Halfway Reflection

After two months, this class has not only strengthened strong behaviors, but taught me many more in order to be a successful entrepreneur. While once I believed myself someone who had decent time management skills (though seemed to work best under pressure), I am now not only completing assignments days and weeks early, but also doing them will full passion and excitement. Creativity is constantly flowing within my mind, and where I used to see the world as something to be lived in, I now I see it as something to improve, something to change. I honestly believe that I can see the difference now between looking at the world as an inhabitant vs. as an entrepreneur. More than anything, however, I now really believe in myself. With the proper guidance that Chris has given us, he has shown me how to take an idea and really turn it into something. I may create nothing from what I have created thus far in the class, but that would be my own choice, not because I can't. Chris has really instilled the concept that anything is possible if you take it to its core and have the drive to make it reality.

There was a time in this course where I felt like giving up. It was our first assignment to interview five people about our idea. At the time, I was unsure whether my idea was even good enough. Then I learned that it didn't have to be. It had to be a foundation to build upon, and it was okay to receive negative feedback. That doesn't mean you stop, that means you fix it. After struggling to find even two people to interview, and then struggling even further to make the interview last ten minutes, my mom sent me a text message. It was a quote that said, "A goal without a plan is a wish; If a plan doesn't work, change the plan, not the goal." I then decided to take a different route and really take the advice of speaking in interviews as if it was a conversation. You can't go in expecting to ask ten questions, because you don't know what you may learn within the first minute. By the end of my last interview, the guy had asked me how long I had been working. When I told him I have almost no work experience, he seemed shocked. He said that I spoke with such confidence and ease that it made the interview a really great experience. That was something that has stuck with me today, and made me really believe in myself.

Three Tips for newbies:

1. Watch the lectures! They're so easy to access, and they really help you get an idea of the class you're in. Chris really makes them so easy to watch, and he helps you develop your own persona as an entrepreneur, while helping you to see the world differently. It isn't intimidating, it really is eye-opening, and makes you want to complete every assignment at its fullest. Seriously, just watch it with your morning breakfast and BOOM, done. Plus it means extra credit is easy peezy.

2. Don't give up on your interviews. Yes, extra credit is there, but don't shy away from this opportunity. No, your first one won't be perfect. But after your tenth interview, you WILL see a change in how you speak to people. This change will come with confidence and people will have new reactions to you. It's not only motivating, but it's inspiring for all future projects. Imagine being able to say in an interview one day that one of your strengths is communicating and interviewing strangers!

3. Believe in your project. Everyone else may not see it, but if you saw it then there is probably something there. Like my mom told me, it's not about changing the goal. Keep your goals! Maybe just change the path you take to get there.