Remote Team Project Meeting

I found the remote meeting to be very interesting. First of all, we are so blessed to have Google Docs and other document sharing. Our group used Google Drive to share information and documents with one another. It was especially useful while were putting our report together, because it allowed us all to work on the same document between meetings and perform each of our respective responsibilities.

Our experience with Google Hangouts was an interesting one. I personally ran into trouble with sound. I could hear everyone, but no one could here me. As I began to start messaging, something happened, and I could be heard. However, Kirk had a similar problem, but was never able to resolve it. Luckily, Hangouts allows for a message feature where we can type in messages to communicate.

Technology is amazing and has developed so much in the last few years. I feel this exercise was very useful, for the use of technology to perform remote meetings is growing. There will be a time that we will be working in group projects and may need to plan over the internet. This practice has made me one step more comfortable and being able to work in such a situation.

Of Course...Running

As many may know. I love running. So what better to show my enthusiasm for running than to post a blog to Runner's World Magazine. Below, is a blog post talking about BYU's very own Jared Ward. He currently is a professor in the statistics department and just recently qualified to run in the Olympics as a marathon contestant for the U.S. It is so awesome to have someone in our own neighborhood going to Rio de Janeiro to represent the U.S.

Jared Ward

Also, below is a survey to find out what our classes preferences, goals and ambitions are in relation to running.

Do you like running?

Lonesome

I had the experience to participate one of the best stake conferences I had ever seen. It was new and exciting. The stake president decided to focus on the music for the conference program. We had the amazing opportunity to sing primary songs as a congregation and watch as my ward choir sang "I am a Child of God" in ten different languages. It was definitely one for the books, especially since one of the speakers was a catholic who currently lives in my ward. However, what I want to focus on is a talk that was given, that really touched my heart. I guess it is because I really related to it. He talked about being lonely. The speaker explained his own personal experience, and how school was going great, he had a girlfriend, a nice job, and life was going great, yet he still felt lonely.

I found it so interesting that someone of his caliber could still feel loneliness. I then realized that anyone can feel loneliness and that it is okay. The problem is when you do not address it. The speaker shared his experience about how he handled. Basically, he asked the Lord's help and sought peace through the gospel. It brought a new light into his life.

I often feel loneliness, and I think we all do, even when life seems "perfect." However, the Lord is ready to help and to heal us. He can bring us peace if we seek it and we can be blessed with it. I am going to work more diligently to seek the Lord to fight loneliness, and to remember that I am never truly alone, but have the support and love of my Father on high.

Councils, Even Family Councils

All over the globe on the first weekend of April, there are families watching the General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day. This is a time where many members of the church gather to listen to the global leaders of the church as they begin to speak and teach on several topics. For this week, I would really like to focus on the talk given by the Apostle Elder M. Russell Ballard. He gave an amazing talk on councils and how they can be utilized in the family. I found it to be very eye-opening. I realized that a successful family needs to council together and that parents need to council together in order to plan and guide the family to success. I come a from a family that would do this often, but because it was so normal, I never realized how essential it is to having a successful family.

I may have a while before starting my own family, but I should apply this teaching exactly how Elder Ballard said. He told young single adults to meet often with roommates to plan the week, and create rules for the apartment. By meeting together often, we can verify that everyone is on the same page and address the needs or concerns of each person. This will help to create unity and respect in the apartment.

I plan to put this in action by talking with my roommates often, and working to create a better relationship with each roommate. I am lucky and have amazing roommates, but we can always achieve to be better, and I will do exactly that.

Stress to the Max

At the beginning of this week, I was stressed. I had projects and tests for so many classes happening all at once, and it seemed as if everything was due by Wednesday. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get it done. Fortunately I did, but that doesn't impact what I learned this week, or should I say relearn.

Last semester, I watched a Ted Talk that talked about stress becoming our friend. (I posted it on the class LinkedIn, if you haven't watched it you should). The speaker talked about how after ten years of experience as a health psychologist, she just realized that she had been teaching stress management incorrectly. She, along with many of her colleagues, have been teaching that stress is bad, end of story, and that we need to avoid it by the plague because it can kill you. She began to think, however, why we have stress and what does it do to the body. Studies were designed and conducted, and she discovered something fascinating. It isn't the stress that is killing us but how we are reacting to it. By simply changing our attitude towards stress and seeing it as something that helps us, we see negative health side-effects turning to positive side-effects. All it takes is a change in our perception.

We all live stressful lives, the thought of trying to avoid stress leads to failure. What we need to realize is that when we our stressed and our heart starts racing, and we start sweating, it is really our body preparing ourselves for life's challenges. We need to look forward and tackle our challenges, realizing that stress is our friend, and our bodies coping mechanism to help prepare us for our endeavors.

A Little Web Design Here, A Little HTML There

The past few weeks, in my Information Systems 201 class, I have been learning the basics to web design and how to use html/css in order to create a webpage. It was a topic that seemed difficult and daunting at first, but after starting to work through the material, I found it to actually be quite enjoyable. Being able to create something in the virtual world was so cool. After learning the basics, I was able to manipulate the pages, fonts, pictures, videos, etc. to be however I wanted them to be. I could place them in whatever order seemed pleasing to me. It was amazing.


I feel I may have found a possible new hobby. It is definitely a very useful tool, and one that I hope to continue to use. Just the ability to create something is so cool. It is who we are. We are children of an all powerful creator, and as his children, it is in our DNA to create. We live in a world with so much destruction, imagine if we started to create instead. We could turn the world around.


I now want to focus on being a creator, not just in the virtual world, but in the real world. I want to lift those around me. I find it funny, how we can learn so much from such miniscule things around us. From learning to create a webpage, I discovered that we are meant to be creative beings. We are meant to lift up and not tear down.

Preparations

This week was a busy one. It was also one of those weeks were you need to make preparations for everything. I had a couple of mid-terms, an interview for a summer job, a couple of dates, and so much more. What I most learned this week is how so many things in life require preparation, and how becoming a good preparer, can help you to be so much more successful in life.

I feel that most people, including myself, do give an honest effort to prepare before-hand. Where we suffer is preparing effectively. We go through the motions to say, "there we go, I did it," rather than, "there we go, I am ready." I noticed this for my interview. I had gone through questions before, I had practiced different scenarios, but the questions they had were totally different than I had expected and had caught me off guard. I should have focused more on questions specific for the position, and not just the general questions asked in just any interview. Also, test prep, is a great example. How many times do we quickly read through our notes, look at power points posted by the teacher to say that we study, and then are disappointed when we don't receive the desired grade? It has happened to me too many times.

Now, as for the future. I feel making plans and goals to become a more prepared person is needed. I need to focus on the quality of preparation, and doing it to actually prepare myself rather than to just check it off of the list. I am going to work having high quality studying and planning sessions during the week that way I am prepared and ready for the many adventures and challenges that life throws at me.

Online Interview

This week in my communications class, I had the opportunity to do my first mock online interview. I had never done anything like it and I was quite nervous. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I did notice some things that I need to change. First off, in the beginning, I was blinking too much. I think it was because I was nervous. Also, I learned that the camera needs to be further away that way, I can more fully incorporate my hands and body when I am speaking. I tried doing it in my online interview, and there just wasn't space for everything. Also, I need to focus at looking at the camera at all times. For the most part, I was looking at the camera, but every now and then, my eyes would drift, and it seemed a little unprofessional to not keep "eye contact."

Now that I have experienced it, next time will be better. With an increasing use of technology, I am sure that this will not be the last time that I will have an online interview. So now I need to continue to make improvements and remain calm when the true moment arrives.

Preparing for a Marathon

On Wednesday, I received, as a gift, a book in the mail. The name of the book was "The Hanson's Marathon Method." This book has information about how to properly train for a marathon. I learned that I had been training incorrectly. The book focuses on pace being the key to everything. Typically when you think of training/practicing for anything, you want to work as hard as you can in each practice session. You try and give 100% everyday. What I have learned from this book is that this is the incorrect way to train. In fact, it is one of the worst things you can do because you do not allow your body its proper rest.

As I mentioned before, pace is the key. The book talks about using pace to get the most out of your workouts. You also need to alternate between easy days and hard days, allowing your body to rest.

Now why am I talking so much about running. One reason I love running so much is that it is so applicable to life. I believe this structure of practice, focusing on pace, and realizing that you can't give 100% everyday applies to training in any field of life. We need to focus on our pace in whatever field we are working. If we practice little by little, and focus on the big picture, we will find greater success in our endeavors.

I am now focusing on how I can pace better in other areas of my life. By doing so, I am feeling less stress and the retention is much greater.

A Key to Productivity

Last week I was watching some Ted Talks when I saw a very interesting one. It was a man talking about a transformation that occurred in his life, and all it took was to wake up early. He made the goal to wake up at 4:30 am for 21 days straight. He chose 4:30 am because that is what most successful CEO's commented as their wake-up time. He chose 21 days because science shows that it takes 21 days to make a habit. By following through with his goal, he noticed that he was more productive and slept better at night. After watching this Ted Talk, I too had the desire to make a change. I have made the goal to wake up at 5 am for 21 days straight. I started on Monday February 22, and let me tell you, it is difficult. I was able to wake up at 5 am for 3 of the 5 days; however, the days I was successful, I noticed a great increase in my productivity. I was able to accomplish more school work, house work, and work at my job. I also noticed that I was able to fall asleep faster than normal. So, now, I have to keep up the goal. I need to continue to do this for 21 days straight to create the new habit. I am excited to see the results from this little experiment of mine.

This week I learned something new about what I love doing. So, I have a friend who is currently taking Accounting 200. She is having difficulty learning the class material and asked that I help her. I discovered that I love teaching, especially topics that I am passionate about, such as accounting. I never saw myself as the one to enjoy teaching. Teaching always seemed difficult and foreign, but when you love it and watch others grow in their understanding, it becomes so amazing. It just took me by surprise how much I enjoy helping and teaching.

I now want to get more involved with helping and teaching. I am not saying that I want to be a teacher by profession, but in the background, I do. There are talents and abilities that I have and can use to help benefit others, and I can benefit even more by teaching these skills and talents. So, I am going to look for ways in work, school, church and friends to teach and uplift.

The Need for Mentors

For my job at H&R Block, you are constantly learning. The world of taxes is very big and complex. It helps when you have a mentor or guide to help you to learn and grow. I have been blessed to have an experienced tax professional watching over me and showing me how to best prepare taxes. I didn't seek her as a mentor, but she has been so kind to help me.

What I have learned is that wherever we are, we need mentors. They have so much to teach us and to show us. We can learn from mistakes their mistakes, and hopefully not make them. My goal is to look for mentors in my other areas of life, as a student and disciple of Christ. I have learned so much and grown as a tax professional, and I know by finding a mentor I will  be able to grow as a student and follower of Christ.

A Running Injury

I love running. It is my favorite pastime, and you learn so much about life from participating in this de-stressing activity. Recently, however, I have been suffering from an injury. The iliotibial band (IT band) is a structure that starts at your hip and connects to the top of your shin right by your knee. The IT band helps you to stabilize yourself while running and performing other athletic activities. While on a long run nearly a month ago, I irritated it. What happens is that it moves right near your knee and when lacking strength in the IT band, it begins to rub on the knee and becomes irritated. Once irritated, it REALLY hurts. I was forced to stop running for a few weeks. After a few weeks, I figured that I would be good to go. I discovered that after two-days of running, the problem still existed. I began to do research on the internet and I discovered something that changed how I view not only injury recovery but life. Most specialists agreed that to treat IT band issues, it is not enough to just rest, ice, or stretch. You have to change your exercise routines to strengthen your IT band. The problem started because it was weak. To fix it, you have to make your IT band strong. After starting to do exercises for my IT band, I feel so much better.


Life is so much the same. We often think that by taking a break, or taking the easy route, that it will eventually work out. However, we are often in the pickle we are in because of a weakness, and we have to make that weakness strong. We need to exercise and strengthen ourselves to overcome life's many challenges. My new goal is to focus on strengthening and not just flying by.

A Week of Challenges

You know those weeks you have where everything seems to go exactly how you don't want them to go? That is how I would explain this week. It started off super busy with multiple assignments due and quizzes to prepare for in the first few days; however, Thursday was the worst. I have recently bought a new car, and went to go get the oil changed. While changing the oil, the mechanic did an inspection and found many things wrong that needed to be fixed immediately. The worst part, the previous owner had told me that many of the parts had been replaced recently. I was a little upset, and had to get a loan from the bank of Mom and Dad to get it fixed (for those who don't know me, I HATE asking my parents for money). It really put me into a sad mood and the rest of the week seemed to go downhill afterward.

I did learn an important lesson though. Whenever you are looking to buy something big, like a house, car, etc. Find an expert and get their opinion. I had tried to do research, but I am not a car savvy person. I needed to reach out more to find a true expert. Also, be careful in who you trust. Unfortunately, many people lie anymore, I don't know if the previous owner purposefully or unknowingly sold me the car with mechanical issues, but I should have looked further into it. The good thing is the problem is solved, and in the future, I am going to be consulting an expert before I start dishing out money for a big purchase.

Well another week has gone by, and it went by so quickly. This last week, I learned how to properly give feedback. I have had many moments in my life, where feedback/criticism was needed to be given. In the past, I always wanted to be the one to receive it, but not to dish it out. I now realize that that is very selfish and shortsighted. Feedback is useful to everyone, and so I need to learn how to give it and to give it more often. In my communications class, we did role-plays and we had to write up a script beforehand. It was hard, but I learned so much. I learned the importance of trying to be in the other persons shoes and to look to get the whole picture, and that by doing so, we can make the feedback even more precise and valuable to the receiver. Now that I have learned the steps of feedback and how to make it count, I now am going to work on not being afraid of confrontation and to work on giving feedback in an effective manner. Wish me luck!

Christ Centered Living

Wow did this week fly by. I know I am getting this post up a little bit late, but it is better late than sorry. This last week, I spent time preparing on a talk to give in church and I realized that I have been missing something in my life. While spending two years of my life bringing others unto Christ in Brazil, I learned myself to come unto Christ and become a better disciple. Recently, I have lost that focus. With school, work, and the other demands of life, I had been putting my discipleship on the back burners. So, now that I have realized what I am lacking, now I just need to put into practice. I am going to start this week by focusing on charity. While reading from the scriptures, I am going to focus on how charity is being portrayed and focus on applying into my day to day living. I am excited for this new week. Good luck to all of you out there!

Back to the Grind

With the holiday season over, it's back to school, and that can be seen with either horror or excitement. This time around, I was excited. New classes, mean an opportunity to meet new people and create friendships. It also allows me the chance to push myself in new materials to be studied. On top of a new semester, it is a new year filled with goals, dreams, and ambitions. I hope to give all of my readers a taste of hope. Hope that it is possible to change, and achieve our goals and desires. I am a simple everyday person just like you, and if I can do it, you most certainly can.

This semester, I am taking a few classes that I am pretty excited about. One in particular is my communications class. The teacher started off with a bang in her presentation. She showed confidence and power while delivering the syllabus. I immediately knew I was in the right class. I am normally a shy and quiet guy that keeps to himself. I am a good student and often have comments, but for some reason I feel almost embarrassed to share these thoughts. So what I learned this week is that I need to step out of the box. I need to open my mouth and participate in my classes, share my thoughts and ideas. By doing so, I hope to be a more sociable person.

Now wanting something, and doing are entirely different. However, I have a plan. It isn't a genius plan, it's actually quite simple. I have the goal to make one comment or ask one question in each class each day. I started doing this on Wednesday, and so far so good. I will be an active class participant yet.