The Last Lecture

In D&C 130:18, we read, “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.”  We are on this Earth to learn and all of our experiences in our life are part of our process of becoming like our Heavenly Father.  The journey of the entrepreneur mirrors much of what we are striving to do in our life.  An entrepreneur seeks mentors and experiences that help him discover and build talents.  They have goals that they are moving toward and they seek business experiences and products that build up and help their customers and employees.  Entrepreneurs seek to master a skill through practice and perseverance.  In seeking growth in their careers, entrepreneurs are also attaining intelligence that will rise with them.  To this end, we need to be prayerful and considerate when choosing our journeys.  This course has had amazing talks and devotionals given by great leaders who are eager to share how we can best set a course that will develop our best selves.

In this course we read, “Our Whole Soul as an Offering to Him” by Elder David A. Bednar. I have read this several times now and it has become one of my favorite messages.  Elder Bednar counseled his students at Rick’s college to “use your academic opportunities to the fullest and to avoid at all costs the academic path of least resistance.”  Yes, there is a temptation to hurry through your college experience, be finished and hurry to the next thing but this counsel also applies to your responsibilities at church or in our desire to successful in our careers.  We have this aversion to things that are challenging and make us change.  It is the nature of man to avoid situations that make us uncomfortable.  We need to remember the larger truth, that we are here to become more like our Father in Heaven. We need to become adaptive and grow. Elder Bednar teaches, “A disciplined and educated mind is a tool for reasoning and inquiring and evaluating and discerning. …These abilities are essential skills for a spiritual, happy, and productive life. More importantly, the combination of spiritual strength and mental capacity provides the means whereby we can act for ourselves rather than be acted upon”.  This final thought, “act for ourselves rather than be acted upon” sums up the goal of the entrepreneur.

Each of us have the opportunity to live an entrepreneurial life in our own families.  When we marry, we are creating a new enterprise.  In fact, we want to make sure that we are seeing a great business partner who compliments us before we start.  The principles that create successful businesses create successful families.  In every lecture that I listened to and in everything that I read this semester, I would try and substitute the name “The Webb Family” for company or entrepreneur.  In doing this, I learned things in a different way that will bless the culture and health of the organization that I am running.  I want to create a family that is able to “act for ourselves rather than be acted upon,” and I want to all the members of my organization to be capable servants of our Heavenly Father.

I have loved this class so much! Thank you!