Reflection

 

My intro to entrepreneurship class focuses a lot on the impact that a person’s character and attitude has on their success.   We are encouraged to do a lot of self-reflection.  This week was no exception, as we were introduced to “emotional fingerprints” and how they affect our lives. 

To add a little insight, I want to share a little something from Elder Dallin H Oaks.

In a talk called The Challenge to Become, Elder Oaks talks about the judgement day.  He says we will not be judged by the sum total of our acts, rather the effect our actions have had on us. In other words, we won’t be judged by how many service projects we have or haven’t done, but by the impact they’ve had on our lives.  In the end, our success will be measured by the person we have become.

One question we could ask ourselves is: Am I doing what is right for the right reasons? 

A few weeks ago, I learned that my core values are Faith, Family, and Integrity. I usually think of myself a someone who likes to serve and help others, which is right in line with my core values. However, this week I learned about something that expands on those core values: my emotional fingerprint.  These seven key characteristics that make up my emotional fingerprint explain why I respond the way I do to any given situation.  They affect my decisions, my friends, and my career. Understanding our emotional fingerprint helps us make better decisions, overcome challenges, and achieve goals. Through a small quiz and some deep reflection, I was surprised to find that the seven things that make me feel important aren’t what I expected at all. I fully expected them to be things like being a friend, connected to family, being a good parent, and serving. All of those things are extremely important to me.  Instead, as I read through the options, and tried to be 100% honest with myself, I found that the things that make me feel important are control, providing, being creative, free and independent, solving problems, feeling needed, and experiencing life. The interesting thing is, I can see how each of those things are important in relation to my core values. Having the awareness that these are the things that drive me will help me better serve my family, my faith, and to have more integrity as I navigate the relationships in my life.  It will help me answer the question, am I doing what is right for the right reason? And eventually these tools will help me become the person my Father in Heaven knows I can be.