How is your "Programming Crystal Ball"?

This season always feels like the busiest time of my year.

There's summer camp planning, school group planning, the usual accounting and organizational meetings, lots of final farm chores before the snow flies, as well as moving firewood, protecting our raspberries and blueberries and gathering all kinds of materials for next year's wilderness programs.

That's a mouthful! Plus, we've got to get everything updated into a calendar and detail a marketing plan, to help communicate what we're offering to our community, both online and locally. (That's especially hard when we have satellite internet, believe me!)

The hardest thing about planning a year out in advance is that we have to peer into the 'Programming Crystal Ball' and try to figure out what courses are going to be desired or popular for the coming seasons.

Which camps will fill this coming summer, over 9 months away?

Which workshops are people asking about, that they will actually ATTEND?

Which projects are weather dependant, or staff-specific dependant, or resource dependant, that I always forget to plan for? I'm talking about getting the garden planted in May, or timber frame raising days, or farm work days, or festival booth events, or ?????

Being a program director means there are always decisions to be made, and to do that, we have to tune in, if you get my meaning.

We have to also factor in what WE want to offer, as far as what we are excited about learning and doing, too.

It sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

Well, it's intense. Even as we plan, then adjust and micro-adjust, we're hoping it translates into both programmatic and business success. We're hoping to have a good year, for ourselves, for our community and for our families, right?

That's exactly the plan, and we make it, even though we know that life is going to get in the way and shift it around.

So, if you're a wilderness educator, or naturalist, or youth skills instructor, how is your crystal ball doing? Have you been able to predict what your ideal clients want to learn from you and your programs? Have you had a fairly good success rate as far as your experiences offered and delivered, and good numbers of attendees?

If you're in good shape, that's awesome! If your clairvoyance is operating at a high level, that's fantastic! More power to you! Keep doing what you're doing! Sometimes, a good recipe just works, and man, you gotta ride that horse as long as you can.

If, on the other hand, your programming crystal ball is a bit murky, or your successes have been a little 'hit and miss', these tips might help you as you start planning for 2016.

Number One: Survey Your Ideal Clients.

Ask your community, your ideal clients, your constituents, or your students what they want to learn in the upcoming year. Ask them. You can use SurveyMonkey.com to get a free account and it's easy to learn in about an hour, if you use their tutorials or have a knack for figuring out online tools. It's fairly straightforward, and intuitive.

Then, once you make that survey, send it out to all of you students, your past attendees or your community. Ask them if they plan on attending this year. Ask them what format works best for them, out of the options you currently offer. Ask them what subjects or topics they are most excited about doing or learning. Ask them for their feedback and for their suggestions.

Then, go over them with a detailed, fine toothed comb, and assemble a short summary that you can use with your staff, your team or just for yourself, and see how these suggestions land with you all, with your vision and mission.

Note: I am not suggesting that you take and actually do all of their suggestions. That would be crazy. What I mean is, take that feedback and see which things feel right and go from there.

Number Two: Do a 2015 Program Assessment and Summary.

Go over each program and workshop or free demo or event, and rate it according to various factors like, Outreach and Marketing, Relationship Building, Fundraising, Program Delivery, Financial and Resource Dependent. Look for both obvious benefits and also the more subtle, hidden benefits that were gained by each program. Look at their overall impact on your mission, both positive and negative, and really be as honest as you can be. Sometimes, it can be great to do this with an objective mentor or experienced coach, to help you stay on track.

Remember, this is not about finding a scapegoat or figuring out what when wrong in some cases (although that could be part of your process) but it's about getting very real so you can have a BETTER year in 2016. It's all about the positive, and it's about helping you avoid making the same mistakes that you have already made.

Number Three: Look To Achieve Balance.

This is a great exercise where you assess where your work is strong and where it has gaps that you'd like to close. Do you have a ton of entry level, beginners type programs, but lack the advanced programs to take those graduates to the next level? Do you offer advanced classes but lack the time and resources to do more outreach and new client mingling and relationship building?

The Balance part is more tricky because this is very personal. What I mean by this is, what programs are very emotionally, physically or logistically intense or draining to run, and what can you do next year to make it easier for you? What programs just take a ton of your time and energy and give back very little in terms of real value? The 80/20 rule comes into play here, which simply means, in most businesses or ventures, we get 80% of our income from 20% of our students. Understanding that fact means that you want to keep that in mind as well when making your decisions on what to run, what to cut and what to consider when planning your upcoming year.

Remember that you are going to live your life, too, at the same time as you do your mission or business, so, that is also a factor. When is your vacation planned? Are you thinking of having a baby or growing your family in other ways? What other reasons will you be occupied in your daily life beyond just your business or vision?

Number Four: Be Deliberate and Patient.

Don't rush into this? Don't be swayed by a parent who calls up and frantically needs to know the dates of next year's camps! Their crisis isn't your crisis, and their fear shouldn't become your fear, where you are afraid of losing a camper because you didn't have the next summer's schedule done by the end of August!

(Of course, if you actually know that your next year is easy to plan and you've just been procrastinating, put that stuff together so people can sign up!)

Being patient, and making up some draft schedules is a great way to move forward, but not necessarily be rash and emotional. Sleep on it. Mull it over. Try on different various options, just to see how that might look.

Get feedback from a trusted advisor, and make sure to check your calendars so you don't plan your big event on the same day as the Boston Marathon, or some other local event that will possibly mean you could have lower than desired participation.

Give yourself and your team some time, but by all means, pick a date by which the decisions have to be made, so you can then move forward in implementing them into your website, your marketing schedule and communications and so forth. Make sure anyone who needs to be in the loop is invited to your important meetings, and take time to really listen to everyone's concerns, too.

Then, make some decisions, and get ready to rock the upcoming New Year!

We've already started here at Hawk Circle, and it's even more complicated because we have a number of big new launches happening, seemingly all at once!

We have Eagle House, our new workshop building, going up and moving towards completion. Once it is complete, we are going to be offering a ton of new programming, retreats, intensives, trainings, cultural and community gatherings and much more.

We also are rebranding Hawk Circle so more people can easily 'GET' what we do and who we are, and connect with our work and mission. That's a long, intense process, and we're going to be trying to really do due diligence and make it rock. Watch for that in the coming months!

Lastly, I'm wrapping up my new book, The Natural Advantage, and shopping for a publisher, so that is also another big new thing that will serve to put some new experiences on the table for me and my group here in Cherry Valley.

It's going to be an epic year, and we still have two months of 2015 too!

Happy Halloween, everyone! And good luck with your crystal ball!

Ricardo

(Photo Credit to https://www.flickr.com/photos/39908901@N06/ Thank you for the great image!)

And You Know It Don't Come Easy.

I saw this post on Facebook today, and it penetrated especially deep, due to some of the reading I have been checking out in the past few days.

They're all generally blog posts or writings by passionate individuals who want change. They want social change, essentially, and they want it now. They want environmental change. They want to stop the Age of Extinction. They want Equal Rights for native peoples, and people of color. They want social justice.

I don't want to go into all the arguments for or against these well meaning people. I mean, it's awesome, and it's all about making the world a better place.

But here's the thing: Many people Want change. They Demand change. They say things need to Stop. Now.

But what are we changing TO? What kind of world are we trying to create, and how can we get there? Where is the map for us to follow, to begin to make these shifts?

One thing I have learned on my quest for personal change is that it's one thing to want to make a change, ie. lose weight or write or go to bed earlier. But doing it is harder than just the wanting. It helps to have a plan. A strategy. Sometimes getting support. Sometimes it's making a lot of little changes that add up to a lot over a span of time.

It's also easier to create change if you actually WANT to change. And none of the people who are advocating change are especially caring about the real people they are asking to change.

"Change all of your behaviors, Now!" is the refrain. "Or else?"

Well, no one I know likes to be forced to change. Or threatened to change. That's a recipe for fighting.

Maybe that's what their overall goal is. To fight, and let all the anger out, all the time. Maybe it's to be on the side of being 'right', and then trying to win.

Unfortunately, the numbers, the money, the effort and the message is not on these passionate people's side. There is basically no advantage that they have on their side except some truthful elements that we do actually need to change.

So, what's the answer? What do we do?

I believe, the answer is Messaging.

I think that how we approach these issues matters. A lot.

I think a big part of the equation lies also in What We Want To Accomplish.

Does any of that make sense?

You see, it's always easier to fight, than to actually change. Fighting is our default. It's the easiest path of least resistance.

And after we fight and fight, and the fight is over, guess what?

We still have to change. Ugh! We're still right back to square one.

Personally, I would rather create a strategy towards change, and actually take steps that lead to change, rather than try to swim upstream and just fight all the time. Of course, that's just me.

So, how do we control the messaging? How do we make that happen?

Well, it's hard work. I mean, it's much easier to just argue on Facebook, than it is to do the work in the trenches that gets us results, or at least, a few steps closer to our goals.

The planet needs our help, and it needs us to do our very best. It's a huge job. And it's not going to take overnight. But rather than getting overwhelmed and taking yourself out of the game, we have to take small, concrete steps that move us forward, little bits of change, rather than no change at all.

That's my big takeaway from this Facebook graphic.

What did you think of it?

Are you using the "Hope" Method to Bring Your Vision to Life?

In the past few weeks, I have talked to a ton of people who are looking for strategies for their upcoming year. Some of them know exactlywhat they want to do, and they don't know quite how to get there. Others are unsure of what to do, because they have a lot of different things they want to do, but they just can't quite figure out the right'model' for it to happen, or fit it in with their family, or their jobs, or they don't have land, or whatever. It's been enlightening to hear each person's dreams and vision. It's been an honor, really. (Thank you, everyone, for trusting me with your deepest passion and path.) But the saddest part of these conversations is when I talk to people who have been teaching for years and years and years, sharing nature skills, tracking or bushcraft, and I realize that these people are making hardly any money at all. They are so good at what they do, and so generous, and giving of their time, and they are mostly dead broke. You'd be surprised at how many of them there are like this. They have seen, taught and spoken to thousands of people over their years, but they have no email or mailing list. They have no way to reach all these wonderful people who could fill their workshops or programs. They are almost all undercharging for the value they are providing, and when they only get three or four or eight people in their classes, they are barely getting by. They are mostly not using any real strategy to fill their classes. They are using what I call the "Hope Method". They're HOPING that the class that THEY are excited about will be exciting to their clients. They're HOPING that students will find a flyer in a health food store, and HOPING it doesn't get covered by someone else's Yoga workshop flyer 45 minutes after they post it. They're HOPING a school will call them to work with their students. They're HOPING that the price they set for their services will be okay, and keeping it low, because they really, really, really need the money. They struggle to fill classes, so they believe that the reason people won't show up for a class is because everyone is broke. Which isn't true. Honestly, that's just a made up story that people tell themselves (and they actually believe it) when the hard fact is that it's mostly because not enough people know about them, or they're confused at what you do. Their potential students just don't understand what you do. The crazy thing is, these people have great skills and deliver amazing value. They know how to go about making a hunting bow out of a stick. They know how to build a shelter out of bark and logs, and leaves. They know how to make an arrowhead out of rock. All of those skills are possible because they learned a STRATEGY, an approach, to make it happen. They learned the skills to do it. Just to be clear, these people spent good money to go to a class or intensive or training, including travel expenses, etc, and learned from someone who's skills they trusted. Then, they practiced, and got the tools and figured it out. Doing it this way is a lot easier with coaching, with mentoring, and with an instructor who can guide you through it. If you don't have that, you are going to take a long, long time to learn to make an arrowhead. I mean, you're going to struggle. You're going to make a lot of gravel. You're going to be massively frustrated. It's the same for a bow or a luxurious soft buckskin dress or shirt. You can't get there on your own, quickly and easily. It's gonna be a hot mess, while you reinvent the wheel. Ugh. If you're happy reinventing the wheel, awesome. Some people love to do it that way. You will save some money. But you will more than pay for it with wasted materials, effort, time and energy. There's nothing I hate more than to do a lot of work preparing for a class and then having to cancel due to lack of students. All that work is wasted. All that scheduled time, lost. Now, it's a scramble to make up that income, or whatever, or fill that time slot at the last minute. Of course, when that happens, we figure it out. We make do. You see, a lot of you are really, really good at being broke and 'working it out." But you don't actually have to do that. Imagine if you took that ingenuity, that tenacity, and applied it with a great strategy? Holy crap, it would be a total game changer. So, learning how to make a successful workshop, or book launch, or program launch is important. There are key things that you can do that make a world of difference. It's kind of like fishing, really. I mean, you can have the nicest hook in the world, but if you don't have any bait on it, you probably aren't going to catch anything. And if you have the wrong kind of bait, you're going to catch a different kind of fish than what you actually are going for. Here are the keys you need to know, if you want to create a good strategy. These are elements that can help you, whether you are running a Forest Preschool, or a Tracking or Skills School, or whether you are running a Massage Practice, or selling Backyard Honey or Free Range Eggs. You have to connect with your tribe, your community. You have to share who you are, and your 'why', and your passion. You have to listen to what they want, and what they are needing, and what they are struggling with in their lives. You have to create a program that is tailored to THEM, that will get results for them, and make a difference for their lives. You also have to explain the value of what you do, in terms of those results, to your community, so they get it. And, you have to be clear in your point of view, and know, without a question or doubt, that you are changing lives, and that whatever it is you are charging is going to be completely worth it. You have to value yourself and your work. If you don't believe in yourself, or your work, you won't feel right charging whatever it is you are charging for it. You're going to have what Tony Robbins calls "The Internal Conflicts". The Internal Conflicts are killers. They totally hamstring your efforts to bring your vision to life. So, this is where a coach comes in. A coach can help you with the strategy, and with the internal conflicts. You have to supply the desire, the passion and the willingness to do this work. The combination is amazing. It's called success. I know many of you are probably sick of hearing about all this stuff. You probably think it doesn't apply to you. Maybe you're right. Maybe it doesn't. Honestly, though, this isn't just about creating a nature business. This kind of understanding is about how you navigate your life, your relationships, your families, your work. Everything. I believe this is the fastest way to change the world. By working with people to help them get out of their own way, give them a strategy so they can get where they want to go, and achieve powerful success. And everything I have just shared in this email is something I have done myself, and am continuing to do, with my life, with my work with coaching, and with my camp Hawk Circle and my community. It's completely changed my life. I've gone from being bitter, angry, hurt, stressed, broke and frustrated, (at times!) to the complete opposite. If you think it's about money, or sales, or marketing schemes, or any of that, you're dead wrong. It's about learning to be effective, and to get results, and to value yourself, and love yourself. To be empowered. Because you aren't going to change the world, to create the world we really want, unless we have those qualities, and actually live them, and role model them, every day, for everyone around us. That's actually what attracts clients to you. That's what attracts success. That's what makes change. Fear won't do it. Anger won't do it. Being Logical, or just Intellectual, won't do it. We need to live it.