Week 3 - Honesty & Integrity

I really enjoyed learning from Elder Lynn G. Robbins this week. His talk ‘Making a Living and a Life’ focused on the importance of working hard and living honestly as essential components of our Heavenly Father’s plan for us. I especially liked his evaluation system for the interplay between a love of God and our fellow men and our need to make a living (see below). 

Grade

Primary Motivation

Secondary Motivation

A

 Love

Income

B

 Money

Love

C

 Love of money

Indifferent to customers

D

 Filthy Lucre 

Harmful to customers

F

 Filthy Lucre

Harmful to customers and to society, nations destroyed.

Additionally, he outlines three helpful principles that can help us make A-level choices, even when the decision isn’t immediately clear.

  • Can you ask the Lord’s blessing with a clear conscience?
  • When questionable products or services are involved, is the person’s involvement direct or indirect?
  • Does the product or service hurt society?

While these questions are clearly business related, we can apply these to our daily lives for a consistent inventory of our character. Keeping our ethics in check both personally and professionally will help us not only find success but will help us grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

My favorite assignment this week was the case study of Magdelena Yesil. After reading Yesil's story, I was struck at how impressive her professional journey has been, but not necessarily by the prestige of her accomplishments and titles. I was drawn to Yesil's ability to continually pivot throughout her life. Her story reminds us about the importance of following your passions and cultivating your talents. Rarely was she forced into making a career change, most of her pivots were driven by her own adventurous nature.

Beginning with her first job, one that left her feeling isolate and uninspired, she was keenly aware of opportunities within her reach (and even some that seemed impossible). Once she recognized that she "preferred working with people to the more solitary engineering life", her viewpoint of opportunities expanded beyond measure. This is a lesson that we can all apply - the best way to find success is to embrace your passions and utilize your unique strengths. Each of us has something different to offer the world and we are not limited to the first decision we make. 

Reading about how Yesil continually learned, observed, tried, failed, and succeeded inspires me to embrace opportunities to pivot in my own life - personally, professionally, and spiritually. As we develop the habit of taking a regular personal inventory, we allow ourselves the chance to reassess our prior choices and continue on a path that best suits us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 12 - Becoming a Change-Maker

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Great power involves great responsibility.” Through our reading this week, we learn that this statement is easily applied to our professional success. As we work hard to reach our goals and aspirations, it’s important for us to remember that the Savior teaches us through his example of service to others. We are also taught that as we do the Lord’s will, we will be blessed in our righteous endeavors. This relationship of work, success and service is illustrated to us over and over in the scriptures. We are commanded by the Lord to “look to the poor and … needy and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer.” While we are not required to do all things for all people, we are commanded to do what we can when it’s necessary and as we do, we will be sanctified. In his talk  Are We Not All Beggars , Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says of God, “He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting an...
Read more

Week 11 - Money Matters

Based on this week’s reading of “Attitude on Money” by Stephen W. Gibson, we were asked to answer three questions: What is your attitude towards money? How can your view of money affect the way you live? What rules are recommended for prospering? The answer to the first question is one that’s evolved over time for me. I was raised by parents who did not teach me healthy financial habits or skills. We always struggled financially and money took on the role of stress and contention. We always managed to get by, but never thrived or enjoyed the benefits of having extra. As I came into adulthood, I made a lot of financial mistakes. I accrued unnecessary debt and felt the pains of rectifying that situation early on. As I learned to manage my finances and make sound decisions in regards to my income, purchases and responsibilities, I have found that the financial contention that existed in my childhood has been avoided. As a family we work hard, meet our obligations and responsibilities ...
Read more

Week 13 - A Journey of Gratitude

This week our study was focused on the importance of gratitude while on our entrepreneurial journey. Through having a grateful attitude, we stay humble and open to the wisdom and experience of those we surround ourselves with – gratitude is an essential part of being a lifelong learner. This week’s assignments specifically focused on the case study of entrepreneur Randy Haykin and his passion for being a lifelong learner. His desire to continually learn pushed him to try new things, to think outside of the box in terms of his career path, and to push ahead with ideas (even if others might have discouraged him). Following his passions provided him with opportunities that helped him discover his own potential and allowed him to provide others with unique opportunities under his direction.  Another important aspect of Randy's entrepreneurial journey was his ability to develop genuine relationships. Networking, collaborating and learning are all important traits an entrepreneur sho...
Read more