Honesty and Business Ethics

What does a cow drink? First thought that jumps in my head is MILK. I promise I am not dumb, let me explain my answer…

In the Rich Grad Video #3 – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXv_hg-PdEM)

The speaker had us focusing on the color white and when he asked the question, “What do cows drink?” the first thing that came to my mind was milk, because of the association  I had just made with the color white. I know that cows drink WATER, but it was interesting to see how he had just conditioned my mind to believe that it was milk.

The speaker then said, “You have to be mindful of your beliefs. Your beliefs will create your reality.” My life is composed of what I believe in, from where I live to how I spend my money. To get out of the “rat race,” as the speaker puts it, you have to change your beliefs. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing but if you ever have to compromise your integrity that is when I see a problem.

In the talk given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins, Making a Living and a Life he says,

“Working in this world to make a living was part of the Lord’s plan for His children, not just to survive, but to see how we would get along with others in making that living – to see if we would be honest in our dealings with our fellowmen.   Satan quickly recognized the work environment as a strategic setting to stir up all manner of sin, including covetousness, jealousies, self-indulgence, living beyond one’s means, anger, contention in marriages, infidelity, greed and envy, selfishness, even theft and murder.”

I believe that sometimes we have to change our way of thinking to get ahead in life, but on the same turn we have to be careful to not let others change our perspective and how we view things.

Rule #1 from Rich Grad, “Money is not the most important thing in life, however the most important things in life require money.” Where we live, where we go to school, what we eat, these are very important things in my life that require money. To be able to pay for them I have to have money… well that is a given.

It is easy, when listening to men of the world to become conditioned to the world view that they have. If money becomes our primary objective, we may lose sight of the truly important things.  I never want to get to the point where someone asks me what is the most important thing to me and I instinctively say “my career.” Just as I know cows drink water, I know that my family is and will always be most important to me – no matter what the world conditions me to believe.