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.)
Wish:
Semi-retire with seasonal work allowing me to travel and be in my home part of the year and other locations as I choose other times of the year.
Obstacles:
1. 80k mortgage on house.
2. I am 61 and won’t get Social Security until I am older. People say wait till full ss benefits at 66.7 years UGH! Too long to wait.
3. Parents are old, 90 and 96 and I share caretaking with my 2 sisters in hometown.
4. Kids ages 18,19, 20 still home-based yet gaining independence.
5. I have a secure job as a town clerk, elected until 2023 with benefits. This job is good but completely ties me down to hometown with requirements that make it difficult to take vacations or travel.
I have a similar wish to yours. I would like to work part time also and be able to travel once or twice a year.
My obstacles are not enough money so having to work a secure job so I can pay my bills and save money. Because I have to be at secure jobs not having enough vacation time and not always being able to take it when I want.
One solution is working long term temporary jobs and then traveling but then having to find another job when I get back.
That being said I cannot help much but I would also like to hear others’ ideas. Let’s hope we both get ideas that we can use to reach our dreams.
Hi Maida & Judy,
The first thing that popped into my mind is that you could become house sitters! There are a bunch of sites that pair you with someone who will be gone for a weekend, a week, a month or a year, etc. A few jobs pay, if they have care taking involved. Most are an exchange for someone to stay and enjoy places all over the world, so the home owner doesn’t have to leave a house or pets alone. You’d have to do your research on the best sites, but here are a few I’ve run across:
trustedhousesitters.com
mindmyhouse.com
there are also some sites for online work if you are writers, designers, or virtual assistants.
Good luck! what a beautiful time!
Glad I’m not alone!
Depending on your home and location, we are finding that nightly rental as an Airbnb or with a different company is extremely lucrative. You could also find someone that you develop a relationship with that wants to spend some of their time in your home location. It’s not as lucrative put it untethers you from the weight of monthly Mortgage. We watch a LOT of videos on YouTube and made An amazon list of the recommended items. Since then we help another friend dataset theirs too.
I tried the Seasonal lifestyle – but ended up staying in the new place as things fell apart in the old place – which took about six years. Any arrangements I made to go back and forth yearly (or twice a year for a couple of months each time) radically fell apart or otherwise changed after 5 years. I wasn’t around the old place anymore frequently enough to negotiate the new arrangements that I needed to have be able to return seasonally. That probably had to do with my budget, (or lack of one, which was meager.)
In fact, I don’t know if I’m EVER going to be able to travel again using my old style of travel – until there’s a vaccination for this CoVid19 scare. Because my traveling lifestyle pretty much depended on living in a car and using a storage area while I was staying in people’s homes in order to visit them (and also house-sitting.)
So – it might be a good idea to imagine how many lifestyles there are around traveling. What about “travel” do you enjoy? Why does travel appeal to you? I suspect that the whole idea of “travel” being interesting will be changed because of CoVid19 – as will the flight costs. I think all of this is worth imagining how these current factors might influence your “dreams” of travel…which might be irrevocably changed from this point forward because of this pandemic.
Would you consider inviting world-wide travelers to your house where you could have “control” of what they do and how they act while visiting you? That would prepare you to travel in a few years when you get free to really stay away for a longer time other than just a short vacation, (which seems as if is all you can afford right now, taking into account your obstacles.) In a way, having interesting foreign guests is a bit like bringing their various cultures to you!
I suggest you do do this by signing up as a “host” with the site called “USServas.org” (that’s the site name if you are in the USA. If you’re not in the U.S., search at “servas.org” SERVAS has a membership in other countries world-wide.) SERVAS is sort of like an older person’s version of “couchsurfing.org.” SERVAS has a kind of “peace-through-hospitality” mission. It started out of the experiences of WWII – founded in the late 1940s in the Scandinavian countries first, later including most of Europe, then the USA, then Asia, Africa, etc.
Hosting SERVAS guests might satisfy your longterm travel yearnings. But whenever you later are free to really travel for an extended period, you’ll have many places to visit that will give you a really interesting experience that will be personal. Because you’ll have been a host – you’ll no doubt have many interesting personal worldwide invites from the people who have first visited you because of you having already been a SERVAS host.
I’ve used SERVAS as a traveler – and it made traveling a whole different experience than staying in various hotels, etc. Each of my SERVAS guest experiences were influenced by who my host was, their routines, what they thought was interesting that I might want to do and see, their age, their family members and the specific home environments and lifestyles…and of course, who they were personally. I really enjoyed SERVAS experiences!
There’s someone I know who is suffering domestic violence/abuse in North Africa. She’s 19, was forcefully impregnated, and cannot sustain herself financially yet. She’s not allowed to leave the house, but would immediately do so the first chance she gets, when she can get enough money to live and support the baby. She wants to return to school to learn speech therapy. Do any of you know aid groups in North Africa that help with domestic violence situations?
Alternatively, what would be some ideas for her to influence her husband to stop beating her, and get out of the house when quarantine ends? She is lesbian, which really enraged her husband, who’s been ‘in love with her’ since they were children. Now her husband wants to ‘fix’ her as he is homophobic, and her family is also homophobic. She’s tried telling him that his behavior isn’t going to make her love him, but that just enrages him more.
To find a martial arts training institute in Japan
And be trained to because samurai
Where are located currently?
You want to “become a samurai”?
…and what’s the obstacle?
(Sorry, I replied instead of making a comment :/ Can things be moved?)
Now, what I like and sort of know: computers (at a basic level, not the “Senior Developer in X for 15 years”, but some people say I’m good at it. I even have the piece of paper to say that a university has trained me for it and the general belief that I can pick things up well enough, I just don’t feel any employers want anybody short of “Best in show”), Open Source software (the Linux part of computers) and nature (once again, a piece of paper saying I can do permaculture and a tonne of random knowledge about interconnections in biology, ecology and life). I can also draw a picture (rough, but pleasing to the eye, usually), use a hammer (but not power tools), play 3 tunes on 5 instruments, write an essay and translate stuff between 2 languages (given enough time, because thinking in a language is easier than putting those thoughts into words of another frame of reference) – the usual Scanner of “I love so many things, but have near-no depth in ’em”.
What I want to do, in descending order of complexity:
1) Restore the planet’s forests, or, more small, make a sanctuary/permacultural farm for local bats (“local” being Naracoorte, Australia – it’s not where I live, but it’s where the bats live). The farm produces nice place to live/camp, pesticide-free food for people and bats, grows the soil, restores aquifers, returns rains, captures CO2, etc, etc… Obstacle being, I need a lot of money, a business model to keep it up and a chatty person to handle the sales.
2) Make computers less frustrating for normal folk and less slow for picky folk – make at least one program/app that would be a joy to use for its users. Obstacle being, it seems like all apps have been made (and patented, too). And any game I can think of making needs to be as complicated as the world itself (it’s a downside of learning too much of how things work, I guess).
3) Make enough money to be able to visit any darn workshop/convention I fancy visiting!
4) Find a small company that can both appreciate a smart-but-lazy Jill-of-all-trades (rather than a spiffy Specialist) and train her up. I don’t care if it’s computing, gardening or cat petting, but everything I find is too big and high-demand high-responsibility – not a good fit for person with lots of theory, but little practical experience. The only people who both train newcomers _and_ pay them seem to be the Army – and I’m not a fan of their discipline or the need to wake up by means of an alarm. I know I’ve read too many books about perfect little companies (where every worker is a perfect fit, despite being the oddest creature on Earth, and all they do is help people, not fight over the hierarchy), but surely at least one exists and sadly sifts through piles of Specialists’ CVs just like I sift through piles of Speacialists’ job descriptions.
Any ideas on any of the above?
Support!!! Love your ideas! Totally agree!
Batty!
It sounds to me like you’re in the same phase of life as me – the exploration phase! I’d suggest trying out all the things you’re interested in, and seeing what you want to stick with from there. Do it all! Here’s how I’d start:
1. Bat sanctuary – You could try volunteering at an existing bat sanctuary or forest conservation program. Check out wwoof.com and coolworks.com, or just google “[bat] conservation volunteer opportunities.” Make friends with people with more life experience who are doing what you want to do (or something similar). They’ll have better access to resources that can help you reach your bigger goals.
2-4. Career – This article has some helpful advice about how to stand out when looking for a job (it’s intended for people without a degree, but the advice is valuable either way). Find a small company that interests you, and figure out how to solve their problems.
https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-get-a-job-even-if-you-dont-have-a-college-degree-66d7589a7fe4
Best of luck!!
Jade
Im 48. I want to he a songwriter! I dont have any musical training but i love to write poems. And i was retrenched from my job 3 months ago. So i dont have an income right now.
Listen to Bobby Bones’ podcast: BobbyCast! He has many songwriters on for interviews and they give tips and insight on how the process works 🙂
My dream is to have a tiny house schoolie for myself & my 3 children & to travel the States & sell my soaps & do hair wherever we may be.
My obstacle is my cosmetology license has expired & I need money for a school bus & money to convert it into a tiny house.
DREAM: immediately use my skills to earn cash to pay my overdue bills this month!, and then once bills covered allow me to invest in projects that are of significance to me. I have skills in developing software for tech industry, for commercial and professional use, things like single-page web applications, using angular or blazor, and desktop application software, many different languages, and so on. These skills are supposedly valuable.
Also in the past I suffered ridiculous amounts of social, relational, spiritual, emotional and financial abusiveness from various extended family members so as of today I’m in great need to get financial traction “yesterday” (and also recover a stable livelihood and move toward long-term ‘dreams’)
OBSTACLE: I once had relationships which brought solid freelance income (always got hired by word-of-mouth) BUT all the relationships are faded away by time and I can’t seem to sell myself for anything.
I rewrite and rewrite resumes and they all go NOWHERE.
So I tried to get hired to manage teams remotely (I used to do that too) and that goes nowhere.
I tried freelance web sites and those have gone nowhere and they seem of questionable value. I believe I saw statistic that it is only about 3% of people on Upwork who actually make more than very small amounts of money for example. I’ve tried popular job sites and got nothing. I’ve tried flexjobs and exhausted myself sending applications, with no inquiries.
I am in US and can’t compete with people from all around the world who make frenzied pitches at projects while offering to do them for far below US poverty-level pay.
I have almost NO idea what is keeping me from connecting with any opportunity at all.
I wonder if I need someone else to market my freelance services on pure commission basis? and don’t know how to find someone like that with the needed integrity, but mostly I am at a complete loss to why the blockage to opportunities is so severe.
At the very least, post your profile (chock full of keywords and skills) on LinkedIn.
If you already there, update your profile and join related groups. Connect with me – I have over 3,000 connections and many of them are recruiters looking for freelancers. Also post your resume on Dice.com – which is dedicated to techies.
Best of luck,
Jennifer Blair
Oracle Trainer (Freelance)
HI Jennifer, I will connect with you too if that’s okay with you. I am looking for freelance work in the fields of bookkeeping/accounting and teaching English.
Maida,
Sure. No problem.
You might also check to see if iTalki.com currently needs English teachers.
Thanks, Jennifer on both counts.
Hi Jennifer, I just checked for your profile on LinkedIn but there are about 15 Jennifer Blairs so I don’t know which one to choose. If you could provide more details or tell me which city you are in that would narrow down my search. Thanks.
Hi,
All you have o do is add “Oracle Trainer” to the name in your search. (I gave you the information above.)
Anyway, here is a link:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferblairva
Jennifer
I am in Ohio. My son was separated with me by local family court based on racial discrimination two years ago. I wonder is there human right lawyer or someone could help me?
Great idea and definitely needed.
I know a business that does it and a business coach whom provides this service. Even if the website was created by a web developer it may still need your services.
Many web developers can build a beautiful website but there may not be any conversions. I worked with two web developers and had no customers once they were done.
I have done a better solo job without their help. Wishing you much success because this service would help lots of people.
Thank you Necie!
Hello Idea Party! My idea is to audit websites to show website owners why their visitors aren’t staying for long or aren’t purchasing anything. I primarily focus on websites that weren’t created by a web developer. I am finding it difficult to advertise this service. When people hear about it they are usually interested in an audit so I know the demand is there. Please help!
Here’s a revolutionary idea…..reach out and CALL the business owners personally and talk to them. That alone will get their attention and make you stand out in a world of virtual billboards plastered everywhere. I’m a web content/copywriter who also does brand story. The writing on most websites is not properly crafted to engage visitors in the first place, let alone convert them. In my opinion, without a clear and compelling message, there’s nothing to sell to anyone. If people have to work too hard to figure out what you do, how you do it, or how you’re going to solve their problems, they’ll just leave and go find someone who doesn’t make it so hard to do business with them. So much more to say; hope you find a nugget here.
Now, what I like and sort of know: computers (at a basic level, not the “Senior Developer in X for 15 years”, but some people say I’m good at it. I even have the piece of paper to say that a university has trained me for it and the general belief that I can pick things up well enough, I just don’t feel any employers want anybody short of “Best in show”), Open Source software (the Linux part of computers) and nature (once again, a piece of paper saying I can do permaculture and a tonne of random knowledge about interconnections in biology, ecology and life). I can also draw a picture (rough, but pleasing to the eye, usually), use a hammer (but not power tools), play 3 tunes on 5 instruments, write an essay and translate stuff between 2 languages (given enough time, because thinking in a language is easier than putting those thoughts into words of another frame of reference) – the usual Scanner of “I love so many things, but have near-no depth in ’em”.
What I want to do, in descending order of complexity:
1) Restore the planet’s forests, or, more small, make a sanctuary/permacultural farm for local bats (“local” being Naracoorte, Australia – it’s not where I live, but it’s where the bats live). The farm produces nice place to live/camp, pesticide-free food for people and bats, grows the soil, restores aquifers, returns rains, captures CO2, etc, etc… Obstacle being, I need a lot of money, a business model to keep it up and a chatty person to handle the sales.
2) Make computers less frustrating for normal folk and less slow for picky folk – make at least one program/app that would be a joy to use for its users. Obstacle being, it seems like all apps have been made (and patented, too). And any game I can think of making needs to be as complicated as the world itself (it’s a downside of learning too much of how things work, I guess).
3) Make enough money to be able to visit any darn workshop/convention I fancy visiting!
4) Find a small company that can both appreciate a smart-but-lazy Jill-of-all-trades (rather than a spiffy Specialist) and train her up. I don’t care if it’s computing, gardening or cat petting, but everything I find is too big and high-demand high-responsibility – not a good fit for person with lots of theory, but little practical experience. The only people who both train newcomers _and_ pay them seem to be the Army – and I’m not a fan of their discipline or the need to wake up by means of an alarm. I know I’ve read too many books about perfect little companies (where every worker is a perfect fit, despite being the oddest creature on Earth, and all they do is help people, not fight over the hierarchy), but surely at least one exists and sadly sifts through piles of Specialists’ CVs just like I sift through piles of Speacialists’ job descriptions.
Any ideas on any of the above?
One thing I’ve noticed about websites that sell services (like plumbing, house building, etc – anything except books, workshops and online courses) is that they don’t give any pricing information. As someone who dislikes phone calls (and searches for stuff at 2 o’clock in the morning), I am definitely more likely to “convert” if I know what it costs… I wonder if Tom https://barbarasclub.com/ideaparty/comment-page-92/#comment-309224 can make automatic quote calculation sections for websites that turn out to be too secretive for their own good?