Week 2 Reflection

For me it was a great start to the week to learn from Elder Robbins about Adam and Eve.  In the beginning they had no one to compete with. The adversary uses us against one another and at that time there was no competition for them, nothing to covet or to compare to. Making a living is something that the Lord wants us to do and is part of the plan, but it is also important how we do that, especially as it involves honesty and integrity. As Elder Robbins taught, “the most serious sins involve others.” If we can look at our business and personal decisions through the lens of what God would want us to do, we can find happiness in our business and personal life and catch ourselves, before unhealthy competition arises and leads to poor choices. 

As Jan Newman said, “dishonesty will come out and you may go to jail.” This seems so extreme, but is a very real consequence. My husband works in the insurance business and helps his clients select and acquire workers compensation and commercial insurance for their businesses. During this process, he finds the best quote from a reputable insurance company. If they like the quote, they send him money which goes into a Trust account which holds every client’s payment until it is due to the insurance company that provided the quote. The bank account can get very large because payments overlap since some payments are not due right away. I help with the bookkeeping and my husband honors that account and his client’s money. That is not his money and the client has trusted his business to make the payment and he respects that. To use the money is extremely dishonest, because if the payment is not made the client is not covered during a time of need and could lose everything, it is illegal to spend the client’s money. Sadly, however situations due to the temptation or due to disrespect for keeping that money in a separate account, some agents in the industry have used their client’s money and it can lead to possible jail time, because it is stealing. Somehow lines were blurred and justified. 

There were many other insights I enjoyed this week. I thought it was really interesting to learn about Henry Ford and how he was on the cutting-edge as he created cars. If he had done what fit what most people were ready for, he would have marketed faster horses. He had to “push to the edge” and help people realize he was offering the best option. However, they did point out to not be “so dense you can’t see” what your customers want. If we offer a product that is desirable to only ourselves, we will have no one to purchase it, and no income, therefore a useless product. In a similar line, I appreciated the principles in the “Do What you Love” video and the pattern for finding what you should do. It really made me think about 1. What was I born to do?  2. What am I good at? 3. What would people pay me to do? Where these three things overlap would be a great place to find an answer. I love helping people and I feel like that might be what I was born to do, but will people pay me to do that, I’m not sure. Most doctors, teachers and firefighters probably feel similar, but that isn’t the direction I would like to go. However, if my answer to all three questions don’t fit together, it may not be the right fit. The third question is the one I really need to figure out. I would love to start a non-profit someday and really make a difference for people who just need a helping hand for a little while. One time someone said to me that she really craved helping people and wanted to, but just didn’t know how or where to start. I would enjoy finding a need in our community and then help connect people in need with others who would like to give back like my friend.