Briana's Entrepreneurial Journey Journal

This week in our Entrepreneur class, we studied and discussed overcoming challenges in business. I did find it interesting, that many of the challenges were often personal challenges that affected the business. Anyway, I think it is clear to assume that just as in life, in business, we are always going to be faced with challenges. Some major, and some minor, but knowing how to overcome the challenges, is crucial to being successful.  There were two major things that stood out to me this week, in relation to overcoming challenges: 1. Find your “why.”  2. Hold on. In David Carrington’s interview, he talked about how when he got cancer, it helped him to reassess his life and put things into perspective. He said, “I was able to take a step back and look at balance and decide that I was out of balance…We get so ingrained in what we’re doing, we don’t take a breath to see why we’re doing it.” When things get hard, or when challenges arise, it is usually because we are out of bal...

This week we were asked to answer the following questions, based on the seven habits from this week’s study of, “Moving Forward with a Driving Passion” and Steven R. Covey’s book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”.  • Which of the 7 habits has the most meaning for you? • Why will the 7 habits help you fill your life with passion and purpose as you seek to achieve both a private and public victory? So, let’s get into it… I think that it is important to first list out the Seven Habits from Steven R. Cove’s book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” They are: 1. Be Proactive 2. Begin with the End in Mind 3. First Things First 4. Think “Win-Win” 5. First Seek to Understand, then to be Understood. 6. Create Synergy 7. Sharpen the Saw Out of the seven habits, the one that had the most meaning for me was, habit five, “First seek to understand, then to be understood.” This habit has the most meaning for me because, it is probably the habit that I struggle wi...

          This week I was most impressed with the article, “How Entrepreneurs Craft” by Amar Bhide. The article starts out by dispelling the idea that when starting a new business, it is best to do tons of research and planning. The article states, “interviews with the founders of 100 companies on the 1989 inc. ‘500’ list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States and recent research on more than 100 other thriving ventures by my MBA students suggest that many successful entrepreneurs spend little time researching and analyzing. And those who do often have to scrap their strategies and start over. Furthermore, a 1990 National Federation of Independent Business study of 2,994 startups showed that founders who spent a long time in study, reflection, and planning were no more likely to survive their first three years than people who seized opportunities without planning. In fact, many corporations that revere comprehensive analysis develop a...

A Hero’s Journey Review Jeff Sandefer addressed students at BYU – Idaho on February 3, 2015 to talk about entrepreneurship, called, “A Hero’s Journey”. In watching the recording of this address, I was inspired to think a little differently about my purpose and came away from this talk a major takeaway that was very personal to me, in my current state.   Sandefer said, “You have a very special mission on this earth. A mission that will succeed beyond your wildest dreams, if you have faith and the courage to find your entrepreneurial calling.” I have a strong belief that I am here on this earth to learn and serve others with my unique talents. I know I have a special mission and have within me the tools to succeed. But often times my actions don’t match my belief, and I fall short of my “calling” because I focus on what could go wrong and then never take the risk. I love that Sandefer mentions faith and courage together. He explains that when we are not focused on faith and cour...