Mena's Entrepreneurial Journey

     This week I received advice from Steve Covey on how to become effective. In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,  he captures perfectly what we need to do to become successful. The seven habits are as follows: Habit 1 –  Be proactive  Habit 2 – Begin with the end in mind. Habit 3 – Put first things first. Habit 4 – Think win/win.  Habit 5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood Habit 6 – Synergize Habit 7 – Sharpen the saw.  It is interesting that the first habit is "be proactive". Being proactive means deciding in advance how to react to the different situations we face in life. It is the ability to observe one's environment, predict future occurrences based on our observations and take a decision on how we would react if our predictions were to come true. Most often than not our predictions are true. The beauty of this principle is that we can use it in all spheres of our lives. It is very useful. Now the ne...

 Last week, I was in a dilemma and I ended my writing a little bit unsure of what to do. I must admit that I worry a lot or think a lot. I like to be sure of my decisions, I wouldn't want to end up a few months later with some form of regret. I continued thinking until I read my instructor, Jonathan Holbrook's opening remarks for this week. It goes thus: "...no matter what we choose to pursue, we should strive to be an expert. I know that Father in Heaven will bless you in our efforts to improve, and I know that the world and economies by nature reward those that develop expertise. So, whether you choose to cut hair, fix cars, produce greeting cards, or manage a business, please strive each day to become an expert." It was comforting to read this and it calmed my fears.  This week, I learnt about the necessary skills or things one must have or do to become an entrepreneur. Most importantly, one must be disciplined. We can have all the fame and acclaim in the world but...

This post is aptly named because that's what an entrepreneur is. A hero goes through lots of hardships, choices and what-nots. Some heroes succeed at their quest and become famous, some are the "unseen difference" in our society, while some give their lives to fulfill their quest. What is this quest? I believe it is related with our entrepreneurial calling. After listening to Jeff Sandefer's talk, I decided to find mine by following his advice and asking five people that knew me well what I did best than anyone else. Here are some response: "You organise things." "You are a great organiser and a wonderful noodles chef." "Writing articles, teaching a new language and counselling." "You are a hard-worker." One answer has not yet been turned in. These answers are amazing but do not point me into a specific sector. From what I can see, I could open a restaurant, run a school, plan an event, become a counsellor. However if we were to...

 You can be effective without having to work hard. Success is not necessarily about working hard, it is about making the right choices, the right decisions.                                                                                                                                                                                                             - Jeff Hawkins  Pre...

  We tend to define integrity as honesty. And without question, it includes that. But telling the truth is just the beginning of integrity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ...