The Ashton Journal

 I have several takeaways from what I learned this week. While there are several, they are all interconnected with becoming. So, here is what I learned about becoming this week: Strive for growth and learning: As you go about life and develop skills, you learn how to handle new situations based on prior experience. When you have a mindset for personal growth, you have a formula you can apply to any situation to figure out how to navigate it.  Define and stick to your own Code of Conduct: I spent time this week developing my own code of conduct, things I will never or will always do. My personal code of conduct aligns with my strongest value- integrity. As I decide to start a business I want to always take accountability for business choices I make. I also never want to cut corners financially or in quality of what I produce.  Having guardrails protects and maintains proper business ethics: Having business ethics does more than just protect your business from legal issues....

 This week's focus was to create a life of meaning. It was full of goal setting, short and long term. It involved the why behind my goals. This was a good thing to ponder. I have goals. Why do they matter? Why am I setting them? It is because they align with who I am and the type of person I want to become.  We watched a video for class - Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. He has terminal cancer, this was his last lecture. You can tell by his personality that he lived a life of meaning and of love. I want to embrace this love of life. I want to instill it in my child. Pausch made his childhood dreams come true.  Dreaming is so important- it gives momentum to life. It brings nuance and excitement and a desire to grow. One of my childhood dreams was to work with animals professionally. Sometimes this was a desire to be a vet, or work at a wildlife sanctuary, or as a groomer. This was other times to run an animal shelter, or train animals to do tricks. Animals have always been imp...

 Here we go!  I started BUS 110 this week at BYU-Idaho. It is Into to Entrepreneurship. I feel if I can successfully write entrepreneur without looking at the word by the end of the semester I will have succeeded. Here are my two reflections on this week: Make Journaling a Habit: Inspiration will come- and it will also go. Recording thoughts and inspiration as it hits is a way to keep it. Inspiration builds as you learn and grow. Tracking and recording what you are learning and how you are growing will enable you to turn that growth potential into reality. I have wanted a reason to journal for a long time but haven't turned it back into a habit since I was a teenager. I hope this class will kickstart me back into journaling. This will be increasingly helpful as I start my business this year.  Track Lessons You've Learned and Lessons Not Yet Learned: It seems obvious to track lessons you learn in order to reflect and implement them. However, after reading Your Entrepreneur...