Halfway Reflection

Tenaciousness is a competency: I think the ability to keep going in the face of hardship is one of the most important skills to have, not just in entrepreneurship, but in life as well. So often do I think about the work I have to do for a class or an upcoming test and it makes me just want to shut down, but I know I'm working for something really valuable to me so I force myself to keep going even when I'd rather go to sleep or just relax. For this class specifically I make it my mission to get all of the preliminary work for an assignment squared away before Thursday comes, such as required interviews or basic notes on my product. I then have Thursday to write up a rough copy and revise, which I either do that same night or on the Friday morning before turn in. In this way, I am never pressed for time to finish an assignment, as its never in those final hours before the due date that I'm doing the work, only the finishing touches.

Tenaciousness is also about attitude: One time during the course I felt like giving up was when I had three assignment I had to write up on Thursday, though I also had to go see a play for my theater class that evening and had an exam for a class the next day. With everything piling up for that one day I thought that I wouldn't be able to finish everything, panicking to finish those assignments after the play and still have time to study and get a good night's rest. I wanted to call it quits and just take the zeros on the assignments, but I pushed through, did the assignments, studied in the morning and did well on the test. This experience has given me confidence in my ability to manage hectic workloads and stressful situations, and thus has contributed to my competency concerning tenacity.

Three tips: My three tips for an incoming student when tackling this class concern workload management. First, don't leave all your work for the last minute, spacing out your work means you can produce better quality responses and not feel rushed to submit a half-baked blog entry. Second, understand your requirements for other classes and fit this class into the gaps in your schedule. Getting through the period of having multiple assignments due with a test the next day was a great learning experience, but the whole issue could have been avoided if I thought about my schedule on Thursday and instead chose to write up the assignments on Wednesday, when my workload was lighter. Lastly, choose to talk about business ideas you are actually passionate about, it makes the process so much more enjoyable. When I refine my business idea concerning personal finance management for young to middle aged adults, I actually am discussing the viability of this venture with people I know who are in the field already, as I actually want to pursue this at some point. If you care about the business venture you are investigating, you will be forced to produce useful information for yourself that might become invaluable to you. Combining these ideas with determination and hard work will allow you to achieve all the values of the "tenacious mindset".