GO GET 'EM CHAMP!

If I were to give a “Last Lecture” to someone who wants to begin their entrepreneur journey, the first piece of advice I would give them would be to hit their knees in fervent prayer to find out what direction Heavenly Father would have them go. I truly believe that each of us have a divine destiny to which we have been called and we just need to figure out what that is. The only way I know how to find that out is through fervent, sincere, and humble prayer! 

My other advice would be to take all the Business Management courses you can take! I have learned SO much from this semester…more than I can even remember. I would tell them to read all of the books I read this semester: Return by Elder Robert D. Hales, The Ministry of Business by Steven A. Hitz and James W. Ritchie, A Field Guide for the Hero’s Journey by Jeff Sandefer and Rev. Robert Sirico, The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber and finally, Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard. These books have been great guides for my entrepreneur journey and I think anyone interested in following this path would benefit greatly from reading these books.

I would caution any “Wannabe” entrepreneur to do their due diligence before jumping into the deep end of entrepreneurship. Research what it is you want to do, is there a market for it, and then go find mentors to help you on your journey! Mentors will help you skip a lot of heartache and maybe even bankruptcy. Mentors are people who want to help you succeed, who feel better when those they help make a difference. Another word of advice…don’t forget to serve others along your way. When you become a successful entrepreneur (notice I said WHEN not IF…the power of positive thinking at play there), make sure to give back! Help others along their Hero’s journey. Take someone under your wing and help them become what they should become! You will find great joy in the service of others.

My final piece of advice is don’t be afraid to take risks. Find your calling and then go for it. It will be a terrifying experience, but it can also be exhilarating! Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and then listen and use their counsel. Don’t ask for advice and then blow it off. Your mentors will want to be heard and they are your mentors for a reason. I believe you will become what you surround yourself with. If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people! If you want to be a failure, surround yourself with failures. It really is that easy…in my opinion. 

Now, go and do! Go about serving others and changing the world around you. Don’t make excuses why you can’t! Make excuses WHY YOU CAN!!! Surround yourself with light, positivity, and goodness and those qualities will come back to you! Have fun! This life is meant to have joy! Be happy! Make others happy! If you will focus on everyone around you and not on yourself, you WILL be a happier person. THIS much I know to be true!

Go get ‘em champ! You’ve got this and so do I! Here’s to a lifetime of happiness, success, and service!

(B183 and B283)

LET US ALL BE GRATEFUL!!

          What struck me the most this week was President Monson’s talk on having An Attitude of Gratitude and how that relates to business. While he never really tied the two ideas together in his talk, I was taught by the Spirit that having a grateful heart in ALL things is imperative, if you want to be successful in life. President Monson expressed gratitude for many different people in his life and I want to take this opportunity to show my gratitude for some very key people in my life.

          First, following President Monson’s lead, my mother. My dear, sweet, loving, kind, supportive mom, Evelyn Jane Hyde Sessions is one of the very few heroes I have in life. My mom put up with SO much from all of us. My mom supported my father through his time in the U.S. Navy, through undergraduate and law school, as well as helped him open his own law practice. She served as wife, mother, partner, legal secretary, and key supporter of all things in their lives. I truly do not think my father would have found the success he did, were it not for my mom and her loving support.

          When she was but 33 years old, my mom buried her 10-year-old daughter, my sister Sandy. Sandy was killed in a tragic accident. This devastating blow could have destroyed my mom, and to be honest, it almost did. However, she still had an 8-year-old son to raise and a husband to support, so she stayed strong. About 3 years later, she was willing to give her heart away again and they adopted me. I never once, in all of my 49 years, have felt anything other than I was her daughter. I’ve never felt like I didn’t belong to her because she didn’t give birth to me. My mom mastered the ability to love unconditionally and trust me when I say I gave her MANY reasons to stop loving me. She never quit. She never gave up on me. My mom always loved and believed in me. To this day, my mom is still my best friend, followed closely by my daughter.

          Secondly, I would like to give my gratitude to my father, Vernon Kirk Sessions. While my dad and I often do not see eye to eye on things, I think that is because we are a lot alike. We are both bull-headed and stubborn…Byron tough! My dad came from Pioneer stock. His 3^rd great grandma and her family joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its early stages and were driven out of home after home because of persecution. They never gave up. They never quit. They always moved forward with steadfastness in Christ. In September 1847, they settled in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, establishing Sessions Settlement, which in turn became Bountiful, Utah. Eventually my dad’s great grandpa, Byron Sessions, was sent to settle the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming and the town of Byron, Wyoming was established. That is where my dad grew up. The son of hard working parents, Kirk and Pearl Lynn Sessions, my dad worked and played hard. He joined the Navy and eventually, became a practicing lawyer in Colorado. He chose law because he wanted his children to be proud of what their dad did for a living. We most certainly are.

          Thirdly, I want to share my thanks for my amazing missionary daughter, Aerika Joleen Jepperson. She has been such a gift and blessing from Heaven. Words cannot express how grateful I am for her. She has challenged me from the get go with her intelligence, reasoning abilities, and strong spirit! This young woman has taught me more about God, His Gospel, and eternal salvation than just about anyone. Aerika is the reason I’m in college. She challenged me to progress and grow. She wanted me to become “better” so we would have “better” things to talk about when she came home. Where most people who challenge me to do things meet a brick wall, Aerika finds a marshmallow that she can bend and stretch to whatever shape she wants. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

          Teachers…I would like to give a shout out to two of my favorite teachers in high school. Sam Weintraub was my Psychology teacher and Perry Weissman was my English teacher. I learned more from these two men than from all the other teachers in high school combined. I am eternally grateful to them both.

          My take away from this week is simply this: show gratitude in all that you do and you will be blessed. It is my goal to make certain my employees (when we get our business up and running) KNOW how grateful I am for them and each of their special accomplishments. I need them to understand how important they are and I will do all that I can to ensure they know.

          Finally, I would like to say how grateful I am to know my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father. Without them, I am nothing; I can’t become anything; I would have nothing. I testify here and now that Jesus is the Christ. He atoned for my sins and for the sins of the entire world, in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He died for us all upon the cross at Calvary, upon Golgotha’s Hill. He rose after the third day bringing about the hope of resurrection for us all. I am eternally grateful for Him, for His love for me, and for His life and death. I testify that He leads and guides The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through His modern day prophet, Thomas Spencer Monson. I know that this is His church upon the earth today and I am thankful to have been raised in a home where the Gospel of Jesus Christ resided. I leave this testimony in His holy and sacred name, even that of Jesus Christ, Amen.

LET'S CREATE SOME MAGIC, SHALL WE?

Oh how I love President Monson! I really enjoyed watching this video. What a sweet Spirit he has! I love what he taught about doubt and faith not being able to exist together because one will always push out the other out. I pray that faith will ALWAYS push out doubt in my mind. I love how President Monson shared how to successfully NOT doubt or to help dispel doubt. What wonderful counsel he gave!

President Monson offered some “helpful hints” that would help us in achieving our “Great Expectations.” He offered:

“First, avoid the pitfalls in the track. Avoid the detours, which will deprive you of your Celestial reward. You will recognize them, if you will; they may be labeled ‘Oh just this once won’t matter.’ Or ‘My parents are so old fashioned.’ Bad habits also can be such pitfalls. First we could break them if we would. Later we would break them if we could…. Good habits, on the other hand, are the souls muscles. The more you use them, the stronger they grow.

“Second, beware of the flashy start and the fade out finish…. In the game of life, a second effort is often required. The happy life…grows upon us, year by year, little by little until at last, we realize that we have it. It is achieved by a body of work done so well, that we can lift our heads with assurance and look the world in the eye…Perseverance will pay rich rewards.

“Third, help others in their race of life. Remember that when you help another up a mountain, you’re a little nearer to the top yourself…The attitude of love characterized the Savior….How many people did you help?

“Fourth, and finally, seek the help of the Lord. Souls are precious…. We do not run alone in this great race of life, we are entitled to the help of the Lord…. We must make room for Him in our lives.”

Oh what wonderful reminders President Monson has given to us all. I am SO grateful we had this video to watch! It really touched my heart. I loved the story of the German family who lost everything during the war, but a missionary kept a picture of the family for over 40 years and the Lord made it possible for that family to get this picture. The Lord really is mindful of us all and He knows us each individually. My heart is full of gratitude!

The $100 Challenge is ALMOST OVER!!!!! THANK HEAVENS!!!! This has been my VERY least favorite exercise EVER! I’m trying to figure out how to create a Power Point Presentation because that’s about over my skillset. However, I think I can do it. I’m not going to lie - there is a part of me that wonders how badly it would affect my grade if I just blew it off! I’m not going to do that because I want to keep my straight A’s, but the thought has crossed my mind.

I’m off to create magic…are you?

(LESSON 12 B283)

BUSINESS IS FOR DOING GOOD, NOT JUST FOR MAKING A PROFIT!!

The video by Elder Gay was very long and I thought I would never get through it. I am grateful I did. The story of the young girl in Darfur and the dream Brother Johnson had 20 years before where his dead brother showed him Elder Gay coming to the rescue and building the school were extremely powerful. I have been given so many blessings in my life. I pray that the Lord will use me to help and serve others in whatever way I can. This is what I want Howling Heart to be…a place of refuge, of sanctuary, a place to help others and to serve many. I pray this dream will come to pass and we will be privileged enough to help many. I am grateful for this video and its reminding message that business is meant to serve and help and rescue. Our business will do just that, I promise!

I finished the book “A Field Guide for the Hero’s Journey” and I am SO grateful I read that book. I’m also grateful I purchased all of my books this semester because I will be referring back to every one of them. There is SO much good and uplifting information in these books. I will reread them as I progress along my “Hero’s Journey.”

Muhammed Yunus…what can I say about this man? He is amazing. One of the comments he made that really struck a cord with me was, “All human beings are endowed with unlimited potential. Because of barriers created by our societies, individual people never get the full opportunity to bring out their potential.” Isn’t that what we teach in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? We teach that we are all sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents who love us all, individually, and we are of infinite worth! Thank you Dr. Yunus!

Are We Not All Beggars by Elder Holland…oh how I love this man!!! I don’t know if it’s right or not to have favorites among the leadership of the church, but I do and Elder Holland is one of my favorites! I just love listening to him and his testimony! I am sad that when I attended BYU Provo and he was the President, I didn’t take more advantage of listening to him speak. I don’t believe I ever heard him speak when I was there. I didn’t understand the importance of those devotionals. What a pity!

One of the things that stuck out to me in this reading was when Elder Holland spoke about Mary anointing Jesus and Judas Iscariot murmuring against her because of the wastefulness of her act. I love what the Savior said in response, “She hath done what she could.” Because of my financial circumstances, I have often found myself unable to help those around me in any significant way and that has made me feel bad about myself. I am grateful for the reminder of Mother Theresa when she reminded the reporter, “What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean. But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].” I can’t do much, but I can do something.

Acton Hero: Sarah Endline is a woman who loves candy! You can see her passion when she talks about her business. The greatest takeaway I got from this was there are a lot of programs to help women entrepreneurs! That is very exciting news for me to hear. I want to be like Sarah and create a culture in my business, not just a company. I want it to be a place where people want to work and join the “family.” To me, that is one of the most important things I want in my business.

Larry Brilliant and small pox…I never had a clue how bad that disease was. I never understood what it took to eradicate it from the planet. I never knew the army of doctors and nurses who went door to door vaccinating. I just…never knew. The effort and results are nothing if not miraculous. The amazing part about the whole story, to me, is the fact that the world united in an effort to eradicate this terrible plague and they succeeded. My question is, why can’t we do this with everything? Why can’t we join forces to wipe out AIDS, Malaria, and poverty? We can…we just choose not to. We choose not to get involved. We choose not to become heroes. We choose.

I’m supposed to answer the following questions regarding my reading in the article “What’s a Business For?”
Based on what you read in the first two pages (pages 3 and 4), why are virtue and integrity so vital to an economy?

People need to feel they can trust those in power or who have perceived authority. When trust is missing, it is almost impossible to have success.
According to Charles Handy, what is the “real justification” for the existence of businesses?

The purpose of a business is not solely to make a profit, but it is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or something better.
What are two solutions proposed by Handy that you agree with? Why?

A good business is a community with members who have the right to vote or express their views on major issues. When you are a part of a community and feel valuable, you tend to work harder for that community. That is why I think this is important.

There should be a Hippocratic Oath for business wherein they agree to do no harm regarding the environment, conditions of employment, community relations, and ethics. This shouldn’t need to be legislated. This should be something we all just do innately! This is the golden rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Whether in life or in business, this is a great policy for us all to have.

This was a good week and I look forward to using these reminders to uplift and rescue those around me. I want to go about doing good and serving and using my business in the same way!





(B183 LESSON 11)