OBREDIMET
Observation
This project is all about reassessing the way I earn an income, researching different ways of having my specific needs and requirements met in a holistic and fulfilling way, while also meeting permaculture ethics and principles by utilising the resources and skills available to me.
This project isn't just about earning money, its about meeting many diverse needs without using money, being creative and finding innovative ways of meeting needs while also helping others to use their skills in a productive way.
It is clear that in the present economic climate the normal job market is changing. Jobs for life no longer exist and the job market is vastly oversubscribed with many people in competition for the few jobs available within the job market. The wages are low and the hours you are expected to work are longer.
The economic system can no longer sustain the current work and money ethic, and other systems of meeting sustainable financial and basic needs, need to be sourced.
The foundations on which businesses have been built on are falling apart, businesses need to be build on a holistically sound foundation where heart and making money are working in harmony.
It is important to approach this project in a holistic way, making sure all my needs are being met on every level.
I explored the areas that need to be in balance.
· Working life
· Socialising
· Becoming and staying healthy
· Networking while also spreading the word of permaculture.
· Spiritual connection a place of peace.
Boundaries
What isn’t working for me
I had been unhappy in the line of work I had chosen for many years, feeling unfulfilled, suffocated and unsupported by restricting office and company politics.
I realised that I needed to make a major change with in my working life in order for me to move forward.
I took voluntary redundancy 3 years ago but at that time I lacked the skills, knowledge and confidence to expand my boundaries in order to move to the next level.
I went back in mainstream office work where I floated for another 2 years, utilising every training opportunity and trying hard to work with people's limited self-belief systems.
I found the office environment to be very political, functioning within narrow confines’ and boundaries, a suffocating environment in which to work, stifling any creative endeavours.
As I worked through my PDC wherever possible I helped to introduce new ideas and options to my colleagues. This was a good training ground for me, and the beginning of my research into working with and finding techniques to help with people’s limited self-belief, which later became a Pdc project.
It is my opinion that this is the basis of why people don’t meet their full potential, I actively seek out and encourage the passion within each human being I meet as I feel by taping in to their passion great things can be achieved.
This has come at a point where another in a line of major life changes have continued to occur as I have pushed my boundaries and
expanded my horizon’s. One of which was facing redundancy in mid May 2012.
This was a major turning point for me as I had to stop and ask some searching questions, it gave me a good place at which to stop and reassess how far I had come in pushing personal boundaries and developing the skills necessary to move forward.
Identifying areas in my working life that are out of balance
Reassessing the amount of input versus output.
Does the amount of input warrant the output.
Inputs
Time
8 hours a day on averge 40 hours a week
Energy
The amount of energy expended on the job added together with the hours I worked left very little time and energy for other pusuits and areas in my life. I was worn out by the evening and only had the weekends to pursue other areas of my life.
My work and personel life was out of balance.
Outputs
Money
Lack of job satisfaction
Although this was a varly well paid job and it was a consistant wage, weighing up the amount of input far outweighed the output.
Fate steped in as I pondered on this question and I was offered redundancy.
Explore poly culture and multiple ways of earning income and meeting needs
Evaluate
Questions I asked
So
Exploring diverse ways of meeting needs
Are there other ways to meet some if not all of my needs without using money.
By researching and utilsing some of the projects I had allready set up and tried out I came up with different and diverse ways of meeting my needs utilizing edges to cover multiple needs while also having fun.
Skill swaps are a other potential source of meeting needs on both sides as long as the skill being swaped is needed for both parties, as I have expanded my skill set I have m ore to offer and this is also a way to introduce my buisiness to people.
.
skill swaps
The working parties put into action have been a success, any skilled work that needs doing is sourced from a professonial and a skill swap is done, it also gives an opportunity to learn a new skill at the same time. Any other labour intensive job can be completed by the working party.
The biggest problem with doing it yourself is time and self motivation so we try to combine any job that needs doing with a social get together, including a meal. Pulling together as a unit makes the job more enjoyable and it gets done quicker.
Working parties
Sofa surfing
Board and lodging for a small period of time in exchange for work. Book your tickets for when and where you want to travel. You might decide to travel through several different countries. Search for people living near the area or areas you want to visit. Then you contact them, telling them a little information about yourself and the sorts of things you are interested in. When you get offers of places to stay you confirm the arrangements with your hosts. The really big advantage of travelling this way is that you will be staying with people who have specialised local knowledge.
They will be able to tell you the most interesting sights to visit and best places to eat .You will probably find out information that you are unlikely to find in a guide book. They also take you out to their favourite bars and clubs to meet all their friends.
In exchange you help out your hosts in any way you can. Maybe you could do some housework or perhaps you have a specific skill you are able to offer such as a mechanic, servicing the host’s vehicle or a decorator painting the kitchen. The host might also want to come and stay on your couch at some time in the future! It is very important to be a good guest and not take advantage of the free lodgings as the host could ask you to leave if you make a nuisance of yourself.
Click on the links below to find out more
Hosting a swapping party
Living with out money the Lets system
Living without money how its done
link to 11 ways to grow a holistic buisness
Food Coops Suma
What are my passions?
What excites me and has me springing out of bed in the morning going the extra mile
What resources did I have at my disposal, what skills have I acumilated over the past year that would help me to set up and sustain a succsessful buisness. While working through this exercise I suddenly realised I was self-assesing and doing a mini reveiw of the skills I have achieved and also how I have moved on with developing my own personal skills since starting the projects.
Have I achieved or am I on the way to achieving the goals I have laid out in my life review at the begining of the projects,are there any gaps that need to fill and be worked on.
Before I decided what buisiness to pursue I wanted to reassess how far I have come, to look at the achievements and skills attained so far and to identify any skill gaps. Identify the resources, skills, places and people who can assist me to achieve my goal of setting up and running a successfull buisness.
Achievements
Skills and achievements attained from working on the projects
Skills
People
I have built a wide network of people with a diverse set of skills from crafts, conservation, greenwood working skills to art and music. Utilising local people to encourage the local Communities to keep the money in local area’s discourage excessive transport use.
Places
I have built up a network of different venues in which to run these functions
Click on link to go to Design page
Time line
This project was time consumming as there were so many parts to the project that needed to be pulled together at once.
I wanted to reassess how far I had come, what I had learned over the last 5 projects that could be utilzed into this project..
What isn’t working for me
I had been unhappy in the line of work I had chosen for many years, feeling unfulfilled, suffocated and unsupported by restricting office and company politics.
I realised that I needed to make a major change with in my working life in order for me to move forward.
I took voluntary redundancy 3 years ago but at that time I lacked the skills, knowledge and confidence to expand my boundaries in order to move to the next level.
I went back in mainstream office work where I floated for another 2 years, utilising every training opportunity and trying hard to work with people's limited self-belief systems.
I found the office environment to be very political, functioning within narrow confines’ and boundaries, a suffocating environment in which to work, stifling any creative endeavours.
As I worked through my PDC wherever possible I helped to introduce new ideas and options to my colleagues. This was a good training ground for me, and the beginning of my research into working with and finding techniques to help with people’s limited self-belief, which later became a Pdc project.
It is my opinion that this is the basis of why people don’t meet their full potential, I actively seek out and encourage the passion within each human being I meet as I feel by taping in to their passion great things can be achieved.
This has come at a point where another in a line of major life changes have continued to occur as I have pushed my boundaries and
expanded my horizon’s. One of which was facing redundancy in mid May 2012.
This was a major turning point for me as I had to stop and ask some searching questions, it gave me a good place at which to stop and reassess how far I had come in pushing personal boundaries and developing the skills necessary to move forward.
Identifying areas in my working life that are out of balance
- Unfulfilled career not following my passion
- High stress levels
- Unhealthy eating and sleeping habits
- To much time spent doing an unfulfilling job
- Suffocating Office politics and limiting boundaries
Reassessing the amount of input versus output.
Does the amount of input warrant the output.
Inputs
Time
8 hours a day on averge 40 hours a week
Energy
The amount of energy expended on the job added together with the hours I worked left very little time and energy for other pusuits and areas in my life. I was worn out by the evening and only had the weekends to pursue other areas of my life.
My work and personel life was out of balance.
Outputs
Money
Lack of job satisfaction
Although this was a varly well paid job and it was a consistant wage, weighing up the amount of input far outweighed the output.
Fate steped in as I pondered on this question and I was offered redundancy.
Explore poly culture and multiple ways of earning income and meeting needs
Evaluate
Questions I asked
- Do I want to continue working in an office environment?
- being creative
- Do I want a change of career, am I becoming stale. Have I outgrown my
environment, do I need more challenges? - Have I got the necessary skills to make a change?
- Have I got the confidence and self-belief to make those changes?
- Is my health at an optimum level to support these changes
So
- How much money do I need to cover basic needs?
- How can I utilise my existing skills to cover other needs?
- skills that I don’t have or need help with that doesn’t involve money
- Do I have the skills and expertise to start a buisiness can I source them
Exploring diverse ways of meeting needs
Are there other ways to meet some if not all of my needs without using money.
By researching and utilsing some of the projects I had allready set up and tried out I came up with different and diverse ways of meeting my needs utilizing edges to cover multiple needs while also having fun.
Skill swaps are a other potential source of meeting needs on both sides as long as the skill being swaped is needed for both parties, as I have expanded my skill set I have m ore to offer and this is also a way to introduce my buisiness to people.
.
skill swaps
- Gardening
- Building work
- Self nurturing
- Massages
- Personal care
- Meals at friends houses
- Craft days
The working parties put into action have been a success, any skilled work that needs doing is sourced from a professonial and a skill swap is done, it also gives an opportunity to learn a new skill at the same time. Any other labour intensive job can be completed by the working party.
The biggest problem with doing it yourself is time and self motivation so we try to combine any job that needs doing with a social get together, including a meal. Pulling together as a unit makes the job more enjoyable and it gets done quicker.
Working parties
Utilzing large network of friends to help large/small scale projects:
Large scale gardening
Painting
House clearance
Meals at friends houses
Food and swapping produce/items
Socializing and completing a task while also having fun
Util
- Swapping parties
- Explore ideas around swapping unwanted items
- Clothes,swishing
- Fruit/veg
- Bri-ca-bac
Sofa surfing
Board and lodging for a small period of time in exchange for work. Book your tickets for when and where you want to travel. You might decide to travel through several different countries. Search for people living near the area or areas you want to visit. Then you contact them, telling them a little information about yourself and the sorts of things you are interested in. When you get offers of places to stay you confirm the arrangements with your hosts. The really big advantage of travelling this way is that you will be staying with people who have specialised local knowledge.
They will be able to tell you the most interesting sights to visit and best places to eat .You will probably find out information that you are unlikely to find in a guide book. They also take you out to their favourite bars and clubs to meet all their friends.
In exchange you help out your hosts in any way you can. Maybe you could do some housework or perhaps you have a specific skill you are able to offer such as a mechanic, servicing the host’s vehicle or a decorator painting the kitchen. The host might also want to come and stay on your couch at some time in the future! It is very important to be a good guest and not take advantage of the free lodgings as the host could ask you to leave if you make a nuisance of yourself.
Click on the links below to find out more
Hosting a swapping party
Living with out money the Lets system
Living without money how its done
link to 11 ways to grow a holistic buisness
Food Coops Suma
What are my passions?
What excites me and has me springing out of bed in the morning going the extra mile
- Building up networks of people and skills
- Bringing communities together
- Expanding peoples horizons and boundaries by the introduction of new ideas and skills
- Encouraging individual people’s passions, helping them to attain their goals
- Working with animals, the connection to human behaviour through pets, horse whispering and alternative dog training
- Using alternative environmental fair-trade produced products for pets
What resources did I have at my disposal, what skills have I acumilated over the past year that would help me to set up and sustain a succsessful buisness. While working through this exercise I suddenly realised I was self-assesing and doing a mini reveiw of the skills I have achieved and also how I have moved on with developing my own personal skills since starting the projects.
Have I achieved or am I on the way to achieving the goals I have laid out in my life review at the begining of the projects,are there any gaps that need to fill and be worked on.
Before I decided what buisiness to pursue I wanted to reassess how far I have come, to look at the achievements and skills attained so far and to identify any skill gaps. Identify the resources, skills, places and people who can assist me to achieve my goal of setting up and running a successfull buisness.
Achievements
- Attained Land learning centre status for Orchard Barn
- Future steps
- Work with and form a united group with other Land Learning Centres and
Transition groups in the area - Help set up promote and run Permaculture courses
- Attended following courses:
- Biodiversity in old orchards
Intro to permaculture - Rainwater harvesting
- Set up organise and run a community based monthly group
- Care for my mum who has dementia
- Set up promote and run 2 festivals
- Design and implement a permaculture life goals design system
Promote permaculture by setting up and running permaculture
evenings
Skills and achievements attained from working on the projects
Skills
- Admin skills
- Website building/face book
- Video and camera skills
- People skills
- Setting up groups and putting on regular events
- Networking people together
- Sourcing and coaching people’s skills
- Set up and running successful festivals
- Researching and finding self-help coping techniques for self and others TFT
- Computing course word 2010/data bases/ websites/outlook
- Working with people through animals/pets
- Working with children
- Working with older people/ with disabilities
- Teaching conservation skills
- Teaching permaculture skills especially to children
- Confidence in running groups
- Design, set up, promotion, marketing and running of permaculture courses
- Do I have the discipline, confidence, connections and information to proceed to build a succesful business
- Connections what connections have I made?
People
Places
Specialised places for new businesses
People
I have built a wide network of people with a diverse set of skills from crafts, conservation, greenwood working skills to art and music. Utilising local people to encourage the local Communities to keep the money in local area’s discourage excessive transport use.
- Green wood working skills
- Music
- Art/Crafts
- Creative writing
- Permaculture
- Conservation
- Specialised working with children/adults/older people and the less abled
Places
I have built up a network of different venues in which to run these functions
- Campsea Ash Camping ground and facilities
- Welcome Hall Trimley st Mary Church hall
- Budgeons Farm
- Utilzing friends gardens/houses
Orchard Barn
C
Click on link to go to Design page
Time line
This project was time consumming as there were so many parts to the project that needed to be pulled together at once.
I wanted to reassess how far I had come, what I had learned over the last 5 projects that could be utilzed into this project..