You need skills… But how do you get skills, Sophie?

A few weeks ago I had an idea to pair two of my Playground participants to do a project that would benefit them both.

One is a skilled and prolific ‘Idea Machine‘ who is really lousy in communication. He was writing 10 new ideas for his customers, all business owners. But he was not able to ‘sell’ the ideas, even though they were free: he did it for practice, to keep his brain in top shape, for his own reasons… to get better at it, to reduce his about-me score… lots of reasons to do things for other people that take effort.

The other has an aspiration to write letters that sell… so he can leave his menial day job.

My idea was that they could team up and one would write the ideas, the other the emails that sell the ideas.

It was a non-starter. Continue reading “You need skills… But how do you get skills, Sophie?”

Breaking into a new field: how to do it right or wrong

breaking into a new careerIt seems that many people are stuck in a profession they don’t like. And also many people don’t have a profession and are afraid to pick one.

Among my students I have both kinds…

Interestingly there is some commonality in the underlying attitudes.

One attitude is something I could call stingy, but it may not be the right word.

The commonality is: I want certainty, guarantees BEFORE I’d do anything. Continue reading “Breaking into a new field: how to do it right or wrong”