Being Motivated When You're Not

Finals. Probably the last thing anyone wants to think about, but it is a necessary evil. However, this week I have been thinking a lot on our attitudes towards these trials and challenges, and it makes me think that too many times we don't want to do hard things. The millennials have been known for a "I want it now, with no work" type of attitude, and I believe that to an extant we all have this mentality. 

The Key to Success

The key to success is hard work. Hard work really is what gets us from one step of life to another. Life is not easy, and getting a good paying job is not easy. Working hard is the only way to make it in this life. Though that sounds dismal, it really isn't. 

When one works hard, he or she feels a sense of accomplishment when they finish. It is an amazing feeling. Plus, when something is put off and procrastinate it, that adds a lot of stress. You know the feeling, when you have a project due, and because of the nature of the project you don't want to do it; but you know that if you took time to get it done you could go have fun and enjoy the rest of your day. 

That is my goal, to just take my time and use it wisely. I have about 2 weeks left of school and then I am home free. I just need to plow through and do my best. 

read more "Being Motivated When You're Not"

Google Hangouts

So my group and I did a Google hangout to figure things out for our group project, and it was great! Since it is so hard to just get together to talk about the group project meeting virtually is an amazing way to meet without having to physically get together. We got our agenda together and figured out what we had to get done that day so that we could be up-to-date with the project. It was pretty fast and very effective.

read more "Google Hangouts"

The Art of the Presentation

     Whether you want to be a good date, teacher, accountant, or CEO of a company, you need to know how to present. Too many people do not know the in's and out's of presenting, and they are too disconnected from their audience. It does not matter how good or crappy your information is, if you can present well your audience will listen.

Presentation

Why?

Why do you need to know how to present? What if you never give a presentation in your entire professional career? 

Presenting is a lot like selling--if it sounds good you will buy it; it if doesn't you won't. Pretty simple. But, even if you are not a salesperson, selling is what you do. I will explain. Imagine you are in a job interview for your dream career, and the interviewer asks you, "Why are you the best fit for this job?" This is where you start to sell yourself. See, we are all in the sales business, and we all need this skill. So where does the presentation come in?

How?

The presentation is "how" information is transferred. To answer the question above, I could say, "Just look at my resume, no one beats me!" However, that sounds a little cocky, and actually uninformed because the interviewee does not know who else has applied. Let's take another shot at answering the question, "As can be seen in my resume, I meet all of your required qualifications." That is a lot better. Many other answers better than this should be used, but this represents my purpose. The second answer shows a refined interviewee, who is confident in his or her skills. 

Disconnected Audience

Who?

The first step to being a great presenter is knowing "who" you are presenting to. This is knowing your audience. If you do not know who you are presenting to, it is unlikely that you will be a successful presenter. The reason for this is that connecting to your audience is how you create credibility and trust. If the audience trusts you, and believes you to be a credible source of information, they will listen. Tailor everything you say, and how you give your presentation, to the expectations of your audience.

What?

The "what" of a presentation is the content and how it is presented. You could ramble on forever about how great your information is, but no one will listen if it is boring and hard to follow. There are some important steps to follow for this:

     1. Use a Hook

     2. Use Acronyms

     3. Briefly Review

Using a hook brings your audience out of their haze and into your presentation. Without an effective hook, it will be hard to connect to your audience. It will be as if you were speaking directly to a wall. Using the "shock" factor may help with this, but know your audience before you try that. Next, acronyms help the audience remember your presentation. If your presentation is forgotten as they leave, you did not succeed. They must remember it! Create an acronym, or something of the sorts that is memorable. Lastly, briefly review your presentation as a refresher for your audience. Most likely, there was a lot of new information, and the human mind has to hear things more than once to remember it.

Success!

Though there are more things to cover, I will keep this short. Remember the Why, How, Who, and What of the presentation. And remember, be yourself. Be comfortable in your own skin. Becoming comfortable with yourself among strangers is the best way to present. Whether you are going on a date, teaching six graders, or giving a presentation to your firm, these things can be used to successfully present yourself in a credible manner. 

read more "The Art of the Presentation"

Choosing Liberty in Freedom

Braveheart

"FREEEDOOM!" Screamed William Wallace (Mel Gibson) from Braveheart as he fought for the freedom of Scotland. Now, this week was St. Patrick's day, which according to the celebration it has to do with St. Patrick casting out the snakes of Ireland (which according to some sources is not entirely accurate in accordance to Ireland's personal belief on the matter).

However, unlike William Wallace and St. Patrick, we in the United States are all free from tyrants (but not taxes), and we are free to express ourselves according to our beliefs. But liberty is somewhat different, it comes from within. It is an internal freedom to choose your actions and go out to make a difference.

Choosing Liberty
How is this liberty obtained? First, it is being able to overcome the inner turmoils of your soul. One must ask what causes him or her to be restricted (and not by law). Something that stops me every once in a while is fear of what others may think of me. This is an inhibiting way of thinking that causes me to rethink what I want to do, and sometimes to change it completely.

It's About Perspective
Liberty is choosing a perspective that will allow this internal freedom. It's true that many inherently gravitate towards particular types of personalities, but that doesn't mean it has to stay that way. We ultimately can choose to be bigger and better than we are. Now, there may be some limitations; i.e., I can't dunk a 10ft rim and I probably will never be able to. But, these are physical limitations, and we are not specifically talking about that.

Choosing a perspective that says, "I am outgoing and I will take all the opportunities that I can" is not easy for those to whom it does not naturally come. However, the constant, daily choice to do something that says that, and working at it, can change the nature of  said person and allow them more internal freedom of expression. This perspective is seeing the world in different eyes, and becoming a new person.

It's Not Easy
Taking the steps toward a perspective that will allow you to do hard things, and to follow your heart, is not easy. But, finding the ability to do so is called drive. Drive is the having the determination and will power to do something, most likely something difficult. This is not an easy task, but I have found that as I look myself in the mirror every morning I say to myself, "Today will be awesome! You are going to take it on like a boss." Though it sounds weird, it works! The trick is to find what works for you.

Finding liberty in one's life will allow him or her to take on things that they otherwise would never want to do (but most of the time they dream of it). Have you ever dreamed of doing something, but when the opportunity came to actually do it you chickened out? I've done that. Follow your dreams, follow your heart, your desires. You have them for a reason. Take on the world. The only reason you could not do any of them is because you told yourself you couldn't.

read more "Choosing Liberty in Freedom"

Nu Skin Networking Event... What Worked and What Didn't

Yesterday I had the chance to visit Nu Skin's Provo campus and meet professionals from around the area. Needless to say, I was intimidated. I was the only undergrad there, and by far. All the other attendees were 30 years or older. However, I was able to learn some valuable lessons while interacting with all of the attendees.

Bring Business Cards

Nu Skin

First things first, when you have decided to go to a networking event, business cards are a must. It allows you to distinguish yourself from the others in the group, and also gives a reminder to those with whom you spoke who you are.

However, do not give out your cards right away. Give it some time. Something that I noticed is that most people were talking to each other for a good while, and after about 10 minutes did the cards start popping out. Honestly, they all started giving away their cards at almost the same time.

Talk to Others from the Get-Go
It is good to talk to one person for a good while, but be willing to spread yourself around. This is something that I wish I had done better. Once I got comfortable I did not want to talk to anyone else, and it most likely made me look awkward.

Talking to almost all of those that are there will give you better chances of meeting someone that can launch you into a new job or career. According to Russ Harington of the LDS Employment Resource Center, "you can either network, or not work."

Be Yourself
The last lesson that I learned was to be myself. I was having a hard time doing this because I felt so intimidated by the older folk. I didn't know how I should act; I didn't know what I could even bring to the table.

Being yourself includes being confident. Be confident in who you are and that who you are will be a great asset to any company. Know your reasons, have PAR stories to demonstrate that, and act natural. Networking is like an informal interview, you are being interviewed by all the attendees and you are interviewing them. Don't be afraid to ask questions and look for benefits.

Following these three ideas will help most to do well in a networking environment. Networking is a huge part of life, and whether you want it to do well in business, or to just be friendly and get to know others, it is an invaluable skill.

read more "Nu Skin Networking Event... What Worked and What Didn't"

Set Goals to Reach New Heights

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" - Henry David Thoreau

Goal Setting

Have you ever wanted a six-pack, worked out at the gym for a month, dieted like crazy, and after four weeks saw no results? For many bodybuilders and extreme gym-goers goal setting is a must. It is most important to know where they have been so they know where they want to go. Goal setting can be a beneficial habit to form for anyone though, not just for the weight lifters. It allows the performer to evaluate their current status, envision what they want to become, then make a plan to get there. I will use working out as an example of goal setting, but these principles can be used for anything.

Evaluating Yourself

The first step is to see where you are now. Whether it be a business setting, looking at the companies financials, or looking in the mirror with your shirt off, you need to see where you are now.

The best way to evaluate yourself is to begin by being honest with yourself. If you look in the mirror and know you can do better, then that is the beginning of your plan. Being honest with yourself allows you to better evaluate the situation that you are in, thus enabling you to make more effective plans later on. Ask yourself if where you are is where you want to be.

Asking this question will help to introspect, and really delve deep into your own mind to find the correct response. Now I will add that being honest with yourself does not mean to put yourself down. Only be honest, but not critical of yourself.

The Vision

The vision comes directly after the evaluating. Find the "gap" between where you are now and what you want. New-Year resolution-ers have great vision. They all want to be more physically fit, and they usually have a picture in their head of what they want to look like. This is envisioning your goal.

These New-Year resolution-ers pack the gym throughout January, they feel good about themselves because they have been going to the gym every day for the whole month. That is when they look in a mirror and see little results. Discouragement settles in and two weeks later they stop.  

I personally anticipate those people leaving because I am a regular gym goer, and have been for over a year. Every week, almost every day, I have been at the gym. 6-7 in the morning is my sacred time to work out. But why did I make it while so many others quit after a month or two? It all has to do with the planning.

The Plan

There are some essential steps to planning. It is the most important part; it is where the steps to be taken are set, and the whole transformation is made. Here are some steps that must be considered while making a plan:

     1. Make sure you do your research

     2. Start small, then go bigger

     3. Be realistic

Making a plan is where we crunch the numbers. We see what is possible for change, and then we quantify how that change will happen. In the case of working out, we take what we have now and project into the future what we want. We then take what we are and make day by day, week by week plans to reach that goal.

Doing the research is might be the most important step. For a business, it is researching their financials, and the financials of their competitors, growth models, forecasted financials, etc. With physical fitness it is knowing the difference between carbs, fats, and proteins. From there you need to know the different types of each, how they affect the body insulin levels and blood sugar levels, and their relative calorie count. 

Starting small allows for us to ease into a harder lifestyle. For business, it allows the business to get used to certain budget cuts to maximize profits in the long run. In the gym, it is dropping your ego at the door and using weights that you can actually lift. Being realistic is a part of this step. Don't make goals or plans that are too hard, or too strenuous. A company that makes too big of budget cuts may drop the whole company. Gym goers who expect too much of themselves may hurt themselves, or burn themselves out and quit the gym. Do what you can do.

Those who learn to hone the art of goal making, setting, and reaching will go far in life. I have learned this valuable lesson, and it has been reinforced in my spiritual life too. If I make realistic goals to be closer with God, it becomes more possible. I see it happen, and I know it works. Just as I know it works for every other thing in life.

read more "Set Goals to Reach New Heights"

Learning How to Network

Networking

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” 
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

For the past year or so I have found myself wanting to become introverted. Before my mission, I was very outgoing and chipper; however, for one reason or another, coming home made me introvert and lose some of my own identity. 

This is not good from a business standpoint. I love accounting, but I don't want to be that guy sitting in a corner with a green visor, punching numbers all day not ever talking to anyone. In fact, I do not see myself as being an accountant for the rest of my life. I had skills to do other things, go elsewhere; and ultimately, I want to make a difference in this world.

Recently, while wishing I could change my mannerisms, I came upon the book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People", by Dale Carnegie. From the first chapter I was hooked, and it has begun to change my life. It opened my eyes to the beauty of talking to others and how this can fit into the networking world of business.

Dale Carnegie

There are three things that have been a main take-away from this book about networking. Here are those three things:

          1. Always focus on others,

          2. Everyone wants to feel important, and

          3. Always be sincere

Sounds like being a good friend doesn't it? Well that is the essence of networking. I think that too many people focus on, "What can others do for me?" when they want to network instead of, "What can I do for others." The latter is the most important question, because if we keep trying to get others to help us and never help in return, then we will become a nagging fly on the wall, always wanting something. 

Dale Carnegie wrote, “Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.” This I am finding to be the key to networking. Stop focusing on yourself, and focus on them. They will love to talk your ear off, and not only will you fain a network, but you will gain a friend.

As a last note, don't drop someone just because they didn't help you. Networking must be more than yourself. The beauty of networking is that it builds friendships. Friendships last a life-time. The best skill someone could develop is how to make others like them and how to make others feel important, then to always stay in contact.

Networking is a skill, developed in love. In essence, it is friendship.

read more "Learning How to Network"

BEARDS FOR BYU... Maybe.

Gimli?

Throughout the last year I have noticed that many of the students at BYU want to wear their beards. They understand that the honor code at BYU is strict, yet there is a lot of protest to that (see Beards for BYU on Facebook). Students throughout BYU are surely thinking about the possibility of beards being brought back to BYU, but no one knows for sure.

The real question is, why are beads banned from BYU? Beards were banned somewhere in the 1960's because of the counter-culture that was appearing. Longer hairstyles and beards were big, and the school administration did not see this as a good thing. So, beards were banned. Yet with a school that is professed to live the standards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, then why the beards?

From Pinterest

First observation. Beards cannot be worn by temple workers. Second, General authorities cannot have beards. Third, full-time missionaries must be clean shaven. What do all of these people have in common? They represent the Lord. I find it very interesting that anyone in a position to represent the Savior must be clean shaven. Why is that? Is it because the Savior is clean shaven?

I cannot say a thing about that last question, but the answer to this came from Brother Brau's class in Finance 201. The reason why we don't wear beards is to not distract from out purpose of pointing others to Him. Now, I am not saying that this is true for all people, but I ask the reader to look inside him or herself and ask, "When others see me, do they think more of Him or of me? Do I glorify God, or myself?" 

"Ye are the light of the world," (St. Matthew 5:14) Christ taught. So if we are a light to the world, what light to we emulate? This has nothing to do anymore with just beards, but everything that we do. The way we speak, the way we treat others, and even ourselves. Do we reflect the Lord Savior in all that we do and are? 

This is much bigger than having beards or not, it is whether we are we willing to remember Him in all that we do. I have learned this lesson this week, and I hope that it is some inspiration to whoever is reading it. I wish to try my best to live up to the standards that I set for myself, so that I may be worthy of Him.

read more "BEARDS FOR BYU... Maybe."

It's Time to Accept Failure

The Rolling Stones may just have had it right with their hit song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Click Here for SoundClip) A title that demonstrates the frustrations of life. It shows the difficulties faced by the human race that act with more than instinct, but with desire.

I have many things that I want. Money, good job, wife, be accepted into the Accounting program at BYU, etc. These are only a beginning of a never ending list of wants and desires. However, life doesn't always play out how we want it to. Something that I am learning to cope with is to accept failure. 

What is Failure?

Failure consists of two points: one is from a lack or inability to perform; i.e., trying to ice-skate but failing. The other, is completely separate from what we do; it is when outside forces cause a failed situation; i.e., the stock market crashes and you loose money (a big failure, but it was based on something that was out of your control). Now, the later may be better than the first, but most of the time when one fails they will ask him or herself, "what if". These "what if" questions stem from the failure and usually go as follows, "What if I had studied more?", or "What if I had sold my stock earlier?" These "What if" questions are dangerous and should be avoided.

I failed this week, I had a big test, an important test, and I did not do well. It hurt me because I felt I had adequately prepared; I also felt pretty good walking out of the testing center to go see my score. However, once I saw the score on the screen my hopes dropped and so did my demeanor. I was crushed. This happens to many people, and there is only one thing to do after a failure like this, move on.

It's Time to Accept Failure

Failure, when it has already happened, needs to be accepted. At the point of failure there is no return, and we must learn to say, "That's okay". Life isn't about to end. Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Edison had the right idea, to take what was given then find another way. When failure enters our lives we mustn't think that it is the end of the road, but look for another road that will lead to success. Barak Obama, when he ran against Bobby Rush for congress he got his “rear end handed to [him].” (NY Times) But if we look at Obama now he is the President of the United States.

This is my call to action, to face defeat with an attitude of optimism. When failure happens it is not the end of the road, and I wish to see myself rise above it. Many of the most successful people in the world had faced failure. We have only failed when we have given up. 

read more "It's Time to Accept Failure"

Learn to Love, Love to Learn

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

- Mahatma Gahndi (Read more quotes here)

Life happens. Honestly, I do not know what that is supposed to mean, but it is a quote that is used a fair amount. But I would state something else, "I make life happen." That is more how I like it. Life does not just happen, it is not a thing that imposes consequences on our heads. Life is something to be lived; something to live for. Life is beautiful; life is short. If we were to just sit down and say, "Well, life will happen" then what would we have at the end of our lives? Life as I see it has three components: (1) Become stronger, (2) Love deeper, and (3) Learn more.

 Become stronger. God did not intend for us to wander aimlessly here on earth; that is something that I do not believe. We are meant for something greater, something magnificent. We are magnificent. All of us. No matter how insignificant or powerless we feel there is someone who will always believe in us--God. This I have learned this week, through trials and questions. Sometimes we ask why life is so hard; we ask why there are so many trials and difficulties. Some would respond "Life happens", but this is to think that we cannot do anything about the circumstances put on us. However, I disagree. Henry Ford once stated, "Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward." When life gives you lemons you take the lemon you make lemonade, you extract the seeds, you take the seeds and plant them, and soon you have a lemon tree, then an orchard of lemon trees and you make gallons of lemonade. That is what I believe. We take the trials given to us and we make them our strengths.

Click Here

Learn to love. Christ taught "love one another .... " (St. John 15:12, KJV Bible). What does it mean to love others? My girlfriend, who is a great example of love, has taught me this lesson this week: the more you give the more you receive. So, the more love we give to others the more we receive in return. It is the law of the harvest. If we do nothing but expect love to return to us we will be greatly disappointed. I can be better at this. I saw a quote the other day that said this, "Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody."

I have a tendency to want to introvert myself; I have to fight to want to be outgoing and reach out to others. It is not something that I am particularly proud of. From what my girlfriend taught me this week though I know that if I keep trying the feeling will come in return. Learning to love is actually a hard task. Love is confused as a rush of emotions, an overwhelming feeling that we get when we are close to that person who we are attracted to. But this I have learned is not love. Love is more than a feeling, it is an action. We learn to love others as we serve them and make them feel that they are important to this world.

Love to learn. This lesson sometimes is the hardest for me to learn (ironic right?). Learning is a life-long process, something that starts but never stops. I have learned this week that our perspective on learning can be changed. We can choose to love to learn something new, no matter what it is. If we make it our life goal to learn all that we can while here we will find hidden treasures of knowledge all along the way. To become a good learner is the most prized possession anyone could have. Those who learn to love learning can in turn learn all things. They can learn from trials, from failures, from success, and from God. They can learn to love, to write, to do almost anything they put there minds to.

Learning is the essence of all things that we do. We learned to walk and talk from infancy, and we continue to learn if we allow ourselves to. We can learn to love others, and to extend that love. We can learn from our trials, and make ourselves better today than what we were yesterday. We can love learning, and grow exponentially. This I have learned, and I wish to extend into all areas of my life, to want to learn all.

read more "Learn to Love, Love to Learn"

Kindness

"Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle"

Life is hard. Yet many times we tend to forget that life is also hard for others. If you look on social media most of the posts from your friends are happy pictures, inspirational quotes, and links to how others have overcome hardships. However, we rarely think that our friends may be the ones that are suffering just like the blog posts that we read. 

On Wednesday night, while traveling to California with my sister, we talked about many things. One of the things that came up was how many people, parents of families that we have known since childhood, got divorced last year. She also talked about many of her friends that were getting divorced because of their husbands addiction to pornography. While talking about these things it just hit home how real the hardships of life really are, and how it can happen to all of us. Hence the quote above, "Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." We never know, whether it be our friends or just a random person driving alongside us on the freeway, what those around us are going through. If we could just be kind to all those we come in contact with we would find greater happiness and peace with ourselves and spread love to others at an amazing rate.

What tends to be harder is to be kind when we are going through hard times. Yet another quote comes to mind for this as well, "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

Do we really think that it is always possible to be kind? What about the times that we are having the roughest day ever, and then someone decides to be mean to us? Is it just to be kind to them as well? Yes. In fact, it may be that the other is just being mean because they too are having a bad day. Though this is a hard concept to enact, this is something that I wish to do every day, think of ways to be kind to others whenever possible, so that I may be the means by which others can be made happy.

If we wish to help others we must show them that we care, and to end I wish to repeat the words of Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Love is spelt T.I.M.E."

read more "Kindness"

Stress.

                                                

Have you ever felt that life was just burning you to the ground? One of those fires for me is stress, and when stress enters my life it also tends to be the best time for me to learn something about myself. 

On Wednesday morning I woke up to realize that I am going to miss the first test in my Finance 201 class. Not the best way to start my day. The stress levels rose as I thought about my family and how they expected me to arrive on Thursday to go to a long planned trip to Disneyland. I talked to my mom about the situation and after some thinking and researching the ultimatum came: Do I go or do I stay. 

Well, the first would be fine because in my class my lowest test score can be dropped. But, my worry was if this test would be the easiest out of all the tests, dropping this one would be more advantageous for my grade. Other stresses also entered into my head, but then I came to the conclusion that I needed to ask someone who would know my potential, someone who can look into the future and let me know if my decision to spend time with my family would be right. I asked God.

Soon after asking I came to feel that going to Disneyland would be good for me and for my relationship with my family. I realized that I was too stressed about school and because of that I was not performing to the best of my ability. There is a difference between good stress and bad stress, but I won't get into that. This lesson taught me how important God is in attending to the every day of our lives; He cares about our stresses, issues, and problems. We are so important to Him that He takes time for all of us. If there is one thing that I learned this week is that God takes care of those who believe in Him. He taught me that I was becoming too stressed about school and not focusing on my relationships that I had with my family and my girlfriend. I needed to think more about them. I knew that if I did He would provide the rest. And so it has been during the rest of the week, He has provided.

read more "Stress."

The First Week of Winter Semester

My first week of Winter Semester has been very similar to those of earlier semesters, stressful. With that stress I found myself wishing I was no longer in school. The Christmas break did not seem long enough for me, and I wished for my leisure. However, the new semester had already started and I knew that I had to move on with life and change my attitude.

I love my classes; I think that they are all really great and will give me the opportunities that I need to learn so I can be successful. However, since my classes are harder this semester I feel the task to do well is somewhat daunting. However, I learned a valuable lesson this week from one of my professors that I hope to never forget. Brother Stice, my accounting professor, taught to the class the importance of reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. As he was telling of this importance, I thought to myself that many times I try to rely on myself to do well in classes, but instead of putting God’s work first and doing what He would have me do, I put homework, projects, and studying first. I had not realized that I was not doing my part with God to do well in school. This week I realized that, and though there are many other things that I learned throughout this week, about writing, accounting, finance, etc. I deem this lesson to be of most value: to put God first in all things, and then all things will work out. I wish to put this into practice in my day to day life by studying at least 30 minutes the Book of Mormon, the scriptures, Conference talks, etc.

This semester is going to be great!

read more "The First Week of Winter Semester"