W03 - Honesty and Business Ethics

Week three has been both fun and inspiring. I especially liked the Launching Leaders videos where Jim Ritchie explains the Formula for Success and Happiness. Seeing the three step programs to two men like David B. Haight and J Paul Getty combined into a single formula really drove a couple of points home for me. 

First: Always have a plan, even if the current step of the plan is to wait.

               I love personal productivity tools like processes, apps, websites, books, podcasts, etc. I LOVE THEM. I think it’s because, as a young man, I was incredibly disorganized, constantly late, and a complete underachiever. I was perfectly content to float along in life playing baseball and relying on talents instead of working towards goals. But life (and God) have a way of forcing you to grow up. The book “Seven Habits for Highly Effective People” changed my life. But not because I was inspired or follow the habits. It just made me focus on myself and my shortcomings.

               Now, I teach organization, time-management, and process improvement as part of my job responsibilities. For me, having goals and a plan is a critical step in getting your life in order. No Plan? No Goals? No chance…

Second: Getting up early is wildly under-rated… it really works.

               Getting up early is amazing. It really is. Not because I’m “beating the competition” to the mark. No. for me getting u pearly is my time to decompress. Like many adults, I wear far too many hats to really be effective at any one thing. I’m a husband, father of three, soon to be Grandfather, I work a full-time job, I run my own side company, I serve on the High Council in my Stake, I’m taking several classes this term, and Lacrosse starts in two weeks. I typically go to bed about midnight and I get up every morning between 4:45 and 5am.

               That hour of solitude is time that I really need. I can read scriptures, plan my day, go for a walk or a run, or even just mediate. But this time helps me hit my day running.

Third: Making your Mark requires faith and inspiration.

               Making your mark is something I struggled with for a very long time. Until I sought help from God. As it turned out… I was trying to make my mark in the wrong place. You know the parable of the talents? I was sitting on five coins, but I was working on things that wouldn’t turn them into ten. I didn’t have a phenomenal spiritual experience; I just got an answer to a question and I tried to act on it. That was three years ago, and my life ever since has had more meaning and satisfaction than I ever had before.

               Making your mark doesn’t have to be about putting your stamp of this world. Making your mark can be a something more eternal than that.

Ultimately, combining inspired spiritual advice like David B. Haight's with proven business practices like J. Paul Getty's can, and should, lead to a life of ethically earned success. I look forward to seeing what else I learn in this class.