Week six is proving to be another excellent week. N. Eldon Tanner gave a wonderful message about Self-Mastery. In it, he stated, “No greater goal could be set, no greater progress could be made, and no greater joy and satisfaction could be experienced than to determine that we will accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, and live his teachings.” My mom taught me young about this concept. I remember when my tummy was letting me know that it needed food on Fast Sunday’s, she would say that I can either use the hunger pains to remind me why I’m fasting and say a little prayer to Heavenly Father or I could think about myself and how difficult it might be too fast. She said one was allowing my body to control my spirit and the other was keeping my spirit in control of my body. Plato said, “The first and best victory is

to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

I didn’t appreciate Wences Casares’ message this week. He was funny but a bit inappropriate and I didn’t feel he added much to the lesson, more that he took away from the spirit. His message was about the 3 areas of knowledge—structure of an industry and networking, skills for daily operations, and ability to raise money. 

The concept for the week that impacted me the most was “If the company culture is flawed, almost any strategy is in jeopardy”. I work for a small company and really enjoy it, but I watch as the owner’s attitude towards some employees has really brought morale down. I’ve tried to counteract that energy and lift others up, but much of the company culture of a small business comes from the owner. I’m going to be intentional with the atmosphere I portray for my employees.