What is the Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course?

• An introduction

The Big Picture	Every little trifle, for some reason, does seem incalculably important today, and when you say of a thing that “nothing hangs on it” it sounds like blasphemy. There's never any knowing—how am I to put it?—which of our actions, which of our idleness’s, won't have things hanging on it forever. —E.M. Forster
BYU-Idaho’s Introduction to Entrepreneurship	BYU-Idaho’s Introduction to Entrepreneurship Course is designed to help you know yourself—your strengths, your passions, even your dark side—and to help you chart a course forward and blueprint those extraordinary things. living a life of meaning is about living life with intent. It’s about deeply, honestly knowing ourselves. And it’s about developing the wisdom to appreciate that this brief spark of consciousness of ours is an enormous, rare privilege—one in which we’re capable of extraordinary things.
Starting to live a life of meaning now means never having to regret the answers to these questions.	1. Did I contribute something meaningful? 2. Was I a good person? 3. Who did I love and who loved me?
The Four Goals	1. To discover an entrepreneurial “calling,” the startup of you 2. To choose constructive habits and to deeply etch them onto your character 3. To select your next “steppingstone job or begin your entrepreneur career. 4. To Embrace Disciple Leadership by examining “The Ministry of Business”
Discover an entrepreneurial “calling”	INGREDIENTS OF A CALLING Gifts/Strengths World's Deep, Burning Needs Joy/Passions
Stars and Steppingstone	Your star is the ultimate manifestation of your calling. Steppingstones are how you get there. There are multiple ways you could decide to approach stars and steppingstones. You might use it as a planning tool, where you begin with the end (your star) in mind and work backward toward the present to develop milestones until the next steps in life (your steppingstones) become clearer. Or you might be more spontaneous and—while choosing certain skills or areas to master— remain open to the opportunities that present themselves along your journey, designing each one to move you closer to fulfilling a calling and living a life well-lived.
A Warning about Stars and Callings	Discerning a calling is a frustrating, lifelong experiment. Very few of us have a “road to Damascus” experience where a calling or star becomes crystal clear in a flash. For many, a calling is only clear near the end of life, as we look back and trace the threads and chance occurrences that made our lives full and complete. But the lack of clear-cut direction is a poor excuse for refusing to take intentional steps toward the type of life you want to lead and type of person you want to become. Otherwise, you’ll become disenchanted and disappointed, and likely give up the search before your epiphany comes. So while the view ahead may be foggy, there’s plenty you can do, right now, to forge ahead.
The Course Flow: A Hero’s Journey of Entrepreneurship	The course is roughly broken into 14 units, to help you examine and acquire the 14 mindsets of successful entrepreneurs: 1. Branding yourself: the startup of you 2. Learning to Create Meaning: Having a purpose driven life 3. Embracing Core values of honesty and living by the spirit 4. Creating a personal constitution 5. Apply habit of highly successful entrepreneurs 6. Harness the power of relations and mentorship 7. Move forward with passion 8. Manage adversity 9. Acquire Disciple Leadership skills 10 Move forward with peak performance 11 Manage Money 12 Give Back 13 Have an attitude of Gratitude 14 Celebrate Life
The Life of Meaning Framework	Life of Meaning Framework   The Present  - WHO AM I? Am I moving ahead or am I stuck? Am I experiencing joy on a daily basis? Where is my most dangerous blind spot? What resistance is keeping me from becoming who I am meant to be? Next Steps WHAT COMMITMENTS MUST BE MADE AND KEPT? Next steppingstones: discipline, job, or calling? What deposits did I make last week? What deposits will I make next week? Mileposts, Guardrails, and Role Models WHO IS WALKING WITH ME? Who is my highest relational priority? Am I taking care of my inner needs and health? What promise needs keeping or relationship needs repairing? Which communication habit is my highest priority? Relationships My Star WHY AM I HERE? An intentional, accidental, or planned life? What injustice or opportunity am I pursuing that will change the world? What are my most important values? How much money do I need?
A Recurring Tension: Your Star, the Present, and Next Steps	Understand that there is no perfect “next step.” No matter what you choose to do next, there will be surprises and missteps. You will have to advance through struggles, through trials and errors. That’s just the way life works. But you know this. And you know that just as there is no perfect next step, there is no perfect “next job.” Nevertheless, you have two choices: (1) to be thoughtful about asking questions and setting priorities, or (2) to flail about without making difficult decisions and setting priorities, hoping the perfect job will come to you, until you run out of time, energy, and money and take the next job that just comes along, a job that is unlikely to advance your life in the direction you want.
Be Prepared to Answer for yourself.	To help you make better choices, you’ll be asked early in this course to “declare your intentions” about how much of a life change you want to make, and what price you are willing to pay to make it. Then, every few weeks, you’ll be introduced to exercises and tools that will allow you to narrow your list of choices. That way, you’re neither paralyzed by some idealized fantasy nor in denial about the sacrifices and tradeoffs that may be necessary.
Creating a Portfolio of Your Life’s Work	My Life Portfolio will include the following Items: Bucket list of 50 things, My top 3 Job and Entrepreneur list, Stars and Stepping Stones chart, Personal Constitution, Deconstructing your fears list, Personal board of advisors, Code of Conduct, 14 weekly journal entries related to each mindset.

Summary:

Life is difficult. And life is full of challenges. But life can also be full of joy and meaning if you ask the right questions, make thoughtful commitments, and pick up just a little bit of luck—or gratitude—along the way. This course is designed to deliver the challenges, tools, and frameworks to prepare you for a meaningful life as a principled entrepreneur. The easiest way to think of this course is as a compressed preview of your life ahead, an accelerated version of the trials and lessons you are likely to face on your own life journey as an entrepreneur. Work hard to begin to discern your special calling as an entrepreneur, have the courage to etch a few more good habits into your character and to take the next steps on your adventure, and you’ll be well on the way to your own Hero’s Journey of Entrepreneurship.