Launching leaders Lesson 2: "The formula and Happiness"

Elder Haight - 3 - step formula

Get your education			3.
2.0Make your mark (to be good, great or the best at something)			5.
Prepare to serve/give back			6.

Jay paul Geddy - work ethic - 3 step formula

1.0Get up early			1.
Work hard			2.
Find oil (a product, an idea, or a service that is "your oil of success)			4.

If you work on this formula in the order listed on the right you will be a success!

Action Hero: Ken Zolt

Growing up, Ken Zolt often felt hindered by his devilish curiosity, but it was this restless creativity coupled with a nuanced understanding of consumer expectations that helped him create companies like Egenera and Heartland Robotics. Ken continues to stretch the boundaries of innovation at the Kauffman Foundation where he mentors aspiring entrepreneurs, teaching them to blend their technical skills with an understanding of human relationships.

How has  your restlessness made you a better entrepreneur?

He was restless, he couldn't sit up straight and do his worksheets.  He felt like he was missing something and not performing adequately.

Why is accountability important?

His parents taught him that everyone is special and accountable to one another and we are human beings connected in a inseparable way. He thinks it expands to the world of commerce - you are doing business with human beings, you're hiring human beings and understanding what really the connection what's the driving force behind someone's motivation. What energizes them, what excites them and how you can help that person and be reliable for that person---that is the center of any successful business person it also translate to being punctual, being responsive and noticing when things aren't right…making sure the place is well tended to and the people are well tended to.

What questions does a successful Entrepreneur ask?

Regularly asking the question "who cares?" and "why?"

Do not ask why you are special and your technology is so marvelous…How can you help them? What keeps them up at night and what can you do to change that?  How are you interacting with that person or organization? What are the complexities of that person or organization that you really need to understand. - there is a form of empathy required with the partners you are trying to interact with

• You have to always want to push yourself to the edge to show your customers what they should want while at the same time not being so dense your failing to listen to feedback from the market.

Video - Risks in Business - Jan Newman Founder - Altiris

• When you take someone's money (to start your business) you will be in pain mode until you re-pay it with interest

The business took off well so he started hiring employees and the all of a sudden the business took a nose dive….

• Uncle ray asked how are you going to make payroll? He said I don't know? He said do you have some money? He said yeah …Ray said well why don't you give the company a loan? He said you need to get some skin in the game
• It's important that you get people who have skin in the game, whether it's time, effort, or they take a lower salary….because then they are aligned with what you aligned with.
• Never do anything dishonest - don't do it, it's not worth the risks. You could go to jail, lose everything and be known as unethical
• You will not be able to hold a temple recommend if you are not honest with all your dealing with your fellow man.

Video -Why are ethics important by Frank Levinson, Finisar Corporatiopn October 31,2001

You have to build your company early and trust the loyal employees. Do not compromise on loyalty, if you find a good employee try your best to keep them.

Video - Top 10 must have for a start-up company by Frank Levinson, Finisar Corporation October 31,2001

10. Comfortable, cheap furniture

• The point is … how you look does not matter…function does.

9. A sign

• Are you in business- tell the world!
• Choose an abstract name… ideas you have not even had still find a home made the name
• Tell customers to look for your sign when they visit (I.e. Get customers to visit)

8. Too little money…

• Growth and ideas happen best in lean companies
• Any money in the company is your money regardless of its source.
• You must be driven to innovate instead of spending for success.
• Money sources
• Customers money
• Your own money
• Bank money
• Angel money
• VC's last…

7. Common sense

• Businesses must have:
• Customers
• Products
• Sales
• Profits
• Taxes to pay!
• Businesses need to not have:  (Really? this one is hard to chew up and swallow.)
• CFO's
• VPs (of anything)
• Market studies ??
• Ad Campaigns ??
• Website ??
• Business plan ??
• Forecasts ??

6. The Pride of the fat Baby

• Do whatever it takes to stay in business
• Early Finisar had customers
• Crazy VOD Server led to first modules ( funded by U2)
• Scuba computer led to "smart Module" patent
• Wiring SF-EPA Building led to understanding of test needs
• Pool computer paid bills during a very lean period

-nothing replaces face to face contact

5. A supportive Family (even if they are the Clampetts)

• Have picnics for dinner --Help with homework
• Soccer practice
• A little Christmas Spirit

4. Like surfing real waves…Do not try to make your own

• Too many ventures are started by Entrepreneurs who KNOW what the world wants or needs.
• Real waves are defined in standards bodies, broad groups of customers…if your company finds working with these groups tedious that is a serious flaw.

• What makes the world go is "standards"

3. Confidence that you will have 1000s of great ideas!

• Give away good ideas you have early…partner with first customers with this technique
• Do hold ideas too closely, it prevents you from working on new ones
• Develop a culture where new ideas are expected with regularity…many good ideas every year
• Base all businesses thinking and projections on this assumption

2. Sales (Duh!)

• Always have sales…from the beginning!
• Tough customers are usually the best ones
• Always listen carefully to customers … never discount what they say
• A customer is someone who actually sends checks for products received after placing PO's
• A customer is not someone who likes your idea, talks about huge volumes, needs free samples, wants to do a co-development

1. Get a great Partner

• Choose carefully…a partner is not the same as you but is complimentary
• Make sure they are fanatically ethical
• Be loyal to your partner … no exceptions if ethical
• It helps if he/she is smarter than you

What is the #1 thing you took from this Case Study - Magdelena Yesil

It takes a lot of courage and strength to leave your country to study abroad and then to make a home for yourself in another country.  Then to be able to use your knowledge to start on a career path that will change your life forever.  I feel like Magdalena had so much courage to be able to study and learn as much as she could and then to open businesses and help them thrive and become something wonderful.  She is a great asset to the business world.  I want to be able to have the enthusiasm that she has to be able to learn, grow, and someday call myself an asset to a company.

I would like to be like Magdalena in helping create new companies. I know that I will have to keep on my studies as she did and take risks.  The risks are very hard to take but the will be worth it in the end if nothing else I will learn from my failures and learn to move on.  I know I have the courage to step into the Entrepreneurship world, which is why I have taken the step to enroll in school.  I’m excited and scared for the journey I have ahead of me.  

Case Study # 1 – Magdalena Yesil

Write a 1 page single spaced paper answering the following questions:

• How did Magdalena Yesil's habit of lifelong learning benefit her career?
• If you were in Yesil's position, how would you respond to the offer made by USVP?
• How would you address the challenges to family life that this kind of career would present to you? Why would you remain or not remain in this type of career?
• Magdalena pondered one more transition, from entrepreneur to financier. What would you recommend she consider doing? Why?

Case Study # 1 – Magdalena Yesil

Magdalena has a passion for learning and developing skills to help her move in the direction of starting companies and running them herself.  She finished getting her Master’s degree and then she started small with a company that she was not entirely satisfied with but was able to gain experience.  She then moved to a company where she had more people interactions and she was very happy with that.  She then took the big step of starting her own business in commercializing the internet and she gains a partner to help her with it.  They had a verbal contract they did not need a formal written contract.  She then stepped into the role of Vice President of marketing and technology as the company grew, she continues to oversee marketing and business development and building relationships with other companies.  She used her education to make good decisions towards developing her career by starting out small and working her way to owning her own businesses. 

It is very intriguing to get an offer from USVP and the job will be very demanding. Magdalena was in positions like this before and she thrived in them.  I think that if it were me, I would be flattered to have a position like this offered to me.  It could mean furthering her career and help her to own even bigger businesses in the future.  Magdalena has a passion for learning and having new adventures and experience, this job would keep her content. She would learn more about the venture investments.  She has not had very much experience with investments and that would help her in future business buying opportunities.  I think she should accept the job offer.  Looking at the big picture she wants to own many businesses and learning the ins and outs of small, medium, and large companies will help her do just that.

Magdalena has her mom living in California now and she has been a great help with her two young children.   I think so long as her mom is willing to help she will be fine in this new position without much change in the way things are now.  She will get to travel more with this new position, but that could be an opportunity to take her family with her so that they can vacation when she is not working or in meetings.  The family will get the opportunity to see other parts of the world.  I think they would like that. Magdalena can set aside family time on her days off.  She can always make sure that she will get two days off and she can bring her family to church and hold family home evening every Monday.  If she is out of town on Monday nights, she could set aside time to Skype with her family for Family Home Evening.  She could have scripture study with her family every day that she is home.

I think Magdalena should expand and take the job with USVP to really help her move towards owning many more businesses.  It would further her career and help her to gain the investments part of owning a business.  I think that she has been doing this kind of career for a long time and she seems to be happy so she should continue to move forward.  She has the intelligence to be a good asset to USVP and she is willing to learn as much as she can, it would be a good move to go to USVP.  This opportunity can help her gain the knowledge needed to have her own businesses and she will be able to contribute to helping grow USVP.  The knowledge she will take away from this company will be irreplaceable. 

Personal Code of Conduct

Janette Bailey

W03: Life plan – Personal Code of Conduct

I will never	I will always
Stop going to church	Read/study my scriptures
Cheat in school	Study hard
Cheat on my husband	Love my husband
Abuse any human or animal	Love and treat with respect all humans and animals
Show up to church unprepared to teach	Prepare my church lessons in a timely manner
Mislead or be untruthful	Tell the truth no matter what the consequences

Career Development - Steve Davis Webinar - Notes

Talk main points	Alumni LinkedIn Networking
LinkedIn	Has approx. 240 million members
Hiring	85% of companies use Linkedin
Searches	2007 - there were over 4 billion searches
Question	Networking is all about_____

Networking is about finding:

• The right people
• So you can ask the right questions
• Ensuring you are on the right career path
• To build mutually beneficial relationships
• That will open doors of opportunity

Steve Jobs	The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
Joe Ehrmann	You've climbed the latter of success, and when you get up there, you realize the ladder was leaning on the wrong building.
President Spencer W Kimball	God does watch over us and does notice us, but it usually through someone else that he meets our needs.
Networking	To open doors of opportunity and have success.
Why networking is essential in your job search	Fine tune your LI Profile and Resume (20%) - LI = LinkedIn Network effectively (60%) Increases your chances of being Interviewed by 5-10X Bypasses gatekeepers (HR) Increases No. of people who can endorse/refer you Looking for a job, submitting applications (20%)
Why Networking is Essential in your Job search - Matt Younquist, President Career Horizons	At least 70% if not 80%, of jobs are nor published.  "And yet most people are spending 70% or 80% of their time surfing the net versus getting out there, talking to employers, taking some chances (and) realizing that the vast majority of hiring is friends and acquaintances hiring other trusted friends and acquaintances.

To help in your Networking efforts, we are creating the BYU-Idaho Network made up of students, Alumni, and professionals. We can help you:

1. Prepare to be Found
2. FIND key connections
3. FOSTER valuable relationships

-online training Modules at

www.byuiconnect.org

Social media strategy

You are a million dollar brand - A business of What do you want to be known for? How are you going to market yourself? How can you use social media like LinkedIn as a strategy and not just a tool?

My Brand

My Message

Content Delivery

LinkedIn	Your head statement should state what you are about and what you are seeking (call to action) You need to have a professional picture -impressions matter
Maximizing your profile for best  results	Summary: "me in 30 seconds"  This is where you can sell yourself. (concise and clear summary) Should not be super long Should not be quirky Case principle - C=copy A=and S=Steal E=everything You can use someone else's formatting -not their words-
Experience section	Experience = roles - you can create a group in the field you want to be in and you will always be the owner of the group and if it takes off it will look good in your LinkedIn account
Skills and expertise	Showcase Skills and endorsements - this is the way to promote yourself
Education	Do not just list your schools - also list what you are involved in -like: clubs, sports or activities you're involved with. Add when you're graduating. Add personal details like: Married  If you're seeking opportunities make it easy to be contacted - add your email and phone number
Summary page	You can upload a file or add a link like - portfolios and resumes

Searching on LikedIn - being found

Factors for Search results

• Results are the same for everyone
• Order depends on
• How often you show up in a search
• No. of connections
• Your activity
• Keywords

Keywords (count most in)

• Headline
• Experience
• Education
• Projects
• Summary

LinkedIn is like a game Here's how it works:

Finding Connections:

3's & groups

How to grow your Network

• Connect with LinkedIn Super connectors (those with 500+ connections

For example when you connect with Steve Davis…..

• My 7,600 1's become your 2's
• My 800,000 2's become your 3's
• Your network grows by over 800,000

Groups recommended to get into

• The Official BYU-Idaho student and Alumni Network (10,000)
• BYU-Idaho groups for each department
• BYU Alumni (35,000)
• BYU Management Society (8,100)
• LDS Professionals (26,000)
• Professional groups by interest (eg. Social Media Marketing group, 610,000)

Do connect with :

• Classmates and Alumni
• Common career interests
• Members of the church
• Employees of companies you are interested in
• Shared hobbies/interests

When you find someone you want to connect with click on their name and it will bring you to their page then click connect and it will bring up a personal email.  Send the a personal message. *always use their name *you can save a copy of your personal message and re-use it anytime/all the time

Works like FB - every time you post, comment on a post or like a post or update your profile everyone will see your name and picture

-use the "relationship" tool to track Activity

1. Go to your connection
2. Click on tag
3. Make notes, schedule reminders, record how you met.

Foster relationships - from being FOUND to being KNOWN (and relationships)

Top 11 questions you can ask your connections.

1. How did you get involve in….?
2. What advice would you give me if I wanted to be successful in your line of work?
3. What do you love/enjoy about what you do?
4. What school(s) did you attend, and what made you decide to go there?
5. What did you study in school?
6. What fun things do you like to do outside of work?
7. What is it in your life that inspires you?
8. What kind of books do you like to read and which ones have had the greatest impact on you?
9. Where do you see yourself five years from today?
10. How do you think we can mutually work together?
11. Who else do you know that I should be talking to?

Etiquette tips:

1. Say thank you in multiple ways (verbal, e-mail, handwritten note, ect.)
2. Be considerate of their time
3. Be professional
4. When offered multiple jobs , make sure to respectively decline and express gratitude for the offer.

Two great Networking Training Resources

• www.byuiconnect.org
• Find Alumni tool
• Mentor match
• Alumni Profiles
• University.LinkedIn.com
• Tip sheets
• Training Videos

NETWORKING IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Randy Pausch

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

1. I think Randy Pausch was able to achieve many of his childhood dreams because he broke down the brick wall.  He was willing to learn and accept feedback to learn from those mistakes.  He had good friends, colleagues, and mentors to help him along the way.
2. Yes, Dreaming is important.  I feel like our dreams help guide us in the direction we want to explore to know if that is what we want to do or if we should move onto the next item on our list of things we want to do with ourselves.
3. My childhood dream was to grow up, get married and have 4 children and to be a stay at home mom.  I did grow up, get married and have two children.  For medical reasons 2 children was all I could have but they are the best part of my life.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and I was able to stay at home with them until they were about 3 years old but then money got tight so I went to school and got a career in medical billing/ reception/insurance.  I am a good example to both of my kids and help them achieve their schooling and work ethics.

Randy Pausch

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

1. I think Randy Pausch was able to achieve many of his childhood dreams because he broke down the brick wall.  He was willing to learn and accept feedback to learn from those mistakes.  He had good friends, colleagues, and mentors to help him along the way.
2. Yes, Dreaming is important.  I feel like our dreams help guide us in the direction we want to explore to know if that is what we want to do or if we should move onto the next item on our list of things we want to do with ourselves.
3. My childhood dream was to grow up, get married and have 4 children and to be a stay at home mom.  I did grow up, get married and have two children.  For medical reasons 2 children was all I could have but they are the best part of my life.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and I was able to stay at home with them until they were about 3 years old but then money got tight so I went to school and got a career in medical billing/ reception/insurance.  I am a good example to both of my kids and help them achieve their schooling and work ethics.

Randy Pausch

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

1. I think Randy Pausch was able to achieve many of his childhood dreams because he broke down the brick wall.  He was willing to learn and accept feedback to learn from those mistakes.  He had good friends, colleagues, and mentors to help him along the way.
2. Yes, Dreaming is important.  I feel like our dreams help guide us in the direction we want to explore to know if that is what we want to do or if we should move onto the next item on our list of things we want to do with ourselves.
3. My childhood dream was to grow up, get married and have 4 children and to be a stay at home mom.  I did grow up, get married and have two children.  For medical reasons 2 children was all I could have but they are the best part of my life.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and I was able to stay at home with them until they were about 3 years old but then money got tight so I went to school and got a career in medical billing/ reception/insurance.  I am a good example to both of my kids and help them achieve their schooling and work ethics.

Randy Pausch

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

1. I think Randy Pausch was able to achieve many of his childhood dreams because he broke down the brick wall.  He was willing to learn and accept feedback to learn from those mistakes.  He had good friends, colleagues, and mentors to help him along the way.
2. Yes, Dreaming is important.  I feel like our dreams help guide us in the direction we want to explore to know if that is what we want to do or if we should move onto the next item on our list of things we want to do with ourselves.
3. My childhood dream was to grow up, get married and have 4 children and to be a stay at home mom.  I did grow up, get married and have two children.  For medical reasons 2 children was all I could have but they are the best part of my life.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and I was able to stay at home with them until they were about 3 years old but then money got tight so I went to school and got a career in medical billing/ reception/insurance.  I am a good example to both of my kids and help them achieve their schooling and work ethics.

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

1. I think Randy Pausch was able to achieve many of his childhood dreams because he broke down the brick wall.  He was willing to learn and accept feedback to learn from those mistakes.  He had good friends, colleagues, and mentors to help him along the way.
2. Yes, Dreaming is important.  I feel like our dreams help guide us in the direction we want to explore to know if that is what we want to do or if we should move onto the next item on our list of things we want to do with ourselves.
3. My childhood dream was to grow up, get married and have 4 children and to be a stay at home mom.  I did grow up, get married and have two children.  For medical reasons 2 children was all I could have but they are the best part of my life.  I wanted to be a stay at home mom and I was able to stay at home with them until they were about 3 years old but then money got tight so I went to school and got a career in medical billing/ reception/insurance.  I am a good example to both of my kids and help them achieve their schooling and work ethics.

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture -full video

Really achieving your childhood dreams

• Brick walls are not there to keep people out they are there to let us prove how badly we want things.
• It's not about how to live your dreams it about how to lead your life.
• If you lead your life the right way the dreams will come to you.

Today's talk is about:

• My childhood dreams
• Enabling the dreams of others
• Lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others

As a child:

• Always smiling
• Inspiration and the permission to dream is huge  -when he was a kid he say man walk on the moon for the first time.

Childhood dreams for Pausch:

• Being in zero gravity
• Playing in the NFL
• Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia
• Being Captain Kirk
• Winning stuffed animals
• Being a Disney Imagineer

• Your critics are your best friends, that means they still care.

He never got to play in the NFL -

• Football got him to where he is today
• Fundamentals and hard work
• Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted\
• Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or by "head fake")

Head fake learning = learning the fundamentals, teamwork, sportsmanship, perseverance ext.

The most important learning is these "head fakes"

The skill of leadership is learned by watching others be leaders

People who help us:

-parents

-Teachers

-Mentors

-Friends

-Colleagues

How do you get people to help you?

• You can't get there alone, and I believe in Karma
• Tell the truth
• Be earnest
• Apologize when you screw up
• Focus on others, not yourself

Brick walls let us show our dedication --they are there for the people who really want to get in and for those who do not want to get in.

don't bail; the best gold is at the bottom of the barrels of crap.

WHEN YOU DO THE RIGHT THING, GOOD STUFF WILL HAPPEN

Get a feedback loop; and listen to it! (feedback from people you interact with daily is the best way to find out what you need to improve on.  Don't take offense to the feedback, learn from it.

Show gratitude

Don't complain, just work harder.

Important advice

1. Be good at something; it makes you valuable
2. Work hard…"what is your secret?" --working hard--
3. Find the best in everybody; no matter how you have to wait for them to show it.
4. Be prepared; "luck" is where preparation meets opportunity.

Head fake is not about how to live you dreams it's about how to lead your life the karma will take care of itself and the dreams will come to you.

If you are interested in seeing phenomenal speaker go see this video on Utube. (1 hour 16 minutes)

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

From <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo> 

Treat Life As an Experiment

• Treat life like and experiment and be prepared for some stuff to not work out
• It's scary to start something knowing you have to finish it

Example: if you start reading a 300 page book it's scary to think you have to finish it but if you open the book with a goal of reading the 1st 20 or 30 pages and you can continue reading if it is a good book…it's not as intimidating

• Get in the habit of doing this with everything in your life and you might fail but you are failing forward with learning attached to it
• Thomas Edison " I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that do not work."

What Is Your Calling in Life?

By Jeffrey A. Thompson

• His first night at BYU he was feeling lonely so he went for a walk around campus and looking at all of the beautiful building he thought of all the great learning there was to be done in these buildings
• This is when he knew what he wanted to do for his career.
• What is your calling in life? If you don’t know yet, how will you find out?
• We need to explore what we mean by a “calling in life” to see whether the idea fits within the framework of the restored gospel. 
• The very roots of the idea of a professional calling are distinctly religious
• The world still embraces the notion of a professional calling, but it has almost entirely abandoned the spiritual roots of the idea. 
• “You might have a calling if you are lucky, or you might not.” To dispel this heresy, let’s look at a scripture I use as the theme for many of my classes. You have heard it many times, but I’d like to point out something that you may have missed. In D&C 58:27, the Lord asks His children to “be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”
• After the Lord charges us to anxiously pursue good causes, the next verse begins: “For the power is in them” (D&C 58:28). Think about that. The Lord hasn’t just told you to pursue good causes, He has equipped you with power to do so. You—you personally—are full of divine capacities to do good that you probably don’t even fully appreciate. These verses testify that you are not part of a lottery system for life callings. You have a calling in life: to pursue good causes. And you have been given power to do just that.
• Anxiety - “You have to find your one true calling in order to be fulfilled.”
• D&C 46 enumerates many spiritual gifts that you might have been given—gifts of teaching, healing, or language. Some of these gifts don’t seem particularly relevant to choosing a profession

Verses 11 and 12 read:

For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

• Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that “spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in variety” (Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985], 371). 

• finding our calling in life involves the same process as discovering our spiritual gifts. Elder Robert D. Hales has provided some insight on this process:

To find the gifts we have been given, we must pray and fast. . . . I urge you each to discover your gifts and to seek after those that will bring direction to your life’s work and that will further the work of heaven. [Robert D. Hales, “Gifts of the Spirit,” Ensign, February 2002, 16]

• If you exercise faith in the Lord, follow His spirit, and seek to amplify your gifts, you will be led gradually to a place where you are well equipped to serve. 

• “When you find your calling, work will be bliss.” 

• “Finding a calling means that the world will take notice.” If you expect the world to loudly applaud your calling in life, you may be disappointed. 

• If you find your calling leads you to work that is less than glamorous, take heed to what John Calvin said: “No task will be so sordid and base . . . that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God’s sight” (quoted in Hardy, The Fabric of This World, 90; also in John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960], 3.10.6, 725). 

• “Meaningfulness in life is to be found at work.” This idea has become a foundational doctrine of the world. Many people identify themselves primarily by their professions.
• Our worthwhile work can indeed give us a sense of meaning. But the idea that meaning comes primarily from our work entirely misses the point, because it focuses on the self.