Barbara Sher’s Idea Party

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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.

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4,428 thoughts on “Barbara Sher’s Idea Party

    • Hi Olivia…I had always had a long laundry list of things I wanted in a man and nothing seemed to be working. One day last summer it finally came to me that I was doing this all wrong.

      I decided to let God and the universe find me the right man.

      I was praying asking what are the exact words that would make this work and I came up with “The Perfect Man for ME” and within a month he appeared.

      The relationship is so easy, I listened more than I spoke, I let him lead, he is perfect for me. Not what I would expect or in the packaging I expected but I gave him a chance and he turned out to be the light of my life. It flows so nicely and there is no drama. We just enjoy each other and he has become my best friend, lover, and even though I was overwhelmed and scared about living with someone after I hadn’t in 15 years, I decided I was too old to keep saying no. It has worked out beautifully and I’m SO grateful I didn’t stop myself. We have so much fun together.

      So leave all expectations off the table, just enjoy what he offers, never asking for anything, and see what God and the universe brings you.

      As for the other things, start with a gratitude journal writing everything you’re grateful for each evening and each morning. It will lift your spirits. And I took NOW brand Effer-C Lemon Lime 1,000 mg Vitamin C which I put in a bottle of water several times a day and it really helped.

      Also go on YouTube and look up “Brad Yates EFT”. The emotional freedom technique will help relieve your fears, depression, anything that you are dealing with. It’s an excellent tool to learn. You will find it of great value for any emotional issue you’re dealing with.

      Take a walk in a dog park to enjoy puppies and people. Go have a drink at happy hour at a hotel bar and meet people from around the country and world who are staying there. Great conversations.

      Don’t expect anything…just go and explore.

      xoxo

    • Watch comedy! Lots and lots and LOTS of comedy! First of all, it will teach you, through the role modeling by comics, that frailties are nothing to feel overly ashamed about. Just feeling a little bit insecure about them is more than enough, lol. Second, men and women who are worth spending time with (e.g., your entire life), both are highly attracted to people who are witty, funny and playful. And the more comedy you watch, the more you get into the habit of seeing everything through the filter of “funny” – which ends up causing you to see the funny side of everything and laughing more, whether you’re witty or not. If you add non-negotiable gentleness, trustworthiness, and kindness to that, you’re done! Napoleon Bonaparte said, “A woman laughing is a woman conquered.” Creepy, huh? Well, you don’t need to conquer anyone or anything but your low self-esteem to resolve the other two problems AND find your ideal male-mate! For clean comedy, check out Dry Bar comedy on youtube. When you DON’T take things seriously, you make other people feel better about THEIR insecurities and potential screw-ups, which are minimized by your shrugging them off with an understanding laugh. If after that you tell me you are still insecure I will tell you you’re not watching the RIGHT type of comedy (funny + kind!), or not ENOUGH of it, lol. You should be working very, very, very hard at your comedy-watching! 🙂 Just imho! I also highly recommend the Bertie & Jeeves books (NOT any videos or movies!!!) by P.G. Wodehouse. All center on romantic craziness in one way or another, though it’s generally super-aggressive women in hot pursuit of the hapless and passive Bertie Wooster. Cheers! SMILE, dammmitttttt! 🙂 You are LOVED!!!!!
      For self-esteem, deeper issues, check out Psycho-Cybernetics for starters. Free online.

  1. Hi Michelle
    What about organising your workshops and coaching in a large tent, yurt, old school/library bus or caravan? You could make it a quirky venue and it’ll be mobile too and probably less expensive than converting a garage/shed.
    Otherwise neighbours may have a shed (or camper) you could use? Or a school/2nd hand shop nearby with storage space for your supplies to hold classes after hours?
    No matter what format it’ll require time to develop but you could film your workshops to publish online with consent of attendees? Hope this helps!
    Marianne

  2. Wish: To have a craft studio on my property that I open 2-4 times a month to sell and hold how-to workshops (make & takes), as well as some entrepreneurial coaching for stay-at-home moms (my husband and I have always owned our own businesses). Currently I am a content creator for bloggers. While it pays decent, it’s long hours, and I have this strong desire to start something for myself. A little piece of me dies every time I give them my work. I want the glory! There it is, I said it. I make it and they get the rewards. I’ve attempted many times to start my own blog and then I get bored after setting it up.

    Obstacle: Funds. The quotes are $30k + for a new building. The idea of getting a bank loan scares me, what if…
    I’ve looked at remodeling the attached garage as a cheaper way to start, but I have to erect a shed to house all the bicycles, etc currently in the garage. I’m looking at $15k for that project and still need to acquire a loan. Honestly, I don’t want people inside my house, I have kids/dogs. I’ve considered packing up everything to take to a community center classroom. I’ve done this…and it’s always a question of how many are showing up as well as the umpteen boxes I have to load and pack. I’ve also looked into keeping it all online to start, youtube (which will take quite some time to create an income stream) and selling on Etsy and am not excited about that option as I’ve been down the shipping route before, plus the post office is a good 25 minute drive.
    So, all this to say, I want this thing and I don’t know how to get it. My mind is fuzzy with all the options and which direction to go that will lead me there faster.
    Thank you for your time and ideas. I appreciate you!

    • Hi Michelle
      What about organising your workshops and coaching in a large tent, yurt, old school/library bus or caravan? You could make it a quirky venue and it’ll be mobile too and probably less expensive than converting a garage/shed.
      Otherwise neighbours may have a shed (or camper) you could use? Or a school/2nd hand shop nearby with storage space for your supplies to hold classes after hours?
      No matter what format it’ll require time to develop but you could film your workshops to publish online with consent of attendees? Hope this helps!
      Marianne

    • Marianne’s right. Find an exisiting, very inexpensive place and spend your money on becoming well known. Keep away from real estate and you can make the whole thing work. Everybody always falls in love with the idea of a building but there’s almost never enough business to support a building. I call it ‘the real estate fallacy.’ It kills good little businesses over and over.

  3. My dream: I would like to run a successful e-commerce business. My obstacle: I struggle with social media growth. Instagram has already disabled one of my accounts 5 times.

  4. My dream is to be free of my symptoms, chronic dizziness and fatigue. I have been diagnosed with PPPD, which is a functional disorder of the nervous system.

    My obstacle is that the treatments I have tried have not helped. I have tried physical therapy, medications, supplements, acupuncture, chiropractic, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy, etc. I have worked with balance specialists at Swedish Balance Center and University of Washington Balance Dizziness Center. Thank you so much for your help!

  5. I have a lot of materials I have created on the topic Creative Spiritual Path-keeping. The materials are offered as a model for ways that people can create daily practices that help them know themselves from the inside out , live in alignment with their beliefs and values, be responsible for their self-care, allow daily quiet
    time free from distractions, let go of things outside of their control, and focus on bringing joyful pleasure and appreciation into each day.
    I would like to develop them into a curriculum for adult education in a workbook format. I would like to find someone who can help me develop my materials into a course/ workbook format. What are some ideas for finding people who provide that kind of service? I am a Spiritual Companioning Coach with a M.A. in Pastoral Counseling. I would like my target audience to be women over 50 who want to
    create meaning, fulfillment, and well-being in the second half of life.

    • Hi Linda
      What you need is an instructional designer. Someone who writes and often illustrates (although that can be done by a separate designer) educational materials. Google ‘instructional design services’ to find some companies who do this. Freelance platforms offer these services too such as on fiverr.com.
      Hope this helps!
      Marianne

  6. I want to find a way which will allow everyone in need of healing from physical and emotional discomfort to be healed and to have free access to this.

    I have degrees in Naturopathic medicine and acupuncture. I am currently working on taking boards to be licensed, though I have many obstacles, illness and family issues.

    • Hi Nakima
      In my town an acupuncturist offered free and very low cost healing sessions to the community in a group setting. People sit in the same room and she would tend to each one and apply acupuncture. All it takes is promoting it and securing a venue which can be at someone’s home, school, yoga centre etc to keep costs to a minimum. Here in New Zealand it’s also common to just ask for a ‘gold coin donation’ which is a dollar or two.
      I’m sure you can find fellow practitioners who would be keen to offer an hour every fortnight for example to support this initiative and promote their services at the same time.
      You could start a Facebook group first to gather practitioners and clients together. And then ask the group: what room/venue could we use? Pick a date/time, announce it on Facebook and it will gain word of mouth promotion for sure.
      Hope this helps!
      Marianne

  7. Funny. I’ve always had multiple things I wanted to do, but when I went to write this, only a couple came to mind:

    WISHES:

    – Shooting & Editing photos
    – Making photo books
    – Use my insight to Advise/coach/train — 1 on 1, small groups, memos/booklets
    – Writing opinion pieces w/ logic & insight, not overly researched facts/data (eg reasons why schools shouldn’t adopt the latest program w/o having specific goals, criteria for success, & ways to measure progress)
    – Not be tied to a clock, classroom, or badly behaved kids

    – OBSTACLES:

    – Not much time until I hope to retire (5 yrs…unless I love the new work)
    – Time — Told that my job might be eliminated in 8 months, need replacement income ASAP
    – Time — to retrain for a new career/job
    – Time — starting my own business or getting a new job would take years to build up income to a livable level (how do I live in the meantime?)
    – Agism — 61 next May when job may end
    – Fear of not earning enough to live comfortably
    – Fear of not being good
    – Fear of needing to sell my condo or rent out a room to live…
    – Self-Pity — In my 60s I “should be”/expected I’d be slowing down to a well-earned rest from my working life…not needing to sell/rent my home
    – How to sell advisory/editing services so make the most money?
    – How to sell photo images to make most money (eg lawyer boardrooms)?
    – Frustration at possibility of having to work vs retire…travel, etc.
    – Feeling that I’m no good, not a real man (provides for himself), a fraud, a failure

    • Hello! Have you considered Self Publishing for Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)? There are 2 books that are made and sold through Amazon: Ebooks (500 to 800 word articles: anything past that and you loose readers) & Paperbacks – fiction/nonfiction as well as Low/No Content: blank journals/sketchpads, lined journals, planners, etc. To publish on Amazon is free, and there are other publishing platforms as well with diffrent printing options (Lulu). I am now starting with Low Content Books as my first test for trying to make a passive income to fuel my bigger dreams. Being on Gov’t Disability and having limited funds, I use Google Drive’s Docs and Slides (free MS Word/PowerPoint) to make the interiors, covers, and sales page descriptions that get loaded into KDP. I have been told that for color-printed books (instead of the black and white interiors) to only use under 50 pages – anything past that eats your royalties, so perfect for a picture book! There is a learning curve to be a self-publisher. But to be honest, a couple hours of research on Youtube and joining some Facebook groups is all you need to get started. Also Instagram is an amazing place for photographers to get noticed, but has it’s own types post known as “stories” I am not familiar with yet, and they have Social Media Influencers who are the new marketing tools of the internet. There is a ton of sales help and marketing for authors/photographers groups in FB and YT, as well as freelance photographer platforms to sell your photos (Shutterstock). There are freelance photo editing jobs on sites (Fiverr, Upworks) which both are very easy to use and pay well. But you are dealing with clients as your boss and on your own time (time & project management skills are needed) — Udemy is a great website for cheap classes to learn new skills and professional development. A while back I picked up a couple classes on how to be a travel writer and how to sell your travel photographs, which I gleam from your post might be a hidden dream for you. They also have classes on how to start a blog (check Pinterest for blog posts ideas to engage and grow your audience) and how build your own website from scratch (WordPress is very easy, but you could use a “plug and play” site like Wix). From there you merge the targeted audience to a paid private Facebook group as a classroom for your students, which pay you monthly. I hope this helps!

      • This is brilliant, Daniel! Thank you so much! I will go through all your ideas one by one to see which I’ll begin with. I really appreciate all that you provided.

        One question: I don’t understand the ebook comment—only 500-800 WORDS?? That’s just 3 typed pages. Did I miss something?

        Thank you again, Daniel!

        Gary

    • You’re very welcome Listen TOurMotherEarth. I’m so glad it has helped. Let me know if you need more information. You’ll love running teams and Idea Parties. I’m very grateful this has always been my my work.

      • This is brilliant, Daniel! Thank you so much! I will go through all your ideas one by one to see which I’ll begin with. I really appreciate all that you provided.

        One question: I don’t understand the ebook comment—only 500-800 WORDS?? That’s just 3 typed pages. Did I miss something?

        Thank you again, Daniel!

        Gary

      • Hi Barbara:

        Is there a way to search all the comments I’ve made & all the replies I get? I submitted my wish/obstacle on Oct 9 & was never notified that Daniel had answered it. Same with responses from the book club.

        I’d like to see what I’ve said & how I’ve grown over time.

        Thank you.

        Gary

  8. I wish to get along with my neighbors, get some reconciliation for their violence towards me, and get us all working together towards sustainability.

    I want it to be a requirement, (because I dont think everyone would show up if only asked because the lack of communication and involvement has been the problem) that for them (KD hui-(hui is hawaiian for group) to be able to use our (‘ohe anuenue hui) driveway, that they will meet with everyone, especially me the skapegoat who has been excluded.
    Sometimes, I feel afraid of some of the narcissists who have been running the show.

    Today there was a cheap beer can on the road.
    There was a distillery built at an abandoned house, and then taken away slowly when the person started to move back in. We all live on 100 acres that is 20 mins on dirt roads to get to pavement, and an hour to get to a small town. There are 3 or more other abandoned houses back here.
    Its peaceful and alot of what Ive dreamed of to live back here, yet with every uncomfortable interaction, everytime I get passed on the road and not even looked at, or find trash or a beer can, I feel more ignored, angry, and unsafe. There is alot of history that contributes to it feeling this way and when i try to write about it, i get angry and exhausted. i need help writing my story.
    I need more good people living back here who are willing to speak up. who understand what narcissism and skapegoating are, or understand how to create peace even with in the face of selfishness, and people not wanting to participate or answer to problems they or others cause.

    I want to live off grid and sustainably and be a model of how to live in harmony with Nature

    • Regarding your desire to live off grid, there are many YouTube channels devoted to this. If you are wanting to be mobile, I suggest “Cheap RV Living” channel. If you are not wanting to be mobile, I think I’d just go to YouTube and search on “off grid homestead.” I love TinyHousePrepper’s channel for stationary living. There are many FB groups around the topic, also.

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