1. Dear Barbara,
I think I know what I want to do, I just don't know if someone will pay me to do it. Do you know of a working environment which would
combine the following:
a) helping people in practical ways (I'm currently a Job Finding Club Facilitator and find that fills this need
quite well)
b) an outlet for my considerable domestic and creative talents which include: cooking, baking, home organization, furniture re-furbishing
including re-upholstery, slipcovers, re-finishing, drapes, and home decorating in general.
c) I also love working with words, writing, and especially editing. I've been volunteering in a transition house for women on parole
which I thought might be the right environment, but isn't. Any ideas? I have a B.A. in Arts with an emphasis on Psychology and I'm willing
to do some further training.
Susan,
I hope you don't mind, but your note is perfect for a brainstorming, so I'd like to open it up for the readers.
(Incidentally, there might be many more readers of these pages after the last two weeks of April, since I'll be giving out the address for
the first time. Those of you who've found me without that are most resourceful!)
BRAINSTORMING ALERT!
This person has a wish and an obstacle. If you'd like to help her come up with some ideas, send them via "Ask Barbara" and I'll post them
here.
Here are a few of mine:
a) You enjoy being a "job finding club facilitator" which means you like working with people, and perhaps that you like problem solving.
You might be one of those wonderful resource people who knows all sorts of things about their town, where to find things, etc.
Would you be interested in starting a small business of your own? You could give workshops at local organizations to start, and get your own
clientele. If that interests you, I can give you more details on how to actually do it. (First detail: don't quite your paying job first.
This takes a year or so to build into a salary.)
Or, would you like to work for an Out placement firm? They hire and train trainers and then call them in whenever they get a contract from
a big corporation.
b) Regarding your decorating talents, once again, you might want to place an ad and work independently. You could create a small portfolio
by redoing a friend's house, taking before and after photos to show the difference, and writing in her testimonial (if she liked it!)
You could get clients, once again, by giving free workshops at the Y, or the library, etc.
You could also show up at the local TV station and see if they need a show on the subject. If it's a small station, they might say yes. You
need to watch some of the cable shows on home decorating.And don't forget institutions: you can do demonstrations in hospitals
or at lunchtime programs in corporations. You can also get jobs decorating the social rooms in such places.
c) Regarding writing, I assume you've already considered writing articles for magazines. Tips articles, decorating short-cuts, or
job-finding tips all would make saleable pieces.
Best of all, you can write articles about yourself, your decorating projects, take good pictures, get published and publicize yourself at
the same time.
If you want to make money at writing right away, I'd look into writing
for corporations. There was a very good article about how to do that
in Writer's Digest recently. I can find the article if you're interested
2. Is it possible to be both a diver and a scanner?
I love the new and different,& I love variety and trying new things. Travel, food, people.
However, when I get hooked on something I become totally focused on that project. I have incredible focus on my
objective (tunnel vision) and other things that get in the way become annoyances.
You've just described a true scanner, and a happy state it is! A
scanner, contrary to popular belief, isn't someone who stays on the surface, loses interest fast, never gets deeply into anything. A scanner
is someone who, you might say, has serial passions. Their focus is amazing, and they can stick with a project for as long as it takes.
A diver is someone who stays with the same thing for most of their
lives, getting deeper and deeper into it.
Often, a person who can't stick with anything, who loses interest too
fast, is what I call "an unhappy diver." Someone who would love to go more deeply, but can't allow themselves that happiness.
3. Hi Barbara,
Can you tell me how to find a "success team" in the Pittsburgh area?
Thanks,
Andrew
Hi Andrew
For now, you'll have to email me your telephone number and my assistant will find someone (I know of some good leaders in the Philadelphia
area!). But soon we'll be setting up a special section here that will take care of Success Team requests more easily.
Good luck. Everyone in teams sends glowing reports of their progress. Believe me, support works.
Good luck.
4. Barbara, I'm going to write this as if you are reading it personally
and I really hope that is the case). I just started reading "I Could Do Anything"
and I am totally blow away! It speaks to me like nothing or nobody ever
has. You are so totally dead-on in your descriptions of what goes on in
my head that it is scary. Are you planning any speaking engagements in Los Angeles anytime soon?
Yes, Josh. I'll be in Los Angeles at the Learning Annex on Thursday,
April 29, as part of my book tour.
If anyone else wants to know where I'll be when, I try to keep my schedule updated on this
web page.
5. Hi Barbara,
I just finished reading Wishcraft. WOW! What a fantastic book. This is not my first book on motivation/self improvement that I have read but it
is unlike any other in that it doesn't want me to change. The greatest difficulty I am having, is that in the past, book after book tell would
me that I am not getting the results I want because I'm doing everything
wrong or it tells me what I'm not doing. I started believing a long time
ago that for things to change, I must change. So here I am 26 years old,
married, baby on the way and still at a poor paying job I hate. I read an inspiring book and a week later I'm back to laying on the couch
complaining. How can things get better if I don't change?
Hi Dan
Well, you don't have to change your *self* but you do have to change
your *life*. Wishcraft, like all my books, is an action book. Did you do
the "Ideal Day" exercise? Did you find out what the most essential part of it was? Then did you start to brainstorm with other people to see if
there's some way you can start to do it?
Or did you just get inspired? If so, you're learning what I've been
preaching for a long time: inspiration isn't good enough. It doesn't last. You need a goal based on something you enjoy, a lot of know-how
and a lot of support. Wishcraft shows you how to get those things.
So off the couch and back to the desk, this time with a pen and paper,
and do your homework. 26 may not sound old to some people, but I can tell by your tone that you feel very old indeed. So get to work.
Report back, and for now I (and anyone who wants to write "Ask Barbara"
with suggestions) will help you with the support and the know-how.
But first we have to have some idea what you want!
6. What I want to do is act; work in local theater with professionals, or
in TV, movies, whatever. I'm willing to try anything to get a foot in the door, but what I think of as my best bet, which is volunteering at
local theaters to work in the wings, etc., presents a problem. It requires that I be available when THEY need me, which won't work with my
job. Do I quit my job? Even auditions take place on the producer's schedule, not mine. Even if I bailed out of my so-called current career
for a huge wage loss, part time work has set hours. I'm stuck. Most acting or theater jobs would be short term, low pay, or volunteer work.
My options list is pretty short. Any ideas?
I like your resourcefulness and enthusiasm! Of course you're right about
quitting your job. That's not practical. But most actors have other jobs, and many theaters work around it. If you work a 5 day week, that
means you'd be available weekends for rehearsals, evenings for performances.
Of course, no matter how you manage to wiggle through, one of these days
you'll find yourself in a genuine conflict (You'll get the lead in a show that's going on the road, or some such thing!)
Why don't you consider beginning a jobsearch that would give you the
same income, but be more flexible. Perhaps you can do freelance what you're now doing, or find something else you like. My assistant Andrea
is an actress, and my deal with her is that she comes in whenever she can. If that sounds unusual, think again. It works great for a small or
home business owner, as well as the assistant. And when you hire an actor or a singer, you usually get someone who is focused, disciplined
and way over-qualified. I recommend it to one-person businesses!
Sorry to go on and on. I don't know what you do for a living, so I'm
just shooting in the dark here. Want to tell more?
BRAINSTORMING ALERT! If there's anyone reading this who has some good
suggestions, send them right through and we'll post them!
7. I have read your book "I Could Anything..." and am inquiring as to
whether or not you meet with individuals on a one-on-one basis. I live in New York City but am unable to make your seminar at The Learning
Annex because of my work schedule.
Hi Paul
You can call me at 212-222-6973 and my assistant, Andrea, will call you back within a day or two with information.