13A - Reading Reflection #1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

1. What surprised me the most was the plan Elon Musk creating for his future endeavors. It seems as though he already had a life strategy before he even made any money. Once he did, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he did it, by starting all three of his companies. I think I admired his courage the most. It takes a lot of courage to tell the world you have giant dreams, and it takes even more courage to actually follow through with it. I least admired his sense of pride, because although I think he's doing great things, I think he could be more humble about it. I think when leaders show their pride, it only hurts the mission they are aiming to complete. There were countless times that he faced adversity. Many people on the stock market said his company would tumble, but it hasn't and it has continued to soar. There have also been many failures in his company including Tesla and Space X. He has just been persistant and has not given up.

2. The competencies he exhibited were that of patience, courage, intelligence, strategy, empathy, opportunity awareness, and execution. All of these are very important characteristics, but I think execution is one of the most important. This is because it is the only way to bring all of these other charactersitics to life.

3. The confusing part to me was trying to understand what was the point in bringing some of the companies public, while some of them stayed private. I was confused on trying to understand the benefits of both ways,

4. I would ask him what was the moment he realized he could create and follow his dreams, because I think that is very important in overcoming all self-doubt that holds you back from self- actualizing. I would also ask him what he lives for, because it takes a very strong sense of purpose to create your reality the way he currently is.

5. I think hard work for him is outsmarting the system. Not only outsmarting the system, but creating a better system. This is also my interpretation of hard work, because I don't always think it is the hardest worker who makes the most change, it is the person who works in the smartest way.