Imagine a Barbara Sher book club at your local coffee shop. Over coffee or tea and a scone, you meet weekly to discuss what you’re reading in one of her books. You share what you’re learning through the exercises about who you really are. You get more out of the book as the others share their insights. And you’ve got the accountability that helps you make the time each week to read some more of the book and really work through the exercises.
Sounds great,” doesn’t it?
Now imagine that, for the same cost, you can attend in your yoga clothes or pajamas. At whatever time and day suits you. And the other members of your book club are not just your neighbors. They live in New York City or Taos, in London or Montreal, in Perth or Hong Kong or Frankfurt or Stockholm. They live on a farm in Idaho, in a Lake District cottage in England, or next door to Disney World.
Well, c’mon in, because that’s what we’re creating here. For sixteen weeks, we’ll share Barbara Sher’s New York Times Bestseller, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. We’ll read every word. We’ll do all but one of the exercises. (It requires applying for a job.) And we’ll share it with each other on password-protected, members-only web pages.
Your Guide: Patty Newbold, Sher Success Teams Director
Patty has been a Success Teams Leader since 2004 and director of the Sher Success Teams program for the past two years. She helped Barbara launch her WriteSpeak program and worked side-by-side with her at three WriteSpeak retreats. If you’re a member of Hanging Out, you know her as Webmaster, the MIT alum who figures out all the techie stuff Barbara hates being bothered with. She’s a full-blooded Scanner who’s had a great Scanner career and lots of hobbies, but thanks to many of her MIT pals, she really gets Divers, too.
The I Could Do Anything Book Club
We begin on Thursday, May 22, 2014. If you don’t sign up by then, it’s likely to be a year or two before your next opportunity. We’ll read part of the book and do the exercises in it every week for sixteen weeks. We’ll finish up on Wednesday, September 10, 2014.
We’ll meet here on this website, discussing each exercise and each chapter in the comments on its own web page. You will need to purchase or borrow a copy of I Could Do Anything, but they are plentiful and inexpensive. Choose the hard cover, the paperback, or the Kindle edition, whatever suits your reading style.
You will get an optional email every Thursday with a reminder of the week’s assignments, or you can find them in your Member Profile on this site. You can subscribe to be emailed each comment or you can visit the week’s pages to read them all at once.
Update: Due to the overwhelming response,” we have split the book club into two groups. Sign ups after May 15th are in group 2. There’s no way you could read weekly comments from everyone! Contact us if your friend is in the other group.
Register by May 22nd
No one admitted after midnight May 22nd (NY time)
Money back guarantee through May 28, 2014
$77 for all 16 weeks
Or make two $40.00 payments 30 days apart
Contact webmaster@barbarasclub.com if you encounter any problems with payment or if you don’t receive two emails within an hour after paying.
I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It
Is this the right book club for you?
- YES if you’re a coach or want to be one. This is the book I use as the main text for my Coach Training course in Frankfurt. Many of the exercises I use in my workshops and retreats come from I Could Do Anything.
- YES if you’re still trying to figure out what you ought to be doing with your life. Or if you have an idea but can’t seem to make much progress in that direction.
- YES if you start projects but don’t finish them and want some helpful, friendly accountability as you do the work to discover what you really want and how to get it.
- YES if you get more out of exercises when you do them with other people.
- YES if you are isolated and don’t know a lot of people who have figured out what they love doing.
- NO if you believe you can create your own reality just by thinking about it. (Try that on a busy highway!)
- NO if you believe a positive attitude is the best way to real results. (If you ever went to school, held down a job, or raised a child for three years or more, you surely did it with whatever attitude you woke up with each day.)
What can you expect to gain from I Could Do Anything? Well, here are what other readers have said:
It’s an absolutely wonderful book,” which saved me from a dull and unfulfilling but high-paying career. I’m now in one that I ADORE and am great at. Well worth reading!
I read all the books with the tests, the checklists, the affirmations and the goal making,” etc… and they got me nowhere. This book finally got me somewhere.
“This book, overall, is head and shoulders above the rest,” and anyone will benefit from reading it — slowly and carefully.”
Barbara, All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. I am slightly overwhelmed with your book, “I Could Do Anything…” Finally, I am able to see self-respect just beginning to replace shame,” and satisfaction beginning to replace feelings of worthlessness…Thanks for this feeling of complete emotional support. It’s really remarkable what that does to a person.
There’s also a chapter for you if you’re afraid to take risks; if you’re afraid of succeeding and leaving your loved ones behind; if you want too many different things; if you’re succeeding spectacularly at something you don’t really want; if you feel that what you really want is trivial or unworthy; if you’ve just been through a big life change and don’t know what to do next; if you had a dream but it’s become unattainable; if you resist doing anything ordinary or mundane; and if you’re trying hard to love something you don’t really want.
“Stands out from the sea of self-help baloney books”
Barbara Sher’s book will help you sort it all out. She’ll help you figure out what’s at the root of these feelings and how to understand and handle them. Through a series of exercises, explanations and examples she guides you to discover just what it is that you truly want to do. And then she shows you how to get to do what you want.
Getting what you want is SCARY — you have to face that fear or all you will do is stagnate! Sher recognizes this and sets forth different introspective exercises to help the reader figure out what it is they really want and are not admitting to themself.
This book is about finding out what you want to do with your life not what job you want to do…the main point of the book is that you can find what will truly fulfill you in life.
Best Book I Ever Read! This book covered every question I could think of about life transition like: (1) What do I really love and what do I want to do with the rest of my life? (2) What’s keeping me from moving forward in my life? (3) What is resistance and where does it come from? (4) What part of me is my real-self and why has it been in hiding so long? (5) Why is action better than analysis when I’m in a low mood? (6) How to move beyond a hurtful past. (7) How to overcome narcissistic tendencies. (8) How to claim and create a new life for myself.
“Sher will pick you up off your butt and get you moving. She’s included enough self-analytical exercises in here to save you hundreds of dollars in therapy.”
Whether you’re looking to make improvements in your job or personal life, Sher will teach you how to determine what your goals are,” and how to successfully reach them–even if right now the only thing you know is that you’re vaguely to very unhappy and haven’t the foggiest idea what to do with yourself.
This is your chance. The doors close and the Book Club begins on May 22nd. Patty’s ready to introduce you to a lot of great people and take you through the entire book. And the earliest we can possibly offer this again is next spring. Sign up now and start changing your life. You owe your gifts to the rest of us. We owe you the support you need to find those gifts and do what you were born to do.
Register by May 22nd
No one admitted after midnight May 22nd (NY time)
Money back guarantee through May 28, 2014
$77 for all 16 weeks
Or make two $40.00 payments 30 days apart
Contact webmaster@barbarasclub.com if you encounter any problems with payment or if you don’t receive two emails within an hour after paying.
Hi Patty ~
Please give a bit more detail about the book club course:
‘get togethers’ will be on which day of the week, at what time and for how long?
and the classes are conducted via ???
Thanks for responding as you have time ~
Judith ~
Judith, because we’re from all over the globe, with many different schedules, we will meet just like we do in these comments. Each of us posts our experiences and questions when it’s convenient, and we can choose to subscribe to everyone else’s comments by email or set ourselves a reminder to check back later in the week and reply to the ones that arrived after we posted ours.
Once you’ve signed up, we’ll tell you how to add a photo of yourself (or one of your favorite things) to all of your replies. This makes it easier for us to recognize each other. We’ll also ask you to introduce yourself right away, as many have already done in advance of our May 22 kickoff (and deadline for signing up).
Patty:
How much time is really involved? What’s the procedure? How does the schedule work? I’m thinking of signing up but have to gauge whether or not I can work it into my already insane schedule. I know there’s never going to be a “good” time for me to do it.
Thanks.
Carla, I am really glad you’re giving serious thought to whether you have the time to really get value from the book club. We will read and reflect on an average of 20 pages a week. We will also complete two to five exercises a week found in those pages. The exercises vary from a few minutes to an hour, maybe longer if you’re into some serious introspection and change. A few call for making room in your schedule to do something enjoyable for 30 minutes a day. We will also ask you to take some time to share your experiences and reply to other members who share theirs or ask for help or ideas.
So, all in all, we’re asking for a significant bit of your time, but it’s broken into small enough chunks that it can be done during your commute, baby’s nap, breakfast, lunch, doctor’s office wait, etc. Only you can decide whether this is the right time for you, but I really hope it is.
I’ve had a copy of the book (now pretty dog earred through lots of scribbled notes) for years. Would love to join in but I’ve got two issues:
1. Away for two weeks in August so can’t participate in those weeks
2. Am being treated for stress at the moment (due to external circumstances) so not in a mentally positive state currently but really want to make a breakthrough to something soon – is this the wrong time for me ????
It sounds like it might be the wrong time for you, Alex. Stress is a survival issue. Deal with it first.
Then maybe join Hanging Out (because it works its magic slowly and with almost no effort on your part until that breakthrough occurs). Or perhaps a Success Team, once you can deal with taking risks again. But please give yourself time to recover from the stress and do a little bit of anything you enjoy (or remember enjoying) every day before you shoot for a breakthrough.
OK – makes sense I suppose as I’d be putting myself under more pressure to try to keep up with the exercises.
How do I find out more about Hanging Out?
Scroll up to the top of the page and look for the Hanging Out link in the menu bar. For a year, you’ll receive 3 emails a week from Barbara, which will bring you to a members-only section of the Barbara’s Club website. The Monday message is a brief video or audio clip with an insight to think about for the week. On Wednesday, you’ll get a simple exercise to do or learn about someone who has succeeded with an interesting dream. And on Friday, you’ll usually get some delicious Brain Candy to help you figure out what else you might love that you haven’t yet discovered. It’s gentle and fascinating.
Ist dieser Club auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar?.
Zu diesem Zeitpunkt ist es nicht auf Deutsch erhältlich. (Also sprach Google Translate.)
Question- If there is a choice of one activity. Is it Hanging out with Barbara or the Course? I have been listening to Resistance tape, lots of insights, connections, lightness. I CAN make the choice after some digestion, but from your perch what is the answer aside from I can’t answer.
Hanging Out works very slowly, sneaking around your Resistance, exposing you to new options, sharing perspectives in videos that take just a few minutes to watch but stick with you for days, engaging you with simple, very brief exercises that tap into things deep within you, but never pushing. At very different points in the program for everyone, Barbara gets a shout of joy at the sudden discovery of what they want to do or a release from what’s been stopping them. New bits of wonderfulness arrive three times a week, and it’s the only place you can get them.
The Book Club comes once a week, and it requires more effort on your part, but it moves a good bit faster toward discovering what you love and freeing you from whatever keeps you from doing it. It’s shorter, only 16 weeks. And some people buy the book and manage to do all the exercises on their own. That’s an option, but for me, it’s too isolated. I want the accountability and the opportunity to learn from people who grew up in different cultures, with different resources, and with different talents.
And you really don’t need to choose. Do the Book Club first, then Hanging Out, or do them both at the same time.
Love that you are doing this! The book is everything the others book are advertised to be, and more. Changed my way of viewing the world and myself 15 years ago, and I look forward to taking an older me through the process again with this group. I’m smiling already 🙂
Victoria
🙂
This sounds quite interesting. Could you please provide more information on how the online activity for the class will be organized? I’m not a huge fan of discussion boards or social networks because they feel very anonymous. Will there be anything equivalent to small group or one-on-one breakout sessions? Thank you!
Lory, the discussions use the same comments system you see here (and the same one we’ve used in Hanging Out for a little more than two years). The only difference is that only Book Club members can see them. You can reply to anyone one-on-one or ask a question that attracts a small group. The comments for each exercise and for reflections on each chapter are kept separate. And we can automatically email you a copy of every comment (with a link to where to reply) or of only the comments that are made in reply to your own comments.
You’ll get to know who’s who pretty quickly, and there will be no hit-and-run comments, spam, or personal attacks like you see in public social media and discussion boards. Members are already introducing themselves to each other well in advance of our May 22 start on the book.
Hi, This sounds great. I was wondering if you could give a clearer idea of Patty’s role in the process. Can we email her with questions, etc?
Thanks!
My preference is that you put your questions online, just as you have here, so everyone in our club can benefit (and even add something useful — we have lots of life coaches, career coaches, and Success Teams leaders signing up). I will also answer questions too personal for our members-only web pages by email to patty [at] barbarasher.com, too, as time allows.
When and what time will the discussions be taking place?
We won’t have a designated time, Debbie. Instead, you’ll come to a web page just like this one for each exercise and each chapter as soon as you finish each one. You’ll post what you got out of them, ask questions, share anything you’d like. And you’ll read what others are sharing and asking and reply to the ones that interest you. Just like on this page, you can subscribe by email to all of these comments or to the ones left in reply to yours. Or you can just check back every Wednesday to wrap up the week before the next assignment arrives on Thursday.
Dear Barbara and Patty,
What a great idea. I have already signed up! I am very grateful for the opportunity and excited that I will be part of a group of people from all over the planet, seeking ways to express their gifts.
I will send you an email Patty, explaining my silence since the wonderful conference call back on the 27th March, and my intentions.
Kindest good wishes and great success to another adventure.
Maggie 🙂
Hi, Maggie! I hope the 24/7 schedule here will work better for your location than our teleconferences. Glad you’ve joined us.