Serious report writing going on

4 reports to write, 3 to check and send and one to dig from under the dust to send again, so I am totally up to my neck in reports! However invented the art of report writing: why oh why???? I am sure there is use to it, but it really does not equals the time and effort that needs to be put into it to end up in the archive box of the year on both the sender and receiver's end! Anyway, my break is over! Need to get it out of the way so I can focus on the future!

PS to the previous post: work is welcome!

I still need work and projects so please keep them coming! :-D My organisational issues will be resolved, it is all part of the learning experience to become a successful entrepreneur and trainer! Advice and good ideas are more than welcome! Maybe I should organise a training course on it? Or a seminar? ;-)

Trainstorm is on organisational disaster

right now so this is something I really need to work on for the future. In order to get work I needed to grasp every opportunity that I could, this needs a certain degree of organisation but when I then got the training assignments I organised for this level of organisation is not good enough to combine working a lot and still staying organised enough to support the work I am doing right now and here and looking forward to the future. I basically need to always be in 2 places at the same time and do at least 3 things at the same time in the past, the present and the future. How do other people organise this? Hiring someone to do the adminsitrative tasks could be a possible solution, having a partner to divide projects/tasks and administrative burden with another but in any case I need to find some kind of solution for this because otherwise I will be the victim of my own succes (= hard work). So if you have ideas let me know! To be continued for sure!

The summer is over!

and I am really happy about it because it was one to leave behind as soon as possible. Of course there were also good things happening but in general everything that could go wrong also did go wrong. But as my mam always says: 'life lessons have been learned' and now it is time to move forward and onward! The fall is going to be HECTIC (to say the very least) but also full of training fun and opportunities so I really look forward to it! The official kick off is on Wednesday and I still have a lot of catching up from the summer to do and of course prep for a great fall and winter (let's be really optimistic here! ;-)! I promise to post some things here regularly since a lot of things need to start now in order to grow and work in 2010, so check this place and www.trainstorm.org once in a while to be up to date! I will need a lot of great people to help and support me, so be prepared! I want you involved! :-D

On arrival training in Flanders

Right now I am at the on arrival training for the Dutch and Flemish volunteers in Dilbeek, Belgium. We, my Flemish colleague Steven and I, have a really nice group of 12 participants, 5 on EVS in Flanders and 7 in The Netherlands. Today they are doing their own specific project in 4 Flemish cities so I have some time to write this. It is a very relaxed group and as a consequence also a very relaxed training. This does not mean they are not learning because they are! ;-) Tonight the people from the midterm and end evaluation will join us and then we will have a full EVS house! Fun garantueed! :-)
It is really strange for me to be a Dutch trainer in a Flemish EVS context! Why? Well first off all I am not Dutch but Flemish so representing the Dutch NA is kind of weird when you are in a Flemish environment. Second I use to work at the Flemish NA in 2006 and 2007 so I somehow (to my own big surprise) still feel connected to the Flemish EVS'ers and really have to remind myself at least 10 times a day that the Dutchies are my primary concern. It's really strange and funny at the same time! So I have now learned that I have a stronger Belgian/Flemish identity than I first thought and that I really like giving training in my own country but that I still need to find an (internal) balance between my personal identity which is clearly linked to Flanders and my professional identity which is primarily linked to and performed in the Netherlands. So a mix of orange and black, red and yellow needs to be found. Interesting! Just to show that not only participants learn something in trainings! Trainers do to! :-)

I am working on making the Trainstorm office a real nice office!

It is coming together slowly but surely! I have cleared and organised the desk area so I can really work there now and I have installed a physical inbox for my GTD strategy and mailboxes to deal with mail fast and easy. So lost mail should be something of the past! I also found a very handy post-it planner so I now can see what I am doing in the coming months (which is a lot!) and what still needs to find a place in my planning and implementing process. I now know officially where I am going! Isn’t that great???? I know I am an organisation horor but if I don’t laugh with my organisation disasters, who will? It is all part of the entrepreneurial learning curve!
Next thing is to sort out the printer situation (the printer is currenlty in the most inconvenient place ever but it is in the only spot where I can connect it with my laptop without sitting on the floor. Wifi printer would help tremendously so it is on my wish list!)and get rid of all the stuff of the past so I can focus on the future. I need one of those really handy useful box drawer/box cabinets so I really hope I can still find it somewhere and put all my training material nicely organised in it. Then that can go in the hall and I will not leave without markers or flipcharts anymore! Rome is not build in one day and the Trainstorm office isn’t either. Once I get it right, there is room to grow! For now I have to keep on struggling and running behind my tale untill I get it all done! Where there is a will there is a way and some form of resources doesn’t hurt either, so it is a work in progress! I will get there and then a partner can come and mess it up! :-D Partner to be, if you are out there, consider it an invitation! ;-)
See more progress on: organise my office

The beauty of Egmond aan zee

I am having a day off!

I know that sounds pretty normal since most people have the evenings and weekends free but I am as always an exception since I do most of my office work in the evenings and weekends because then I am not distracted by a full mailbox or ringing phones.
But today I just took a whole day off, just for me! I slept in, took my time getting up and then went shopping. Since I now have officially made money (yayyy!!!) I was able to buy stuff without thinking for 15 minutes about it and asking myself at least 10 times if I really needed the things I was buying. Of course I am still not in a position to throw money away so I am still thinking and asking the big 'need'-question but at leats I finally was able to buy some clothes and fun stuff. Nice! I appreciate it so much more now than I did before! I have really earned my own money and I am really proud of myself for doing so! My big plan and dive at the deep end is paying off! So it is totally worth working hard to build something that is totally mine in every sense of the word!
Now I am sitting in front of the TV in my PJ's watching a movie while typing this feeling totally relaxed and happy... I am very lucky to be able to have this luxury and I am totally aware of it!
So I will continue to enjoy it and restart the normal procedures of working hard tomorrow.
Hope you all have a great relaxing weekend with loads of sun! Enjoy and don't forget to be grateful for it! Makes all the difference in the world! If you don't have a clue what I am talking about read The Secret or google the law of attraction! It really works! I am the living example! :-)

Making huge waves!

Hi everyone,

I don't have much time to write but I just want to let you know I am in Egmond aan Zee (the Netherlands) right now, being a trainer in the training course on visibility and the dissemination and exploitation of results (DEOR). At first I was a bit nervous about this for me totally new topic, but it is really great! It's something you have to do anyway within Youth in Action so you can better make it fun and good! So that is the idea of this TC! I am learning at least as much as the participants so from now on I will be totally into DEOR instead of peace and Euromed! ;-) NO, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I don't want to betray my first love, but it is a nice one, this TC! More details will follow when I am back home on Thursday but if you have ever the chance to organise it or participate in it, do it!
Take care and next post will follow soon! A lot is happening in june, so do not try to catch me at home because I am basically just not there till the last week of June! The life of a trainer is great! :-D

Back online!

I wasn't online this week because of a thunderstorm of approximately one hour on Monday and some little ones on Tuesday! The internetnetwork was knocked out as the help lines to fix them (how convenient!) but I am back now and I have a lot, a lot and a lot to catch up on! So to be continued soon!
Hava great day and talk to you soon!

Happy day today!

Back to Flanders and so much more

It's been a while ago, like over a year, I did a real training (more than a session in a school or youth club) in Flanders but now it is going to happen in June! Which is great! As much as I love working a lot in the Netherlands and all over Europe it is nice to just do something in your ow backyard once in while... I will for sure keep you posted on how it will turn out!
Beside that I am preparing the European TC Making Waves and a sending day in the Netherlands, I am wrapping up SYTYKIA, writing new projects for the fall, finding partners through facebook (strange! But it totally works! I am now officially hooking up again with people I have not been working with for years) and doing loads of other great, fun, amazing stuff. When writing this I can not help smiling and thinking I must be the luckiest person ever! I am doing what I love and loving what I do! How much better can it get?
Last but not least I am thinking about getting really serious about finding a partner in crime to strenghten 'trainstorm' and share both the exciting projects but also the administrative burden with. I really miss having a colleague to talk and plan with. Now I only have to think how it could work. Because I know several people who would be totally right to work with but none of them is in Flanders and unless one of us wants to move across Europe or even to the Middle East, it is kind of hard to do. And if I do this I want the very best people that are out there! It has to be a match made in heaven! Otherwise there is just no use! Serious stuff to think about and it will be continued no doubt! Rome was also not build in a year or two! Just to remind myelf to be patient for a change... ;-)

SYTYKIA, Making Waves and more

Today is totally filled with work on SYTYKIA (So You Think You Know It All, a fun module for young people on Europe), Making Waves (Training course on dissemination and exploitation of results) and the 200 other very urgent things on my to do list like follow up of TOTHRE (Hranush, I did not forget about you!), administration etc I will be lucky if I find time to eat and sleep this week... But hey, this is the life I want and love so no complaints here! Just do not expect me anywhere at any social events this week, because there is just no time... :-)

I really need to clean and organise my office!

It is such a mess it is unbelievable! It is a nice office, everything has its place, but still I manage to make it ook like a bomb site! I really need to get better at this! Good thing I do not have potential clients coming over, at least not yet anyway… So this is me kicking my own ass to get it done tonight! Not tomorrrow, not next week, NOW! Then I can finally publish a picture of it on my website and blog.

See more progress on: organise my office

Making Waves!

I will be one of the two trainers in the Making Waves training course on the dissemination and exploitation of results of youth projects from 5 till 9 June in Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. I have just sent out the first communication with the participants and will now start the prep of the content. It really will be a great training! It is a whole new topic so we can be creative and do great things! I am really looking forward to is, which is good since it will take up a lot of my time in the coming days and weeks! To be continued very soon!

I am so happy with my life right now!

My passion is my profession and I now actually get paid to do it! I am setting up great new projects for the second half of this year, I have been gifted with a whole range of different self development instruments, am surrounded by a network of great people that understand that I cannot be there 24/7 because of working and travelling a lot and I still have time to enjoy all of this fully! What could I possibly want more? The sun is shining for me right now and although I do know clouds will appear along the way sooner or later as they have before, I am enjoying this moment of pieces fitting into the puzzle of life as much as possible and am loading my batteries with all the energy, enthusiasm and passion I have floading now, so they can take me through lesser times. Just wanted to share my current joy with all of you and hope it is contagious to live the life you dream of! :-)

See more progress on: be happy every day

Ze zijn zo gaar, maar geweldig!

The last two Saturdays I did a training on project managment with a group of Dutch young people in Utrecht together with Combeat (www.combeat.nl) The goal was to give the youngsters the skills to turn their great ideas into real projects and an application for Youth in Action. This was without a doubt one of the most rewarding trainings I have already done! Not only were/are the results produced by the participants amazing, they themselves were/are also one of the most interesting and enthusiastic groups I have ever met! Diverse, multicultural, very different backgrounds and interests, incredibly eager to learn, funny and really passionate about their 'idea'! I have given them something to start with but now it is totally up to them to florish and go for it! So, go guys! I really hope I will be able to visit several of your show moments in the near future!
Quote of the day from one of the participants: 'ik ben zo gaar!' which means as much as 'I am overcooked, full with information that I still need to digest' which is not only a good sign but most of all hilarious! From now on I will be aiming for 'gare' participants! I love my job! :-)

Just back from the midterm training

Great group, very nice co-trainer, solid and fun program and a very nice introduction to Rotterdam's multicultural atmosphere is all a midterm evaluation needs! Thanks to everyone involved and I really hope to see many of you somewhere around Europe and/or the rest of the world! If milliosn of people do sompething for the good of everyone and this world CHANGE will happen! So let's go! :-)
Tomorrow I am off to Utrecht to work with a different group of Dutch youngsters on setting up local youth initiatives! Nice projects will come out of it, I already can feel it! to be continued soon...

Happy Easter!

Happy easter to everyone who celebrates it! I am spending it with my family and I really enjoy it more and more every year ! Since we are all busy people it is really nice to at least spend the important religious holidays together and enjoy each other's company!
Hope you have a great day too!

Back from Budapest!

I had the great luck to be a participant in the Training for trainer in Human Rights Education (TOTHRE) in the European Youth Centre in Budapest from 30th of March till 7th of April 2009 and it was AMAZING! Not only the training content but also the team of trainers and especially my fellow participants were and are really great! I really enjoyed myself a lot and I am truly grateful to everyone who made it possible!
Now the big thing to do is FOLLOW UP! There is a platform where things will happen, follow up projects need to be developed and last but not least I have my personal trainer Darek who will make me exercise my trainings skills and plans. I hope he will make me sweat. ;-)
OK, I will go to bed now but I have a lot more to share so this will be continued really soon.