This year I got a permission number from the business school to start taking classes for my major already, even though I am just a sophomore. I got lucky enough to have been admitted into Opportunity Recognition with the inspiring Michael Sherrod and I have truly learned so much throughout this class. Looking back and reflecting upon the wealth of knowledge that I have gained from this class, I know that I am walking away a better person, student, and entrepreneur.
Professor Sherrod has started multiple million dollar companies, including Digital City, which he sold to AOL for $400,000,000. Hearing such a large sum of money I instantly thought he would be a man that was motivated by this factor, that his success hinged upon his need for riches. At the beginning of the semester, this unbelievably bright man who was wealthy beyond belief looked the class in the face and told us that he had sold his mansion and his luxury car and had opted for smaller more realistic models, simply because he saw that those things were not making him happy.
We followed this conversation by reading The Monk and the Riddle. A book that outlines the Entrepreneurial journey and our tendency as humans to opt for "the deferred life plan". In essence this means, putting off our passions "in the short run" in order to pursue money. However, how this usually plays out is you wake up one day when you are 50 and realize that you're working a job that you actually hate. The book prompted us to explore how our passions and entrepreneurship intersected. It did not say that we aren't suppose to work hard or do things that aren't at times enjoyable. This idea really stuck with me. I long so much to find a career where I feel like I can wake up everyday, and maybe not enjoy it for each one, but at least know that I am making a difference.
The second and final learning experience that really stuck with me from this class is the idea of questioning everything as an entrepreneur. The world around us is teeming with inconsistencies that we are too blind to even notice because of our need to confirm our own biases. We as humans need to be actively searching to question authority, the way companies are being run, our own actions, and really everything that surrounds us to open our eyes to the world of opportunity that surrounds us. By practicing this discipline, it was amazing to see how much I realized, simply by opening my eyes.
Great reflection. I've noticed that people who take jobs solely for the money tend to burn out pretty quickly. Hopefully, everyone can find a job that that enjoy and pays well. For your second experience, I can absolutely relate to questioning everything as an entrepreneur. The most difficult part of our marketing project for Moncrief was finding a somewhat realistic invention that had not already been created. It made our team realize the difficulty of idea generation for entrepreneurship.
ReplyDeleteThis class sounds like an awesome opportunity to see the reason doing business and chasing your passion. I agree with you about how it seems so many people go after money and forget about everything else that matters. A career should be something that you enjoy regardless of the price of the paycheck. Life is short and you want to make the most out of everything this world has to offer.
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