e-course heaven
Back in December I’d never taken an e-course, never really thought much about them. Then I stumbled across some information about one coming up on the Where Women Create facebook page. (LOVE that magazine!!!!) So I checked out Hello Soul Hello Business. It was made for me I tell you. After getting up the nerve I signed up. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I was at a place with my art where I could feel transition and growth happening but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I had just had my gallbladder removed and I was going to be doing a lot of lying around for the month of January. When this course started (It was created by the fabulous Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls). I savored every post, contemplated every question and filled up notebooks full of journaling, exercise answers and sketches. I LOVED it. Equally as valuable as the content in the course was (is) the amazing group of like-minded people I met from all over the world. I had heard people talking about finding your tribe, I found mine. Such a special group of soulful, creative, caring women. Fast forward 4 months and the course was wrapping up, I then signed up for Vivienne McMasters Montage course. It starts today and I am SO excited, I can’t wait to make some great videos for my website and use those skills also in making great videos of my family. Add in the Goddess Leona from far away Australia – I signed up for her “Become a business Goddess”, I stayed up til 2am that night reading all about her journey and insight on e-courses, business expansion, etc. That next morning in fact I woke up before 6 when my son woke up, my husband knew I was so tired from being up so late that he took him out to the living room and let me sleep a bit longer. As I drifted back to sleep that’s when I had the most amazing visions/dreams all about the e-course I want to teach. I knew what each chapter would be about, at least a dozen experts I wanted to pull in to teach on different aspects of it, some quotes and the feeling I wanted the students to have while taking the course. I then woke up and luckily had a pen and paper on the floor by my bed. I wrote every detail I could remember down. I was still half asleep but that probably helped me not to over analyze each item. I then thought of 2 more courses and some details for those. …then… I went back to bed. It wasn’t until 10pm that night that I finally got a chance to look at my scribbled. I got goosebumps! I am SO glad I wrote down all my ideas. Of course now I’m also going to be taking a course in September all about teaching e-courses (cuz only the best for my students).
So yes here I am now, I am blogging while taking my 4th e-course. Build a blog you truly love by Liv Lane. And yes… I’m loving it. I hadn’t really thought too much about blogging until these last few months but something really struck me a couple of weeks ago during our first class. During an interview between Seth Godin and Tom Peters they were talking about the benefits of blogging and one mentioned how he felt very strongly felt that blogging had absolutely helped make his business as successful as it is today. Secondly he talked about the personal development advantage; when you blog you take yourself out of the situation a bit and force yourself to gain some perspective, process life’s events in a different way. Then you articulate those events into a congruent thought. I hadn’t ever thought about it that way but it’s so true. It constantly forces me to rise above whatever situation I’m facing (even if just for a few minutes) to see it all from a greater point of view.
I have found such incredible value in taking these courses. As said before I have met amazing people, I am learning so many incredible things (who would’ve thought that being an artist for a living would mean that you actually only painted 10% of your working hours), most of my classes I’m taking are so that I can get my business side together, hire the right people to help me with it so I can up my painting percentage. Although it does make a monday easier sitting outside on the pergola under the grapevines w/ the birds chirping in the background I have to say. But even better than being out here w/ my laptop would be being out here w/ my easel!