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.)
My Wish is to declutter my house so that it is serene, happy, and full of things I enjoy, as well as organized, so that the space supports my life and my work. I may be working from home soon, one way or the other, and need my space back from all this stuff, a lot of which I don’t use. My Obstacle is that I have lots of inertia, and lots of clutter, and struggle with keeping the space simple, tidy, clean, and up to date with only the things I think I will need moving forward. Lots of paper and some of it has to be dealt with, e.g., six years of tax returns that were never filed after 9/11. I wonder if other people are struggling in a similar way.
Teach! Teach! Use that degree and get your moneys worth. You might try applying to colleges or universities, ESPECIALLY COMMUNITY COLLEGES. Talk to old professors or universities or even online and see what kind of things you could do。
If you can afford it, there are people who will come in and declutter for you! I have a friend here in my town who makes her living doing this!
Hi! I had the same issues and finally used a service called TaskRabbit. An organizer came for 3 hours, gutted my garage for me, put it all back by category for $120 bucks! The junk I was tired of or had no use for, I called the Vietnam veterans Association and they sent a truck to pick it all up at no charge! You can even schedule a pick up online. Having someone neutral , on a time limit, help me was the key for me! So so glad it’s behind me and you will be too! Best of everything to you!
Goal: I need to find my own dreamteam to finally being able to have some continuity in realizing it.
Obstacle: My wife has a severe psychic disorder which she can perfectly hide on the outside (even for the children), but in which I am constantly accused as the cause for every bad emotion she feels, even when I support her in everything she does, because I know she can’t help herself. When she’s throwing agressive tantrums like that or ignoring me like a pile of dirt, I can have it one or two days, but it can last weeks. She doesn’t even allow me to show a sign of love or to try to talk it out (when in fact I did nothing wrong). It always makes me feel hopeless and powerless. Whatever I undertake then, it fails anyway. People see that I’m not fully engaged. That way I can never build a consistent business around coaching succes teams, which is one of my two dreams, because I love the idea of people getting the best out of each other. The other dream is that I find people to help me commercialize the thousands of pop songs I wrote. I tried for decades in multiple ways to market my songs myself and failed utterly. I don’t even want to be a marketeer, that’s not my talent. I just want to compose my songs and be paid for it.
What if you backed up a step or two from the dream-team, and first focused on securing a coach to work with, either with one on one, or (more affordably) in a group situation. Cost factors aside, actually group coaching might be ideal initially since as the group works together over time, they tend to naturally operate in ways similar to a dream team. And you never know, it is quite possible that from that coaching group you could later derive members for your dream team (either by referral to someone they know, or the members themselves having the interest in your project as well as the needed skills). I’ve seen it happen. Another thing, the coaching (whether individual or group), would be a great positive venue for your own private, personal refreshment and growth, which I think would be especially welcome when the mood in your home is less than uplifting or inspiring.
What if you do as one guru suggests and “make your mess your message”? You could share your challenges with your wife’s condition and how it impacts your life and world with others who share the same issue. You could coach people on what it feels like and how to find ways to deal and thrive within that situation.
My wish: To have my own horse farm, where I can take in old horses to live out their days.
Obstacle: Money and the right location for me to do this.
I found the right property 30 acres I love it. Now I just need the money $210,000.
Do you have someone who can maybe go in with you (money wise) and do it together?
How comfortable are you with grant writing? I bet you could form a 501(c)3 and get money to help.
First I will tell my obstacles. I am 59 years old, I have no job/healthcare (though I have started doing freelance writing but it pays very little), and I have no home of my own anymore. I have very little debt, but what debt I have is a car that I need and if I paid it off I’d have no money to live on. I am living with my 80+ year old parents, and have been living with people on and off since 2009, as I get jobs and get laid off. (I have a doctorate from Columbia focused on media and culture).
What I want is: a home of my own. I’ve even looked at camper trucks, vans, etc. Most are around $20,000 new, and I can’t get a loan even if I could find one for less. I would really love a home with a big kitchen (I love to cook a lot), with wifi so I can write and research, and a great view of some kind of water or mountains.
Second, I want to travel all around Europe. I lived in Hungary before, and I am trying to get my dual citizenship there so that I can be European and work in Europe, or at least Hungary, but I cannot get my documents. I’ve tried applying for jobs on river cruises as a tour guide or lecturer (I used to import Hungarian wines and I know a lot about Hungary, so a Danube River cruise might want that). And I want to be free–not tied down–to travel around Europe–but I have little money. Ideally, being a travel writer who gets paid to travel and write about the places visited would be the best solution, but my applications and pitches are met with silence. I’ve pitched several travel sections and magazines about writing about Hungary and Hungarian wines, Hungarian spas, and other places to travel to that I am familiar with. I need a break to get into travel writing. that would solve my money needs and my travel wishes, and partly where I would “live” or stay.
Third, I want to create and host a public television program about travel in Hungary and that region (Central Europe, Vienna, Prague, etc.) and talk about cooking, wines, culture, traditions, sights to see, unique experiences and tours, and facts about history. To do that I would need a producer and sponsorship. I would also need a make-over and image consultant to make me “camera ready.”
The are my wishes and hopes. I read Wishcraft many years ago when I was a housewife and mother, and my dreams were to become a PhD and to write for a living. I did both. I worked at Columbia University for 12 years and got my master’s and doctorate as part of my benefits (free tuition). I wrote for them and I write for a small newspaper now. I know I could be a travel writer. I write on social media about travel and food and wine in Hungary, OH and I have 3 books I want to write about Hungary — Thirsty for Hungary, about Hungarian wine; Getting Hungary, about my adventures related to Hungary; and Hungry in Hungary, about cooking, foods, culinary arts, and agriculture/viticulture in Hungary.
Help!
Grand Cruise Line is hiring for a river and ocean vessel hotel manager. One of their regions of interest is the Danube river. Here is the link to their application page: http://www.jobsgccl.com/apply/hotel-operation/
Perhaps starting a website about Hungary? And/or, putting all your research and information into an ebook that you could market and sell online? Writing about Hungary is admittedly going to be a smallish-niche, but there will be some number of people with roots there.
Perhaps looking at (or advertising on) Ancestry.com or other family history sites could provide you with audiences to market such a book and/or website to?
Perhaps it could be a series of books – one about food and wine, one about the region, one about the river….
Just ideas. Good Luck!
Being gifted can feel very tortured at times. To the point you feel like you can’t make it in your own. You need others to ground you. I’ve been through all of this. I would say pick a course to be independent first, write it down and make yourself do it. Once you are stable with a place to live and a steady income save as much as you can bc once you retire you can travel and do what you want. It’s hard for a scanner to ground but you can in the short term to be able to do what you want in the long term. When a scanner grounds you can accumulate a lot of funds for your goal. Best of luck!
I am trying to decide whether I should look for a better job as an Administrative Assistant or pursue self-employment again as a Scanner. My top loves are hosting folks in our guest house (mostly a seasonal job), writing non-fiction, and coaching. I have experience in all three, but even all three together won’t make enough money at first. I have done all of them on the side before, while keeping a day job or Plan B job, but it’s chicken and egg. If I don’t have more time, it’s harder to make more money. Does anyone have experience in Scanner self-employment and how to start? I know I need to clear about $50K to leave my job. Maybe I need a more developed plan (how much I need to write to make x amount, how many coaching clients I need to have to make x, what’s the best social media strategy to do all of them, etc.) Any ideas?
Personally, I’d figure out the plan…how many clients to make x amount. Those are important details so you know what the target is. You can hire people to do the marketing and/or social media if there are time constraints, but of course, that’s a money/time trade-off. Perhaps you have a young relative good at such things who could help with that? Just an idea.
From one Scanner to another, is there a way you could combine the three things into a singular focus and enjoy all three together?
Here’s an idea. How about writing a non-fiction book on how to run a guesthouse since you’re a good writer and already have experience in this area. Maybe check out Inns Magazine or other guesthouse related magazines to get ideas for the things you could put in your book. Scan the Amazon bestsellers and look over the Table of Contents to see what is being covered in the bestsellers. Then read the negative and positive reviews to see how you could write a book that would fill a real void in the marketplace.
You could offer coaching to those who bought and read your book but still need one-on-one coaching to get started with their guesthouse journey. They could come and stay at your guesthouse for a consultation.
Lastly, you could run the guesthouse year round, by creating activities for each season that would bring in bookings, instead of making the location the main feature of the guesthouse. Why not make the activities the thing that attract people year round regardless of the weather? Take all those other things you love to do and create small, personal workshops where you help others enjoy what they love while staying at your guesthouse.
You could write books on any topic that really interests you, then create an event at the guesthouse around that topic for those who loved your book to explore it further, in person, with other like minded people. It could be the ultimate Scanner run guesthouse. 🙂
For example, one week you could have guests staying who came as a result of your “Home Gardening” book and you could take them to all the local gardens and nurseries and have talks about gardening. The next week you could host guests who are interested in “Business Creativity” and have programs designed to help them see new innovation and growth in their business. 🙂
You only need to make about $960 per week to meet your goal. Determine how many nights * rooms * cost = $960 per week.
Maybe try Barbara’s magic wand test and imagine running the guesthouse full time, with people emailing you for coaching requests after having enjoyed your books and reading the last page where you offer your services year round. 🙂
Hello My name is Christine,
I have many ideas and many dreams, so I will only list 3 or this post will never end.
One. I have fallen in love with ice skating and have started to take classes but I would love private lessons, group lessons I can’t get into due to time constraints. I don’t need to compete, but would love to get to a certain level of dancing on the ice. I am almost 40. Not enough money for teacher or ice time.
Two. I dream to open a business with my artwork even though the art isn’t perfect. I have several designs for cards or watercolor paintings and am planning to use some of these to help create a small prayer book to help raise funds for a group called New Hope to help orphans in Indonesia. However, one, I don’t know how to do the accounting nor have enough money to even set it up to make sure that the accounting is ok. Two, where will I print this without enough money to even print.
Three. Building a Yurt or learning wood working skills. Problem: a place to put it and just not enough money to take the classes and also no tools.
Have you looked at selling your artwork on Etsy.com?
Could you create the illustrated booklet as a PDF and post it where people have to pay to download it? (Maybe the charity has its own website and can do this part?). That way you don’t have to pay for printing, and you won’t have big boxes to store between sales.
about Your Yurt:
LOTS of people here in Alaska live in Yurts.
I have a friend who put a yurt up on his property expressly to house his baby grand piano.
Often people will put up a yurt on their property as a rental.
And these are all people I personally know here in Interior Alaska.
Are you wanting to build it from scratch? learning the building/trade skills as you go? or do you want to purchase a yurt kit?
Hi Christine I can help you find a place for your yurt very easily. I don’t know if I can tell you how to contact me but I’ve studied this and know what to do … If there’s a way we can connect I can get you on that path with little effort if you are committed to it. Jessica
You are welcome to visit my website:
LIVABLE YURTS portableyurt.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
if you have the time. ~gg
Here is one company that makes/sells yurt kits, so you don’t have to do it from scratch: http://www.yurts.com
They are much cheaper than buying a house! Though I met a couple who live in one; since the walls were vinyl, they said it could be like the inside of a plastic bag (gets damp). You could try using wood or cloth walls instead. Plus this company offers free manuals on how to assemble the yurt.
No tools? No problem! Most places have a Tool Library these days. That’s exactly what it sounds like- a place where you can check out tools (usually for a nominal fee. I live in Toronto, and our TL has a yearly membership fee of $50!). The best part is that tool libraries almost always have classes to teach members how to use the stuff, and I can guarantee that if you walk in and say to whoever’s hanging around “I want to build a yurt,” you’ll quickly have a crew of experienced helpers! Tool libraries and Maker Spaces are full of folks who just like to build stuff for the fun of it. Give them a project and stand back! They also tend to be the sort of people who know where to get materials for cheap/free.
Dear Christine,
i have no idea if this information is useful, but just this postcard fell into my hands – anouncing the webspace: http://www.jure.info
Maybe you have also a look in Facebook finding Dilbar Hayit , as far as I know she build a yurte by herself.
Blessing to you, Sabine Anders
( this Information comes from Germany)
What I really love to do and I am good at is researching something to find the pertinent information, or figuring how how something works, or how to make something or solve a problem, then arranging that information into a easily accessible form that makes sense (at least, to me, but I’ve been told it’s useful to others, as well). I have done this with various art and writing conundrums as well as diverse topics such as birds and nature, religion, and how to design a 3D printed arch for miniatures.
I even did this when I worked for a short time at a funeral home inputting sales contracts that involved codes that tended to be used in the same order over and over on the forms; I created a chart that listed the most common codes, what they meant, in the order they appeared on the form. But once I figured that out, the job was as tedious as Hades and I ended up quitting.
Anyway…
One of my problems, however, is that when I’m doing this on my own, I often get bored with the topic before I can finish the how-to book that I might sell. Once I find the answers to what puzzles me, then devise a way to organize the information, I’m done. In Barbara’s terms, that’s all the ‘design’ phase. I have little patience with ‘execution’ phase, which would be to not only draft the how-to book (which is part of the organizing the information, and first drafts tend to be easy) but then revising the book, taking any photos (although I enjoy photography to a degree), creating illustrations (although I enjoy creating digital images)…
Since I like to write, take photos, and draw illustrations, you’d think I’d be suited to this, but once the problem is solved and I have figured out how to present the information, I have no patience to see it through revisions and corrections. I’ve moved on to the next problem.
So I’m stuck figuring things out and acquiring and organizing information, but never seeing anything through to the the end of the execution. And we won’t even talk about maintenance. I suck entirely at maintenance.
It’s frustrating to be so over-educated and with little to show for it. (e.g. no extensive backlist of books, or other body of work, etc.)
I’ve known for years — even before I discovered Barbara’s books — that the ideal situation for me would be to have a team that would see through the execution and maintenance phases leaving me to free to figure things out and design stuff, but I also figured I’d have to win the lottery in order to set-up such a business, in order to pay people to carry out my various visions.
Another problem is that I am an extreme introvert (INTP, by Myers-Briggs tests), never know how to answer the inane questions asked at job interviews, and I have very little and very sporadic job experience. I’m 52 years old and I’ve never held a job longer than 2 years, for various reasons, including boredom. I was an undiagnosed depressive for many years, but even in the last 10+ years since I’ve been on medication I’ve been unable to create a career for myself.
I need to earn money to pay debts I helped to rack up. I also need money to fund my other dream which is to have a Jeep and an RV and travel around North America on my own, exploring, birding, learning, and being creative. (I don’t want to leave my husband of 33 years, but I enjoy traveling and exploring more and differently than he does. I would always come home again. 😉 )
How can I turn my talent at research and learning into a fulfilling career that helps pay the bills? How can I acquire a team who would do the execution and/or maintenance phases of my various projects without having to pay them up-front whether the product sells or not? Is it possible to do this and still work from home (or from my RV, assuming an internet connection)?
Thanks for listening and for any help you can offer.
Mary.
Dear Mary,
Have you ever thought about working with professors who need a team of researchers at a school or book authors who also need research assistants. That is one idea. Or you can share what you have researched in front of people that is if you like talking in front of people, if that is your boat instead of how to book. Or sell your information and expertise to people who need it or want it. You can always also create a blog of what you are learning and attach Google ads to what you have learned.
Just some ideas. Don’t know if that helps. But hope it can give you new ideas.
The thought of being a research assistant for professors is something that crossed my mind in the past, but I had no idea back then on how to go about such a thing. However, now, I can see that maybe working.
I can see myself as a teacher/speaker in certain situations (esp now that I’m almost done with my masters in philosophy), but I’ve never considered being a paid speaker, just looking for speaking gigs. I don’t know how to start something like that.
Teach! Teach! Use that degree and get your moneys worth. You might try applying to colleges or universities, ESPECIALLY COMMUNITY COLLEGES. Talk to old professors or universities or even online and see what kind of things you could do。
This morning, I began searching for ebook designers to see what is actually available. It would be a huge relief to hand that portion of the process to someone else, if I can find reasonable rates with good service. Have any of you worked with an ebook designer you would recommend? (or perhaps YOU are an ebook designer?)
Thanks,
Mary.
Hello Mary.
On Fiverr.com there are folks that do that sort of thing. When I did my ebook though, I did not have a designer, I just followed Amazon’s recommendations. But if you are looking for more frills than that (color, branding, etc) then you can start with fiverr.com or another site like that (guru.com might have some options).
I have some of the know-how and tools to create my own ebooks (and have done so), but all the fiddly, nit-picky formatting details drive me up a wall. Since making the decision to hire a pro to handle those things, I feel great relief and new energy to push through my current project. Thanks!
In addition to getting help from fiverr.com, you can also consider offering your services on Fiverr.com. At first, to build up reviews and ratings, you’d likely need to charge $5, but I believe you can increase your price as time goes on. The good thing is that those $5 jobs are supposed to be quick for folks. So you can offer the stuff you do the fastest and best for the lower price. Lots of people need help researching because it’s time consuming. You loves include things that other may not to do and things you love may be loves of others.
Oh, it never occurred to me to offer research services on sites like fiverr. Thanks!
I do fiverr as well as a scanner it works out well to use your skills. Some satisfaction in helping others as well. Good idea.
Mary sounds like you need to be a journalist. Do the research, take (or find) the pix, put the information together in a logical format, write it as a presentation (get a content/copy editor to check it over and put a magazine-style ‘spin’ on it to fit the magazine style to which you’re going to be sending your pitch), send it off and then on to the next article… whether it’s the joy of outback travelling or how to make Excel sit up and beg. Sounds pretty perfect…
Yes – that would be a good fit for some reasons, but not for others. I have been a freelance writer, but at the time I was mostly writing short fiction, which doesn’t pay. I no longer have any desire to write for magazines, although this was a goal in the distant past. I appreciate the suggestion, though.
Mary, I can relate very well to the struggles you’re having with loving the research but not loving the follow-through to an end product!
As a young Scanner trying to piece together multiple income streams, I’ve discovered that I enjoy editing at least as much as writing (perhaps more!). I’d love to help you edit the books or manuals you’re assembling. Email me if you’re interested in discussing it further: fran@franlevy.com
Christine’s suggestion to become a research assistant is a great one! I need to look into that, myself. In the meantime, I’m going to apply to a freelance research company online called Wonder.com. It sounds like their freelance, web-based research jobs are a good fit for both of us.
Thanks, Fran. I’ll keep you in mind and email you soon about editing my manuscript. And thanks for the link to the research opportunity. I’ve never heard of that one.
Two quick ideas:
1. Do video rather than books! You tube is where many many people go to answer ‘how to’ questions. You could build a following and who knows how that might help with your income down the track. Try to make the videos casual but professional looking (pick a nice background to sit in front of) and within a couple of days you can have videos up. If you can get someone to show you how to use iMovie or similar you’ll be ready to start filming in just a day. And yes, introverted, but if you focus on explaining the message not who may or may not watch it you might find the nerves go away.
2. Interview questions fee awkward for so many people, but it is a learnt skill. Practice! Find someone you know who has a job or even better, someone who hires people, and ask for a list of practice wait stop s, and their tips on how to answer them. Once you realise there’s a set structure to the answers and its ok to have preprepared answers it takes some of the stress out of it.
Mary,
One quick idea that came to mind…infographics.
So, you take the exact same method you already do for research, except the end product isn’t a book, it’s an infographic that you sell.
There are lots of freelance sites where designers can do the design for you, just from your research. Upwork and Freelancer are two sites that would have plenty of good freelance workers you could hire.
Here is a list of sites where you can sell infographics:
http://codeboxr.com/blogs/top-10-marketplace-for-infographics
You can see birdwatching infographics here:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/57913545178749850/
You could create these as custom items for business’ so they could use them on social media to get more exposure or you could have them printed up as posters and sold on Amazon for teachers and those looking to have lots of research presented in a clear and visual way.
Oh, cool. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. Thanks!
Mary,
I am the same way and come up with endless ideas and cannot see them through. It’s part of being gifted where your brain never stops and drives you insane. But at the same time you have the world in your hands. People like you can find sanity in working for someone where you can focus on their goals or being in school where you can focus on the subject you study. I have 4 degrees bc of this problem and at will can do anything from medicine to law. But as wonderful as it is also it is horrible. My advice is to calm the storm in your mind by what I said. Or you can do it all with freelancing but even that feels a little off. Ultimately you have to decide if you want to keep your mind at work or pretend to be normal. It’s hard at this age … When you know a thing or two. Anyway I’m here if u need me and best of luck!
I would potentially LOVE to help with the revision & execution phases! I don’t know for sure yet how to do it, but perhaps it’d be worth a chat?
My first wish is selling my artworks online easily, so that people are inspired by the artworks they put on their walls. I dream of my artwork being a source of hope in the world.
My second wish is being inspiring teacher, especially for people going through trauma healing. I dream of my art-pracice being a source of resilience for people, by online program.
Hi Nadia. Can you tell us what are your obstacles to achieving your dreams? What have you tried doing already? Have you made any progress?
Have you looked at sites like Etsy.com to sell your artwork? There are others, as well; a Google search would probably help find them.
If you want to teach, perhaps creating courses on Udemy.com? Personally, I watch a lot of how-to art videos on YouTube, which can also be monetized now.
My wish is to buy my own home – a cottage by the sea. My obstacle is that I don’t seem to be able to amass the funds for a deposit and my income isn’t huge at present so getting a loan will be tricky. I am teaching 3.5 days a week to leave time to begin developing a Health Coaching business which I hope will eventually generate the income I need to buy a place of my own.
Hi Kerry
You might want to do what a lot of other people do: be a caretaker at some wonderful cottage by the sea. Many people spend only a month or a few weeks a year at their seaside cottages and they need people they can trust to live there so the property isn’t empty.
Buying it yourself in the way you’ve described could take you a whole lot of years. But while you’re saving, you could be living in a cottage by the sea.
I don’t know the name of the best website for this sort of thing, but I’ve seen a couple. Someone else might suggest it here. If not, we can ask in other places.
I agree with Barbara, Kerry. If you can’t own it cash, you might as well forget it. Speaking from experience, ownership doesn’t exist until you paid it in full and owe nobody. So go for it! Find your dream place and enjoy. 😀
Another similar idea to Barbara’s is becoming a vacation home manager for folks. That way you get to make money while being close to (or living in, if that’s part of the deal) a cottage by the sea. Additionally, you can rent a cottage (albeit, maybe a bigger one) and start offering retreats to Health Coaching clients.
-Becca
This week only, there’s a fantastic Idea Party on Facebook being hosted by graduates of my coach training programs. It started Sunday night, a minute after midnight, and it’s going like a house on fire! Never seen anything like it!
Go to Facebook and in the blank field at the top, key in the following:
Idea Party in English hosted by Barbara Sher coaches
and here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/900175639992970/
What good fun, with amazing wishes and even more amazing solutions to obstacles!!!