born to do? I’m not sure yet, but I know what I enjoy doing and I know what I am good at (and luckily people are willing to pay me for it). I am good at analyzing, innovating, and accomplishing. I think I am going to focus in the “individual contributor” role for now. Maybe down the road a leadership responsibility will be included, but through much thinking and hearing/reading wise counsel this is where I’m going.

To close I will share a quote from Elder Wirthlin’s “Little Things Are Important”

“We should try to live every day with absolute faith, for we have learned in life that the Lord keeps his promises and watches over those who trust Him. He has been so good to all of us that we should have a strong belief that He must really love us in spite of our faults.”