Starting to learn again

This week has been crazy; I have learned so much that I almost forgot about school!

I just had the unfortunate experience of firing the driver I had for my Uber account. I learned what not to do next time I hire somebody and lost quite a bit of money. I need to have everything on writing, be inflexible with the agreements and conditions I set at the beginning, and separate some personal feelings from business before they create unfortunate situations.

Also, a few minutes ago, I just finished filling my first annual tax return by myself (most employers in Mexico do it automatically for the workers, but since now I have additional sources of income besides employment then I need to do it myself). In the last few months I have also been filling bimonthly tax declarations for my Uber business after realizing that accountants were overcharging me for something I could easily learn how to do.

Right now I’m reading the book ‘’The Lean Startup’’ by Eric Ries. I have learned about how a business project executed perfectly can be a total failure if it’s going in the wrong direction. The Lean startup methodology focuses on rapid learning, experimentation and adaptation in order to create value in a context of extreme uncertainty. I remember seeing a class on Lean Startup offered in Coursera; I will probably take that class one of these days.

I have also realized how difficult creativity can be for me. I really need to make an effort to come up with ideas and dreams the way I was able to do a couple of years ago.

50 Things to Do Before I Die - Revisited

I made the original list in May, 2014. The notes in red were added in January 2015. The notes in green were added today (April 2016).

Old List

1. Buy a car without getting a loan – I have a car now. I just need to do the second part for the next one.

2. Buy a house

3. Invest in the Stock Market - Already doing it. Still doing it.

4. Speak German fluently

5. Take a tour around Europe

6. Own my own company

7. Get my Bachelor’s Degree

8. Obtain a Masters Degree

9. Write a book

10. Have children

11. Baptize my children

12. Send my children on missions

13. Visit Las Vegas (Where I served my mission) with my wife

14. Visit Chile - I sent my wife to Chile for a debate contest for a week and she brought lots of pictures and stories, now I just have to visit Chile myself

15. Visit Norway and Iceland and take a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords

16. Give scholarships to young talented people

17. Visit China, walk on the great wall

18. Take scuba diving lessons with my wife

19. Go scuba diving in a coral reef

20. Have a salt water aquarium

21. Have a planted fresh aquarium

22. Learn basic Mandarin – I just started doing it

23. Visit New Zealand

24. Finish reading the Book of Mormon in German - I am a few chapters away from accomplishing it – I already did it.

25. Help my wife finish her bachelor's degree - She's probably going to finish hers before I do. She is about to finish.

26. Make my wife smile every day - Doing it as much as I can. Still doing it.

27. Make a person happy every day – Struggling with it

28. Help change someone’s life by offering a great opportunity - I realized that I might have already done it during my mission without realizing but I want to do it again

29. Have an Alaskan dog

30. Visit Switzerland

31. Be an expert trader in Forex and the Stock Market - I'm really, really far from being an expert but I know more than anybody I know in person

32. Have a hydroponic garden

33. Go camping in the mountains when it snows – I have hiked in a couple of mountains in Central Mexico when it snows but I haven’t stayed overnight yet.

34. Always have time for my family and my dreams

35. Play the electric guitar with my friends and a symphonic orchestra

36. Attend the Wacken open air festival

37. Learn how to ride a horse – I have completed it!

38. Take a very long bike ride

39. Start a travel agency

40. Write a blog about places and culture In Mexico - Already doing it: www.saliradentro.com – I had to take my website offline for now, but I will start it again in the future.

41. Attend General Conference in person

42. Take my parents to visit Salt Lake city

43. Help people in Mexico invest and save their money

44. Visit Chihuahua, and Guanajuato

45. Buy an Xbox one – I did it!

46. Buy an HDTV

47. Give a conference on financial education

48. Become a leader so others want to follow me and trust me

49. Learn how to create a website - Already doing it with Drupal

50. Go ice skating with my wife – I did it!

51. Learn how to sell

52. Learn how to cook bisquets and gravy

New List

1. Buy a car without getting a loan – I have a car now. I just need to do the second part for the next one.

2. Buy a house

3. Speak German fluently

4. Take a tour around Europe

5. Own my own company

6. Get my Bachelor’s Degree

7. Obtain a Masters Degree

8. Write a book

9. Have children

10. Baptize my children

11. Send my children on missions

12. Visit Las Vegas (Where I served my mission) with my wife

13. Visit Chile - I sent my wife to Chile for a debate contest for a week and she brought lots of pictures and stories, now I just have to visit Chile myself

14. Visit Norway and Iceland and take a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords

15. Give scholarships to young talented people

16. Visit China, walk on the great wall

17. Take scuba diving lessons with my wife

18. Go scuba diving in a coral reef

19. Have a salt water aquarium

20. Have a planted fresh aquarium

21. Complete the Basic Chinese course in Coursera

23. Visit New Zealand

24. Help my wife finish her bachelor's degree - She's probably going to finish hers before I do. She is about to finish.

25. Make my wife smile every day - Doing it as much as I can. Still doing it.

26. Make a person happy every day – Struggling with it

27. Help change someone’s life by offering a great opportunity - I realized that I might have already done it during my mission without realizing but I want to do it again

28. Have an Alaskan dog

29. Visit Switzerland

30. Have a hydroponic garden

31. Go camping in the mountains when it snows – I have hiked in a couple of mountains in Central Mexico when it snows but I haven’t stayed overnight yet.

32. Always have time for my family and my dreams

33. Take a very long bike ride

34. Start a travel agency

35. Write a blog about places and culture In Mexico - Already doing it: www.saliradentro.com – I had to take my website offline for now, but I will start it again in the future.

36. Attend General Conference in person

37. Take my parents to visit Salt Lake city

38. Help people in Mexico invest and save their money

39. Visit Chihuahua, and Guanajuato

40. Buy an HDTV

41. Give a conference on financial education

42. Become a leader so others want to follow me and trust me

42. Learn how to sell

43. Learn how to cook bisquets and gravy

44. Finish the Pearl of Great Price and D&C in German

45. Climb Iztaccihuatl

46. Start the financial freedom project that I call ‘’My Personal Bank’’

47. Pay my car loan off

48. Find my ancestors all the way to the 1600’s and take their names to the temple

49. Go on vacations with my wife to Cancun

50. Invest in person-to-person loans

Acton Hero: Bruce Thompson

After watching the video, the first thing I did was looking up ALS disease and what the symptoms are. I feel a great admiration for Mr Thompson as I imagine what he is going through with his disease and the fact that he stays positive. He mentioned an experience where they found fraud in an investment project they were about to take part in. He was nervous about informing the investors about what they had found, but he did it anyway because it was the right thing to do. As a result of that, the relationship with the investors was strengthened; he and his company were seen as somebody who is responsible and will take care of investors’ money as his own. Honesty and transparency is the best policy. Mr Thompson also talks about how business is fun, but not the most important part of life; He says that we need to put limits to ourselves in the time we spend at work, and dedicate more time to our families and to God.

http://www.actonhero.org/celebrating-heroes/stories-of-heroes/index.php?hero=bruce-thompson

¿Por qué quiero trabajar en Play Business?

Me encantan los negocios y las nuevas ideas. Uno de mis sueños es ser emprendedor; otro de ellos es ayudar a las personas ''de a pie'', como yo, a invertir su dinero sin necesidad de grandes capitales financieros. Paso parte de mi tiempo libre analizando empresas, oportunidades de inversión e incluso startups que han sido subidas a la plataforma de Play Business como si fuera un juego emocionante. Se que quiero ser parte del ecosistema emprendedor y esta vacante es la oportunidad perfecta de hacer este sueño realidad.

Soy miembro de la iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos días, mejor conocidos como mormones, y serví como misionero en Las Vegas, Nevada por dos años. Durante ese tiempo compartí mis creencias todos los días con todo tipo de personas, ya fuera abordándolos en la calle o tocando las puertas de sus casas para invitarlos a vivir de una forma más feliz. Cuando pienso en buscar Startups para subir a la plataforma me imagino a mi mismo usando las mismas habilidades y perseverancia que desarrollé; esta vez para invitar a nuevos emprendedores a dar vida a sus ideas a través de  Play Business.

Actualmente trabajo como intérprete médico especializado ayudando a doctores en los Estado Unidos, que solo hablan inglés, a comunicarse con sus pacientes de habla hispana. Al mismo tiempo estoy estudiando ''Business Management - Entrepreneurship Emphasis'' en BYU-Idaho, una universidad que me permite tomar mis clases desde varios países del mundo, aunque la gran mayoría de mis compañeros viven en EEUU. Quiero una oportunidad de aplicar las herramientas analíticas y conocimiento que he adquirido, y poder hacerlo de una forma significativa. El enfoque en emprendimiento de mi carrera me ha hecho desear ser parte de una nueva empresa o una startup.

Al ser cliente de Play Business e invertir en algunas startups de la plataforma he llegado a admirar algunas cualidades de la empresa tales como su energía, transparencia, innovación, y su rompimiento con los viejos vicios de hacer negocios en México. Quiero aportar a esta revolución. Lo mio son los temas de negocios y me emociona poder escuchar las propuestas de cientos de startups y ayudarlos a fondearse.


Nota de transparencia: Aún estoy cursando mi licenciatura (Bachelor's Degree), llevo el 70% de los créditos necesarios para graduación. Considero que cubro con el resto del perfil.

¿Por qué quiero trabajar en ?

Starting the $100 project

This week I bought the supplies for my $100 project. I also helped my wife start her project with 500 pesos (around 35 dollars) to buy and sell women’s handbags.  For the $100 project I went to downtown Mexico City and bought high quality USB drives for very good prices in a very convenient location with a very reliable and recognized wholesale supplier. The real challenge was obtaining the mini stuffed bears; they were really difficult to find and suppliers are in a location that is very hard to reach and they are not very reliable. I am seriously considering changing the project a little bit using handmade hard dough figures instead or finding another design for the USBs. I felt firsthand the frustration of an entrepreneur when things don’t go according to plan in the most unexpected way and solutions need to be found. I’m not too worried about it though, I think I will be able to figure something out; the only thing I’m worried about is the project’s deadline and being able to obtain the goal of $100 in profits by that time.

My wife and I set a very bold goal. We want to move to New Zealand in a couple years when both of us graduate from college. We are starting to save up money for that and do the research in order to be prepared, get work visas and find jobs. Our plan is to live there for a couple years and then come back to Mexico and obtain a scholarship for my Master’s Degree in BYU- Provo. We also talked about starting a Mexican Food restaurant in New Zealand or a travel agency for people in New Zealand and Australia who want to visit Mexico and Latin America.

Acton Hero:  Desh Deshpande

He emigrated from India to the U.S and founded Cascade Communications and Sycamore Network.

Some of the great lessons I can learn from him are that I must learn from my mistakes. We attempt to do things and fail, it is normal and it’s not the end of the world. Making those mistakes helps us grow and expands our comfort zone. When we look at those failures from a greater perspective we realize that things are not as bad as they seem at the moment.

Another great lesson is that it doesn’t matter where people start but their motivation. Motivation is what matters to be successful in life. Many times we don’t realize how lucky we are to have all the resources, technology and comfort available to us until we lose it or see other realities with our own eyes. We must understand that everything is possible for us if we are motivated.

Acton Hero: Ken Zolot

He has founded robotic companies. As a child he had problems because of his excessive curiosity and desire to do things differently.

I learned that technical issues and people issues are interrelated. Human relations are very important for business to work properly. We are accountable to others as we are all connected and in order to lead effectively we must understand people’s motivations and help them.

When we create a new business or product it is important to ask ‘’who cares?’’. We tend to believe our product is the best thing in the world but we need to confront the brutal facts trying to understand what customers really want, what keeps them up at night?

Lessons from Business Plan

This week I created my first Business plan (for my $100 project) and it was a great experience as I was able to think about it in more depth, including the parts that I haven’t figured out yet. I realized that by doing this I am more creative and analytical as I try to come up with solutions for the problems and challenges.

Having this plan on paper helps me create goals more easily and feel more confident about my ability of going out and doing it.

 I am reading the following books: ‘’The E-Myth Revisited’’ by Michael E. Gerber and ‘’The Mormon Way of Doing Business ’’ by Jeff Benedict. I have learned about the importance of discipline. I realized that I have many ‘’personalities’’ inside of me fighting for control and setting opposite goals and plans; one day I will want to create a business, the next one I want to stay in bed and not worry about anything. I need to be disciplined and find a way to balance my personality and motivate myself.

Something else that I’m learning about is the importance of perseverance and consistency. I remembered a lot of the lessons I learned on my mission and now I see how they apply to other aspects of my life. I also realized that I need to pray more and read the scriptures more consistently.

Acton Hero: Paul Robshaw

The greatest lesson I learned from Paul Robshaw i show dreams are ‘’reality without boundaries’’. It is important to have dreams and work hard to achieve them.

Paul accepted early on that success requires hard work and that failure can come, that taught him to be true to his core values since they matter more than money or material success.

Paul learned from his father the importance of work as early as age 13. He performed every job available in the real estate business like cleaning, selling, developing and so forth.

I learn from him that there is no job that is unimportant, every effort matters and each experience teaches us something that will help us later and teach us an important lesson. One of the most important lessons is humility and perseverance. There will be tough challenges we will face in life and we must be ready for them and not give up.

Personal Journal Entry

This week I learned a lot from the book I finished: Think and Grow Rich, from Napoleon Hill. The main lesson that I get from it is the importance of being confident and having a positive attitude of faith that things will be good for me.

Another thing that I learned about was the importance of understanding of our business and focus on the key parts of it without being distracted by unimportant matters or projects where we can’t be the best. I combined this with what I learned about entrepreneurship and its importance on modern economies.

Many countries today are trying to foster an environment where entrepreneurship can flourish. In order for this to happen they have to switch from managed capitalism and state interventionism, eliminate burdensome regulations and encourage a culture of people who are not afraid of taking risks and are enthusiastic about creating.

I also continued planning my $100 project. I have decided to focus on my idea of selling USB drives inside of little stuffed animals. I have been thinking about selling them outside universities in my city. I could also ask people for help, my sister offered to sell some of them in her school for a commission and I could find other people who would be willing to make some commissions too.