Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?

The Webster definition of tenacious includes the phrase "not easily stopped or pulled apart." The assignment topics vary between your team's case, your employer, and general entrepreneurship studies. Naturally, you will find some assignments are more appealing than others (i.e. many people are afraid to talk to strangers). The professor has built in extra assignments to allow you to skip a couple of the assignments you find too challenging, frightening or are otherwise unable to do. However, you do not get to skip every assignment you don't want to do! The order in which you do assignments can affect how well you keep up with the requirements of the course. Productivity trainings vary in their recommendations to do the most appealing assignments first or last. In my case, when I cherrypicked the assignments I liked and did those first, it just built up the barrier between me and the remaining assignments. The more I procrastinated, the harder to was to do an assignment, until I found myself stressing to get them done last minute before the deadline.

To better keep up with the requirements of the course, I developed a "Get 'Er Done" attitude. I now do assignments in the order they were assigned. Not only did I keep up with requirements, but I found that I was working ahead. Working ahead is extremely helpful since it gives you flexibility in your schedule - you never know what will happen, you could be without internet, get sick, etc. and now you don't have to stress about meeting deadlines.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

Many of the assignments are not the typical ones of writing a paper or taking a quiz, but instead doing something like interviewing an entrepreneur or interviewing strangers. This immediately pushes against your comfort zone and for me created a feeling of "giving up" before even trying.

I spent days thinking about the assignment and who I should go talk to and what I should say, how I would record them, how I would upload a file, etc. Finally, the day it was due, which was also trash night, I rushed out to talk to some neighbors in our community. After talking to one neighbor who turns out didn't mind being interviewed for my school project, I was encouraged to go find two more neighboring strangers - who were just as nice and helpful! After uploading the files and writing my analysis, I realized I learned a lot - opposite of what I thought I would find - by talking to these people and it encouraged me. I think I spent more time worrying about the assignment than the assignment actual took if I had just pushed through and gotten it done.

"You have to let it all go, Neo, fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind."

The next assignment required more thorough interviews and finding customers in a certain segment. I chose mothers for my segment and know very few young moms or if moms would think I am a total weirdo for coming up to talk to them. I again procrastinated and felt like "giving up," but I saw a classmate's post where she had already uploaded her interviews and talked about her positive experiencing asking strangers if she could interview them. This encouraged me to push through with my own assignment.

These types of assignments contributed to the procrastinated I discussed in the first section and my development of the tenacious "Get 'Er Done" attitude with assignments. (SEE ABOVE) Additionally, seeing other classmates work ahead and having the ability to look at their posts before doing my assignments encouraged me that these assignments are possible if you just - that's right - GET ER DONE!

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

Fostering skills that support tenacity:
1. Don't procrastinate
2. Read your classmate's posts
3. Don't overthink it (it'll cause paralysis not action)

Developing the 'tenacious mindset':
1. Work ahead - if you're ahead of schedule you're on track with developing a tenacious mindset
2. You are the only thing in your way. Worrying about the assignment (worrying is different than analyzing) takes up more of your time than just doing it.
3. Embrace pushing your comfort zone as the way to learn and grow.