Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Yeah...me too!

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with school right now. I’m too old for keeping track of three different classes that are all SO similar they get confusing! Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to learn and grow, but this is actually becoming physically and mentally painful!

For one of my classes, I’m supposed to do what is called “The $100 Entrepreneur Challenge”. What exactly is it? GREAT QUESTION! I am not sure I understand it 100%. However, my take on it is this…each student is “to begin and run a small business with the goal of generating $100.00 PROFIT.” As part of the project, we are supposed to come up with an idea, raise up to $20.00 in “startup funding”, create our product or service, market our company, and sell our product. Our end goal is to earn $100 profit, not just revenue, and then donate the profits to KIVA.org and close our business.

I HAVE NO CLUE what to do and time is running out. I have to come up with a plan. This project truly has me freaked out! While I get the point of it, for someone like me who has a VERY specific goal in mind, this seems crazy and frustrating. Therefore, it must be for my own good and will help me along.

I have read all the blogs, I have checked websites for ideas, I’ve thought about things that frustrate me, but NONE of them are helping me come up with an idea for a new business. What do I do? Pray…that’s about all I can do, at this point! Wish me luck folks…I’m going to need it!

I dreamed a dream...

For one of my college class assignments this week, I was instructed to answer the following questions that stemmed from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". Here are the questions and my responses to them. I hope you find this helpful on your journey to "dream a dream".

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

I believe Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his dreams because he believed in himself and, maybe just as importantly, he had parents who believed in him. His parents allowed him to be creative and to express himself in whatever ways he deemed necessary. I love when he said “let your kids paint their bedroom, don’t worry about the resale value of the house.” I think it is vitally important that parents allow their kids to explore their creative sides!

• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?

Until recently, I didn’t think dreaming was important. I never had any dreams, not even as a child; at least, none that I could remember anyway. So, dreaming was never on my list of priorities. I came from a home where dreaming was never discussed. I don’t remember being a daydreamer or being encouraged to be one. I don’t even remember having many nighttime dreams, that weren’t nightmares. Then, something changed in my world. I had a dream.

For quite a while I had been praying for guidance on which direction I should take regarding my career or business ventures. One night, I received my answer in a VERY clear and concise dream. That dream has changed my life and the direction of my education. I am now a dreamer! I now “get” why some people say dreaming is important, even vital to one’s health and well-being! I feel alive now. Before my dream, I was living, but I wouldn’t say I was loving my life. I was getting through. Now, I have a purpose. Now I have a desire to see my dream come true!

• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

As I stated above, I never dreamt as a child. Therefore, I cannot truly answer this question. I never dreamed of being a firefighter, doctor, lawyer, school teacher, janitor, or anything. I never dreamed of being anything. I always wanted to be a wife and a mom and I achieved those goals. Granted, I kind of failed in the wife department, but I sure do have one heck of a daughter and I wouldn’t trade her for any dream I could dream!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Thursday, April 23, 2015

SO much to do for school! This is overwhelming, but I MUST NOT allow that to get to me. I THINK I’m done with B283 (Small Business Creation) and B100 (Intro to Business Mgmt) for this week. I still need to watch some more videos and read more for my B183 (Intro to Entrepreneurship). That is what I’m working on now, but I wanted to stop in and start my journal. Last night, Kayla and Garrett helped me start a blog, so I need to continue working on it. The good news is, I need to do the journal/blog for BOTH B183 and B283, so I will use it for both classes. I’m not going to do 2 separate ones…that would be silly and a waste of time. Not gonna lie…I kinda hate the discussion boards because there are always SO many posts to get through…all day, every day. It’s too much, in my opinion, but hopefully they will help…somehow.

I am LOVING the information I am reading. From Guy Kawasaki’s “Do What You Love and Money will Follow”, I learned that you may or may not make money, but money does NOT translate into happiness.

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught in his comments at the dedication of the BYU-I Hinckley Building that we need to be good and not sell ourselves out.

Steven Hitz and Jim Ritchie teach us to be like Abe Lincoln. Abe Lincoln was known for having a lot of friends. GREAT LEADERS USUALLY HAVE A LOT OF GREAT FRIENDS! WHO ARE THESE FRIENDS: PEOPLE WHO LEAD OTHERS TO HIGHER GROUND, WHILE HELPING THEM ENJOY THE JOURNEY!!

TOP 10 FRIENDS AND PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS

#1 ~ Formula for success – internalize it and make it a dear friend

#2 ~ “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clayson

#3 ~ “The Ten Ancient Scrolls for Success” and “The Ten Vows?” by Og Mandino

#4 ~ “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl

#5 ~ “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey – SYNERGISTIC POWERHOUSES!!

#6 ~ Productivity Pyramid

#7 ~ Peak Performance on Demand

#8 ~ “Good to Great” by Jim Collins

#9 ~ “The Ministry of Business” by Steven Hitz and Jim Ritchie – Keys to Success found in this book. “True principles work in any profession or pursuit.” Jim Ritchie

#10 ~ Your Life Plan – your own personal constitution

IT IS TIME TO GET TO MY HIGHER GROUND!!!!

“THE START-UP OF YOU: REDISCOVERING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN ALL OF US”

All humans were born entrepreneurs. “In the caves, we were all self-employed. Finding food, feeding ourselves. That is how human history began. As civilization came, we suppressed it. We became “labor” because the y stamped us “You are labor.” Muhammad Yunus

TODAY’S CHALLENGES PRESENT ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITIES!!! THE START-UP IS YOU!!!

Reid Hoffman, The Co-Founder and Chairman of LinkedIn taught about personal branding and its importance. The brand of you is just 1 part of the “start-up of you.”

What are the most important tools for building and maintaining a career?

***Start out with the right mindset which is:

“Permanent Beta” – You are always investing yourself. You are not a finished asset. You are not a finished set of skills. You can always do better. You can always learn more.

***Understand how important your network is around you. It gives you great career opportunities, whats going on in your industry, what key tools to use, what the key trends are, what skills you need to learn to invest in, what are ways you can solve particular problems you are tacking at work, etc.

YOUR NETWORK IS THE EXTENSION OF ALL OF THESE KEY ATTRIBUTES IN TERMS OF HOW YOU ARE A SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONAL, HOW YOU SOLVE PROBLEMS.

LinkedIn is an essential networking tool.

THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

                **How do I invest in myself?

                **Which tools do I use?

                **Do I use a particular “TO DO LIST” manager? Note taking?

                **What do I need to learn about spreadsheets and which do I use?

                **What is going on in the industry?

SO MUCH GREAT STUFF!!!!

The Howling Heart Dream...

Wednesday, April 22, 2015: 

I am working on homework…yet again. Is this all really going to be worth it? I sure hope so. I have my divinely inspired goal now, for the first time in my life. I finally know what I want to do with my life, thanks to a dream wherein my prayers were answered. Howling Heart B&B and Campground and the eventual partner non-profit, Howling Heart Wolf Sanctuary. This finally has me excited about something. I’ve never been excited about learning or school or my future before. I never dreamed as a child. I don’t ever remember thinking anything about the future. I always wanted to be a wife and a mother, but I don’t think I ever really understood what that entailed. Now, as the divorced mother of one absolutely amazing daughter, I felt I was a failure at the only thing I wanted “to be” when I grew up. Now, thanks to the dream I had, I feel…alive. I WANT to accomplish this. I feel it is divinely inspired and therefore, with God on my side, how could I possibly fail? Very easily!

I am grateful that Aerika challenged me to do something to grow and progress while she was on her mission. I’m grateful for the Divinely Inspired Pathway Program and for the ability to matriculate into an online degree program. I would never, could never, have pursued my dream, had it not for these two programs. Thank you Heavenly Father for them.

I’ve gotta be honest…I have NO CLUE what I’m supposed to be doing with this journal, but I’m willing to give it a try. I know it is supposed to be a blog, but I don’t quite know how to do that yet, so I will transfer this all over, once I know what I’m doing!

The Howling Heart B&B and Campground…what is it? Howling Heart will be a respite from the world. A place where families can gather together in individual units or as family reunions. An affordable place to take your family and spend quality time together. Family friendly activities will include: Friday night movie night under the stars, fully stocked pond for fishing and paddle boat rides, hayrides, horseback rides, barn dances, zip lines, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and any other family friendly ideas we can come up with to ensure our guests, our family, enjoy their stay with us. Howling Heart will be the dream “family” vacation that does not include roller coasters! J

Along with the “for profit” B&B and campground, there will eventually be a non-profit wolf sanctuary where in guests can meet and interact, even help care for rescued wolves and wolf-dog mixes. Too many of these animals die each year because people think it would be cool to own a wolf…until the wolf decides to destroy everything in your house, out of curiosity. Wolves don’t usually make good pets. They are expert escape artists and are innately curious, and they have a profound predator/prey response…none of which make them ideal houseguests. In most states, if it is believed an animal has wolf in it and that animal makes it to a shelter somehow, it is generally a death sentence for the animal…even if they didn’t get into any trouble. People don’t want wolves running among them. This will be a separate venture to be opened once the B&B and Campground are operating efficiently and in the black!

Here is how it was clearly shown to me in my dream, it is like a wagon wheel…

The center of the wheel is a 30 foot yurt…the “Breakfast” portion of the Bed and Breakfast. 

This yurt will serve as the kitchen, living, gathering area for all of the guests. Within this centralized yurt, there will be a beautiful kitchen area, a loft, and his and her restrooms, as well as tables, chairs, and a fireplace. This will be a gathering place for families and friends. The loft will be a space of quiet reflection or family games.

The spokes of the wheel are the walkways that lead to the “higher end rooms”… 24’  yurts that are decked out with all the bells and whistles of a nicer hotel room. These “rooms” will sell for around $149.99 per night. They will have all the creature comforts anyone could want and will be for our “more established” customers…those who may be retired on a nice income or maybe the entrepreneurs who have established themselves.

Simply stunning! What a wonderful retreat away from the world these “rooms” will be.

What will be next? 

Out from the “high end” rooms will be a larger circle (this is not as clear…I’m not sure if this is to be another ring outside of the “high end” rooms or if they are to be in another section. However, these will be a variance of very rustic yurts and tipi’s to not as rustic, more like a Super 8 or Motel 6 “cheaper” room. They will all be nicely done, but the pricing will go from $24.99/night to $99.99 per night…depending on which one you choose. Some will have private bathrooms, others will share the group facilities on the property.