RETURN WITH HONOR

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10/24/2019

Being loyal is something that has come up a bunch lately in my family.  My son, recently returned home from his mission, to find his girlfriend had become the exact opposite version of the girl he left behind.  As he has wrestled with "how did this happen and could I have prevented it?"

As he's turned  friends to help him make sense of this experience, they all seem to say the same thing: "Dude, that's not loyal. "  These words have great POWER with our youth.  "Loyalty" is revered and expected in a relationship.  There are so many things they could say to console or advise my son but they all seem to bring it back to loyalty.  

These are milennials.  Despite the prevalent flaws of their generation they seem to agree on the sanctity of being loyal.  Fascinating, right?!  Let's look at the definition of "loyal."  See how it applies to our personal and professional lives?
loy·al
/ˈloi(ə)l/

Learn to pronounce
adjective
  1. giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.
    "he remained loyal to the government"

How does this relate to business and entrepreneurs?  It absolutely does.  Loyalty to our business partners, investors, employees and customers is important.  We especially need to be loyal to the people we were meant to be.  God allowed us to come to this earth to be tested, to love one another and to learn and grow and, someday, become like Him.  By making decisions based on that knowledge it helps us to be loyal to our Father in Heaven and loyal to ourselves.    

Being loyal to our God, ourselves and others is manifested by our love.  If we love them then we serve them.  By loving and serving them we are being loyal to them.  It is imperitive that we are loyal to our spouse, our family and our God.

Starting and growing a business can be all consuming.  Do you own your own business or does your business own you?   As we are expanding our business it should NOT be at all costs.  After all, we would hate to lose the most important things in our lives.  "No  other success can compensate for failure in the home."  (David O. McKay)

The Lord needs us to have a willing heart and mind so that we can help grow the kingdom.  Let's always be mindful of our actions, integrity and honesty in all we do.

Matthew 22:36-39
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt alove the Lord thy God with all thy bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy cmind.
38 This is the first and great acommandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt alove thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the alaw and the prophets.

Inside my house, above my front door, we have a sign that reads "RETURN WITH HONOR."  


This is what we expect of our family and this is what Heavenly Father expects of us.  How do we do this?  By being true to our covenants, true to ourselves and honest in our business dealings.   Another word for this is Integrity.

in·teg·ri·ty
/inˈteɡrədē/

Learn to pronounce
noun
  1. 1. 
    the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
    "he is known to be a man of integrity"


 I find the below list to be very relatable to my business model.  The first year I intentionally did not hire any employees.  I studied and researched and figured all the ins and outs of student transportation in my area.  Once I had a solid grasp on the industry I used my surplus income to purchase more vehicles and I hired more drivers.  I continued this process until I got my business to the size that was manageable and profitable.  Understanding the daily operations of this business has kept me connected in the day to day decisions that occur.  Without the knowledge and the capital that I acquired that first year, I would not have developed the knowledge and skills I need to survive in this competitive industry.

There are three areas of knowledge that are critical for starting a successful business:
1 In-depth knowledge of the competitive structure of an industry and a network of
contacts within that industry;
2 The skills to run the daily operations of a small, rapidly growing company; and
3 The ability to raise money.


Insights from this week's readings and videos:
    • Many of us are "born" entrepreneurs.  It's in our blood.   It's who we are.  Even when we aren't conscious of it, we often think about business opportunities to make the world a better place.
    • The most valuable thing is our TIME.  How/where do we want to spent the next 20-30 years?
    • Create the most value by having longevity in our business ventures.  Don't be in such a hurry to make a quick buck and move on.  Be a monogamous business person.
If the overall goal is to return with honor, then we should make sure that all of our big and little decisions are helping us on our path.











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