Love your job
10/10/2019
This week's readings were very interesting. The topic "How will you measure your life?" is thought provoking. How will others measure my life? How will my family and friends measure my life? How will God measure my life? Did I make the world a better place? Did I find joy and share it with others? Did I have integrity?
Asking hard questions causes introspection. Looking within and determining if how I chose to provide for my family, fill my days and treat others is a solid measuring stick of the kind of person I am trying to become.
Becoming an entrepreneur allows for greater flexibly in how I answer the above questions. I choose my occupation and business decisions. I choose my ethics and morals. I chose how I will spend money and how I will spend my time. Yes, although I dedicate much of my time to building and growing my business, that is ultimately my choice. I'm not punching a time card for a boss I can't stand. I am the boss and I can decide to stay true to my ethics or stray.
The first presentation was called "Do what you love." The excerpt that I viewed was basically him summarizing someone else's three circles theory.
First circle: What are you good at?
Second circle: What are you born to do?
Third circle: What will people pay you to do?
He explained that in the center area where the three circles overlap is the sweet spot. Finding something people will pay you to do that is/can be your passion. Keeping a "lab notebook" of our daily lives can also be helpful for gaining insight into our talents, strengths and joys.
The second presentation was called "Effective Choices, Not Longer Days." His message is that if we make the right choices we can be successful. In other words, each day we should make better decisions than our competitors. By doing this, we can become more efficient in our jobs and this will lead us to working smarter not harder.
I understand his message but this doesn't always apply. As a small business owner, I often am the only one who can solve a problem, and therefore I am the one scrambling to keep the business moving in a forward direction. Maybe I'm just not working smarter.
The third video was fun and relatable to me. "Either do it or stop talking about it"
Sharon Mays has opened up the first drive through salad bar in (Austin?) Texas. It's called "Baby Greens."
Here are her words of wisdom:
This week's readings were very interesting. The topic "How will you measure your life?" is thought provoking. How will others measure my life? How will my family and friends measure my life? How will God measure my life? Did I make the world a better place? Did I find joy and share it with others? Did I have integrity?
Asking hard questions causes introspection. Looking within and determining if how I chose to provide for my family, fill my days and treat others is a solid measuring stick of the kind of person I am trying to become.
Becoming an entrepreneur allows for greater flexibly in how I answer the above questions. I choose my occupation and business decisions. I choose my ethics and morals. I chose how I will spend money and how I will spend my time. Yes, although I dedicate much of my time to building and growing my business, that is ultimately my choice. I'm not punching a time card for a boss I can't stand. I am the boss and I can decide to stay true to my ethics or stray.
The first presentation was called "Do what you love." The excerpt that I viewed was basically him summarizing someone else's three circles theory.
First circle: What are you good at?
Second circle: What are you born to do?
Third circle: What will people pay you to do?
He explained that in the center area where the three circles overlap is the sweet spot. Finding something people will pay you to do that is/can be your passion. Keeping a "lab notebook" of our daily lives can also be helpful for gaining insight into our talents, strengths and joys.
The second presentation was called "Effective Choices, Not Longer Days." His message is that if we make the right choices we can be successful. In other words, each day we should make better decisions than our competitors. By doing this, we can become more efficient in our jobs and this will lead us to working smarter not harder.
I understand his message but this doesn't always apply. As a small business owner, I often am the only one who can solve a problem, and therefore I am the one scrambling to keep the business moving in a forward direction. Maybe I'm just not working smarter.
The third video was fun and relatable to me. "Either do it or stop talking about it"
Sharon Mays has opened up the first drive through salad bar in (Austin?) Texas. It's called "Baby Greens."
Here are her words of wisdom:
- define yourself-or the thing(s) that make you stronger
- believe, trust and embrace who you are
- put up or shut up-stop talking and start doing
- only person that holds you back is you.
- it's already in you, just GIVE IT LIFE!
I feel inspired and uplifted by these three different entrepreneurs. They were all different people with varied approaches. As I've mentioned, I relate the most to Sharon Mays. She had a vision and she built it from the ground up. No doubt she is involved in the daily ups and downs of managing her staff, ordering supplies and keeping a steady stream of customers in line at her drive through. She seems like the type who's not above working. I imagine that she's in that kitchen more than she'd prefer to be but that's the reality of dealing with part time employees. When they call in sick, or come in late, it's often the boss that rolls up his/her sleeves and gets everyone to the finish line.
I am that boss too! I have my little student transportation company and, although I have a list of substitutes, I still find myself driving more than I'd like. On a good day, it's a fabulous job that provides passive income. On a bad day, it's sick employees, broken vehicles, rising gas prices and students (sometimes parents) throwing tantrums. But it's my baby and I love it!
PS Yesterday I got hit with my annual workers comp insurance bill: $25,000! I have 18 part time employees who average 2.5 hours a day. Honestly...how does anybody stay in business in this state (CA)?! It sure takes all the fun out of being an entrepreneur! But I'm still smiling and hopeful that we can keep turning a profit, even after all of the crazy fees and taxes.
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