ChangingCourse.com, Find Your Life Mission and Live It

Issue 134

February 8, 2006

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Changing Course is dedicated to helping you:

~Live Life on Purpose ~Work at What You Love ~Follow Your Own Road

Inside Today's Issue

Featured Article

Confessions of an Idea Hoarder

Featured Resource

Winning Ways

Guest Article

The Nature of Ideas

Upcoming Teleclasses

View From the Other Side

Resources for A Change

Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats. ~ Howard Aiken

Confessions of an Idea Hoarder

By Valerie Young

You just never know where inspiration will come from. The inspiration for this week’s article literally came from my office floor. I’m forever collecting information on creative a job alternatives to having a job. When the big pile of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and handwritten notes on my desk threatened to overtake my keyboard, I started a pile on the floor.

There’s a gold mine of ideas in that pile. But for reasons I’m just beginning to understand, I’ve been holding back on sharing them in this newsletter. Much to my dismay I seem to have fallen into the same self-defeating pattern I’ve observed in so many clients and workshop participants. Well ladies and gentleman, it’s time to come clean. Even someone who is in the idea business like I am is not immune to what I’ve come to call “idea hoarding.”

One of the reasons I let ideas pile up has to do with timing. Like a lot of people, I sometimes get caught up in waiting for the “perfect” time to use an idea. I mean, why waste a perfectly good idea about how to make money helping singles find true love, I reason, unless I’m going to weave it into a well-thought out article on the 10 ways to make a living helping the lovelorn?

The only problem with this logic is that I’m an idea person first and a writer second. By succumbing to this form of perfectionism there’s an excellent chance that I’ll never get around to searching out the other nine ideas leaving my one very cool example to pine away with the similarly neglected ideas lying in heap on my floor.

Another reason people hoard their best ideas comes down to the mistaken belief that there are a finite number of ideas out there. If we use it up, we think, it will be gone. Worse, we worry, that if we put our idea out into the world that someone might steal it.

I learned a long time ago that unless you plan to bring a revolutionary new product
to market that no home should be without, or have come up with a way to personally service the millions of people in your target market, then you have nothing to worry about. It’s a big world out there folks and there are plenty of customers – and ideas – to go around.

Another reason we hoard ideas is good old fashioned procrastination. Having an idea and doing something about that idea are two entirely different things. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the consequences of holding back your ideas go far beyond yourself. When you don’t share your ideas and gifts with the world, other people don’t get the benefit of your experience, expertise or wisdom. Idea hoarding is the ultimate form of selfishness.

It’s only taken me 135 issues of this newsletter to realize that for an idea person like me the thing that jazzes me is the finding and sharing the idea – not stressing about how to come up with a tightly written article on a single idea or theme. Looking back to when I published the original hardcopy version of the Changing Course newsletter, the column I most enjoyed writing was an idea column called Opportunity Knocks.

So as part of my coming out as an idea hoarder, I’ve decided to get back to basics. From now on I’m going to focus far less on the writing, which doesn’t always come easily to me and as such is far less enjoyable, and spend far more time on the part I do love – helping people think outside the job box by turning them on to creative income streams.

From this day forward I am turning over a new leaf and I’m going to start by getting to the bottom of my idea pile. Every week I’m going to scoop up whatever items happened to have landed on the top of the stack and share them with all of you. By mending my idea hoarding ways, I’ll have returned to what inspired me to start this newsletter to begin with, and in so doing hope to move you to honor your own ideas with action as well.

If you need any more inspiration to get your ideas out into the world be sure to scroll down and read The Nature of Ideas, a poem by the very talented Rosemary Senjem.

About the Author

Outside the career box expert, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger’s, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman’s Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.

Find more articles written by Valerie at ChangingCourse.com/articles/

Ideas won't keep; something must be done about them. ~ Alfred Whitehead

Featured Resource

Winning Ways: How to Turn
Your Passions Into Profits

Do you dream of turning your passion into your livelihood? Look no further than this wonderfully informative and inspiring newsletter written by none other than Barbara J. Winter, author of the book that helped change my life, Making a Living Without a Job.

Each issue of Winning Ways contains thought-provoking articles and creative ideas to help you too become "joyfully jobless." Here is just a sampling from some past issues of how Winning Way:

For the reading and research lover Barbara explained how to make money collecting and packaging information.
Got a great idea, but afraid to put it out there out of fear that someone will rip you off? Barbara tells you why you need to just go for it!
Tired of the 9-to-5 (or 8-to-late) grind? Barbara specializes in uncovering outside-the-box ideas for satisfying work-at-home and other small businesses.
Need to find creative – and low-cost – ways to market yourself or your small business? You've absolutely come to the right place!
Want to learn about books and other resources on everything from self-publishing to short-term job adventures? Put this avid reader's passion to work for your dream.
Need inspiration to help you get – and stay – on track? In each and every issue Barbara offers up heaping portions of her down-to-earth, am-there, doing-that advice for living your dreams. And she ought to know – she's been following her bliss for over 20 years!

Now entering its 20th year of publication, Winning Ways brings you the perfect combination of information and inspiration. I've subscribed to Barbara's newsletter for over six years now. This is one publication I can honestly say I read from cover to cover the moment it arrives!

Published bi-monthly, this hardcopy newsletter is mailed to your home directly by the publisher. Subscribe now or read a sample issue at ChangingCourse.com/winningways.htm

When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it. ~ W Clement Stone

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The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. ~ Linus Pauling

Guest Article

This is a poem that Barbara Winter passed along to me that her friend Rosemary Senjem penned. Rosemary wrote the poem to support The Idea Lounge workshop with Alice Barry. “It seemed to come from somewhere else and just dropped in on me while taking a bath to get ready to go,” writes Rosemary. “As I filled up my gas tank on the way, it pleaded with me to buy a car wash so I could write it down in there. So I did.”

Thanks to Rosemary for allowing me to share this delightfully thought-provoking poem with all of you. I hope it inspires you to honor your own ideas with action.

The Nature of Ideas

By Rosemary Senjem

He was mistaken
when he thought she was his idea –
his winning ticket.

To hide and protect
until he was ready.

She is like a fairy.
She is not of this world.

And to bind her down
is to kill her –
or at least make her stupid.

She needs scrumptious food,
playing fields, playing forests
and play mates.

He has not even realized she has left him.
She slipped out shortly after he locked her away
for later.

She was freely flitting about in search of
other fertile minds –
Open to receive her.
Lots of passing winks and
flirtatious conversations
to get them talking and give her energy.

And then she found Them.
A whole group.
Ready and willing to play
and feed her.

Her wings began to strengthen
and her cheeks glowed.

One day he saw her with Them.
On somebody else’s Broadway.
Somebody else’s patent.
Somebody else’s program.
Somebody else’s gizmo.
Somebody else’s hand.

He felt betrayed,
angry –
paranoid that they had found his hiding place.

She visited him that night in a dream.
Teasing him with her vision and future.

She touched his heart lightly.

Suddenly he realized
how he had neglected her.
Remorse oozed over him.

As she left she looked at him and said,
“I hope you love my sisters.”

I hope you love my sisters.

Nothing happens unless first we dream. ~ Carl Sandburg

Upcoming Teleclasses

Listen and Learn

Good news! Lisa was successfully able to record the recent Teleclass on How to Become a Successful Children’s Book Writer. To listen in, or to find other resources about this satisfying career go to ChangingCourse.com/asktheexpert.htm. (Note: these articles and other resources will be available for a limited time only.)

View From the
Other Side

“I could not be happier than I am right now, than I am combining my skills in radio and my love of horses.”

~ Warren Wechsler, The Horse Talk Radio Show and HorseTalkRadio.net, Fairfield Iowa.

Resources for A Change

Marketing to Women

You don’t have to be a woman to market to women. But you do need to know how to reach this very large audience. If you’re going after a niche market, say single women or African American women, then seek out opportunities to reach these groups. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Advertise or Find an Event for Women
The Women's Calendar features over 3,000 conferences, workshops, and other events in the U.S. and Canada connecting women with resources to help people grow their businesses, build awareness of social issues and fuel active involvement in local and worldwide communities. If you're a non-profit you can post your seminar or conference for free otherwise there is a nominal fee. (WomensCalendar.org)

Women’s Radio
It appears that this resource is still getting off the ground but if you’re marketing to women it may be worth a look to see if there are some synergies between what each of you have to offer. (WomensRadio.com)

Marketing to Women Conference
This annual event features speakers and workshops all aimed at helping companies big and small to sell to women. This year's conference is May 8 & 9 in Chicago. Learn more at M2W.biz/speakers.html

Winning Ways: How to Turn Your Passions Into Profits

Winning Ways: How to Turn
Your Passions Into Profits