Childhood Dreams

July 24, 2023

This week we read a last lecture given by Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University. The topic was Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. At the time of the lecture, Randy had stage four cancer and was told he had months to live. 

There are two quotes from the lecture that stood out to me. One was:

"When you are screwing up and no one is saying anything anymore, that means that gave up. Your critics are that ones telling you they still love you and care."

This is a great reminder to embrace and welcome feedback.  The people who have thin skin and are easily offended to do grow and are blocking themselves from people that are trying to help them. Through Randy successes in accomplishing his childhood dreams, he proved he did not have thick skin and grew from the feedback and opportunities for improvement and growth that we given to him.

Another quote that inspired me was:

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people."

Randy was determined to find a way for success. He was not motivated by money. He was motivated by passion and a curiosity that led him to great things.

His childhood dreams of being in zero gravity, or being a Disney Imagineer were far fetched and accurately labeled as dreams. But they were not passing childhood whims for Randy, they were defining and motivating visions that led to him becoming a man of success. I think what is beautiful about Randy is he not only create and demanded a safe space for him to dream, but he shared that space with others and encouraged their dreams.

Randy gave great credit to his parents and mentors. He then worked to be a mentor like that to others. Both Randy and I know that dreams are important. Where can we grow if we are content with what is available. 

When I was little, I dreamed of being a mother and running a house. I also wanted to be a chorister that wears hats, a dance teacher, and a midwife. I have been blessed to be a wife, a mother and run a household. I have also been a doula, which is a professional labor couch who assists women deliver their babies. I have often been a chorister and I have a vast hat collection. I have never been a dance teacher, but I have attended many dance lessons and taken my children to dance classes. All of those dreams were realized because they were more than just dreams. They were talents and interests that were displayed early in my life. The talents used to complete these dreams are still defining attributes of me.

Each of us are given distinct talents and ideas that we can develop. It helps to have a place where they can grow and people that encourage them, but I believe that determination and willingness to learn from mistakes and feedback can get us there too. In this, you can see that each of us has within us the seeds of entrepreneurship. We can choose to allow ourselves to imagine our own world. What would it be like? Who would be with you? What would we do? How would it feel? How would you involve others? What resources do you need and how will you get them? Just think on that for a moment or longer. That is it. That is a light and power that only you have. Only you can bring it to life. What is beautiful is that we have more than one spark or dream within us. Sometimes they are related and others not, but they are all worthy of exploration and discovery.

We are never too old to dust off a childhood dream or to dream up something more. That is one of my dreams is to create spaces of sharing, healing, and dreaming for the people within my span of influence. I dare you to explore. Explore the thoughts and dreams of mini you. Given them life by giving them space to grow. As you do, you might find that you are still there. It is still you. Allow your dreams to come true.

Here is a link to Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo

To the Edge of All the Light I Have

July 22, 2023

 

I have yet to know the direction this blog will take. It is starting as part of an assignment in a condensed summer course for BYUI. The posts will largely be focused on my lessons learned and needed on my entrepreneurial journey. I completed reading articles and watching videos as an intro to the course. It appears that the course will be more of a self-discovery path than a how to start a business course. I am excited about that. I have taken several ‘how to start a business’ classes. I have found in myself and in others, just knowing the steps that are needed to start does not mean you will take the step.

Just this week I was at a water park. There was a woman on a high platform that was prepared to take the leap into the deep end of the pool. The platform was high, so high you needed to sign a waiver before attempting the leap. Many people of all sizes and ages had completed the leap before her. I had observed as she took a hesitant leap off the average high dive. My son had mentioned, it looks like it has been a few years since that mom jumped off a diving board. That is why I was a bit surprised to see her on the platform, several feet higher than her last jump. She had a husband and a son cheering her on with cameras aimed at capturing her brave leap. She tried a running start a few time and a just step off the edge, with nose pinched, she tried to summon the courage a few times but failed to gather the courage each time. She allowed others to go before her, her husband climbed up and offered to jump with her, even teasing to push her in. Ultimately, he jumped alone and she climbed back down the stairway and exited the platform on sure ground.

As I read and watched the articles today, my thoughts turned back to her and identified with her. I have two strong business ideas. I know the next steps to take, yet I am hesitant to take that leap. I can feel the exhilaration and I am certain the woman did on the platform, running to the edge and then stopping. As an onlooker, I was thinking, "just do it." I am sure the people I have shared my ideas with are thinking the same of me. Yes, it is a great idea. Start! Move!

I am reminded of a thought by Patrick Overton about faith:

When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:

There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly.

We each started Earth life as entrepreneurs. We each came to the end of all the light we knew. Through time, each person has had to create a path, build a form of self-reliance, and take a leap. 

Some life path entrepreneurs stop at the basic diving board or one step up high dive. They are content with staying in that realm of what they know. Others keep pushing to the edge of all the light they have and expanding it.

In an article called Living Life as an Entrepreneurial Hero Jeff Sandefer said:

 "All good stories have endings. And the climax is usually a surprise. In life, you don’t know exactly where the story is going, and that’s part of the mystery.

 I do know, from talking with many entrepreneurs who are further along in their journeys, that near the end, you are likely to ask three questions: 

1. Did I accomplish something meaningful? 

2. Was I a good person? 

 3. Who did I love and who loved me? 

Nothing about money, or fame, or power. Because money will come, and if you are lucky, you will make it your servant, not your master, and avoid the ruin that chasing after fame and power bring. I know that none of us will ever stop looking for that next challenge. Because, unlike so many who are resentfully stuck in the past, entrepreneurs long for the future, act in the present, and learn from the past."

In this blog over the next 7 weeks or beyond, I will attempt to share the challenges I am seeking, the lessons I am learning that propel me forward, and what gaps in my understanding or faith I identify as holding me back.

I invite you to take a brave step into the darkness with me as I extend the barriers of light I know.

 As for something I do not know, I do not know why some of the paragraphs have a white background. I have tried to remove it without success. I am open to suggestions on how to remove it so that it has the same text background color as the other paragraphs.