I’ve finally come to the end of a full set of Method Initiative exercises! Honestly, after going through it 4 times, it feels pretty good to finally finish a set! Let’s review how I feel now that they’re done. The Final Exercise For the last exercise of method Initiative, I had to connect with 10 people who are potentially very […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 9 – Second Personal Essay
For the first time ever, I’ve made it to the final exercises in Josh Spodek’s Initiative book on bringing your passions to life. It took four rounds of going back to square one and building up a project and over 4 years, but I finally found a project that resonated enough with me to keep wanting to push forward: a […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 8 – Details, Sustainability, and Financials
For Exercise 8, the goal was to come up with a spreadsheet detailing out the financials for The Campfire (still my working title for this event!), per my visual model from Exercise 7. I started out basic and tried not to add any of the extra stuff like sound/lighting techs, marketing teams, or anything that just felt like it would […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 6: 10 People Closer to Your Field
The purpose of Exercise 6 of Method Initiative was to get more advice, but this time from people “closer to your field.” This means we’re going a step beyond friends and family to people who may actually have some experience in the field of your project. Since my project is creating a story-telling session with nature as a theme, initially […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 7: Create a Visual Model
If you’ve been following my Initiative exercises this time around, you might be wondering where my Exercise 6 reflection is. The answer is: I’m still working on exercise 6, since getting 10 people who can give me advice on my project takes some time. Because finishing exercise 6 wasn’t really hindering starting exercise 7, I just went ahead and did […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 5: 5 People Who Feel The Problem
The goal of Initiative Exercise 5 was to find 5 people who feel the problem my project describes and hear the problem in their words, not mine. Initially, when I started looking for people who possibly feel the problem I described, I assumed I’d be talking to just two main groups: people who are already involved in the world of […]
Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 4: 10 Friends & Family Members
Project Reminder In case you were trying to remember what my newly select project was… Problem: Environmental conversations carry a stigma that hinders people from discussing their feelings of joy about nature, and horror, alarm, and grief over it’s destruction. In the end, they just end up feeling alone and misunderstood. Solution: Organize a Nature Story-Sharing Meetup, fostering a community […]
Method Initiative – Exercise 2: 5 Unsolved Problems
Post-Exercise Reflection: For Initiative Exercise #2: ‘5 Unsolved Problems’, the goal is to identify 5 unsolved problems that a specific group of people feel, and come up with a rudimentary solution for them. The exercise was one that I found pretty difficult the first time around – it’s surprisingly hard to think of a problem before a solution…My mind wants […]
My Initiative Journey: Preface
I’ve been at a crossroads for a while now; the end of this chapter of my life and the start of a new one: after teaching English in Asia for over 8 years, I’m transitioning back my original career path of engineering, preferably in an industry that is helping to solve environmental problems and fight climate change. Renewable energy, carbon […]