Top 3 Entrepreneurial Lessons I Have Learned

This Thursday I have been asked to be the keynote speaker at the UVEF awards and to present the 25 fastest growing entrepreneurial Utah companies with their awards. At this conference they have asked me to share the top three lessons I have learned in my entrepreneurial journey. Top three…wow, that is intimidating to have to pick the top three. So tonight I have really tried to reflect on what I would point to as my top three lessons I have learned. I have learned so many things over the years that it would take an entire book to put them all down, but I am going to try and pick the three that were the foundation for all of the lessons I have learned…

Top 3 entrepreneurial lessons I have learned along the way.

1. Always do the right thing…Always…No matter what the consequences of doing the right thing will be. At the end of the day there is nothing more valuable than your integrity, both in life and in business. There will be times in your life when you will have the opportunity to take shortcuts into the gray areas that may very well help you get what you want more quickly or more easily. You may even tell yourself that everyone else does it so why shouldn’t I? The reality is that no matter how tempting those shortcuts may appear they will never lead you to where you ultimately want to be in your life. Success will come and go but integrity is forever. If you always choose to do the right thing, it won’t matter what the outcome is because you will be successful as a human being in the areas that matter most. And there is just no better feeling than knowing you did the right thing, in the right way…that is true success.

2. I have learned much about the legacy of a good leader. I believe that the key to being a good leader is to value and care for the people that you lead. Great leaders believe in the people that they lead, they help each person to see the potential that exists inside of them and they believe in their people’s ability to achieve amazing things. It is their belief in you that inspires you to go the extra mile and to reach beyond what you thought you were capable of doing. Seeing your potential through their eyes helps you to get a glimpse of everything you can achieve in your life. I have been truly blessed with many great leaders throughout my career. They inspired me to accomplish all that they thought I was capable of, even when I didn’t feel that confidence on my own. I trusted that they knew what I could do better than I did, and if they thought I could be fabulous then I was going to believe them and go for it. That is how great leaders lead. I hope that I am living up to that legacy of leadership that they have created for me.

3. I believe in the power of a goal poster. I have had a goal poster from the time I started my very first company at the age of 23. I now refer to it as my MAGIC POSTER because literally every picture I have hung on my goal poster over the years has come to pass, and so I just keep hanging bigger and better pictures on my goal poster because I have seen the magic it brings into my life. When you limit the goals you make visual on your goal poster you are limiting the possibilities that can come into your life. That is the biggest lesson I have come to learn – we should never limit the picture we have in our heads because God intends us to be a masterpiece!

I hope that the lessons I have shared will be useful to all of you as well. I have had the honor and privilege of being the leader for what I consider the most amazing group of people that any leader could ask to have. I feel so fortunate to have learned so much from all of you and I want you to know how much I mean it when I say that I do believe in you and I do believe in all that you can accomplish. I want to help and support each of you to grow into the masterpieces that your lives are meant to be! Thanks for being AWESOME and thanks for letting me share these lessons with all of you.

~Amy

4 Comments

  • Anonymous says:

    Goal posters are an amazing tool! Thank you for sharing.

  • Joshua says:

    I recently came across a situation that I have been able to apply one of these principles to. My ultimate career goal is to work as an Information Systems Administrator and part of becoming that is getting certified in any one of the various disciplines associated to the field. I was presented with study material for the CISSP certification, one of these certifications that would qualify me for the position, and told that I should be able to get it before I complete my masters. Looking at the requirements I noticed that it said you have to have either X number of years working in the field or have a bachelor in an Information Systemsrelated field. I qualify for neither of these requirements but I was still told that many people obtain the certification without either of them by using loose interpretations of their job fields or their bachelor program.
    Taking Amy`s advice, I have decided to wait until I earn my masters to become certified so that I qualify for the degree requirement. This was a hard decision because the end could have justified the means. Getting the certification before the degree could have lead to me qualifying for a job where I would be able to use the principles I would be learning while obtaining masters. This would help me in internalizing and applying to real life situations the principles I would be learning, which is the absolute best way to get any education. Waiting to get the certification will set me a year and a half back as I could have gotten it within the next few months, but I feel that this is what should be done.
    I wish I had an end result to help fortify this principle, but I trust that this will be to my ultimate benefit in the end. I shared this only to give a real life example of how Amy`s principle can be applied to career-related situation that many of us may encounter, or perhaps already have encountered.

  • Brennan says:

    This is an awesome tweet. Thank you.

  • Astrid says:

    Hello there, just became aware of your blog
    through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am
    gonna watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue this in future.
    Many people will be benefited from your writing.
    Cheers!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.