Persistence Pays Off.

per·sist·ence

pərˈsistəns/

noun

1. firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

   "companies must have patience and persistence, but the rewards are there"

A few weeks ago, I posted about my job search. I have been continually applying and not really receiving any responses. If I would get any responding emails, it was "I'm sorry, but we have chosen to pursue a different person." Now, I totally understand that that is the way things go, but it still doesn't mean I can't be disappointed. 

This morning, I received an email asking me to come in for an interview. I am totally stoked. I know that there is a great possibility that the employer could again, go a different route, but that's okay because persistence pays off. 

I'm going to keep looking for job opportunities, and putting myself out there. I am going to keep networking, and who knows, I might even get a business card to hold on to. 

Anyway - what I've learned is that firm commitment to a course of action pays off. Not just in professional fields, but in relationships and in faith. A firm commitment to my spouse. A firm commitment to God. Have a firmness of mind. 

O4B4L

This week was really long, but also great. We were finishing up our group project for MCOM. In my Information Systems class we also had a group project that was due on Monday. I had different experiences in both groups and I feel my MCOM group experience was way better - and it might have to do with the team charter at the beginning of the semester!

Creating a charter at the formation of our group solidified our work efforts. We all got on the same page and kind of let each other know that we have each other's backs. For example, I woke up late one morning we were going to meet, I sent my group a message letting them know, and the response I received was, "Don't you worry." We divided up our work evenly and we all completed our required tasks. When we met to work, our meetings were basically 100% focused (with an appropriate amount of fun). 

In my IS group, there wasn't a lot of cohesion. It seemed that some members just took everything upon themselves. So it was less of a group effort and more individual effort. 

I definitely feel like my MCOM group pulled together and became unified in our tasks - and it was an enjoyable experience.

By working together as a group, people can more effectively accomplish the required tasks. Going forward from here, I am going to do the best I can to make groups groups. That includes callings in the Church. I am the Young Men's secretary and I work with the Deacons in my ward - and I am going to do my best to unify the leaders and the Deacons to make the most of the Young Men's experience.

Remote Meeting Post

Part of our group project we needed to participate in a "remote meeting." Our group did a Google Hangout. I have had some experience with Google Hangout - my in-laws like to do one with us and my brother-in-law's family every now and then. It has always been difficult for me to do a group video chat. I feel one on one video chats are easier than group chats. If I were to participate in a professional group chat, I would prefer only one person to call into a group meeting instead of having every member of the group call in and do a chat. However, if it were a last resort - I appreciate the technology that makes it possible to connect across the world.

Perseverance & Trust

I am currently applying for summer jobs and I want something more than just washing dishes at the Cannon Center...I've done that twice already. I am finding that it takes way more than I thought to get a job. I need to send out a lot of applications and do it again and again. I need to keep my head up and not get discouraged (which is easy for me to do) when I don't hear back from potential employers. 

I need to trust in God's plan that He has for me - and when things don't work out for me when and how I want them to, I can trust that because I am doing my best to follow His commandments things will work out in the end. 

This week I have started to study the scriptures more diligently than I have been. I love it! I can feel my faith and trust in God grow as I read. So I know that this will help me deal with the stresses of looking for a job. I am going to continue to read and pray and specifically as for help as I search for a summer job.

Don't Wait to be Happy.

Wednesday, when I walked into my MCOM class, my teacher was dropping some life wisdom on us. She told the few students that were there early that life doesn't really get any easier after college. I find myself thinking that after I graduate life will just magically become easier. She squashed this notion. 

After graduation comes a real job - and unlike school, you can't just skip class if you want to. Add in family and children, things definitely won't be easier. 

So her advice? Don't wait to be happy. As I write this, I am listening to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and watching these minions laugh. Happiness is a choice. I'm not suggesting to ignore true feelings, or feelings of depression, but rather I can choose to enjoy my life while experiencing those feelings. 

The happiness that my Professor was talking about - I think it is more about feeling fulfilled. That's important because if you wait for tomorrow to be happy/fulfilled, a few years down the line you will look back and realize you missed out on a lot. That was my experience in High School.

So, what am I going to do? Don't worry...don't wait to be happy...choose to enjoy life now...continue to take steps to be more in control of my life.  

You Can Learn if You Want to!

I have had "Safety Dance," by Men Without Hats, stuck in my head this week, and it is because of the title of this post. You can learn if you want to. This week, I was preparing for an Econ exam with a friend of mine. He asked me to help him study and I took that opportunity to help him, and at the same time study so I can do well in the class too. 

We ended up spending about 8 hours studying for this test together and it paid off. I took the exam today, and I got a perfect score. 100%. I was blown away! I forgot how important preparation was. A lesson I learned on my mission was this - "Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance."

If you put your mind to it, you can learn it. And actually enjoy it. So I am going to try to change my study habits and start preparing for exams a few days before I take the test. 

Priorities.

Ever since I can remember, my dad has been in love with cars - specifically BMWs. He served his mission in Germany in the early 70s and has had a special place in his heart for these automobiles. And I can thank him for passing the bug onto me. 

Give me an old, semi-beat up, drivable BMW and my heart would melt with joy.

At this point in my life, I can't afford a car - but I often find myself planning, scheming, hoping, and wishing that soon, I can buy one of my dream cars. Sometimes these thoughts distract me from what is going on in the moment.

That leads me to what I have learned this week. It's all about priorities and sticking to them. 

What are my priorities? How much of my life should I devote to each different priority? 

Should I be longing and obsessing over old cars that I can't have right now? Should I be focused on martial arts and spending time away from home and school work? Should I sacrifice time to work at a job instead of doing school work? 

I want there to be a constant percentage of my life that I know I need to devote to church, and to schooling, and to family, and to martial arts, and to work. But there isn't. Life isn't easily segmented. And it definitely isn't held together perfectly all the time. Sometimes schooling is most important, and other days martial arts. Church activities may need my full attention at times. And that's okay. 

As long as I know what I stand for and what my priorities are, and act in such a way that leads me to fulfill my goals, life's alright. So, I am going to strive to live in the moment and be open to adjusting my focus to address the things that need my full attention at that time. As I do that, I can live a more fulfilling life - and maybe, one day, drive my dream car. 

Of Things That Matter Most.

Big things are big things. Small things are small things. Small things can become big things if you let them. 

It's easy to let little issues or stressors begin to take control of your life. It can start out as having a lot of homework that is due. You begin to work on it. Next you realize that you have been working on your assignments consistently for the past 4 hours! Wonderful! Then you notice a familiar feeling start to make its way into your chest - the all too powerful "anxiety storm." How can this happen?? I have been doing everything I needed to for the past 4 hours! I shouldn't be stressed!

Well, sir, there is the issue right there! Stop. Breathe. Take a rest. And realize that life is good. Enjoy it! You don't need to frantically do ALL THE THINGS right this instant in order to be relatively stress free. Rather, slow down, and take time to focus on the things that matter most and recognize that there needs to be time to recover. For me, that includes a time for decompression and rest, otherwise I'll lose it. 

One of my professors semi-joked with our class that we need to lighten up and have some fun! He said he is going to assign a quiz that makes us have fun for 2 hours...or watch The Three Amigos. 

I am going to try to make time for decompression to balance out my workload and keep my sanity with me.

This has helped me a lot.

Doc Holliday

I love the movie Tombstone. It depicts the story of Wyatt Earp, his family and friends, and the gunfight behind the O.K. Corral. My favorite character of all is Val Kilmer's depiction of Doc Holliday. He is a no-nonsense, arrogant person dying of tuberculosis who is extremely loyal to his friends and truly cares about them.

Not only is it really entertaining, plays into all men's cowboy, gun-slinging dreams, but there is one scene that really stands out to me. Doc Holliday is on his death bed and his friend, Wyatt Earp, comes to visit him. The following is their conversation from the movie.

There is no normal life, Wyatt, it's just life. Get on with it.

I worry a lot about whether or not things are perfect in my life. They never are. According to Doc Holliday, there is no normal life. My need for this idea of perfection is my need to feel normal, balanced, and like I have myself together 100% of the time. It always leaves me distressed.

It is important to embrace life AS IT IS, and seek to improve from there. Our full effort determines our success, and whatever happens after that is going to happen anyway, so why worry?

Check out these posts from fellow class members:

Enjoy The Moment

Lesson on Following Through

If You're Going to Worry, Worry Right.

Stuck in a Moment

Sometimes Bono makes me laugh.

I love U2. The Edge is one of my heroes. He knows his style and sticks with it (the fact that he rocks the bald look and makes it who he is just compounds his awesome status).

But I especially love this song.

There are a few lines that really apply to me this week. The idea of feeling stuck and feeling like "later will be better" to take care of my business (which also goes along with last week's post).

But, there is hope! "It's just a moment" and "this time shall pass."

Everyone at some point in their life can relate to the feeling of being stuck in a moment. It is necessary to recognize it and then do something about it.

This week I am going to continue to do the things that will help me feel as if I am moving forward and making personal progress.

Cultivate a Do it Now Attitude

So, I totally failed to keep my commitment from last week. I didn't ponder about where I want to be in 5 years. I didn't write down my 2020 Vision. But I had something on my mind this week that helped me to seek to improve. It was another concept that drove me on my mission. The idea of cultivating a do it now attitude.

I am prone to stress out about things - especially getting things done. I am also really good at procrastinating - which doesn't help with stress levels. While on my mission, I realized this and did my best to take time everyday to do the little things I needed to do, whether it was write down a thought, or make a simple phone call.

This week there were a lot of little things that I needed to do, and also some bigger ones. For some reason the do it now attitude idea was in my head. As I tried to adhere to my conscience and "do it now," I found that life went a little smoother and I didn't get behind on my homework and readings.

Here I am at the end of the week nearly done with all of my assignments, relatively stress free, and have more time to relax this weekend.

I am going to continue this next week to "do it now" and not let little things pass to tomorrow and add up to bigger things down the road.

Seek to Improve

I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto, Canada. A theme that was prevalent during that time was “Always Seek to Improve.” I became borderline obsessed with this idea, and as a result I constantly evaluated whether or not my efforts were sufficient. 

Since that time, my obsession with improvement has diminished. One could be upset about this (I kind of am), but in my situation, there are pros and cons to it.

Pro:

This “seek to improve mindset” enabled me to become a better person and feel like I am working to achieve my goals. I love that feeling. I would focus on what is good in my life, and continue doing those things. On the other side, I would focus what was bad in my life, and strive to eliminate them from my nature. Through prayer, faith and divine help, I was able to accomplish many things that would have been impossible on my own.

Con:

When I was hyper-focused on improving as a missionary, I was in a constant state of stress and worry - always wondering whether or not I was good enough. This worry and anxiety really weighed on me and has carried over to other aspects of present life.

Solely based on the lengths of the previous two paragraphs, it seems like the “pros outweigh the cons” and all is dandy, I can just continue being hyper-focused on improvement. But to me, the negative aspects of my mission improvement mindset far outweigh the benefits. 

I know that improvement is a good thing and that I should be focused on it. HOWEVER that focus needs to be at a level that does not cause unneeded stress and anxiety to my life. 

How am I going to have an improvement mindset, and what can I do now to ACTIVELY work toward achieving a goal?

Well, I am going to pick an aspect of my life that I feel I need/want to work on and develop. Then will set goals and make plans, and act. How do I see myself? Where will I be in five years? What goals can I set to help me work toward that vision? What plans do I make to accomplish these goals? And finally, how do I account for/measure my actions? 

Here is what I will do this week - sit down and write down my “2020 vision.” 

The Powerful Mind.

I am a martial artist as well as a student at BYU. I got married about 6 months ago and haven’t been able to train as much as I wanted. So as a result I find myself very out of shape. This weekend I went to Idaho in order to have a weekend to train with my instructor and his instructor. We met on Friday afternoon in SLC and drove to Hailey, Idaho. That’s about a 5-hour drive. Right when we pulled in, my instructor said, “Get out! We’re late!” and then we started to train...immediately. Boy oh boy – it was a rude awakening. Things that were easy to do in the past now seem impossible.

But something hit me. The teacher taught us that when the body says, “I have had enough, the mind kicks in and says, “Let’s keep going.” And then you keep going. Inevitably, the mind gets tired and says, “I’m done!” Then it is the spirit’s turn. The fighting spirit kicks in and then you can keep doing the task in front of you. There is always another layer.

You just need to smack yourself in the face, head butt a brick wall, and keep going! (Another quote from the same instructor)

Why is this important? Life presents obstacles on a daily basis, and it is important to be able to trust in and develop one’s ability to overcome.

My wife and me at a tournament in SLC - 15 Mar 2014

This week I will actually carry out my New Years Resolution – exercise Monday through Friday. It will help develop my fighting spirit, and that will help me to accomplish my goals.

I also learned a complementary lesson. Don’t forget God in my goals. Trust in God and not the arm of flesh.

Go With Your Gut Feeling: Maximize Utility

"It's that gut feeling of -- you're drawn to what you know feels right for yourself, and what you're passionate about."- Magnus Walker. The Urban Outlaw

Magnus Walker, founder of Serious Clothing company, and self-proclaimed Porsche enthusiast, recently gave a Ted Talk on his life's journey: growing up in England, dropping out of school, moving to America, starting a clothing company, and ultimately buying and refinishing old Porsche 911s.

In his own words, he "followed [his] gut feeling." He explains that the things he has done in life all have a common thread, a common bond, and that is the "freedom to do whatever I wanted to do, and a dream . . .  to be able to . . . live my life to the fullest and do whatever I wanted to do."

At an early age he realized his passion for Porsche. At ten years old he wrote to the company and said that he wanted to design for them. They wrote back and instructed him to contact them when he is older. Even though their response could have crushed his dreams, Magnus Walker was not dissuaded. He followed his gut feeling, acted according to his passions, and actually fulfilled his goal of designing Porsches.

How does this relate to me? I am a university student, just finishing my general education requirements. I have an opportunity to choose to live my life according to my own passions. I can choose to study whatever interests me. I don't have to get a "practical degree" -- one that I don't like, but think I should study because it will help me get a job. I don't even have to study something that is connected with the career I work in ten years from now.

If I choose to study something solely practical that doesn't appeal to me, I won't be "maximizing my utility" (a term used by economists that basically describes Magnus Walker's mentality -- be fulfilled in life because you did whatever you wanted to do).

I want to feel fulfilled. I want to look back and see a life full of happiness and good memories. So, right now, it is more important for me to study what I love as opposed to what I think will score a job. It is more important for me to explore my passions and pursue them. To find new ones. To rekindle old ones. By so doing, I am making the most of my life and enjoying it.

Magnus Walker refers to his Porsche passion as "this out of control hobby vibe of just enjoying the process all the way through." I am beginning to explore my passions and hobbies (like reading and writing for pleasure) in order to enjoy my process of life all the way through.

Watch the Ted Talk here.
Watch Magnus Walker's documentary entitled "Urban Outlaw" here.