You’re welcome, and thanks again for cluing me in. I’ll keep in touch, updating you on how things go.

ari

>If I don’t commit 100% or feel certain enough to commit 100% then I just fluff around juggling a number of different projects and coming up with ideas for more, even though I don’t have the time to bring most of them to completion.

Wow, that seems like I’m reading a description of myself. All my adult life has been a series of ideas, trials, and getting stuck after a while and changing course. I always credited that to not knowing myself well enough, not giving myself permission to do what I truly wanted. But I’m beginning to wonder, perhaps that’s just me — I’m an idea person and creating ideas is my muse, not following through on them. That sounds too easy, though, and I do enjoy the joy of completing something — as I am proud to say I have, several major milestones — but nevertheless it’s something to keep in mind.

I’m glad it made you think. I hope it will yield good fruits.

ari

“It’s fair to say that this course is not for timid. He had us tackle at least 5 challenging self-examination exercises a day, which was intense and rigorous.”

I’m pleased that you’ve shared this with your readers. This five-day format is designed to shake you up quite a bit and to urge you to make decisions quickly because it’s exactly what most would be entrepreneurs need - less analysis and more action. You along with your co-participants were really invested in your success so I may have even laid it on a little thicker to make sure that you were stretched.

I’m very much looking forward to you creating the business of your dreams - it’s going to be a blast for you. How sweet it is!

If any of your readers are considering the next course which begins on Oct 27, I’d like to encourage them to visit the Delightful Work Contact page and request a no-obligation phone interview to determine their fit.

Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog post..Finding Your Path to a Successful Business Startup

This is probably the best review I have read of Tom’s class, and I liked how you explained your realization that you would rather be imaginative than creative. I have never thought about the distinction before, but I think that goes for me too. I find imagination/brainstorming/strategy stimulating and I’m naturally very good at it. But when it comes time to choose focus and then push forward with one idea, then I wax and wane on. If I don’t commit 100% or feel certain enough to commit 100% then I just fluff around juggling a number of different projects and coming up with ideas for more, even though I don’t have the time to bring most of them to completion.

Thanks for this review as you have really got me thinking.

Kelly

Well, I can think of two things.

1. Yes, go take his course, if you’d rather put the time in now to evaluate whether your business is the right fit for you and prevent strains/conflicts down the road.
2. If you’re pretty certain about your business and is at a place where you’re trying to focus, instead of opening yourself up to more external influences — I can respect that, too. I feel that way about my business now. At some point, you have to say you’ve heard enough, shut out the world outside and listen to your voice. Tom’s class will lessen your chance of finding that your business is not a good match for you, but nothing will entirely take out that possibility. But as I said to others, there’s nothing wrong with moving forward and risking failures. If you happen to fail, you’ll learn plenty from it, anyway.

But if you’re at all doubtful about your business being your sweet spot, then I would recommend his class. I really have little doubt at this point, which enables me to focus fully on what I need to do.

ari

If you are thinking of starting your own business or self-employment, then I would highly recommend Tom’s class. Heck, it’s just a good personal growth exercise all around, even if you’re simply thinking about whether self employment is right for you.

Check out his blog and you’ll find much of what we discussed, and more.

ari

It is a testament to Tom’s value that you got so much out of it — when others in the class were very much in earlier stages of development than you were.

I agree with you about the outline. I was simply suggesting it as an aide to help us understand what he was talking about, and was not suggesting that he stick closer to a syllabus. It just is easier to follow someone on the phone when what he’s talking about is also written in front of you. Or maybe it’s just that I’m more of a visual learner.
And I do wonder if the intensity and the brevity of the course worked for you because you were already employed? I have to tell you, between my day job and my family and my blogs and such, I really wished I had more time to sit and ponder all the stuff. Granted, I signed up at the last minute without really thinking about the impact on the workload….

And thanks for asking about the 30 day goals. I already accomplished mine last Friday! How about you?

ari

Yes, it is a very worthwhile course. I highly recommend it. And for what it’s worth, I am not one to dish out complements to everything that comes my way.
Cath, it sounds like you weren’t around when I announced my business plan. If you have a moment, could you take a look? I’d love to know what you think of it.

http://arikoinuma.com/my-business-plan

ari

Thanks! Indeed, I’ll be lying if I said that it was a peaceful, comfortable experience — but that’s what makes it good. As with everything else, we get what we put into it. All the participants in the course invested a lot of time into all the tasks and got a lot out of it. So Tom did well to attract really motivated people.

ari