A Journey of Gratitude

Last week of our Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, a short week and loaded with great lessons. Out of all the material, two of them grabbed my attention. They struck my mind: An Attitude of Gratitude by President Thomas S. Monson and the entrepreneur journey of Randy Haykin.

President Monson reminded me that a grateful heart brings more blessings, peace, and joy to our life. A simple exercise suggested in one of our beloved hymns, “Count your Blessings,” is to: “Count your many blessing; name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done…” It is true; you only find out how many things you have taken by granted only after counting your blessing, listing them one by one. The human tendency is to focus on the setbacks and adverse incidents ignoring there are many more positive things happening day by day in our life. President Monson reflects in his conference talk about our gratitude for our mothers, fathers, teachers, spouse, and friends, for our country, and overall, for our Savior Jesus Christ.

I also feel deep gratitude for classes like this one, for the great tool they come to be in our entrepreneur journey. I am ready to go and revise my path to gain more knowledge and experience in aspects I ignored in the past. I feel more confident to become and grow to the stature of my full potential following directions received through this class.

Then we learned about Randy Haykin, someone that we can relate to. Father of three daughters with his wife Patricia, of eleven years of marriage. Like many of us, he placed a high priority on spending quality time at home with his family, despite “…entrepreneurs mentors warning him that it is impossible to start a company and have a family that still loves you in the process.” He showed them wrong by learning to balance work, family, and physical and spiritual health.

Randy’s learning process did not stop with his graduation from Harvard Business School, setting a good example for us. Each setback, every new idea, was a learning opportunity continuously climbing his ladder to more knowledge and experience.

I am grateful for this week because I learn many lessons applicable to my actual life and business. It is a confirmation that I can become what the best that can be and help others in the process.