I remember when I had 6 years and went to “Club Regatas” to practice sports. After my soccer practice, all of my friends would go to the pool for a refreshing swim. There was this kid named Rodrigo, which already knew three out of the four basic swimming techniques: Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke. I admired Rodrigo so much, I didn’t even know how to swim Freestyle; I only knew how to float. Rodrigo had talent in the water, he kept on swimming until he was 13 and was on “Club Regatas” main swimming squad. Sometime after he turned 13, Rodrigo left the swim team because he didn’t feel motivated and didn’t find a purpose to keep on swimming.
I wanted to share this anecdote with you because the purpose, or the “Why” of everything we do should be our main guideline. As Rodrigo, something similar was happening in BlendZ, the student led business that we created. We felt that we had a clear vision, but most of us didn’t follow it. We liked the idea of creating a business but didn’t convert that like into love. After sometime of reflection as a class, we discovered the reason for our lack of motivation.
The first reason was simple. We liked running our own smoothie shop, but took it as one more project for school. This idea stepped in the conversation when we realized that we were not using our time wisely. Our vision was not to create a smoothie shop just for our entrepreneurship course but we wanted it to keep on working once we graduated from school; this meant that it was not just a school project, it was something greater.
Our second problem, was lack of motivation or lack of efficient working time. As unique students, we realized that working for 4 hours in one are was inefficient because we were to many. We also brainstormed that we didn’t have competition in the school so we had a “ monopoly ”. To break this mediocre way of thinking we separated the class into two groups that would compete between each other. One group would be in charge of a week sale and the other group of the following week sale and so on. Teenagers, especially those who love taking risks are somehow very competitive; at least the ones in my class! This has allowed us to work more efficiently and have a second main objective for BlendZ.
Finally the biggest problem that we figured out was that we were not 100% sure what we were going to do with the money we earned. We all knew that every cent we made was going to go to help something or someone, but we didn’t know what that something or someone was. Th is is a tough decision, because we want to blend our community and use the money that we earn the best way possible, in other words we want to make a change; a big one. We realized that workers in our school were not seen as they should be seen through the students and teacher eyes (generalizing). Even though we are still not completely sure on the money final destination, we are getting closer to figure out where it will go and what will it impact. I am sure that once we figure out this problem, BlendZ will become unstoppable.
Once again, I consider that the most important reason behind everything we do should be based on the why and should follow a clear, detailed purpose. If you are not sure weather you are following a clear purpose reflect as we did so that you don’t become a Rodrigo.
I wanted to share this anecdote with you because the purpose, or the “Why” of everything we do should be our main guideline. As Rodrigo, something similar was happening in BlendZ, the student led business that we created. We felt that we had a clear vision, but most of us didn’t follow it. We liked the idea of creating a business but didn’t convert that like into love. After sometime of reflection as a class, we discovered the reason for our lack of motivation.
The first reason was simple. We liked running our own smoothie shop, but took it as one more project for school. This idea stepped in the conversation when we realized that we were not using our time wisely. Our vision was not to create a smoothie shop just for our entrepreneurship course but we wanted it to keep on working once we graduated from school; this meant that it was not just a school project, it was something greater.
Our second problem, was lack of motivation or lack of efficient working time. As unique students, we realized that working for 4 hours in one are was inefficient because we were to many. We also brainstormed that we didn’t have competition in the school so we had a “ monopoly ”. To break this mediocre way of thinking we separated the class into two groups that would compete between each other. One group would be in charge of a week sale and the other group of the following week sale and so on. Teenagers, especially those who love taking risks are somehow very competitive; at least the ones in my class! This has allowed us to work more efficiently and have a second main objective for BlendZ.
Finally the biggest problem that we figured out was that we were not 100% sure what we were going to do with the money we earned. We all knew that every cent we made was going to go to help something or someone, but we didn’t know what that something or someone was. Th is is a tough decision, because we want to blend our community and use the money that we earn the best way possible, in other words we want to make a change; a big one. We realized that workers in our school were not seen as they should be seen through the students and teacher eyes (generalizing). Even though we are still not completely sure on the money final destination, we are getting closer to figure out where it will go and what will it impact. I am sure that once we figure out this problem, BlendZ will become unstoppable.
Once again, I consider that the most important reason behind everything we do should be based on the why and should follow a clear, detailed purpose. If you are not sure weather you are following a clear purpose reflect as we did so that you don’t become a Rodrigo.