You're an Entrepreneur and you just don't know it.

I really like this:

I am proud to say that I am an entrepreneur.

I am inspired by what Steve Jobs said:

"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact - and that is - everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again."

Just start now. Don't wait until you think you have all your ducks in a row. Just do it. When you do, people just pop up to help you, and in my opinion, so does God.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

-Goethe

Don't waste food! There are starving kids in Africa - or just donate $10

You often hear "Don't waste your food, there are starving kids in Africa!" That is definitely true and after going to Tucano's or Chuckarama or on a cruise, you realize how much food gets wasted everyday. It is nuts. Sometimes it makes me a little ashamed to be an American, or at least a part of a culture where this is mainstream. I have sometimes wanted to try to start some great thing to help starving people in Africa. One of my best friends has gone there and done some awesome things with foundations like Mothers Without Borders. And my little sister is going to Africa this summer to do humanitarian work as well!

I think all these things are great. And I think that as many as can go, should go and help in every way they can. I also think that leadership and good government can change a people and a country. There is a man named Yeah Samake who is running for president of Mali, the second most poverty-stricken country in Africa. He is an amazing man. I met him last night. He is a member of the church that I am a member of, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe that the change that came from his leadership would have a more powerful effect to help starving people in Africa than would donating to little causes or going over there and building a school in a village (not that these are bad). But they are more like giving a fish than teaching how to fish. Mayor Samake needs money for his campaign and I'm asking anyone who is reading this to go to www.yeahsamake2012.com and donate $5 or $10 or $20. Watch his video at the bottom of this post. It is impressive. He is a humble man who would do so much good as the president of this poor country.



I don't have many followers on my blog, but I know people read it. There were over 3,000 unique views last year and over 400 last month. So if every person who read this donated to Mayor Samake, that would be a good start. And if you told your friends, that would be even better. It is a great thing to do. Do it! Go to this website to donate: www.yeahsamake2012.com

Here is a neat video of his story:

Sages Leave Your Contemplations

I have always gotten a little emotional when I hear a choir sing these words at Christmastime. I love this concept. The lyrics from the song Angels From the Realms of Glory go like this:

Sages leave your contemplations

Brighter visions beam afar;

Seek the great Desire of nations;

Ye have seen His natal star;

I just love the idea. Think of it. The most wise sage. The most knowledgable philosopher or erudite. In deep contemplation. Why leave it?

I love philosophy. I love pondering ideas and theories, whether they are my own or those of other great minds. I have really enjoyed reading Daniel Boorstin's book The Discoverers, which talks about many wise men who finally come to some sort of amazing conclusion or discovery. It has really been such an amazing journey of the mind to follow these seeking discoverers through their pathway toward truth. I chuckle at this quote from Ivan Turgenev about the quest for truth:

Would to God your horizon may broaden every day! The people who bind themselves to systems are those who are unable to encompass the whole truth and try to catch it by the tail; a system is like the tail of truth, but the truth is like a lizard; it leaves its tail in your fingers and runs away knowing full well that it will grow a new one in a twinkling.

Truth is fullness. Like Turgenev says, truth is the lizard, not the tail. I love the quest for truth and I would like to think of myself as someone who is constantly in search of truth and knowledge. Indeed, one of my goals in life is to someday arrive at that point where I may be called (even if only by college students or small children) a sage of sort. I desire to become as well educated in this life as I can with the time I have. I believe that if I do this, I will have a great advantage in the world to come. I believe that all the knowledge we acquire in this life is portable and will give us a great advantage in the world to come. On the other hand, our social status, profession titles, and possessions will all be left behind. We will arrive in the next life quite literally, naked. Naked of so much that seems so important now. Neal A. Maxwell puts it well:

Someday, when we look back on mortality, we will see that so many of the things that seemed to matter so much at the moment will be seen not to have mattered at all. And the eternal things will be seen to have mattered even more than the most faithful of the Saints imagined. [Even As I Am, 104]

Knowledge is so important. Both secular and spiritual. I believe we should be "bilingual" in the sense of being able to hold our own in both categories. But I have a strong belief that if we do not take advantage of spiritual enlightenment, there is much on the secular side which will be lost, or unclear to us. There must be a balance of reason and revelation. Dallin Oaks has a wonderful chapter on this balance.

This post is my shout out to the spiritual side during this Christmas season. Why should we sages leave our contemplations? What could possibly be so important? I submit that brighter visions do beam afar. If we seek the great Desire of nations, Jesus of Nazareth, we will find the full lizard. It won't be a tail left behind to keep us wondering and contemplating. Our cup will be brim and spilling over with truth for even the "Will Durant" inside of us. I love quoting Neal A. Maxwell, not only because he is intellectually sharp, but because he was a wise sage who left his contemplation and sought the brighter vision. He had many advanced degrees, yet he knew that there was much more. I love his speech called The Inexhaustible Gospel where he says that many who get to his age and status say of the Gospel "been there, done that" but never him. And that Gospel stems from Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King. And I love what he said about the intellect of Jesus:

His intelligence is vastly superior in every field to the very brightest mortals in those fields and His intellect in scope and truth far exceeds all human intellects. (Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King).

He is the great Desire of nations. Many may not understand this, but we can; and though we seek for the knowledge of the world, we will ever see brighter visions beaming afar when we, like the wise Magi from the east, seek the Lord Jesus, no matter the distance we must travel to find Him. That we may travel afar bearing our own gifts is my hope this season. Especially if that gift involves leaving our current contemplation to seek the Brighter Vision, the great Desire of nations, Jesus the Christ: the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Chips and Salsa Changed the World

Chips and salsa are really good (I can't eat too much or I get cankers though). "Chips and Salsa" is the slang term for "Hardware and Software". We should all eat some in honor of Robert Noyce's 84th birthday (as you may have seen on Google's daily doodle). I love learning about people like this. I started a club back in 2007 at BYU called the Heroes of History Club. Its purpose was to learn more about people who had had an incredible impact on this world. We specifically loved highlighting the people who were often unsung heroes. I believe this is a man who would qualify. Noyce was the inventor (or co-inventor) or the microchip. Basically, because of his invention, technology is what it is today. He also co-founded Intel--what makes (almost) every computer work in the world--and has been known as the "Mayor of Silicon Valley" because of his influence. I think it is amazing to think about.

In the Heroes of History club, we would often find people who had changed the world in many ways, and then look at who their role models were - the heroes of the heroes. For example, George Washington was very influenced by the writings of Montesquieu. Have you ever heard of him? Most hadn't. C.S. Lewis was deeply influenced and inspired by George MacDonald's writings. Who is George MacDonald? Steve Jobs was very influenced and inspired by Robert Noyce. Here they are together:

Steve said of Noyce:

"Bob Noyce took me under his wing,...I was young, in my twenties. He was in his early fifties. He tried to give me the lay of the land, give me a perspective that I could only partially understand - You can't really understand what is going on now unless you understand what came before."

I find this really interesting and love to figure out what makes people tick, and more specifically, the type of person who make very influential people tick. Understanding more about people who made a huge impact on the world makes me excited to do my best in my life. To be a more creative, driven and hard working individual who is always looking to see how I may improve and push myself. I'll be honest, I need it. I just got promoted at my job again (December is a good time to get promoted) and it's the real deal now - time to push myself more than I ever have before.

Props to Bob, chips and salsa tonight at my place.