The Finish Line

Tonight is it.  This is my last outstanding assignment for my last class of this semester.  I have been through ups and downs.  I have panicked and rushed to meet deadlines.  I have submitted assignments while driving in the car to different cities.  But I have finished this semester.
Things haven't been easy for me this semester.  A lot of changes in my goals in life happened while I was taking this course.  The thing that has been amazing to me has been that each time that I seem to be wrestling with something, the lessons in this course have perfectly fit those situations and I have come out of each week excited to continue on my journey to success.
As I reflect upon my journey, I can't help but think about the talk from President Thomas S. Monson titled, "Finishers Wanted."  This talk was highly appropriate for this week's lesson because it talks about finishing what you started.  This course may have finished, however the road to success has just begun, for me.
As I sit here, I am thinking about my 5 beautiful babies asleep in their beds.  My success depends on how well each of them turn out.  I have many ambitions.  I am involved in this fundraising capital campaign for the Noyes Fine Arts Foundation and have taken on a role as Executive Director for the Katy Children's Choir.  Both of these things are amazing.  I am working in an industry that allows me to mix my love of music with my love of business.  However, my success in life will not depend on how well I do in these positions.  My success will depend on how well my children turn out.  If I fail as a mother, nothing else will matter.
Taking this course as a 36 year old woman gives me different perspective on things.  I feel as though I have a better understanding of who I am.  This course really makes you dig into who you are, what your talents are, what your goals are and what you are willing to do to get there.  I feel that because I have already had to figure out who I am, my path in this course has been easier than it would have been had I done this when I was 18.
Jim Ritchie has made regular appearances in both the reading and the videos required for this course.  I have learned a lot from him.  This week he encouraged us to think about who we want to become in order to become peak performers.  He then made statements of "I am" when listing the qualities of a peak performer.  The statements are as follows:

I am financially self-reliant
I am physically fit
I am identifying my skills and talents
I am a product of what I eat
I understand the value of humor
I am a leader
I am creative
I am mentally tough; I don't complain
I am a communicator
I can motivate without depreciating others
I am like the great enlightened masters of history

These "I am" statements felt as though they came straight out of my journal.  Every item on this list is something that I am constantly striving to achieve.  Jim Ritchie states that successful leaders have these qualities.  I am striving to be a successful leader, and I am trying to teach my children how to be successful leaders.  I feel as though I am on the right path.
For those students who take this course in the future, I recommend that you take the time to truly reflect on who you are when completing the assignments.  Writing my own personal code of ethics and "I will never" statements came at a perfect time for me when I was making a big decision.  Being able to instantly use what I had written gave me direction at a time when I needed it most.  I feel as though I have been put on the path that I am supposed to be on and that I am well on my way to the rest of my life.
The goal now is to cross that finish line.  Right now, at the beginning of my journey, the finish line is but a dot in the distance, but every day it gets closer.  Some days are drudgery, and some days are exciting and fun, but each day that I complete with another step towards my goal of achieving success is another day that I get closer to that finish line.  Even though the path that I have chosen is not the path that I would have seen coming when I was 18, I love that this is the journey that I am meant to be on.
Life is crazy and hectic and there are so many options.  This is why the Introduction to Entrepreneurship class has been so fantastic.  It has helped me take all of my options and aspirations and narrow them down to one focused goal.
 I want to be involved in something that is bigger than myself so that when I die, my children will have a positive legacy left behind for them.
That is my finish line.  When it comes, I want to be ready.  That is why I am putting one leg in front of the other and am working tirelessly at achieving my goal.  It is for my family and my children.

Obstacles

This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, we learned about the journey of the entrepreneur.  My favorite quote came from an article called, "Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities" by Lynda M. Applegate and Carole Carlson.  The quote is as follows:

Many people believe that entrepreneurs develop brilliant new products while tinkering in garages, emerging only when they have a terrific product that is ready to sell to eager customers.  But that myth is often shattered by reality.  Indeed, few blockbuster business ideas start out as a brilliant insight that reveals large, uncontested markets.  Instead, they are usually identified over a period of years by people who are tightly connected to varied sources of information-especially information gleaned from dense networks of relationships that span traditional industry boundaries.

I believe that this is true.  I believe that being an entrepreneur is more than just developing and launching a business.  Being an entrepreneur is a way of life.  It takes someone to see a need that isn't being fulfilled before the customer even knows that they are missing it.  It takes someone who constantly strives to better themselves and the lives of those around them.  It takes people who want to change the world.  Not everyone can be an entrepreneur which is why the rewards, if successful, are high.  

One of the things I love most about the entrepreneurs that I have been privileged to know is that they find a way around the "no".  They have a vision.  If someone tells them they can't succeed, the entrepreneur asks why, figures out a different solution and continues on their path.  I love people like this.  I continuously work to be one of these people.  My children will tell you that in our family I have a saying, "A problem presented without a solution is called whining."  I can't remember who originally said this quote or where I found it, but it completely sums up the lessons I am trying to teach my children. 

I believe that the difference between being an employer and and employee is how you approach problems.  An entrepreneur will see a problem and then come up with multiple solutions to the problem, finding one that ultimately works with the best result.  An employee comes across a problem and then tells someone that there is a problem.  There is no ownership or thinking outside of the box.  
I want my children to be leaders.  I want my children to be successful, in both life and in the endeavors that they pursue.  I believe that if I can teach them to be the problem solvers instead of the problem observers that I will be handing them some of the tools necessary for them to be able to accomplish anything that they put their minds to.

Going back to school at the ripe, old age of 36 has been an incredible experience for me.  Because I have more experience than I had at 18, I am able to better see how the lessons I am learning in my classes can be incorporated into my everyday life.  I love learning something in class and then being able to immediately reference it in a board meeting or in a business proposal.  I love that I was able to make a life-changing decision while I was participating in this class because it really helped me to study out the two different opportunities in my mind and was able to guide me to the path that I firmly believe that I was meant to be on.  This course has helped me to be able to overcome some obstacles that had been standing in my way, and I am so glad that I have been able to blog about it weekly, even if it is only my little sister that is reading my blog posts. (Thanks Jenna!)

Oh, and before I end this post, I wanted to share a little power point presentation that I had to do for my Business 211 class.  My group was involved in a business simulation where we had bought a piece of a company that had been divided by the government from being a monopoly.  We then had to make business decisions to grow that company and we had to make decisions to increase our Return on Sales, Return on Equity and Return on Assets.  Because we faced many obstacles in this simulation, and because I stayed up until 4 am last night finishing it, I thought I would share this little power point presentation with you.

Enjoy!

Click HERE to See Project

Two Opposing Sides of Business

In my Introduction To Entrepreneurship class this week we learned about becoming a change maker. I believe that this lesson was very different from the previous weeks because it really made us study two opposing sides to business.  On the one hand, we had to write a book report on "A Field Guide For A Hero's Journey" by Jeff Sandefer and Reverend Robert Sirico which is literally a workbook full of stories and inspirational antidotes created to guide the reader as they begin a journey to change some aspect of the world.  This is applicable to both business and personal growth.  We also studied a talk about Entrepreneurship and the Law of Consecration which teaches us that we should be striving to be successful so that we can make the world around us a better place.  We studied Microloans and how Muhammad Yunus created the program in order to help end the world epidemic of poverty.
Then we studied an article called, "What's A Business For?" by Charles Handy which was printed in the Harvard Business Review.
This article spends most of its time stating what is wrong with capitalsim in the United States.  It provides facts and figures that prove that companies are inflating their profits and that CEO's of companies are having a disconnect with the rest of their employees as they strive to create wealth.  This article spells out the doom and gloom for the American Economy if something does not change quickly.  Handy states that virtue and integrity are so vital to an economy because without it society breeds mistrust and contempt.  Employees do not trust their employers, stock holders set unrealistic expectations of profit sharing and the economy becomes inflated to the point where it will collapse.  Charles Handy states that the "real justification" for the existence of business is for people to accomplish something collectively that they would not accomplish separately.  There is, according to this article, a disconnect between this philosophy and what is currently happening in the United States.  Charles Handy proposes that Americans take a look at what is happening in the companies in Europe and try to model themselves more like these companies.  One example that Handy gives is that in Germany the right of the employees is to have half, minus one, of the seats on the supervisory board.  This gives the employees the ability to have a say in the decisions that the board of directors is making.  By having ownership in the company, the employees are responsible for the outcomes of the company and end up having an emotional investment, as well as a financial investment in the company.  This causes greater accountability when reporting profits and losses and a greater desire to improve the company as a whole rather than simply increasing profits.   Another example of a way to improve the American economy is for employers to invest in people's lives.  He gives a European example that there are seven-week annual holidays, legally mandated parental leaves for fathers and mothers together, growing use of sabbaticals for senior executives, and working weeks of fewer than 40 hours.  All of these put together allow the employees to work smarter rather than working harder.  They have found that the employee's ability to produce increase because the employee is well rested, better rounded and has time to develop who they are as a person which then turns into a better contributor for a company.
So why did we have to study these seemingly opposing articles?  After spending most of a day being submerged in "A Field Guide For The Hero's Journey" and ending with "What's a Business For?" I realized that it made me decide the kind of entrepreneur that I want to be.  I want to be someone who is regarded as having integrity and honesty.  I want to create a name for myself that is synonymous with high morals and standards.  I want to truly make a change in the world and I know that I do not need to do something big in order to do it.  I simply need to remember who I am, surround myself with the best people, set up ethical guardrails and consistently work towards my goal of making the world a better place.  I want to be a change maker.

Stones

This week's readings in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class was all about the cost of owning a business.  What are your goals?  What are you willing to sacrifice and is it going to be worth it?  One of the things that I have really struggled with, in my life, is the balance between my ambition and my desire to be a good mother.  I have always wanted to be the best mother that I can be for my children and raise them in a home where they feel as though they are always the top priority.  Because of this, I have become heavily involved in the activities that they pursue and their interests always become my interests.  I have learned more about bugs, micro-organisms, basketball, ukelele, superheros, etc than I feel I would normally know if I didn't have children.  Learning about all of these things, along with my children, has made me a better person.  I can relate to my children when they are struggling with something, and encourage my children to push themselves when things get hard.  I can appreciate their recitals better and try to attend every sports event.
All of this takes time, though, and this time is taken away from my business pursuits.  As much as I love being a mother, I have also loved to create business ventures that help fulfill the desire that I have to make a mark on the world.  I have owned a piano studio and have taught hundreds of children piano.  I have owned a catering company.  I have been an Executive Assistant for Canada's largest dry cleaning company.  I have coordinated Canada's largest annual scrapbooking convention.  I have been on the Board of Directors for Calgary NorthWest Basketball and am now on the Board of Directors for the Noyes Fine Arts Foundation.  I have also accepted a position as the Executive Director for the Katy Children's Choir.
So, how do I balance all of this?  How do I find happiness in both my roles as a mother and as an entrepreneur?
In an address written for the "Ensign" magazine, President Thomas S. Monson stated that there is a 3 step formula for success.

1 - Fill your mind with truth
2 - Fill your life with service
3 - Fill your heart with love

I believe that as we follow this formula, we are given the ability to successfully balance our lives.  When I was participating in the Pathway Program, before I enrolled in BYU-Idaho online, I had to teach a lesson on time management.  This lesson had an object lesson as part of the lesson plan.  First I had a jar.  In this jar, I put large stones which symbolized everything that HAD to get done during the day.  These are things like getting dressed, eating, getting children to school, etc.  After I filled the jar, I asked the class if the jar was full.  It was.  However, I then took gravel and poured it into the jar.  The gravel filled in the spaces between the larger stones.  I told my class that this represented the things that should get done in an day.  These things are the things like spending time with children, talking on the phone with new clients, keeping in touch with a relative, etc.  I then asked the class if the jar was full.  They said that it was.  They were right.  I then grabbed some sand and poured it into the jar.  The sand completely filled the jar.  It took all of the air pockets out of the jar and the jar actually WAS full.  I told the class that this sand represented the things that the Lord wants us to do in the day.
Even though the jar seemed full with the stones, there was still room for more.  Once I added the gravel, there was still room for more.  It wasn't until I filled the jar with sand that the jar became completely full.  This object lesson showed the class that even when you think that you are "too busy" to do anything else, there is always time to do the Lord's errand.  I have always lived by the motto that if you always make sure that you do what the Lord wants you to do, He will give you the time necessary to complete everything else.  This, I believe, is the secret to President Monson's formula.  Do the Lord's errand and the rest will follow.  This is how I find balance in my life.  My children ALWAYS come first because it is what the Lord wants.  When the time is right, the doors open for my career and I am able to fulfill the desire that I have to leave a mark on the world.
I want my jar to be so full of sand that I can truly be the medium through which great things can be accomplished.
The world believes that the measure of success is wealth.  I believe that it is more than that.  I believe that money is a tool necessary to build success, but it is not the reward of success.  I believe that happiness is the reward of success.  In my class, I was asked what my attitude is toward money.  My attitude is that it is a great means to be able to create stability and security for your family and loved ones and a tool that can be used to change the lives of others.
My view on money can affect the way that I live because it affects the choices that I make when I am earning money.  Because I view money as a tool instead of a goal, the choices that I am making are geared more towards happiness instead of money.  For instance, I recently had the opportunity to make a career choice between two careers.  The first career opportunity that was placed before me was to become a real estate agent.  I loved this opportunity because real estate investment is my hobby and I love watching the real estate markets and knowing what is going on.  Real estate agents have the potential to make great amounts of money, which would allow my husband, myself and our children to live quite comfortably.  Unfortunately, this lifestyle would take me away from our family on the evenings and weekends when my children need me the most.  The other career opportunity that I had was to become the Executive Director for the Katy Children's Choir.  This career does not pay a lot of money, however, it allows me to be actively involved in what my children are doing, and it is a program that we can grow into an institution that has the potential to affect many children's lives.  If I saw money as the end goal, I would have chosen the first career, even though it would negatively impact my family.  Because I see money as a tool which can be used to better the lives of those around me, I chose the second career because I believe that I can use the tool of money to create a program that will be bigger than myself.
According to "Attitude on Money", the rules for prospering are as follows:
Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him
Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings.
Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant.
Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity.
Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated.
Rule 6. Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive.
I love these rules because they perfectly align with how I believe money should be used.  I also see these rules as fitting in perfectly with the way that I view time.  I believe that as these grains of sand are added to my jar, the size of my jar is growing and I am better able to help my fellowmen and make this world a better place for my children.

One Person Can Make a Difference

This week for my "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" class I had to write about an interview I did with an entrepreneur.  The person that I chose to write about was my old boss.  Before I moved to Texas, I had the privilege for working for someone that I truly admire as his Executive Assistant.  During my time working for this man, I was able to become mentored by him.  He taught me many things, including how to make sure that my priorities are in order.  I learned through him that if you make sure that you truly care about people, you can change lives.
Writing about my old boss helped me to reflect on the many lessons I learned from him while I worked for him.  My boss loved being an entrepreneur for many reasons, one of the biggest reasons that he loved it so much was because he knew that he was allowing people to support their own families.  My boss truly cared about each and every person who worked for him.  I watched as my boss would give money to our employees as he would find out that they needed it to pay bills.  I watched him purchase cars for employees who needed a way to get their children to school.  My favorite time was Christmas time because my boss and his wife would go around to every employee and personally deliver a Christmas card to them and tell each employee what they meant to them.  I had never known an employer to care so much about his employees.
My old boss truly wanted people to succeed in those things that they are good at.  He has taken teenagers who end up working for him for a long time, mentored them and then helped them to buy dry cleaning companies of their own.  Through all of this, even though there have been stressful times for my boss, I watched as he approached all of his life with this same attitude.  I watched as he taught me, by example, how to change people's lives.
Interviewing my old boss reminded me of an antidote that I once read about an old man who comes across a little boy on a beach full of beached starfish.  This old man watched as the little boy would pick up a starfish, one by one, and throw them into the ocean.  The old man asks the boy, "Why are you throwing these starfish back into the ocean?  You can't possibly save them all.  You aren't going to make a difference."  The boy then picks up a starfish, tosses it into the ocean and says, "I made all the difference in the world to that one."  My boss, has the same mentality of the boy.  He may not be changing the world through his dry cleaning business, but he is changing lives by truly caring about everyone he comes into contact with.
So, what did I learn from this experience?  I learned that I need to make sure that my motivations are pure and that I make sure that I treat everyone as though they are someone who is important.  I have learned that as I align my will to the will of God, that I will find happiness.  I believe that happiness is the greatest form of success.  My business ventures may not bring me large mountains of money, but if I can change lives, and if I can find happiness in what I am doing, I will have succeeded.

Great Leaders

From the time that I was young, I have had the ability to organize and to lead.  I believe that this character trait comes from my mother.  I grew up the oldest of five children and would often be called bossy (probably because I am), however I believe that by having that character flaw, I was actually developing a stronger character trait.  I was learning what it takes to be a leader.
Throughout my life I have often been tasked to lead and organize things and have often wondered why I was chosen to do these things?  I ended up becoming a part of a great community basketball organization by getting on the Board of Directors as the Executive Secretary.  I learned so many things from that experience that have helped me in my current endeavors.  I learned what it takes to be a leader.  I learned that sometimes when a leader is tasked with a big job, he breaks the job into smaller tasks and then finds the best people who specialize in those areas to carry out those jobs.  The role of a leader is to have a vision and to be able to rally others around that vision so that they not only work hard for the cause, but they WANT to work hard for the cause.
Fast Forward to today.  This past week I accepted the role as the Fundraising Chairperson on the Board of Directors for the Noyse (pronounced "noise") Fine Arts Foundation.  Which is a non-profit organization whose main directive is to use local talent to enrich the community through the fine arts.  Right now our focus is on building a beautiful community theatre that will be the home of the Noyse Fine Arts Foundation and we have everything in place, except that we need to raise $600,000.  My role on the Board of Directors, as Fundraising Chairperson, is to lead the fundraising initiatives that we have come up with.  Because I have had experience in fundraising and experience in creating a Board of Directors, I have had to take on a leadership role in this.  I didn't mind taking on this role, in fact it felt really natural, but I just can't get over the fact that the theme of this week's lesson in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class is Disciple Leadership.  I mean REALLY!  I know that the Lord's hand has been guiding me to this project, however I am constantly amazed by how well He knows exactly what I need to hear and when I need to hear it.
The Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence wrote an article called, "A Letter to Garcia, will you deliver it" which is so incredibly perfect for my current situation that I pretty much ended up simply saving the article on my computer so that I can reference it in the future.  In it, it states, "The ability to execute is more valuable than education or talent, because it is far rarer."  (Insert mind explosion here.) YES!  This is so true!  Right now, I have had copious amounts of meetings to completely change the current Board of Directors for the Noyse Fine Arts Foundation because there were too many members of the board who were too inactive and with our current Katy Grand Theatre fundraising project, we just needed more active people on this board.  The amazing thing has been that as we have really become stuck when it comes to finding the perfect person to fill each position on our Board of Directors, the Lord seems to place the perfect person right in front of us.  It has been awe-inspiring and a most humbling experience.
My favorite part about the article from The Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence is when it explicitly explains HOW to become a leader.  I want to share it with all of you because I feel like this has finally happened for me, at 36 years old.

1 - Begin to see your life as a "calling" toward a Hero's Journey.
          When I started this course, I had no idea what I wanted to do as an entrepreneur.  I have done many things in my life and tried many things but I didn't yet have a "calling".  A couple of weeks ago, I got that calling and I have been rejuvinated in my actions and in my goals.  I love that I get to use my love of music and my love of business to help create something that will be bigger than myself.

2 - Develop your gifts and talents into a decipline.
          Do you now see why I believe that this lesson has come at this most opportune time?  The Lord really knows me, I believe that without a doubt.

3 - Find a "deep burning need" you care about.
          I have always been passionate about the arts, and music especially.  Moving from Calgary where the culture is very much orientated around the Fine Arts to Texas where the culture is very much orientated around sports and more specifically, football has been an adjustment for me.  The neat thing about Katy, TX is that most of the people in this suburb of Houston come from other parts of the country and even the world.  It is mostly families that settle here and it is growing at an enormous rate.  Because of this, there is a huge demand for the arts here and simply nothing that fills that demand.  I am so excited to be part of something that can leave a legacy for my children and grand-children.

4 - Surround yourself with good people and worthy role models.
          I have been so blessed to have been surrounded by many incredible role models.  I have been mentored by small business owners who are incredible examples of visionary leaders.  I have been raised by a mother who has successfully created 2 businesses and who has always been an example of how to balance being a mother with being successful in her career.  My father is the smartest man I know and has mentored me about finances and investments and how to make money work for you.  My Grandfather has been an incredible friend and resource when it comes to business as he helped develop the engineering program at the University of Calgary and then went on to create an engineering consulting firm which was bought out by a large engineering company several years ago.  I am currently surrounded by people of high caliber who constantly strive to become better each day and who are always reaching out to help those around them.  Thus, I have been able to learn many lessons from each of these people which is what I am drawing on at this moment in time as this opportunity has opened up to me.

My moment has arrived.  The years of learning and growing have been leading up to this.  The lessons that I am learning in my classes are helping me to become a part of something that is bigger than myself and will leave a legacy for my children long after I have left this earth.  I cannot help but be humbled at the incredible timeliness of this lesson and I hope that, one day, I can look back on this time and understand just how big the impact of this lesson truly has on my life.

Just Keep Swimming

I am late in writing this post because last week was such a difficult week.  Having so many things happen in our household without having Otto here has made it difficult for me to get everything done that needs to be done.  When times like these happen, my motto that I repeat in my mind (which comes from the movie, "Finding Nemo") helps me to continue along, even though I feel as though I can't go on.  What's this inspirational motto?

"Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."

It may not be profound, but it does the trick.

I think that it was no coincidence that this week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class the reading materials focused on not giving up.  This message couldn't have been more timely.  As I write this post at the end of a long day of balancing school work (of which I am still catching up on), my children, my new job, my calling and my volunteer positions I couldn't feel more humbled nor more grateful for this sweet, timely message.  I truly needed it.
In one of his devotionals to the students at BYU-Idaho, Elder Holland said, "I am asking you this morning not to give up “for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.” That “great work” is you—your life, your future, the very fulfillment of your dreams. That “great work” is what, with effort and patience and God’s help, you can become. When days are difficult or problems seem unending, I plead with you to stay in the harness and keep pulling. You are entitled to “eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days,” but it will require your heart and a willing mind. It will require that you stay at your post and keep trying."  Today I just felt like giving up.  I pushed through it, but I really felt as though the road was endless.  I have been feeling as though the days are endless and the weeks are endless and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.  
But, I know that there is, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel.  This is why I keep swimming.  Elder Holland also stated, "As you wage such personal wars, obviously part of the strength to “hang in there” comes from some glimpse, however faint and fleeting, of what the victory can be."  There will be an end to all of my trials.  I know that Otto will come home on Thursday.  I know that my children will eventually feel better.  I know that the new position that I have taken as Executive Director for the Katy Children's choir will help change the lives of the children in the community.  I also know that my new position as the Fundraising Chairperson for the Noyse Fine Arts Foundation with the goal to raise the funds necessary for the down payment for a Community Theatre in Katy will leave a lasting legacy in the community that will benefit, not only my children and the children in the city today, but future generations.  Things will get easier.  I am engaged in the things that my Heavenly Father wants me to be doing.
I know where I am going.  I have a goal.  I have taken the steps necessary to achieve that goal and I have received personal confirmation from the Lord that His hand has been in these major decisions that I have recently made.  I know that this is the reason that we were supposed to move to Texas from Canada and why Otto was transferred here.  I know that this is why I have taken the steps that I have taken, in my life.  Becoming Executive Director of the Katy Children's Choir is the perfect culmination of my love of music (especially children's choirs) and my love of business.
I know that things are going to be tough sometimes, just like they have these past couple of weeks.  I am excited about what is to come and the impact that it will have on my community.  I know that I will have many more days where I will just have to put my head down and "Just keep swimming" in order to make it to the next day.  I am willing to do this.  I am willing to sacrifice and make sure that I fulfill this goal at the end of the path that I have been placed on.  I know that the future of my community depends on how well I am able to achieve my goals.  I am up for the challenge and am recharged and ready to fight the good fight.

I can do this.

I will keep swimming.

Mastery

This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship I had to write a book report on George Leonard's book, "Mastery".  I just need to say that Abby is now going to have to read this book because it is perfect for her.  We know that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.  What Leonard teaches us, however is that the key to mastery is not only to have your eye on a goal, but to find success and fulfillment in the journey.  This concept goes against what mainstream society has lead us to believe.  We grow up in a society where instant gratification is the key.  We are taught that we do not have to wait for something, we can get it now.  Leonard disagrees.  In fact, he states that when most people come up with a new goal, they attack this new goal in one of three ways:

1 - The Dabbler - this is a person who likes to try many things and feels satisfaction with improvement, but when they hit a plateau, they give up and move on to the next thing.

Ummmmm. . . . . GUILTY!!!

I am TOTALLY a dabbler, but I am also number 2.

2 . The Obsessive - this is a person who is purely results oriented and thinks that they are different than the norm and can become a master in a shorter period of time.  They work hard and put in extra hours, but when they don't find their desired level of success based on their input, they give up and move on.

See?  I told you that I'm guilty of this one.

3 . The Hacker - this person likes where he's at in life and doesn't want to improve anything about themselves.

Whew!  I am not number 3, but I am definitely the first two!  What about you?  Do you see yourselves as any of these three people?  If you do, there's hope.  Leonard says that everyone is at least one of a combination of these three types of people at different times in their lives.  The key to mastery though is to learn to enjoy to practice.  Consistent, continuous practice even with little to no progress is what differentiates the three people above from a master.
Leonard goes on to give us tools to become a master.
These tools include:
1 - Instruction - the key is to find a good teacher.  A master is not always a good teacher.
2 - Practice - according to Leonard, practice is not something that you do, it's something that you have and something that you are.
3 - Surrender - you need to surrender to your teacher and to practice no matter how foolish you may look.
4 - Intentionality - a master approaches the path to mastery with clear visualizations.
5 - The Edge - a master pushes themselves to the edge while maintaining constistant practice.

These five tools of mastery give us what we need to continue on the path to mastery.

Ok, so I read the book.  The question I asked myself is "Why?"  Why is this one of the required reading materials for this course?  I would like to say that it was easy for me to figure out why we were supposed to read this book but I have pondered over this all week.  What does this have to do with becoming an entrepreneur?  The answer did come, but it came gradually.
I am also taking another business class this semester and in it I had to write a personal code of ethics.  As part of this code of ethics I had to write what my goal was in writing this code of ethics.  What I wrote down was the following: "My goal in writing this personal code of ethics is that it will serve as a guide throughout my life so that when I die, the world will be a better place because I was in it."  Because of this statement in my code of ethics, my career path is clear.  I want to be instrumental in bringing a highly reputable choral program to Katy, TX.  I am currently working with a friend who has already started this non-profit organization and I will be joining her as an Executive Director in September.  This non-profit foundation will be the beginning of something that I see can change the lives of many children through the power of music.
This is my path of mastery.  This is why I had to read the book.  My path has been hard for me to find.  I have spent many years looking for my path.  I have spent many years being a dabbler and an obsessive, and now I am ready to travel down my path to mastery.  This journey will require me to make many sacrifices but I believe that it will fulfill my goal from my personal code of ethics as well as lead me and my family to feel success and fulfillment along my path.  As George Leonard stated in his book, "A master is his path."  I hope that one day, I will be able to look back on my path of mastery and be proud in what I have been able to accomplish.

So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur

I believe that I have mentioned it before, but I feel as though I come from a long line of entrepreneurs.  I have plenty of ancestors who were entrepreneurs, my grandfathers were entrepreneurs, my parents are entrepreneurs and I even have siblings who are entrepreneurs.  I have been raised to see money-making opportunities all around me.
The important lessons that I learned in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class this week were about personal morality and the dedication that it takes to become an entrepreneur.  I believe that these two principles were best summed up in the talk, "Success is Gauged by Self Mastery" by N. Eldon Tanner.  He taught that the two important elements in self-mastery are:

1 - determining your course of moral standards and
2 - will power

As I have thought about these two elements stated by N. Eldon Tanner, I have noticed that this seems to be a trend in all of my classes that I am taking this semester.  I am also taking a microeconomics class and a business simulation class through BYU - Idaho as well as working towards getting my real estate licence.  In all four of these classes I have learned the importance of integrity, reputation, honesty and hard work.  I love that these are the values that are being taught in school.  I have learned the importance of these values in my previous experience owning a catering company.
When I had my catering company I was also a mother of young children.  Because of this, the only way that I would advertise my catering business was by word of mouth.  I was often surprised and humbled by the fact that my business grew faster than I could handle while raising my babies and I often had to turn away events (but not without giving them recommendations on whereelse they could go).  I know that the reason that word spread so quickly about my catering company was because I always tried my best to deliver food with the highest quality and kept my business organized.  I quickly learned about time management (which is crucial when you are dealing with food) and often spent many nights cooking food in less-than-ideal circumstances.  I remember one instance when the power to my home got shut off and it was the day before Halloween and I had to cater a lunch for a spa.  I had 3 young children who were scared and my husband was at work.  After feeling completely overwhelmed, I packed up my children, took them to my parent's house, came back and gathered all of the food that I would need for the catering job and then proceeded to pull an allnighter cooking.  I finished the job just in time for it to be delivered and after collapsing exhausted on the couch, I told my dad that I was so glad that I made it in time because I wasn't sure I would.  My dad then said something to me that was the biggest compliment that I have ever received.  He said, "I never had any doubt that you would do it."  That phrase completely warmed my heart because my dad, one of my heroes, told me that he knew that I had the willpower and dedication to finish something that I had committed to doing, no matter what it took.
I believe that my perspective in this course is different from a lot of my classmates because I have already been an entrepreneur and my family is full of entrepreneurs.  I have already had experience with the ups and downs of owning businesses and working for businesses.  I do love, however, that the concepts and principles that I hold dear to my heart are the ones that are being taught in my classes.  I know that as me and my classmates continue to learn these principles of morality in conjunction with entrepreneurial skills, there will be an increased number of entrepreneurs in the marketplace who stand for honesty and integrity and I believe that these people will make the world a better place.

A Hero

What constitutes a hero?  Have you ever thought about it?  When I was a kid, I had to write a paper on who my hero was.  In fact, I had to write several papers about who my heroes were.  And do you know what?  I always had the same two answers.  I would actually alternate between the two of them.  My two heroes are my dad and my Grandpa Bennion.
Although I would pay money to see these two in tights and capes, they have never physically worn them.  Neither of them would win any weight lifting contests.  Even though my dad wanted me to believe that he had x-ray vision and could see everything that I was doing, I know that he doesn't.

So, if they don't have super powers, why have I always considered them my heroes?

It is because they are who I want to become.

Both my dad and my grandpa have an incredible amount of wisdom.  I have been the recipient of this wisdom on many occasions.  My dad is always teaching me to use discernment to decide between two choices.  He has made me write countless lists when I have struggled in my personal life, my family life and even with my future.  My dad has always used the scriptures to teach me life lessons and to help me see what my priorities are.  He raised me on the book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and taught me about business and investments.  My dad has always encouraged me to strive to make myself better.  This is why he is my hero.
My grandpa is my hero because of his quiet example of brilliance.  I have watched him quietly dedicate all that he has to everything that he does.  When my grandpa gets asked to do something, he doesn't just do it quickly but takes the time to make sure that everything is done well.  I admire him for this.  I love him for this.  My grandpa has never had to tell me that he has a testimony of Jesus Christ, I simply know it because I have watched his countenance change whenever he is doing something that emulates the Savior.

So, what does being a hero have to do with my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class?  Well, when I watched a video about a "Hero's Journey" it got me thinking about the importance of being a hero.  In order for me to understand how to become a hero, I had to reflect on my own heroes.  In the video, it is suggested that we guide our lives by three questions.  These questions are the following:

1 - Have I contributed something meaningful?
2 - Am I a good person?
3 - Who did I love and who loved me?

I believe that by seeking our own personal answers to these three questions, we embark on a hero's quest.  In trying to understand what I can contribute to the world, the speaker in the video suggests that I find where my God given gifts intersect with what gives me joy.  I believe that I have found this answer and am currently working on making this happen.  However, I can't help but think about my two heroes and wonder if they have found the answer to this question?  As I have reflected upon this, I have come to realize that both of my heroes have not only found their callings in life, but have used these to create something meaningful in this world.  My dad and my grandpa have both finished this road in the journey.
Next is the question, Am I a good person?.  In my class we had to set ethical guardrails.  These are the statements of "I will not" that set the guardrails on our journey.  In other words, these guardrails help us to figure out what our moral groundwork is so that we can progress on our journey.  Although I have just written mine down, I know, without a doubt, that both my father and grandfather have set these guardrails up in their lives and have not crossed them.  I do not even have to ask what my dad or my grandpa stand for because it is evident in everything they do.  Have I completely accomplished this yet?  When people think about me, do they immediately know what I stand for?  That's something I have to keep asking myself as I continue on my quest to become a hero.
My favorite question is the last one - Who did I love and who loved me?  We tend to surround ourselves with people that we wish to emulate.  When I look at the people I am blessed to associate with, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the many people that influence my life.  What, then, do I give them in return?  Am I as big of a blessing in their lives as they are in mine?  Do they know how much I care about them?  As a rule, I always tell my family that I love them before I leave them.  This way, even if we were fighting when I leave them, if something should happen to either of us, we can be secure in the knowledge that the last words that we ever spoke to each other were the words, "I love you".  I have to say that there is something incredibly powerful when, before I hang up the phone, I hear my grandpa's aging voice declare that he loves me.  This gives me strength.  My hero loves me, so I need to make sure that I live up to his legacy.

While I know that I am not a hero yet, I am loving learning about the journey.  I love thinking about what I am learning and applying them into my life.  I believe that I am learning so much more than about business, I am learning how to be a better person, mother, wife, daughter, etc.  If I can use this knowledge that I am gaining to be successful in all areas of my life then maybe one day I, too, can become a hero.

Who am I?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself the question, who am I?  I mean, like really stop and reflect on what makes you, you?  This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, I really had to self-reflect on who I am, what my goals are and how can I help and uplift those around me.  I have to admit, this was not an easy thing to do.  I have grown up being quite confident in knowing what my strengths and weaknesses are.  I have always felt as though I have had a good grasp on what I can and cannot accomplish.  I have prided myself in my ability to self-evaluate honestly and adjust my goals accordingly.

This week was different.

This week I had to face my fears. 

In my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, I had to write my four biggest fears.  This was a hard assignment.  I'm not sure why this assignment was so hard for me, but I think that it could be that I actually do whatever I can to NOT confront my fears so that I do not succumb to them.  So, being required to actually sit down and list my fears was extremely hard for me to do.  After listing my fears, I had to write what I would do to avoid having these fears realized.  That part was easy.  I could easily list all of the things that I would do to avoid these fears from taking reality.  The last part of the assignment required me to write down what I would do if these fears actually came true to get my life back to the status quo.  I did it, and do you know what?  I felt like a superhero.  All of a sudden, these fears that I have always had at the back of my mind seemed like nothing.  I felt as though I was Wonder Woman and could fly through the air and defeat anything that came at me because even if the worst case scenario happened to me, I would be alright.  There would be no negative lasting consequence that would hinder my ability to have a happy and successful life should my fears materialize.  In one of the videos that I watched this week, Sharon Mayes stated that we do not need to be afraid of failure.  This is the power that the assignment gave me.  I am no longer afraid.  I am excited to begin the next chapter in creating my new business now because I almost feel as though I can accomplish anything.

If you know me, you know that I am a goal-oriented type of person.  I believe in constantly increasing our capacity to learn and our talents and abilities.  In reading the required chapters of "The Ministry of Business", I was challenged to write a personal constitution.  This personal constitution is a document that states who I want to be.  In doing this assignment, I came up with the following as my personal constitution:

I want to be a disciple of Christ and to become humble.  I understand that the greatest attribute of someone who is humble is to have an incredible amount of self-worth.  I want to gain that self-worth by becoming charitable to my fellowmen.  By becoming charitable to my fellowmen, I want to be able to see those around me as the Lord sees them.  I want to raise myself above the desires of the natural man and see my life through an eternal perspective.  In so doing, I want to become financially self-reliant in order to have the necessary tools to take care of my family in any and all circumstances, no matter what challenges and trials should arise. I want to raise my children to be successful, happy, well-rounded adults who positively contribute to society.

I am sure that different aspects of this personal constitution will change as I get older, however I encourage anyone who has never written out an actual statement of the person that they want to be, to do so.  In order to write a personal constitution, you have to reflect on who you truly are.  You need to admit your weaknesses as well as your strengths and write a personal constitution based on who you want to become.  The whole point of this is to create a model of the ideal person that you are striving to become.  I loved this concept.  I feel that now that I have this personal constitution, I will be able to have my own personal motto.  When I feel as though I am in a morally tough situation, I now have something upon which to lean.  As I strive to be a successful entrepreneur and a better mother to my children, I now have this foundation upon which to build the rest of my life.

In the exercise that followed writing this personal constitution, we then had to set long-term and short-term goals as well as daily tasks.  This part was easy for me because, as I mentioned before, I have always been a goal-oriented person and have already set many of these goals.

So, this is me.  It was painful disassembling my personality to get to this point, but I believe that I have a truer sense of myself.  I have faced my monsters that were hidden under the bed and I am excited to start building my pyramid of success.  I am excited to continue working on making myself better in order to be able to better help those around me.  I am glad that I now have my personal constitution as a banner that flies above me whenever someone asks me who I want to be.  I hope that one day you won't have to ask me who I want to be because I will have become this person.

Formula for Success

I come from a long line of entrepreneurs.  I have seen the work, tears, anxiousness and the passion that goes into creating a successful business.  I have watched a business grow from a simple idea that was concocted on a family vacation, to becoming one of the largest businesses of that type in Canada.  I love business.  I have always loved small business.  I think that without the entrepreneurial spirit, our economy would fail. 

I have always tried to teach my children how to think outside of the box when they want to earn something.  I have taught them that instead of asking me for things, they need to figure out how to get it themselves.  I have watched with tremendous pride as they have used their incredible minds to come up with solutions to their problems that not even I would have thought of.  I want my children to push themselves.  I want my children to constantly strive to become better than they already are, in all aspects of their lives.  I have constantly taught them how to work hard and have been trying to teach them principles for success along the way.

I grew up hearing the words of Robert T. Kiyosaki and his books Rich Dad Poor Dad.  My own dad was his biggest fan.  He would drive us places and make us listen to the audio books in the car.  I didn't realize how much of those words had sunk in until I participated in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class this week.  The words of Robert Kiyosaki have reverberated in my ears as I have learned the principles of honesty and business ethics.  I didn't realize how much the lessons I learned from those audio books and the books that I am now reading would parallel each other.

One of the books that we are required to read, as part of this course, is called "The Ministry of Business" by Steven A. Hitz with James W. Ritchie.  First of all, I highly recommend this book.  It is very well written and I love the mentor relationship that has developed between these two men.

The reason I bring up this book, and the reason for my post, is because found within this book is "The Formula for Success."  This formula starts off based on some of the habits found in Stephen R. Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." 

The formula is as follows:

1 - Get Up Early

2 - Work Hard

3 - Get Your Education

4 - Find Your Oil

5 - Make Your Mark

6 - Get Prepared To Be Of Service

So what?  What does "find your oil" even mean?  Well, I have thought about this for this past week, and here's what it means to me.  Before the discovery of oil, life was pretty simple, and basically about survival.  After the discovery of oil came cars, plastics, Vaseline and a whole slew of incredible inventions which have caused our lives to change, drastically.  Oil was the catalyst for change.  So, finding our oil, to me, means to find what makes you unique, or finding your special talent.  What are you going to bring to the world that will cause it to become a better place?  Is it a special talent?  Are you fulfilling a need that is missing in society?  Do you have something that you want to invent that will make people's lives better?  Finding our oil means that we need to figure out what we can contribute to society in order to make it a better place.

Number 6 in the formula is my favorite component.  If you live your life preparing to be of service, you look at how you do things differently.  I used to be an Executive Assistant at dry cleaning company.  I loved my job there, but more importantly, I loved who I worked for.  One of my favorite things about my boss was the way that he regarded his business.  He consistently told me that one of the reasons that he loved his business is because he knew he was helping out his employees.  He knew he was providing a way for them to support themselves and give our immigrant workers a life in a better country with freedoms and rights.  My boss made business decisions based on what it would do to grow the company so that he could help his employees more.  He loved his employees and worried about them.  If they needed something in their lives, he would step up and help them out.  This is what number 6 in the formula means to me.  If we can look at business as a way to help others, we will be successful because it will mean more to us and we will fight harder for it.

Anyways, I have fallen in love with this formula.  I am currently working on a way to post this in my house so that my children can adopt it in their lives and their way that they set goals and pursue their dreams.  So, if I am not successful at anything else in my life, I hope that at least people will be able to see that I have raised successful, well-rounded, humble children who consistently seek to better themselves and who are active contributors to society.

Childhood Dreams

In my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class this week, we were asked to reflect on our dreams and to chart a course for our lives.  This has come at a very interesting time for me because I have been thinking about the circle of life due to the fact that our newly acquired rescue dog just had puppies on Monday.  

As I have aided Nina (our dog) in becoming a mother and watched her natural motherly instincts kick in, I have marveled at the fact that the role of mother was foreordained to us before we even came to earth.  This dog of mine has never taken a parenting class.  She did not attend a labor and delivery class to teach her about what was going to happen.  Biology has simply kicked in and her natural instincts to birth, clean, feed and care for her puppies have enabled her to have 6 healthy puppies.  Complications arose in the birthing process, and she was willing to give up her life in order to bring these puppies into their mortal existence.  Unfortunately, one of the puppies perished in the birth canal, but she persevered and was able to deliver another living puppy right afterwards.  

Watching my dog become a mother has helped me to understand the divinity of my calling as a mother.  I got married at a young age and had children at a young age.  Because of this, I had felt as though I had given up something in order to be a mother.  I felt as though I was giving up on my dream of contributing to society in order to have a family. I always taught music out of our home and I even had a successful little catering company until I realized that the hours that I was working would no longer work around my family life as I was at home when the kids were at school and at work when the kids were at home.  After realizing this, I took a job as an Executive Assistant (while beginning to actively pursue my goal of getting a Business Degree from BYU-Idaho) so that I could add to my family's income without taking away from the time that I had with my children.  Otto and I built our dream home and we settled into, what we thought would be, the beginning of the rest of our lives.  

Circumstances changed and we moved to Houston, TX from Calgary, AB on December 29, 2014 and this changed everything.  During our marriage, I had always worked in some capacity.  I have always put the children first, however I have always felt the need to contribute to society in some sort of meaningful way.  I found this sense of accomplishment when I decided to teach music and I watched children progress in their knowledge and love of music.  I felt I was helping when I would cater events such as weddings, baptisms, corporate dinners, open houses, etc.  I also felt I was helping when I was an Executive Assistant.  I saw how my actions and decisions affected the profitability of the company and I loved it.  

What I didn't understand, however, is that the largest way that I can contribute to society is by the rearing of my children.  If I can raise my children to be well-rounded, happy, successful, contributing members of society with a strong sense of self worth, then I will not only affect today's society, but future generations.  I am a direct descendant of great men and women who have proven that the actions of one person can affect generations of people for good.  I have always striven to be the kind of person that will make a great change that will have a lasting affect.  I did not realize, until moving to Houston and not being able to work, that my greatest joys and lasting legacy will be my children.  I cannot do anything as honorable as raising my children.

With that being said, I have always had a life plan.  This plan has always included some type of goal or dream that I wish to pursue.  As I have grown and learned new things and had different opportunities and experiences, I have accomplished many goals and created new ones.  In my assignment for this week I was to create a star and stepping stones chart.  I had to create a goal for my life and then take a look at the road my life has been on and set stepping stone goals to help achieve my goal.  This assignment has come at a time when two business opportunities have fallen into my lap, as well as my Nina having her puppies.  I have been consciously weighing the two business opportunities and both are incredible opportunities with huge potentials for growth.  I had not been able to decide which avenue to pursue, until the star and stepping stones assignment. 

My star (or ultimate goal) is to leave a tangible lasting legacy for my children.  I hope to accomplish this in two ways.  The first way is by being the best mother that I can be, and the second way is by having a career that will make a difference in the lives of those around me.  With this star goal in mind, and after taking a long, hard look at the road my life has been on, I have finally made a decision on which path I am going to take, career-wise.

One of the big inspirations for this decision has stemmed from Randy Pausch's last lecture called "Really Living your Childhood Dreams".  I believe that Randy Pausch is the perfect example of someone who has lived out his childhood dreams because he thought outside of the box.  If he had a dream and there became an obstacle, he would attack the problem from a different angle.  I have always believed in dreamers.  I think that the world needs them.  I also firmly believe that dreams need deadlines or they can just get away from you.  My mother taught me, "a goal is a dream with a deadline."  I have always remembered this (which is a miracle if you know me) and I firmly believe in goal setting.  I believe that if you aren't actively working towards something, you are simply wasting your time.  

So why this long-winded post, and what does it all have to do with each other?  My point is this:  when I was a child, I had two dreams; my first dream was to become a mother and my second dream was to leave a mark on the world.  I have been very fortunate to now be the mother of 5 amazing children and I believe that being reminded of what my dreams were, as a child at the same time as having to reflect on the path that my life has taken at the same time as watching my dog become a mother, has really clarified my star goal and the career decision that I need to make.  This career will not lead to as much money as my other option but I believe that it will accomplish both of my childhood dreams and give me the opportunity to help as many people as I can through the sharing of both my business and musical talents.

New Journey

To my eight followers,

Please do not have a heart attack when you see that I have posted something on this blog again.  I have a true and serious concern for your health and would hate to be the cause of any physical or psychological damage.  1 1/2 years ago, I began a journey to fulfill a lifelong goal of mine.  I decided that I needed to become an example to my children and pursue my post-secondary education. Through the glorious being called the internet, I am able to work towards my Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree with a focus on Entrepreneurship.
This semester I am taking an Introduction to Entrepreneurship class and am required to post my thoughts, insights (if I have any) and feelings on this blog.  I hope that some of you will endure this journey with me as I begin to explore the path that I am on and figure out the road that I want to take in the future.
As my course begins, I have been able to read some articles by some incredible businessmen and successful entrepreneurs.  There are two major points that I have taken away from these readings and videos.  They are as follows:

1 - Invest in yourself

When I was teaching music, I would silently giggle to myself whenever people would tell me that they wanted to learn how to play the piano so that they could play the piano when they were older.  There is no such thing as a finish line when it comes to learning how to play the piano.  Becoming a musician is a constantly changing thing.  There is no finite ending.  You do not get to wake up one day and suddenly say that you are a pianist. You have to constantly work, practice and learn about music in order to keep your ability of musicianship.
I have learned that this is the same as the concept of being an entrepreneur.  You may have the talent and the fortitude to start a business, but you need to constantly be improving upon yourself to become better.  You need to be constantly studying and learning so that you can increase your capacity to be effective in the market and in your life.  Investing in yourself and increasing your knowledge, talents and marketability are necessary in the workforce and crucial to leading a rich and fulfilling life.

2 - Make good friends

Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. - Colin Powell

Throughout my life, I have lived with this saying in mind.  I have understood the importance of surrounding yourself with people who want to make you be better.  Whenever I have wanted to develop a skill or a talent, I have sought the company of those whom I consider masters of that talent.  In watching my videos and doing my readings for the lesson this week, I have learned that this concept of having good friends is crucial to my success as an entrepreneur.  I have understood the importance of networking but didn't understand the role that integral friendships within my inner network would serve should my integrity or ethics be called into question.  I have also learned that a personal relationship with a master of business is not necessary in order to establish a friendship.  I now understand that my love of the books "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by  Robert Kiyosaki have established a friendship based on his philosophy even though we have never met.  The importance of having good friends goes along with the first point that I learned, invest in yourself, and I believe these two philosophies are the beginnings of a solid foundation on which to build a career as an entrepreneur.

As I begin this course, although it is not going to be what I had envisioned it to be, I am excited to learn more about myself.  I hope that this course will guide me along the path that I have chosen and help me to determine whether this path is the correct one for me and my family.