Succeeding Successfully

I have conflicting feelings about our class discussion on networking.  I recognize the obvious benefits of intentionally networking.  I understand it is an important business strategy.  I hate the idea of getting to know someone or doing nice things for a person with the hope of getting a return down the road.  It would be irritating to me if other people viewed me as a resource rather than a person.  It seems base to perceive people like mines, like possibilities to profit.  Will I be as successful if I maintain this attitude?  That depends on who is asking.  I might miss out on business opportunities, but to be honest, I would rather sleep in a box and view people as people than to snag a great job and confuse people for profits.  I think I would rather sincerely seek to bless others than seek a reward.  Maybe I am naive, but I am happy.  If you are reading this, know that even if others do not agree with me, I think you are a person. Now what? I am going to try to reach out to at least one person everyday to try help them in some way, and I will try to be anonymous if possible.

Here’s  a cool video about being nice to people:

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#the-civility-experiment

Quizzical!

Those quizzes last week were bu** kickers!  Something that was surprising to me was that there were hardly any questions that were keyed as "correct" being the correct answer.  I have been conditioned by years of test taking to suppose that there should be a roughly even distribution of correct answers, and was manipulated by this paradigm while taking the test.  I would look at the long sequence of “incorrect’s” on my answer sheet, and assume that there had to be more that should be marked as “correct.”  Falsely believing in an equal distribution of answers influenced me to ignore the substance of the questions being asked.  I stopped answering questions and started trying to make an even distribution of responses.  I think that life can be like this too.  Sometimes I attempt to judge between right and wrong by comparison to the standards of others.  My only standard should be Christ’s.  I cannot excuse myself from doing what is right just because others are mistaken.  I think this concept is easy for me to believe and apply when thinking of the standards of Hollywood, but I have more difficulty when I try to discern the right action for myself to take by comparing with my friends and family.  My friends and family are stellar, I love, respect, and admire them.  That does not mean that I am justified in conforming to the standard instead of Christ’s.  “Therefore, be very careful.  If you judge your actions and the standards of the Church on the basis of where the world is and where it’s going, you will find that you are not where you should be” (Elder Hales). Now what? I am recommitting to do what is right and let the consequences follow, especially in regards to the activities I do with my friends.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/stand-strong-in-holy-places?lang=eng

Getting to Know You

I enjoyed the part of the "getting to know you" game we did in class when someone was asked to describe another person based on their initial perception.  I have been thinking about the messages I might be sending strangers based on my appearance.  My pondering mind took me to Mosiah 18:9 in the Book of Mormon: "stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in."  I want other people to be able to know God better by knowing me.  On Sunday, I plan to take time to figure out what changes I might need to make to better represent Heavenly Father.  After I figure out what I can do, I am committed to making the changes that I identify as necessary, and look forward to being able to better participate in doing God's work.