Christian A. Thompson - Reflections

 This week has been so full of learning, it's hard to pinpoint what the most important parts are. Many of my thoughts here will be somewhat disconnected. During this week, it was a great benefit to me to review Steven Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I had read this during high school, and it was very instrumental in helping me shape my life and improving myself. Many of the principles and ideas are continually on my mind. I could say I have applied many of the habits in my life and internalized the ideas. I know I also have to improve on many of these things. Instead of beating myself down about it, I see my lack as opportunities to improve. It's better to know what I need to improve so I can make the needed changes, instead of not knowing what I need to improve, and continue making mistakes in ignorance. Reading Mastery has also provided great instruction. The main theme of the book is similar to Steven's habit of "beginning with the end i...

 I've been asking myself, "Do I really want to be an entrepreneur?" Does the entrepreneurial approach really align well with my long-term goal? Of course it can. I can take my career in many directions, all of which are good. There are many desires that I have that are worthy desires. But the perplexity is over whether I want to work as an employee for another company or start my own company and be my own boss. I know some of the great things I want to do; the obstacle that I feel is causing me some anxiety is not yet knowing who to work with.  With my desire to be a seminary or institute teacher, do I need to pursue setting up my own business? Or am I looking to increase my set of skills for my brothers' businesses? Of course I want to see their businesses succeed, but should I invest fully, rather than volunteering to help periodically? These are questions I will continue to ponder on, and either way, I will increase my knowledge in both these areas. Improving mysel...

  This week's primary lesson asked the question: Does success rely upon Skill, Character or Luck? And the conclusion was perseverance.  I think we need to back up a bit further. Perseverance alone is not a virtue if not coupled with quality character. If your aim is to do good, bring about righteousness, and honor God, perseverance is a quality that will bring about good. On the flip side, if someone is dishonest, deceitful, selfish and doesn't regard the welfare of others, or opposed faith in Christ and seeks to destroy the Church and take advantage of others, perseverance becomes a vice, and should be replaced with repentance and humility. Perseverance in the wrong direction is the same as persisting in wickedness. Perseverance in the right direction is faith and fortitude. I believe that the content of one's character ought to be right first, before infusing the principle of persistence. One must align themselves aright before running the race, else they run the wrong di...

The lessons I've been learning are so important, and I want to continue to deepen my understanding until I learn them in full. An important time of learning for me was while I was creating my core value statements. These seem to be things that I have always believed and known to be right, but it means even more when being specific and direct about it. As I shared in my essay, i t is my belief that all virtues are integral and interdependent, and that the application of one virtue will naturally increase the presence of all other virtues. Virtues and principles of truth do not compete against each other, but rely upon one another to draw him who lives them towards God in every aspect. No virtue can exist in isolation, for one cannot cleave to one principle of truth and reject another and remain true, and that virtue will become a vice. This week has been difficult for me as I try to adjust to juggling more responsibilities than I am accustomed to. I expect this to be a common theme ...

 10-01-2022 This has been an interesting week, and particularly meaningful for me. During this week's studies of Honesty and Business Ethics, I realized that the Lord has been guiding me a lot in the right direction. It has been a point of mine to always be honest in my interactions. It is a personal guideline for me. I had already been pondering the core of the doctrine of honesty even before reading or watching this week's lessons. But something that really stood out to me this week was the devotional speech given by Sheri Dew, "True Blue, Through and Through", in which the primary focus was being true to who I really am. It caused me to introspect even more purposefully and do some uncomfortable soul-searching about what it means to be a true disciple of Christ, to not live a double standard or betray myself, my family, my friends or my Lord, even for a moment or over something seemingly trivial. This has been a primary focus in my life, and a strong desire in my p...