Week 2: Acton Hero: Tom Monaghan
The message that I got from watching this video about Tom
Monaghan was in overcoming worldly pride.
Tom had made it to the top of his industry through his ambitions and a
great business model for Domino’s Pizza.
After reading Mere Christianity
by C.S. Lewis, he did some introspection on his life and his values, and
realized that he was very prideful. He
took a “millionaires vow of poverty” to give up all of his toys and the excess,
and find ways to use his wealth to build the kingdom of God. I am impressed with his choices to put God
first, and shed off the natural man. It
is easy to let the vain things of the world lead us into using our prosperity
for personal gain, instead of finding ways to use it to better those around us. The toys that he had acquired had “bought”
him fame and friends, and things that he thought were important at the
time. It takes a strong testimony of our
Heavenly Father and His plan to choose to live a life without excess when it is
so easily available to you! Tom is a
wonderful example of sacrifice and service to show love for our fellow man and
for God!
Week 3: Acton Hero: Paul Robshaw
After watching the acton-hero video about Paul Robshaw, I
learned that it is important to maintain our values, even during rough
times. Paul was taught early at the age
of 13 about the value of hard work.
Though his father didn’t leave him anything of monetary value, he left
him with a legacy for a “will to work!”
He found that he was very driven to work, and says that “it takes an
awful lot of hard work to achieve success.”
After a divorce and bankruptcy, he had to decide to live by his values,
and do what is right. He recognized that
money & accomplishments were not as important as his core values. You can lose “everything,” but your values
cannot be taken from you. I like his
take on dreams… that they are reality without boundaries. When we take away the boundaries, it opens
creativity. I can relate to Paul’s work
ethic as I too was taught at a very young age the value of hard work! I am grateful that I am very driven and
motivated to carve out my own path, and work hard.
Week 4: Acton Hero: Desh Deshpande
I really appreciated Desh Deshpande’s vision for the
”possible.” As an immigrant from India
with only $8 in his pocket, he was able to achieve “the American Dream.” He
talks about having optimism because things do go wrong, and it’s not the end of
the world. He says that when you
overcome one of these hurdles, that you can handle harsher environments. He talks about “sitbacks” as opportunities to
sit on the problem for a bit, and they are a way to expand your comfort zones. How we start out is not important… it is our
motivation, and what we do with the opportunities that we see around us.
Ken Zolot sees his childhood struggles as a catalyst to
making him who he is today. He talks
about accountability, and that we need to be punctual, responsive and when we
notice that things are not right. He
says that we should be asking lots of questions… starting with who cares about
what you have to offer? Why do they want
it? Who are these people, and what are they going through in their lives? We have to show the customer what they want,
while being willing to listen to feedback from the market about what we are
offering.
Week 5: Acton Hero: Phil Romano
Learning about Phil Romano this week, I found that he is an
extraordinary entrepreneur. His
statement that “Money is applause” really resonated with me. It’s not about the money. Money is an afterthought to the reward of
accomplishment, and making a difference.
At an early age, he ran a paper route, and learned to give people
something that they want/need, and to let them put a value on it. I know that I can apply this principle to the
$100 challenge and other ventures that I want to develop. People want an authentic service or product
that they can use. I need to find ways
to bring value to the ideas that I have.
Phil also teaches that we need to not be like everyone else. Know that it’s okay to go against the grain,
and have that “point of difference!” A
point of difference creates uniqueness in what is being offered, and people
will appreciate that difference. A
popular acronym used today is YOLO (You Only Live Once), and Phil uses it to
push himself to be productive, do all that he can do, and do it now! I believe that the lessons from Phil Romano’s
experiences have taught me to believe in myself, and dare to be different. I know that I can successfully expand business
ideas and ventures as I apply these principles and aim to find the point of
difference!
