Self-Mastery

         This week’s learning was all about becoming an entrepreneur. I read about self-mastery and how the best victory there is is to conquer self. Other things I read about were some strategies of entrepreneurship that can work for someone like me and the need to set clear rules or guidelines to balance my life. These lessons are important to me because they will help me become the person I am meant to become. In matters of self-mastery, according to N. Eldon Tanner, there are two important parts. One was to determine your course of moral standards and second was willpower. I liked this because, in previous lessons, I learned about and set ethical guardrails and I think the first part about self-mastery is the same thing and the second is the ability to carry your plan forward, no matter what, a stick-to-it attitude. I would like to think I have great self-control in these matters, but I’m sure I have a lot to learn in that area of discipline. One area of self-mastery I need to work on is doing what I said I will do, especially when I say it to myself. That is a goal I have set to become better at self-mastery.

             Another thing I learned this week that I was excited about was that starting a business as an entrepreneur doesn’t require a business plan or extensive analysis. Some entrepreneurs see an opportunity and they seize the moment without a lot of pre-planning. I feel good in knowing that people are successful without doing a lot of advance preparation because that is what my husband and I are doing in creating our own business. We did a lot of site and building planning, but in matters of our business plan, we just wanted to build and rent out recreational cabins, we found land and we just started the process. We will need to make plans as we go, but since our project will take a few years to get operational, we just needed to get it started without a ton of business development beforehand. I think it will all work out.
           The last thing I read about that had an impact on me was the advice given in the videos to establish rules or guidelines to balance personal and work life. Being an entrepreneur sometimes can mean that you are working all the time. I liked the counsel given from one presenter that he always ate dinner with his kids and put them to bed. Family time is important to me as well, and although my kids are older, I need to set boundaries around work and family life so that I will make sure to spend quality time with them. I think making rules in how you will balance your life is also linked to self-mastery and I plan on making it a part of my life.