Last Lecture

If you had to give one final lecture in life, what would you say? What important knowledge would you want to impart to the world? This was what my last assignment was for my entrepreneurial class. Although it was written for students beginning their entrepreneurial journey, I thought I would share with all of you today.

If I had to give advice to someone wanting to begin the entrepreneur journey, these would be the things that I would try to pass along:

1.      You can live a life full of meaning and purpose. Dream big dreams. Begin the journey today. Jeff Sandefer has said, “If you want to be a hero, you must decide to be a person who acts, rather than a person who says “I can’t.” You can. You can make deliberate choices that will change your life.”

2.      Decide NOW who you are and what you stand for. When temptations and trials come, you have already decided what lines you will not cross. Clayton Christensen said “it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.” In Matthew 16:26 it says, “For what is a man profited, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what should a man give in exchange for his soul?”

3.      Your family is important. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.”

4.      It is important to surround yourself with good people: people who will strengthen your weaknesses, people who will not abandon you when things get hard, people who will give their honest opinions, but will support your decision once it is made, people who will mentor you along the journey, and people who will provide good internships.

5.      Elder Gay counseled business students not to base their businesses on the world’s capitalistic marketplace. Instead he challenged them to base their business on higher principles – those of consecration and service. Our purpose? To Go To The Rescue. Clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. (Jacob 2:19) He also warned that if we are not doing the work Heavenly Father wants us to do, then whatever we are doing doesn’t really matter, even if we are helping millions of people. It doesn’t matter if it is not what the Lord wants you to do.

Although the journey is a difficult one, you can be successful if you remember that God has blessed you so that you can help others. You can make a difference in this world. You can live a life full of meaning and be on the Hero’s Journey. Are you ready to begin? Go to the Rescue.

What would you want to say in your last lecture? Please comment below and let us know!