7 Principles for Creating Your Future

Pursue Your Dreams, Follow Your Passions, Live Your Values

By James J. Semradek, Jr. & Michael P. Butler, Jaico Books, 2006
7 Principles for Creating Your
Future provides a pathway to a
more productive, fulfilling life by
showing you how to balance a
satisfying career and a
meaningful personal life.
Not only do these principles
illustrate how to become a
successful entrepreneur or
intrapreneur, they also show
you that the key to a dynamic
career is a healthy balance
between work and personal time.
These 7 Principles will help you
to:

discover your strengths

and dreams through selfexamination
choose a low risk, high
value-added business to
pursue
cast a vision for your life
lead a conservative lifestyle
while leveraging your time
and money for good
integrate work with family
into a harmonious balance
adhere to your values and
ethics in your business
regularly measure your
success

BOOK OF THE WEEK:

INSIDE THIS SUMMARY:

The Big Idea
Why You Need this Book
Principle 1 - Know yourself
Principle 2 - Select a low-risk, highvalue-added business
Principle 3 - Cast a vision
Principle 4 - Lead a conservative life

Principle 5 - Integrate work and family

Principle 6 - Adhere to your values
Principle 7 - Measure your success

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Why You Need this Book

This book will help you discover how to create
your dream life, which is a life enriched with
purpose, meaning, and personal satisfaction.

PRINCIPLE 1: Know yourself - your

strengths, weaknesses, dreams,
and passions
____________________________
If 100 percent of your identity
is rooted in work,
and work turns on you,
what are you left with?
My patients often say,
I dont know who
I am anymore.
-Ilene Philipson,
Counselor
___________________________

The foundation for achieving a balanced life is to

know yourself and to answer the question:
Where should I focus my lifes work? By
knowing who you are, what your needs are, and
where you want to go, the type of
entrepreneurial business and lifestyle which
compliments your abilities and completes you as
a person becomes increasingly clear.

If you dont have the fire in your belly for selfemployed entrepreneurship,
intrapreneurship may be an option for you.
An entrepreneur is defined as one who
undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise
or business, usually assuming full control and
risk.
An intrapreneur is defined as an individual who
works for a company in an entrepreneurial role
and environment. While still working for the
company, an intrapreneur has the
opportunity to develop new business
independently, as well as new revenues for the
company, the profits from which will be shared
in part with the employee. The only condition is
that the independent business does not
interfere with the companys business and that,
in fact, total customer service is enhanced.

THE 7 PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE

INTRAPRENEURSHIP
1. There is a mutual benefit to the company
and the employee to structure a corporate
intrapreneurship environment.
2. The company provides employees with
flexibility.
3. The company and the employee share in
the profits.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

4. Employees have flexible hours.
Authors: James J.
Semradek, Jr., & Michael P.
Butler
Publisher: Jaico Books
Date of Publication: 2006
ISBN: 81-7992-545-5
135 Pages

5. Employees function independently

within the guidelines.
6. Company objectives take precedence
over personal goals.
7. Employees function within the vision and
values of the company.

7 Principles for Creating Your Future, by James J. Semradek, Jr. & Michael P. Butler

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THE 7 BENEFITS OF CORPORATE

INTRAPRENEURSHIP
1. New concepts, products, and revenue
streams are created.
2. Company turnover costs are dramatically
reduced.
3. Employee performance and company
results are enhanced.
4. The risk to the employee of starting a
new endeavor is minimized.
5. Employees can retain all of their existing
professional colleagues and associates.
6. Employees can capitalize on the premier
reputation of the company.
7. Employee creativity is enhanced.

Knowing yourself will help you to know

whether you should pursue entrepreneurship
or intrapreneurship. Either one can be a great
experience and prove to be highly beneficial,
both professionally and personally. You simply
have to decide which is right for you.

PRINCIPLE 2: Select a low-risk,

high-value added business and
execute it with excellence

The central theme is to select an opportunity that

fits you based on what you learned about
yourself.
Whether it is identifying a business you wish to be
in on your own as an entrepreneur, or seeking out
a position with a company exhibiting the seven
intrapreneurial characteristics, the opportunity
you select is a key element of the integrated
business and lifestyle model you will create as a
result of applying the seven principles to your life.
You have an awesome opportunity, and
challenge, to structure a tailor-made opportunity
that can fulfill your specific dreams while
providing high value-added services which meet
the needs of your clients.
Once you identify the business opportunity that
fits you, and develop a plan to execute it with
excellence, youre ready to move forward.
Its time to bring together who you are and the
lifestyle you want to create with the business
opportunity you select be it entrepreneurial or
intrapreneurial to create an integrated lifestyle
and business model customized to you and the
future you want to create.

PRINCIPLE 3: Cast a vision and

support it with leadership
____________________________

____________________________

Leaders learn from the past,

focus on the present,
and prepare for the future.

Choose work you

love and you will
never have to work
a day in your life.

-Byrd Bagget,
The Pocket Book of Leadership
___________________________

-Confucius
___________________________

Creating a life vision is a very personal process,

since it directly reflects your goals, dreams,
values, passions, and business interests. You will

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find that in the process of visualizing your

journey, you will also be plotting the steps and
strategy you will employ to achieve your
vision.

FOUR STEPS OF A VISION

1. Define your vision in practical terms.
2. Define your vision graphically and then
literally.
3. Support your vision with leadership.
4. Apply leadership principles to develop
the respect and trust of your clients.

When casting a vision, integrate the

knowledge of who you are with what you want
the business you have selected to be. Then
develop a vision that defines your business
and integrates your values.
In casting your vision, start by depicting the
vision you have for your business in a simple
but powerful graphic.
If you have a partner, the process needs to be
accomplished first independently and then
jointly until a graphic emerges that all
partners are completely satisfied with and
reflects who they are and their shared vision
for the company.

PRINCIPLE 4: Lead a conservative

life and leverage your money and
time for good dont allow your
desire to make money control you

____________________________
Money is a great
servant, a terrible
master. Its a great
way to keep score
in business, but
its a terrible way
to gauge overall
success in life.
-Howard Ruff
___________________________

A portion of your time and money goes to your

business, and another portion to your own
needs, but what about the rest? Two balance
principles will enrich you and the world in which
you live:
First, leverage your money for good. If
every business would set aside money on a
regular basis with the sole purpose of using
it to help others, it would change the world.
Granted, you should not be charitable with
the intention of being blessed. However, you
can be assured that blessings beyond your
comprehension will follow.
Second, leverage your time for good.
Time is a very valuable resource, probably
much more important than money. If we
could use a portion of our time to help
others, what a powerful, positive impact we
could have on our community and the world.

When your business is producing an abundant

income for you, you can free up a portion of
your time to devote to helping others. Recall
your gifts, strengths, and weaknesses, and then
look for ways to use those strengths to help
others.
Clearly, business and money are important to all
of us, but they only provide the means to an end.
Avoiding the constant pursuit of money for
moneys sake, and planning and living so that

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you have time to leverage your resources to help

others is a profound, life-changing philosophy.

PRINCIPLE 5: Integrate work and

family its one life, not two
____________________________
In dwelling,
live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep
to the simple.
In conflict, be fair
and generous.
In governing, dont
try to control.
In work, do what
you enjoy.
In family life, be
completely present.
- Tao Te Ching
___________________________

Integrating work and family is a constant

challenge, but when done in a balanced way that
works for you, the rewards are awesome. The
goal should be to integrate your business and
your family activities into one cohesive, balanced
life focused on achieving your dreams and the life
you want to have.
Remember to choose a life and a lifestyle that are
true for you and your family as you seek the
balanced business and lifestyle model that you
want. Forget the family part and you may find
yourself very successful in business but not
happy in your family life.
You can be a super-achiever, be relaxed, and
have a wonderful family life. So, dont run so hard
getting to the goal that you forget to enjoy the
journey.
Structure your business so you have time for
both business and family. Pace yourself and be
patient with your business dont let it consume
you.

Remember, its okay and even healthy to take a

break. Balancing a successful business with a
successful home life is true success. The
business of life is more important that the
business.
Being true to yourself, your family, and your
values is everything. It is the key to inner peace,
personal growth, and a fulfilling, meaningful life.

PRINCIPLE 6: Adhere to your

values live them and integrate
them into all that you do
__________________________
Our values are not luxuries, but necessities
Not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself.
- Jimmy Carter
__________________________

Your core values are the heart of who you are.

Only you can define your values and determine
how your values will be reflected in your vision
and in all you do. Living your values without
compromise gives you a sense of purpose and
inner peace that is precious beyond words or any
financial sum. A key to achieving true success is
to know your values and to follow the path they
dictate.
As you implement the 7 Principles in your life,
your goal will be to define the values of
importance to you and to determine how they
will be integrated into all that you do.
Regularly asking yourself the question How am I
doing at living my core values? is one element of
a constant self-assessment process you must
maintain to be aligned with your business and
lifestyle model. Since life and business are not
static, we need to measure how well we are
doing at achieving the success and balance we
desire, which we will address in the next chapter.

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PRINCIPLE 7: Measure your

success using success factors that
will make a difference

Have you created a business that allows you

to integrate work and family to the extent
you desire?

____________________________

5. Time for friends. Along with your spouse

and God, these are the people you turn to for
counsel in times of uncertainty, for comfort in
times of distress, and these are the people
who uplift you when you spend time
together.

In order that
people may be
happy in their
work, these three
things are needed:
They must be fit
for it. They must
not do too much
of it. And they
must have a sense
of success in it.
- John Ruskin
___________________________

The success barometers you develop should

allow you to assess your progress toward
achieving your perfect life and the future you
want to create. Remember, the intent is for you to
assess all aspects of your desired life balance.
Heres a set of barometers that assess the factors
of importance to balance in your life:
1. Relationship with God. Developing a
personal relationship with God and focusing
on a rich spiritual life could transform your
life.
2. Relationship with spouse. Usually, if this
relationship is in the excellent category, all is
well in many other areas of our life.
3. Relationship with children. Set a good
example for them by providing a loving,
protected, and nurturing home environment
so they can grow and prosper with a healthy
self-image.
4. Time spent on business versus family.

6. Serving and helping others. If everyone

focused just a fraction of their time on this
activity, imagine the impact it would have on
our world.
7. Business and financial success. Success
in business and finance can provide you with
more time to focus on the important things in
life, not just on making more and more
money.
8. Ability to smell the roses. Slow down.
Enjoy the day. Talk to a friend. Eat lunch at a
park. Notice a flower. Consciously decide to
make time for smelling the roses.
9. Physical conditioning and exercise. It is
also a necessary part of maintaining ones
health and contributes to personal
refreshment.
10. Pursue your dreams to the extreme. Each
has different dreams. You cant pursue them
unless you define them. What are your
dreams? Are you able to pursue them?
Maintaining the balance requires periodic checkups. If youre out of balance, what is your plan to
get back on course? Be ready to have a balanced
life and to realize joy beyond your expectations!

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