Riches and Laborers

Matthew 19 tells the story of a young man who had kept the commandments always but who chose his material possessions over the gospel.

The evidence that I find that the Young man decided not to follow the savior is that after the Savior directly invited him to specific answer he decided to go away and did not trust him. He chose his earthly possessions over the gospel.

The Savior promises that those who follow him will ‘’be first’’; he said to his apostles that they would sit in twelve thrones when he sits in his throne in heaven. He promises also that they will receive ‘’an hundredfold’ and have eternal life.

Material possessions are important, but they are insignificant when we compare them with the happiness of living with our families for ever in the Celestian Kingdom. When we put things in perspective that way we are able to make choices that lead us to Christ.

Parable of the laborers

This teaches me that all who serve in the Lord’s Kingdom can obtain the same reward: The Celestial Kingdom. Even those who didn’t have the chance of receiving the gospel early in their lives are able to earn that same reward.

This is a great message of comfort for converts who like the laborers of the eleventh hour were afraid for great part of the day that they were not going to be hired; converts can have the assurance that they can earn the same reward as long time members of the church.

I really like this talk that would answer any question about why they are paid equally and what that means for us: 

Why to continue?

 There are many times when life just seems to get harder and harder. This is especially true when you try to start a business from zero. People almost seem to laugh at you and tell you to get a job. Your first clients want to see your experience, but it is hard to show a story of success at the beginning! You have every reason to quit and try something different.

This week I learned from Jeffrey R Holland a truth that will guide me for the rest of my life: ‘’The best things are always worth finishing’’ as he said it referring to the Salt Lake City temple and all the struggles that people went through during its 40 years of construction.

Nothing that is worth something in this life is easier to obtain. Completing a University education is hard but it is very easy to quit. It is hard to build a business or learn how to trade in the stock market, but the alternative of doing nothing is extremely easy. The secret for success is not to settle for the easy.

At the same time, Seth Godin’s book ‘’The Dip’’ teaches when it is necessary to quit in order to use our time and energy for those things worth not quitting. I have realized now that I need to quit my morning job as an English teacher. At first I was worried about the income I would forego, but I have realized that I am not growing there anymore and I could accomplish much more for my long term and more valuable goals by doing some other things with that time.

http://www.amazon.es/The-Dip-Little-Teaches-Stick/dp/1591841666

http://vimeo.com/28080897

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHKe9EqB5vE

Mastery

Mastery / What for?

Have you ever wanted to be really good at a sport, skill or any kind of ability? I have, and I have failed many times; but George Leonard’s book ‘’Mastery’’ gave me a new perspective of why I have failed and how I can be better in anything I do.

Learning occurs by little moments of improvement that happen every now and then. Most of our time is spent on ‘’the plateau’’ or those long periods of time of repetitive practice in which we feel we don’t improve at all. The secret for mastery is to love the plateau and persevere.

I will start applying that to learning German, playing the guitar, learning about business and becoming an entrepreneur. Mastery is a path that never ends.

Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? What is a business for? What is the reason of doing all these things?

Those are great questions to ask yourself. I want to be an entrepreneur because I want to reach my potential, be free and create something meaningful for society so I can feel that my work was worth it. A business is meant to solve a problem and create value, as well as providing opportunities, rewarding those who take risks and providing for many families. I invite whoever reads this to ask him/herself these same questions and maybe think about business in a new way.

http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Keys-Success-Long-Term-Fulfillment/dp/0452267560

Self Mastery

Self Mastery

The most important principle I learned this week is self mastery. I have a few thoughts on it:

What is the hardest, and maybe, most important challenge that we will face in business and life? Probably that of conquering oneself.

Even Plato said: “The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

Human nature leads to excess and vice that destroy the individual and deteriorate society. The great battle of life is inside of us. It could be waking up early in the morning in order to work, it can be persevering in learning when we find ourselves ‘’on the plateau’’, it can be setting and respecting our own moral boundaries. The truth is that controlling the self is the first step for success, and one that will continue being developed through the entire life.

How can we do it?

Let me suggest a few tips for this:

Know your reasons. Ask yourself why you want to do something and set goals that motivate you. It is easier to wake up in the morning when you know why you want to do it.

Set moral security lines around you. Make a list of those boundaries that you will never cross.

Be accountable. Don’t set excuses, look for somebody to help you be accountable with yourself.

‘’Each day I examine myself on three counts: whether or not I am loyal to those in whose behalf I act; whether or not I am trustworthy in my dealings with friends; whether or not I practice what is imparted’’ Confucius

Becoming like a Child

I want to share a few principles from the scriptures today:

‘’And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’’ Matthew 18:3-4

‘’ Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.’’ D&C 78:17-18

The Lord commands us to be innocent, kind, and good; just like little children are. They have no malice and seek not to harm others. We should strive to develop the same qualities.

At the same time, he says that in our mortal condition we are ‘’little children’’ in the way that we don’t understand the things of God nor his eternal perspective and purposes. He then explains that, if we are humble, he will lead us along and bless us. For that to happen we need to have faith in him and be teachable, just like children are.

Mosiah 3:19 (In the Book of Mormon)  teaches us how the natural man is an enemy of God. In order to get rid of that ‘’natural man’’ inside of us we need to:

Yield to the enticing of the Spirit and be cleaned through the atonement.

Be: Submissive, meek, humble, full of love, patient, and willing to submit to God’s will.

The world we live in teaches us the opposite thing: people are trying to take advantage of others all the time. They see moral corruption and a virtue, rebellion against God as liberty and the ability to harm others as intelligence. 

I invite myself and whoever reads this to the challenge of getting rid of the natural man and changing for good.

I invite you to visit this website and see how happy you can be if you decide it:

Mormon.org

Perseverance

This week was a great reminder that it is not how good you are in school or how much you know, but how you use that knowledge and your perseverance. Those who succeed are those who don’t give up and are willing to face challenges.

There is a great talk given by Elder Faust in which he tells us how he knew kids in High School who were very smart and talented but who failed to persevere or to put forth the extra effort and thus failed to accomplish their full potential while others that at first were not as talented where able to accomplish great things by not giving up.

Yesterday I watched the movie ‘’Revenge of the Electric Car’’. It is a documentary about this new trend in the automotive industry. In it, Tesla Motors was struggling to launch its first cars. They ran out of money and almost had to close, but the founder Elon Musk kept giving of his own money for the business and taking risks in order to keep it alive. I honestly started wondering if entrepreneurship is really for me.

Being an entrepreneur is not having a lot of money and enjoying a life of pleasure; it is rather a constant fight and struggle to keep the company going. I truly wonder if I will be ever able to do something like that. I know I can if I really try and don’t give up.

Perseverance talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/perseverance?lang=eng

Revenge of the Electric Car: http://www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com/

John The Baptist

John the Baptist

This week I want to share also some thoughts from my scripture study about John the Baptist.

In Matthew 11:2-3 John sends his disciples to ask Christ if the is the Messiah. They go and see by themselves that he performed miracles, served all people around him and preached the gospel to them.

Did John doubt that Jesus was the Messiah? No. He knew who he was and was inviting his disciples to follow him; however, some of them were still reluctant to forsake him so he decided to send them and see by themselves by commanding them to go and ask him questions.

When Christ talks about John, he describes him as one of the greatest prophets. His calling was a special one: to prepare the way of the Lord and baptize him. There was no other before him or after with such a calling. He held the keys of the kingdom of God and was thoroughly humble and obedient in all he did.

The greatest lesson from John comes from John 3:30: ‘’ He must increase, but I must decrease’’. As great as he was, he recognized that he was just a messenger of the light, and that light is Christ. He recognized always that he was an instrument in God’s hands and did not seek his own accomplishment of praise but to fulfill his calling.

All of us have a calling and the commandment to preach the gospel to our brothers and sisters. We carry that light but we are not the light. As we selflessly give our lives to serve God and our fellow men and ‘’decrease’’ so the gospel of Christ can ‘’increase’’ we will be following John’s example of humility and obedience.

No matter where we are or what we do in life, we must always be humble and forget ourselves.

‘’For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it’’ Matthew 16:25