How Does the Online Idea Party Work?
You have a dream or a wish, and an obstacle to getting there. (If you don’t think you know your wish, work through my kick-starter and read this post. To learn why you must put logic aside to find your dream, read the following.)
The online Idea Party is here to help you – and the other fellow party goers – with your wishes and obstacles.
Voices from Success Teams and Idea Parties:
Having a team to report to and hearing what everybody did each week is very exciting. It’s kept me moving all year. In the past I made some good starts on my own, but found, every time, when the energy ran out, I ran out. Now it doesn’t run out.
Jade G.
Children’s Playroom Therapist, New York Hospital
I would do a painting a year, a sketch a year. If it was only me I know I would never do it. Having to tell you makes all the difference. It’s crazy why I didn’t do this years ago, it’s so easy all of a sudden.
Caroline R. Personnel Executive, Macy’s Dept Store
Post Your Wish and Your Obstacle Here!
And help your team mates out when you can. Use the Reply link to help, the form below the comments to add your own Wish and Obstacle.
(Your first comment below has to be approved, so it may not display instantly depending on the time of the day. Once your email address is approved you can post instantly. If you want your own profile photo to show up beside your comments, instead of the cute little design, upload your photo on Gravatar.com and give them an hour or so to make it happen.)
After everyone has had a chance to get ideas, the brainstorming is over. But the party goes on. Return to the food table for dessert or coffee. This is when people will get to know each other. By this time, they’ll have some questions for each other, or more advice than they had time for during the brainstorming. Be sure to leave enough time for this part of the evening. It’s an important part of the process.
Good point!
yeah, really good point, to plan this dessert and extra time
– I can tell you from my life Idea- Parties …
people want and need this time to talk with each other – it is so inspiring
and they will only leave, when the owner of the location finally wants to go to bed
tipp: leave enough pencils and paper in the space for notes, so that people can give their tipps at once – this is always better than ” i will send you an email”
and tell them, to bring enough business cards.
good luck
Astrid
I RETIRED FROM A 23 YEAR JOB AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA CHORUS IN NEW YORK CITY, 1.5 YEARS AGO AND THOUGHT I WOULD JUST RELAX FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE; DO WHATEVER I WANTED TO DO. BUT, ITS NOT ENOUGH!!!
SO, I AM AT THE BEGINNING, AGAIN, OF THE CYCLE OF FINDING A PROFESSIONAL POSITION AGAIN, IN THE FIELD OF TEACHING CLASSICAL/MUSIC THEATRE SINGING.
I DONT KNOW HOW TO GET MY NAME/EXPERIENCE OUT TO THE WOULD-BE SINGING STUDENTS AND MASTER-CLASS PARTICIPANTS AND OPERA/MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE GROUP MEMBERS OUT THERE.
I ALSO WANT TO BE HIRED BY A COLLEGE SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTHEASTERN USA AS A VOICE TEACHER/OPERA DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR BUT, FEEL SHY (FRANKLY) ABOUT INTERVIEWING (I DON’T HAVE A DOCTORATE AND MY PIANO SKILLS ARE MARGINAL– THINGS A COLLEGE LOOKS FOR THESE DAYS) EVEN THOUGH I AM AN ACCOMPLISHED SOLOIST/CHORISTER WITH ONE OF THE GREATEST OPERA COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, AND KNOW I CAN TEACH VERY WELL (I HAVE A SMALL PRIVATE VOCAL STUDENT ROSTER AT PRESENT.
I LOVE GREAT SINGING AND AM AN ENTHUSIASTIC SPEAKER ON THIS SUBJECT.
IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH ONE’S MIND-SET CAN HOLD ONE BACK FROM ACCOMPLISHING GOOD THINGS.
p.s.: I have NO idea how to make the photo thing work! (Well, I’m 60 and never have needed to understand computers before!) Is there an easier to understand 3 step process to get a photo up here?
Thank you.
So it sounds like you have a strong desire to get back out there and wise your considerable skills to help others, but in new roles, which is obviously scary and new.
Some ideas about finding students for your private teaching practice:
– ask current students to write favourable reviews about you and include these on a very simple website or paper flyer about your work
– contact teachers / conductors / whoever is in charge of musical theatre / opera chorus groups and ask to have coffee with them. Start with anyone you already know who likes you. Tell them about your background and what you are hoping to do. Let them know you have vacancies for a couple of new students this semester. Leave a business card or flyer to hand to student or for their tea room Notice board.
– start going places your potential clients and employers go and talking to them. No I don’t mean stalking them at the supermarket lol, but maybe to opening nights, or rehearsal parties or free lectures about music, or day long seminars with leading experts in your field (? Just guessing – you will know better than us), and show that you know your stuff just by how you talk about music and singing. People like to work with people who are up to date, active and that they know or know of. This is a great way to very gently build your networks, and if they ask you you can mention the work that you are looking for
– Linkd in is one that Skannie always suggests, and I have heard it is excellent for professional contacts. Get someone to do it for you or sit with you while you do it if it’s too scary to do alone.
– work with a friend / coach or Barbara Sher success team to help keep you on track about researching and contacting colleges for positions.
– Start role playing interviews using ‘actual’ likely interview questions.
– maybe if you think this would help find an over 55s computer course which will help you build skills and confidence for any online things you might need to do to advertise yourself and also the job applicatipn process or doing the job
Good luck! You sound like you have great skills to offer, you just need people to know you’re out there and ready to help them.
Hi –
I’m in a similar situation, in that I’m a former accompanist and musician. I’m 52 and a single mom, so I can’t play music and tour in the way that I did years ago. In order to get my name out there I began teaching my own method in a continuing education class for adults – this is a good way (although not very well paid) to get your name in front of people. My name appears on the school website as well as thousands of flyers. Granted, it’s taken several years to build a reputation, but people always know my name. Also – I have asked former students to write reviews for me – and I posted them on a Facebook page I created for my piano teaching ‘business’. I’m not adept w/computers and such, but I did manage to make an FB page – and perhaps you should too. Course it works best if you have a large pool of ‘friends’ there who can endorse you. Making a living as a pianist is never easy, but be consistent in your efforts and something will develop. You can find me at “Not Your Mother’s Piano Teacher” on FB. Best of luck to you – Elizabeth (and a gentle PS – You should probably use upper and lower case letters – using all caps comes across as shouting in the online world…)
Dear John R.,
I once was a music major at the University of Washington. There was one outstanding faculty member, who was my private viola teacher. He didn’t have a PhD either, and yet, he was on the music faculty for years. He was the first violist of the Seattle Symphony, and held that position for years. He was the founder and conductor of a youth symphony made up of very talented young musicians. He had come from Europe, and had studied under one of the leading masters of string technique; those methods he incorporated into his private teaching. He was a highly regarded faculty member, symphony conductor, and musician. Without a PhD. I think the University of Washington hired him based on his outstanding accomplishments, and not based on whether or not he had a PhD. I offer up this example as a means of encouragement.
(One of) my dreams is to stop making illusions and emotional entanglements of everything when a handsome men likes me.The fact that they like me does not mean they are a good option for me.
The obstacle:I fall for that too easy.I bring all the rational reasons so I stay grounded when the dude is around but I keep falling and feeling horrible about it.Maybe is subconcious.
The challenge:I’m working with one.Can’t afford to leave the job.And also,all the girls there like him.
I’m not sure if you would consider seeing a counsellor to work through some of what’s going on in the internal landscape. I am a therapist so I am biased and think that therapy is a wonderful tool for everyone including ‘healthy’ people, to examine their own feelings and behaviours, especially those that they no longer find useful.
Also Barbara Sher’s book ‘it’s only too late if you don’t start now’ has some great stuff about love and romance from a biological perspective, and also looking at different kinds of experiences of love.
Me too would like to recommend Barbara’s It’s only too late if you don’t start now! Barbara describes how we’re looking for approval and admiration in childhood and as a teenager and how we can get over it in our somewhat middle years, to put it very (too) briefly. It helped me a lot. Might be of interest for you? Thumbs up!
Facebook Idea Party 1 to 7 February 2016
https://www.facebook.com/groups/900175639992970/
If anyone here would like a whole week of intensive Idea Partying, with trained Barbara Sher coaches to help you brainstorm solutions to your wishes and obstacles, come and join this Facebook Idea Party group so you’ll be ready to start on the first day of February. You don’t have to stay there all week, but it’s a lot of fun, so you might want to.
How fun! Starts the day after my birthday! I requested to join! Excited!
I’D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
JOHN
John just go to the group and click ‘request to join group’ or send me a private message on Facebook and I will then add you – Jade Herriman
I want to write a book. It’s 1/3rd of the way there already. It’s for kids mainly 10-18, but can help more. It focuses on my story of bullying most of my childhood and the long term effects. Sort of a self help design to teach kids confidence and the importance of finding their voice, and showing the effects if they don’t at least try. My obstacle is several things. I’m a busy single mom, so time to write is difficult. I battle depression and am terrified of putting this out in the world and often am so held back that even when I do find time to work on it I don’t. My thoughts get very dark. Also, im alone a lot. I just watched Barbara’s tedtalks and I would kill for a group like that.
Jennifer, I think your book would be such a gift for so many kids, so I hope you keep working on it. I teach fourth grade, and a lot of the kids in my classroom have been bullied in the past for being different. I think your idea is absolutely brilliant, authentic, and needed!
Great idea. I was bullied as a kid too – seems like so many of us were. ;( Be sure to join the Idea Party and bring this as your question/obstacle – starts on February 1 at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/900175639992970/ Be sure to Request to Join this Facebook Group beforehand if you’re not already a member.
Thanks for sharing your wish! I think the first thing I would suggest is that if you’re not already getting help with your depression, definitely do that. Everyone feels harder when you feel depressed and it will make it hard for you to move forward on your goal. As a single mum it’s so important you also care for and look after yourself. I’m not sure which country you’re based in and which services are available but your GP might be able to provide info on low cost counselling, support groups or medication. I say this with love because sometimes we can forget the self care when we are busy caring for others.
In terms of your writing – great project and so needed. One suggestion I have is publishing little excerpts of your book as ‘short stories’ or similar to build confidence seeing things you have written being published. One place I would recommend is ‘Dropping Keys’ website – they publish personal stories of mental illness or personal struggle as a resource for others who might be experiencing something similar. They are always looking for new contributors. Check it out and see if it might be for you.
Find a writing group on meetup (do you know Meetup – like a giant bulletin board for free or cheap meetings on zillions of topics) and go sit with other writers once a month in a cafe while you all write together
Re feeling alone Google Barbara Sher success teams- there might be one in your area you could join
Also local women’s Heath centres / community centres sometimes run free or low cost workshops or groups for supporting women, maybe look them up and see what you can find
And all of Barbras books are great, have you read Wishcraft? Lots of libraries have them
Best wishes
Jade
Yes, Wishcraft is a great book for explaining how to achieve your goals (and for discovering them if you don’t already know what they are). It’s still in print after more than 30 years, or you can look for it in libraries, but Barbara has also made it available free online here for people on low incomes or in places where it’s difficult to find. http://wishcraft.com/
My dream is to create a network for caregivers to tune into.
Network with self care ideas, positive/not positive caregiver feedback in their life experience, show families experiences in real time live, raising an awareness to caregiver needs so the government can create credits to assist the caregiver, have a comedy section to show fun and silliness with the caregiver expetience.
My obstacles:
I am currently caregiving for my disabled 64 year old mother.
I do not have a steady income stream.
Getting the time to go to take classes at a broadcast school to learn the inside and outs of production.
Thanks for allowing me the space to share:)
What a great idea. I wonder whether as a baby step in this direction, if you’re not already, you could attend an existing carers network (are there any? In your area) and begin finding our exactly what kinds of resources these carers would like.
Also, if you have limited time and energy for the project maybe it’s worth thinking about what the ‘nectar’ is for you – what will be the fun and rewarding part for you – making videos? thinking up topics? writing? hearing back from other carers that you’ve helped?
Once you know that perhaps you can focus your efforts on this most rewarding aspects and partner with others to make the other bits happen. Eg. if you really want to make short videos of what being a carer is really like, but you’re not keen on building websites and managing subscriptions and things, maybe you could get an existing carers networks or organisation to host and promote your videos to their members / audience once you’ve made them.
Or if you really absolutely want to write about self care tips for carers, and you ant to get started right away, you could do that and get it published in community newspapers, or online magazines.
That way you build a reputation and get great skills and contacts before you tackle the bigger project of starting a network. Unless bringing people together is exactly what you love, in which case see if you can start a small weekly coffee and chat catch up for carers at a community centre, local library or by Skype.
Just ideas! Hope these help!
Best wishes and let us know how you get on
Jade
Also, you may not need to go to broadcast school – there is lots of great free info online about how to make podcasts or how to start your own you tube channel.
Hi Ana. You can start doing it online, for free, at home, in the times between taking care of your mother.
If you’re on Facebook you can search for and join some groups for carers. Then join in the discussions, give advice, and share interesting, useful or humorous posts.
If you already understand how Facebook groups work, you could start your own group for carers and invite people to join it.
You could also start a free blog, or a whole website, at http://www.wordpress.com where you can post your own articles, photos, audios and videos, or link to other people’s. You can categorise different kinds of posts so people can easily find the ones they want.
There’s also Twitter where you can tweet and retweet relevant stuff and build up a network of followers and people you follow. You can mix in some humour, or have another Twitter account where you tweet as a comedy character.
If you prefer speaking to writing, or in addition to writing, you can have your own free Blog Talk Radio station http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ You could interview experts and other carers, have question and answer sessions, and some comedy pieces, etc.
For networking with professionals in the field, or giving the impression that you are on a professional level, LinkedIn is good.
No you don’t need to go to broadcasting school to do any of it. Millions of people are broadcasting all over the internet without the least bit of professional training. In fact most listeners and viewers nowadays prefer amateur videos and audios with imperfections, because they seem more authentic. So that’s all your obstacles demolished 🙂
When you’ve started to become known as a knowledgeable person in this field with your online stuff, you could try to get interviewed by a local radio station, or they might let you do your own show.
Also with local papers, you can do interviews and press releases or maybe your own regular column.
And maybe then start a face-to face group or a workshop or seminar or course for carers.
My dream is to become a VP of Operations at a renewable energy development company, preferably a smaller firm, and to make a decent living at it.
My obstacles are:
1) I’m female and 55, so I’m a bit invisible to the industry, most people not believing someone in my demographic would have the experience and know-how to pull this off.
2) I’m terrible at selling myself. Coupled with Number 1 above, this seems to be
keeping me from finding mentors and partners who might champion me for a position when I can’t champion myself.
3) I live in the Dakotas and would like to work close to home.
Thanks in advance for your sage advice – now, I’m off to see if I can help you all in some way!
1. how can younger ppl have the experience?
2. who do you know who could find a mentor for you? prev boss, co-worker, relative
3. what exactly is the problem with 3? no wind energy park yet?
Find someone who can help sell you! Do you have a friend, mentor or coach who is actually very good at spotting what is great in people and helping them se sit too? You might need help with writing a great BIO and CV, with writing an application, with role playing answers to interview questions.
Meanwhile, you may also need to start networking if you’re not already. I assume you have technical / managerial experience that would qualify you for a role like this or maybe already work as a VP or within renewable energy? If you haven’t already start reading industry publications, sign up to newsletters, start going to workshops and industry talks, and networking.
You could get your friend/ mentor/ coach to help you practice developing a ‘pitch’ for you to say at networking events, so that you come across as confident and clear in what your great skills are.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
Join LinkedIn if you’re not there already. Make sure you have a photo and a well filled in and up-to-date profile. But it doesn’t need to be perfect because you can change everything later. Include especially any relevant experience, paid or voluntary, in the renewable energy field. Also any transferable skills or knowledge in other fields e.g. project management, team leadership, report writing, environmental law etc.
Then start building your network by adding people you already know, particularly those connected with renewable energy. This makes you look like someone worth knowing. Look in those people’s contacts lists to find other people you want to add to expand your network.
Join LinkedIn groups connected with renewable energy and join in or start discussions to show off your knowledge. Also join general groups connected with your region and do the same. Look out for any mention of relevant events you can go to e.g. seminars, conferences, trade shows, to meet useful contacts. (Add those contacts to your network too.)
When you have a reasonably good presence on LinkedIn, start using the search box at the top to find suitable companies in your desired region, then find out if any of their employees or directors or owners are in your close network, or in any of your groups. If they are you can connect with them directly, or ask someone to introduce you. Also research the companies and people on Google and Facebook and their own website. They might actually be offering jobs, but if not you can ask them if they have any opportunities for you, or maybe an internship, or just a meeting to find out about their business.
A blog is another excellent way of showing off your knowledge and interest in this field. You can include interviews with important people, and company visits, and news and reviews of new technology, which could be a very good way of getting to talk to people you might like to work for and finding out more about their companies.
You’re probably not going to jump straight in as a VP, but get yourself into the field and work your way up. Maybe start your own company when you’ve seen how they operate.
My dream is to find and marry an attractive, successful black muslim entrepreneur who shares my dreams of traveling and humanitarian work and my passion for personal growth. My obstacle is where to find him and fear of my parents’ reaction (mind you i’m a 35 yr old single mom!)
If Ronny can find a woman…!
Surely there is an online dating service that is specific to one of those criteria — religion, humanitarian oriented or entrepreneurs. Also, attending a mosque regularly in an area where many professionals live would open opportunity to meet someone. Ultimately, I think just becoming the person you are wanting to marry will give you the satisfaction of a life well-lived and be your greatest asset in finding him. When you are living that life and find someone to share it with you, your parents may be less surprised by the outcome.
That’s a very specific dream. It’s difficult to give you a specific answer when I don’t know much about you, but here are a few ideas.
If you have black muslim women friends or colleagues, you could tell them your wish and obstacles, and ask them to introduce you to any brothers, cousins or other men they know who fit your description.
If you live in the USA here’s a report that tells you which cities have the most muslim owned or managed businesses. Maybe you could move to one of them.
Here’s a website about halal restaurants all over the world. Their owners are probably muslim entrepreneurs, and many of their customers. So maybe you could dine frequently in some of them, or start a blog reviewing them, or get a job working in one.
One of my dreams is to give a workshop on stress and trauma at a prison and my obstacles are that 1. im nervous and wondering if I’m good enough and 2. We don’t have a prison locally and I dont know how to get this going/set up.
This is such a cool idea!!
1) Stepping outside of your comfort zone into a new venture is always scary, for everyone, even the most self assured seeming people. But, because you want to make this happen, you do have what is needed, it’s just a matter of making yourself believe it. Find someone who will always back your self esteem up and cheer you on; or find a few someones. Looking inside ourselves for all of our positive self-worth is difficult and exhausting to do all of the time, especially if you’re an extrovert. Sometimes we just need someone else to tell us “you can do this!”. Also, become this person for someone else – that will make it easier to take the unconditional “propping up” when you, yourself, need it.
2) If there is no prison close by, is there a local jail where you can start with a smaller population and see how it works?. Use the smaller version to work some kinks out before you take the next step.
3) Look up the prison dharma network – they might be able to help you get started in your area. Thay have a cool program that goes into prisons and teaches buddhist meditation.
Good luck, Mel!
Now is the time to keep going, even if you are not sure where exactly you will end up.
I am trying to let my passions truly guide me this year and I want offer support to others on their journey as well.
Great! Hope its a fruitful year.