Week 2 - Creating a Life of Meaning

This week I watched a video by Randy Pausch. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer and told he probably had 3-6 months of good health left. He was asked to give his "last lecture" where he would try to sum up the most important lessons he'd learned during his lifetime.

He listed several childhood dreams on a PowerPoint slide including work as a Disney imagineer, play in the NFL, as well as several others. He went through each dream and was able to accomplish virtually all of them. Some of them were quite lofty.

One of the big reasons Randy was able to accomplish so many of his dreams was because he smartly pursued his dreams, he was persistent, and he approached obstacles with an attitude of overcoming obstacles. His quote is that brick walls are not there to keep you out, they're there to let you prove you want it badly enough. He put that principle into action when he applied to be an imagineer. His employment application was rejected. Years later he was a college professor and reached out to see if he may take a sabbatical year with the imagineers. Again, there were multiple brick walls to overcome however he was able to fulfill his childhood dream. It was every bit as magical as I thought it would be.

Dreaming is an important part of realizing potential. A person who never dreams anything greater than their current situation will not have the motivation or the vision to try and improve. Dreams and ideas are at the heart of the inventions, advancements and innovations throughout human history.

One of my childhood dreams was to be able to take my own family boating. I grew up with my father taking us to Lake Powell, Pineview, Delta reservoir, and many other places. I learned to waterski when I was 6 years old. To this day I absolutely love the feeling of getting to a lake early, smelling the odd combination of the boat's vinyl, sunscreen, and the lake. Feeling the crisp morning air and the anticipation of getting out on the water. My father taught me to waterski when I was 6. I remember watching him hitch up the boat, launch and trailer the boat, tow the boat and back the boat down the ramp. I remember watching him slalom ski behind the boat making it look so effortless and fun. These were some of my absolute best memories growing up. I always wondered if I would ever get to the point where I'd be able to do all the things that he did. Would I be able to know enough to tow, launch and drive a boat safely? I watched him intently for years trying to prepare myself for the day I'd take the boat out by myself. I dreamed of giving my own wife and kids similar wonderful memories.

This past summer I fulfilled that childhood dream. Our family hit some brick walls these past 10-15 years. My dad lost his job and was forced to sell the boat and for years I was hundreds of miles away attending medical school and residency. Nobody in the family owned a boat for many years. This past year we saved our money, we were able to pay cash for a truck to tow the boat and a we were able to buy an old ski boat very similar to the boat I learned to ski on. I took my own family waterskiing. I taught my wife to slalom ski, I gave my kids tube rides. The kids got to ride on a ski trainer, I suspect they'll get up next summer on skis when we have more time to practice. Looking forward to many more fun summers!

Week 1 - Intro to Entrepreneurship

This week in class we watched a video called "Do What You Love". Guy Kawasaki tells an engineering class at Stanford, "I know this is a cliché, but you should really truly do what you love". I've heard this advice countless times and am not sure I can agree... There can only be so many people who make a business out of things that many people consider hobbies. We can't all be bakery owners, woodworkers, football coaches, professional snow skiers, etc because we need people who do the unpleasant jobs. We need doctors who will work on holidays and weekends missing time with their families. We need soldiers who are deployed to war zones when there is conflict. We need linemen who will go out into blizzards to restore electric power. How are we all to do what we love when so many people love the same jobs and so few people love the hard jobs? A 2017 Gallup pole says that 70% or Americans hate their jobs. Is it realistic to think that everyone in this class can get a job they love?

Is it possible to choose something and then fall in love with it because you become an expert in that thing? Most people love what they are good at. It gives us a purpose. It is something that makes us unique from everybody else. Do we love it because we're good at it? Or is it the opposite? Maybe we get good at things because we loved them first, and were therefore able to dedicate the time to get good at it?

Many of the videos stressed the importance of utilizing your professional network. I absolutely agree this is true. When I wanted to move back to Utah I realized that the job market for my field was very competitive. I went out of my way to meet some people. I sent several applications and emails. This got me into a stack of resumé's 30 high. My wife and I prayed that we'd find a way to differentiate ourselves. We were speaking with our friend in Oklahoma and mentioned my job search. This sweet lady was a cousin to the physician in charge of hiring for this position I wanted. She happily provided me with his contact information and put in a good word for me. A few weeks later I accepted to job. What a blessing having a network was!

Another strong emphasis seemed to be picking the right friends. I also believe that the people you surround yourself with have an enormous influence on you. That is one reason I enrolled in this course was to associate with like-minded people. I have very few friends that have an entrepreneurial mindset. It's time to expand my network to include those people. That is an outcome based goal. Those are only good when broken down into manageable steps. First I'll ask the few entrepreneurial minded friends I have currently if they have suggestions on me meeting some of their business partners or other contacts. I will also look into entrepreneur clubs in my area. I will bring up business ideas with friends in casual conversation and see if they show an interest.

I'm very much looking forward to this course. I believe it's going to help me be introspective. I think it's going to help me determine what my strengths and weaknesses are. I also think it will be motivating. That's the strongest feeling I had after completing the readings and videos. Motivation.

On a side note, I learned how to correctly spell entrepreneur this week. That's a tough word to spell!