A Tough Battle to Face and Putting Trust in the Lord

Everyone has challenges in their lives. 

I think the true test of courage and strength is getting through it.

In our coursework this week we watched a video called "However Long and Hard the Road". I've seen this video several times and each time it gives me motivation to get through trials. The father, though this hardship happened a second time, returned for help. He had to face forward and keep moving. Nothing good would come of him waiting on the side of the road for another car to come by. He had to press through himself.

In our careers there will be MANY battles to face. But we are here to be tested, and part of that test is how well we will handle things. We will meet people we don't exactly get along with, we will have to decide at times whether or not to be true, and more. It will all be some of the most difficult things we will have to go through.

Another thing that is important to remember is that we have to give our 100% even if it's not enough. Because then Christ will make up the rest. That's what his Atonement is here for. 

We have been given so many tools to help us through our lives, whether that be spiritually or temporally. We have the internet, scriptures, prayer, fast forms of communication and more. 

We have the world at our fingertips. Success won't come to our doorstep. We have to put our trust in the Lord and give our all through each and every trial. Because at the end when we see our Savior in the eternities it will all be worth it. 

Mountains and Valleys

You know that feeling you get when you just climbed a mountain and you are standing there at the highest point breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the view? Isn’t that one of the most rewarding feelings?

The valleys though aren’t as great. They are flat forever and you are just dreading that hill you are going to have to climb in the future.

In The Dip he uses several different metaphors to explain his point about quitters and winners. I love the cover of the book. A little man about to climb this HUGE and STEEP hill. 

Before the mountain comes we don’t know if we will be able to make it. Sometimes we can’t even see the mountain because of obstructions in our way. We could be lost wandering in circles in the valley. In our careers sometimes we feel stuck with no progression towards the top. And sometimes we don’t know where to go or what to do to get out of it. 

But somehow, we take that different turn, or we keep walking and we find the mountain side. 

And then we work our hardest to climb that steep mountain. And we reach the top.

In high school I was a part of the top choir in my school. My senior year we competed in Seattle, Washington. In preparation we worked very hard. And I can’t even count how many times we were in valleys, personally and as a whole group. But when we performed that piece after all of that hard work it wasn’t even like there was an audience and judges. It was a feeling I won’t forget. When we won the huge trophy we were so excited because all of that hard work had paid off.

The Top of the Mountain wouldn’t be worth it if we didn’t have the valleys and obstructions. We wouldn’t get the same feeling if we were just taken to the top by a helicopter. Because we wouldn’t be able to look down at that mountainside and think, “ I climbed that. And now I’m at the top.” And we wouldn’t be able to look at all those other mountains around us and think, “ I climbed this one, so I can climb all of them no matter how many valleys I have to go through.”

Overcoming the Natural Man

The natural man has many weaknesses.

We are lazy sometimes. We hate having too many responsibilities. We dislike making decisions.

Mastery isn't just receiving a blackbelt in karate.

MASTERY is overcoming our natural weaknesses and accomplishing something grand. Something no one else could do unless they put aside those natural weaknesses and worked hard.

Entrepreneurship is the career of YOU. In order to be a successful entrepreneur you have to overcome your weaknesses to accomplish something big.

Humans are at a constant race to improve themselves. We are built that way. Some people improve their appearance to get places in life. Others go to ivy league schools to get that huge job as CEO at a big company. Some work out at the gym for 3 hours a day to improve their physique. In some way or another each human is working towards some goal.

Each person has their weaknesses to overcome on their own path to self- mastery.

I've found that I'm not the most patient. When I do something I prefer to have the results come immediately. But through my career choice I have learned that I must wait. I have to wait and work hard to get the results I want in the end. In every aspect of my life I have to wait.

I have also found that I am not an attentive person. In order to keep me focused I have to be allowed to do multiple things at once. I can assure you that as I write this I have done several other things in the middle of it.

Now these things can be good things. Because I'm not so patient I work harder to get the results faster. Because I am not very attentive I've become pretty good at multi-tasking and keeping calm in hectic situations.

Self Mastery is a lifelong journey or LEARNING.

What is SUCCESS?

When I was little I always thought that being rich and famous was the only way to be deemed “successful” and “free”. But boy was I wrong!

In our first reading from this week it states: 

“Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges. Paul Harvey, the famous news analyst and author, once said: “Someday I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that someone will ask me, ‘What’s the secret of it?’ I shall say simply this: ‘I get up when I fall down.’”

 “Entrepreneurial success isn’t about money; it’s about freedom. The goal isn’t to make more than you need, it’s to spend less than you make. Because that way your free time belongs to you.”

Success is not being a billionaire. 

Success to me comes from being able to provide well for my family. Success is the trip to London that I can fully pay for without going into debt. Success is being able to take a day off. Success is having freedom. 

It’s more than being rich.

To earn this success we have to work hard. We have to get up when we fall. We have to be in permanent beta mode.

But my success will not come all at once. It will slowly build and form.