Week 9
Week in Review
Monday November 28, 2016
Today I woke up at 8 a.m. so I could go over my study cards for our test on Wednesday. I normally study for about an hour, and then I review my business plan and see what other assignments I need to work on. Monday is Toastmasters day. Today was kind of different for me because I was sitting in the audience and had no duties. I got to sit back and really pay attention and listen to everyone’s speeches and watch how my brothers handled their assigned duties.
I never realized that Toastmasters would be such a great benefit for everyone. Toastmasters teaches you how to communicate with a wide variety of people through your speeches, plus it helps you to expand your vocabulary. Next week I will be giving my third speech. It was helpful for me to sit in the audience, as it made me think of ways to better prepare my speeches and how I can deliver them. I can see that each person in our class is becoming a better speaker, becoming more and more confident speaking in front of a group, because of Toastmasters. I believe we will utilize this to great benefit in the future. We have great teachers who encourage us and give us positive feedback. Everyone is so positive and uplifting that it makes you very proud to be a part of this program.
Filiberto Martinez (a.k.a. Sweet J. Lo)
Tuesday November 29, 2016
I got up this morning about 4:30 a.m. for breakfast and decided to stay up and study a few different things I thought would be on our pop quizzes today. I heard we might be taking our names test today, which I wasn’t really worried about, because I pretty much know all of my classmates. Instead I focused on our Living in the Village book and freshened up on PEP’s 10 Driving Values before class started at 12:15 p.m.
Brian T. let us know right away to not get our name tags, so that meant we were having the names test. I think I only missed one. After that a couple of our PEP brothers got to dance because it was their birthdays. Jessie F. then gave us a presentation over the Living in the Village book. Jessie lectured about setting up 401(k)’s, IRA’s, other savings/retirement plans and taxes.
Brian T. then went into more detail about how much money we could have for our retirement if we just sacrifice the little things and followed other true and tried methods. John F. and Jerry G. then talked about how to do our financial numbers for our business plan. I was a little confused with that piece, so I am probably going to see if I can get someone to give me some further explanation on that. We were informed that we were going to come back tomorrow so we could test on Chapter Seven in our entrepreneurship book. We ended the day by praying out. It was a good day, and I was anxious to get back to the dorm so I could start studying.
Steve Martinez (a.k.a. Sweet la Bamba)
Wednesday November 30, 2016
It’s 6:30 A.M. and the day room is buzzing. There are a total of eight tables that seat four people. Six out of the eight have a combination of Phase 2 guys studying with graduates helping with the material and telling war stories of their days in class. A few 1st Phase prospects are observing the mild chaos with anticipation.
There have been progressive day-to-day rumors of the bi-annual unit lockdown coming soon. The latest word is that it will be today. So in preparation, we will be in class today from 8 till12:30 p.m. As we arrived to class the Servant-Leaders were telling us to “put everything under your chairs, no talking, it’s test time!”
We usually test on Thursday, but tomorrow Coleen R. will be here for our Etiquette event. She is the author of Be on Your Best Behavior, a comprehensive book of basic manners and etiquette that we have been reading for the past two weeks to better grasp the feeling of corporate scenarios, situations and dinner environments. For now the Chapter 7 test from our entrepreneur book is on the menu, with a side dish of formal dining setting test that immediately follows. My brothers are starting to feel the lethargy set in, due to the past week of crunch time. A few of my PEP brothers are still feeling the brutality of the names test from yesterday that many felt was unexpectedly early. But one of our mottos is “stay ready to keep from getting ready!” and the graduates keep telling us to be ready for everything.
Thus far it’s been a great experience of comradery and brotherhood. Knowing that we’ve been at PEP for almost six months already, we’ve banded together and feel like the last of the Mohicans. It has been tough at times, and at the end of the day, Extreme 17 is unified by a sense of accomplishment. We can almost see the graduation light at the end of the tunnel, and yet… still no lockdown! I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear the newest rumor.
Chase M. (a.k.a. Sweet Meghan Trainer)
Thursday December 1, 2016
Today, I want everyone who desires to be a successful entrepreneur to contemplate this question: how rich and wealthy do you want to be? Today Mrs. Colleen R. was here to teach us about etiquette and other life lessons like the question listed above.
In my entrepreneurship class we learned some very valuable lessons on how to look rich and feel wealthy, and I’m not talking about money either. I am talking about looking your best and feeling your best in every situation. Let me break this down in more simple terms. The way you look, the way you eat and how you conduct your business are three strategic ways that will ultimately benefit you as a business man. I am not talking about ways inherit this kind of wealth, but instead a certain lifestyle. You are like a brand, and your character will determine your ability to sell who you are. The old saying goes, “time is money and money is time.” But you as an individual and the development of your character over time will become more profitable than any business. What I am trying to sell is my integrity, because the way you look, the way you act and how you conduct business is derived from your integrity.
If you are a man without integrity, then you are poor and absent wealth from an internal perspective. As a growing entrepreneur, the very hard lesson was that being unsuccessful was more an internal lack rather than the lack of the material wealth that so many seek. Let us start with the way you look. Our teacher taught us how to be men of class. The simple things like what you wear will reflect a big portion of your business image. The way you dress will determine how you feel about yourself and your business.
Let us move on to the way you act. I have learned that my attitude will also reflect my image and the image of my business. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, so your body language and your attitude will reflect the internal riches and wealth of a man’s soul. Always remember that the success of an entrepreneur is determined first by the ability to sell who the person is, so the way you act will influence your brand in either a negative or positive way.
Last of all, how you conduct your business has everything to do with your integrity. When an entrepreneur wants to sell a product, the image and character of the business will determine the possibility to generate the wealth we all desire for ourselves. So if you desire to be rich and wealthy as an entrepreneur, start with your image. Gain your wealth with integrity first, and you will have more than enough to start and operate a successful business.
Antwan M. (a.k.a. Sweet Dynomite)
Expressions
Looking back on our Excellence in Etiquette event I am surprised at how much fun I had. Colleen R. is a very good public speaker who made learning about how we’re supposed to eat, act and dress very entertaining. I actually had no idea there were so many proper ways and rules about how we should conduct ourselves. She showed us how to properly behave, not only for formal occasions but also in our everyday lives.
Before we started I would never have guessed that people use so many dishes and utensils to have a meal. But they do, and now I know how to properly use them. I got a refresher course on tying a tie, which, to tell you the truth, I needed. I really enjoyed learning about how to give out a business card, because as a future entrepreneur I want to get everything right. And as Colleen taught us, you only have three to five seconds to make an impression, so make those seconds count.
I was really nervous when we got to the dinner portion, so I’m glad that I waited for the others to arrive before I sat down. I had a great time and went over my newly-acquired skills with the executives at my table. They were all great and we had a wonderful time together. I really enjoyed the meal, especially the tea, and let’s not forget my favorite part: chocolate cake. I was pretty full when we got to the PEP room and started playing an etiquette-themed game of Jeopardy. Although I studied a lot, I was not chosen as a contestant. But that didn’t matter, as my brothers were all prepared and we beat our worthy opponents, the executives, and continued the PEP tradition of winning the Jeopardy title. Go PEP, and thank you, Colleen, for the great day.
Matthew M. (a.k.a. Rainbow Fruit Stick)