Christian A. Thompson - Reflections

During an assignment, there was a question posed as to whether I would consider the risks of entrepreneurship worth it or not worth it. The risks of entrepreneurship are always present. The level and scope of risk is different depending on the type of business or company you’re going into, and at what stage it is at. Risks are always important, though there is a difference between risk-taking and stupidity. Whether a new idea is worth the risk needs to be evaluated from time to time, and appropriate course-corrections made. There is always risk, but it depends on how much risk you’re willing to take and when and why. There is always a chance that a new idea will fail, but there is also a chance it will succeed. If you want to avoid all risk, then you will also avoid all success. Avoiding risk makes failure much more likely. What kind of risks are involved? There are the risks of an unstable income for an uncertain amount of time, the lack of benefits such as insurance or time off. Ther

 "Business is about service and about rescue." There are three important concepts I learned from this weeks study: 1. Business should never be focused on profit only, but have a mission of bettering the lives of others. "Business is about service and rescue."  This first concept is important to me because it has been my objective to live my life in fulfillment of the covenant of consecration, to give all I can for the building up of the Kingdom of God. In my view, if a business or company does not serve the actual needs of people, it is a failing business. So many businesses are built up to provide luxury and ease, but I want to do something that actually helps people and is therefore worthwhile.  2. Everyone is creative, and anyone can succeed. Nobody is required to limit themselves to working for others.  This second concept is important to me because I want to see more people succeed and thrive. For those working in a corporate environment, they have the blinders

 Thanksgiving was this week. I think the lessons for this week were very fitting for the occasion. There are some great quotes from this week's lessons that stood out to me. "Gratitude and generosity go together." - Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness "Surprisingly, professing concern for the plight of the poor is not correlated with helping them. Those who advocate government redistribution turn out to give far less to charitable causes than the average citizen. It is not calling on others to sacrifice that matters, what matters is direct personal action. Giving your time and your money to another human being is one of the most powerful ways to develop your own sense of gratitude." This is also the crucial difference between Communism and Consecration. Consecration involves direct, personal action. It involves giving your own time and your own money. And it is key that this giving be voluntary, compelled only by the power of conscious conversion to the p

This has been an interesting week. Being sick with the flu all week has not been easy. It also make it difficult to get some assignments done, such as interviewing an entrepreneur. My original interviewee changed his schedule and could only interview next week, which would mean I couldn't get my assignment done in time, so I had to scramble and change plans. I was able to interview my brother over the phone, which turned out to be a very good experience.  Here are some highlights from this week's study materials: "Dream Big Dreams" Do not underestimate yourself. If you involve the Lord, you can do the impossible. "It's a whole lot more fun to do great things than to just be good, or to just be mediocre, and it's no harder to be great than it is to be good." "There is a passion and a joy about creating. It's really great getting a product out in the world and seeing people use it." 20% time: When you spend 20% of your time doing somethin

This week has been challenging, though not so much as far as the subject matter is concerned. In fact, it sometimes feels like I'm reviewing concepts that I already know and have heard before in different times and places. What can make homework really difficult is a splitting headache and incessant cough. It's been hard to focus, and sleep is also difficult. Nevertheless, I press on. It's when I'm not feeling my best that I have to really believe in myself and not give up on my goals or fall behind. Some things I learned this week are about how I can connect with those around me, both online and with those in my family and local community. It is easy to feel isolated as an online student, and it seems that many resources are not as readily available. They are available, but it  I appreciate what I've learned this week about leadership. It adds more drops and even spoonfuls to my lamp of faith and knowledge, that true leadership is not about self-aggrandizement or p

 This week has been quite interesting, though it has felt like more of a plateau.  In conversations with members of my family over this week, we discussed why contracts in business are so important. Even if you trust someone, a written agreement or contract will help you avoid being taken advantage of. This is applicable to both people you already trust and people you have not established trust with. If you want to do business with someone, if you do not sign any kind of official contract, you are enabling others to take advantage of you, and you will not be able to get any recourse.  I also was able to discuss the importance of an education, learning both the advantages of having an education as well as the disadvantages of not having one. And by "an education", I specifically mean a degree, and do not mean intelligence. There's often a bid difference. For my mother, she sacrificed the opportunity of getting a degree for herself so that she could support my father as he