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Lots of words are overused these days. Awesome. Gorgeous. Amazing. I’m as guilty as the next person, especially on Instagram. Perhaps the most overused is ‘life-changing’. This week my inbox made me think a lot about what that actually means.

At its most simple it means to change a life, which means for someone’s life to be different to what it is now, as a result of some action taken, or direction followed. It is a phrase people often use in the surveys we carry out at the end of our courses, and while incredibly flattering, I do sometimes wonder what it actually means for the people who use it. But for some reason, this week, we seem to have been flooded with emails from course graduates who have completely changed the trajectory of their lives with the simple act of taking one of our courses (and then putting lots of work in, of course).

Here are a few examples of real people making real changes that came into my inbox just this week:

• Since taking The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design (ABSPD) Deborah Velasquez has licensed over 70 pieces of work, Bonnie Forkner of Going Home To Roost is on her second licensed fabric line, Hannah Nunn of Radiance has gone international with her new wallpaper line

• Our Design School students have won the Ideal Home Wallpaper Design of the Year competition two years in a row (Katy Hackney won it this week, following in the footsteps of Wendy Kendall last year)

• Linda Tordoff is taking Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp at the moment. Her assignment for February (a cuckoo clock-inspired iPhone case design) was spotted by Paper & Cloth Studio and she has now been signed as one of their artists
• There are so many successes from Make Art That Sells (MATS) that we are doing a whole round up later this week, including licensing deals across the editorial, children’s apparel, wall art, fabric, greetings and gift markets! And you can hear an interview with our 2013 Global Talent Search winner Zoe Ingram on how MATS and GTS changed everything for her.
• Since taking our business class a couple of years ago, one graduate has got herself out of debt (we are talking US-style law school debt) and is finally doing something she love

Every single one of these pieces of good news is a triumph, and we are so proud of them all. And every single one has been possible because

(1) These people followed their heart and instinct, and invested in themselves

(2) They applied what they learnt

(3) They kept going, and going.

This last week has been completely manic here, with very early mornings and late nights – not easy when you have a tiny baby (and sunshine calling you outside to the sea). But perhaps that is why all these success stories came pouring in this week, just when WE needed to hear them to remind us we are on the right track with what we are doing.

What steps could you take this week to change your own trajectory? (HINT: If you are an artist you could start by getting on the pre-registration list for our annual Global Talent Search, which is back! See here for details) 

What are you waiting for? Do it!

Beth and the team

PS if you want to join one of the courses I mentioned above, ABSPD Modules 1, 3 and 4 started TODAY but you can still register here if you hurry. Make Art That Sells kicks off next Monday and you can join us here.

Here at DWYL HQ we receive emails almost weekly proposing new collaborations. We spend time evaluating each one closely, but most of the time end up saying “Thank you but we have to say no.” Sometimes this is because we simply don’t have the capacity to turn the project around in the time suggested, but more often than not it is because it doesn’t quite fit with our mission.

So what is different about those emails which get the response, “Hell yeah!”? Well partly it is if the project idea lights us up, and partly if we are excited to work with the person proposing it. It matters to us if they have their own following, as that shows their work resonates with others. And it matters to us that they have thought about our company, and why the proposal would work for us – and ultimately for you, the Do What You Love family. But in the end the decision always comes down to a gut feeling. In the end you have to ask yourself, “Does this feel like a ‘Hell yeah?’” If it does, go for it. If it doesn’t, politely walk away.

It’s the same in life outside work. Time is too precious to spend with people who don’t lift you up, doing things that don’t feel good, in places that don’t inspire you.

This month’s blog theme is ‘Love to learn’ – and we want to spend the month embracing all nuances of that word ‘learn’. As a provider of online courses of course we are big believer in the value of education, whether formal or informal. We also know from experience that if you want to do something different, or better, in an evolving world you will need to be constantly learning.

But we also want to reflect on the learning to be had in our every day lives. Learning to listen to ourselves, learning to notice the world around us, learning what makes us happy. Every day this month ask yourself, “What have I learnt today?” Your answer might surprise you.

Happy learning!
Beth and the team

Want to learn about online marketing? Or about how to create an online course that sells? If so, read on…

Do What You Love has grown rapidly over the last three years, and in the past year alone we have sold over $1 million of online courses, supporting the dreams of thousands of people in 50+ countries worldwide.

But we didn’t always know how to create e-courses that make a real difference, or how to market our offerings and generate an income online. We had to learn it. We learnt about e-courses the hard way – by investing thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in taking other people’s, by experimenting with technology, by making mistakes and correcting them. We learnt about online marketing the easy way – by taking Marie Forleo’s B-School in the early days. We are now a proud affiliate of B-School because we know that it works – and we want to enhance your B-School experience by teaching you how to create an online course which you can then market with your new-found online marketing knowledge – the perfect combination!

So if you want to learn how to package your expertise into a profitable virtual programme, reaching people in every time zone, 24/7, and if you want to learn how to sell that expertise online, we have the perfect opportunity for you. If you take B-School with Do What You Love, together we’ll show you how.

As a proud affiliate of B-School we are offering a special package to help you build on your B-School experience.

Having taken it myself, I know that many people come out of it with a grand plan to launch their own online course, as they realise that it can be both powerful and lucrative, allowing them to work with people all over the world without leaving their desk.

The problem is, they don’t know how to do it. Fear of technology, perceived lack of resources, writer’s block or a host of other reasons holds them back from sharing their genius with people all over the world, and getting paid well to do so.

But if you take B-School with us, we will share our secrets to building an online course which makes a difference, and makes you profit you can be proud of. This is literally priceless, because it is not on general sale.

Here’s what you get in the Do What You Love B-School bonus package:

*Click here for the small print

Please note that in order to benefit from this bundle you need to click on THIS REGISTRATION LINK before you make your purchase.

Registration closes on Wednesday 5 March. Don’t miss out!

Are you a parent? Then you are awesome. And brave.

Are you a single parent? Then you are even more awesome. And even more brave.

Our baby girl is 2 months old this week. The time has flown since she came into our lives on Christmas Day, and it really has been an amazing time. I can’t really remember what it was like not to have her in our life, and she brightens up every single day, especially now that she has learnt to laugh. And I never knew how much I loved her daddy until I saw how much he loved her. Family. What a gift.

But, and here’s the but… I was totally unprepared for how different things would be. Of course everyone tells you that, but you never really believe it. Those of you who know me well know that I am a planner, and a ‘resource investigator’, i.e. if there’s a book on it I have read it. But none of that prepared me for having to feel my way every day, relying heavily on my intuition to work things out, and on Mr K to help me out.

Perhaps more than anything, nothing prepared me for the worry. Is she breathing? Is she hot? Is she cold? Is she hungry? Why’s she crying? Is she sleeping enough? Is she sleeping too much? And so it goes on. I guess that will evolve into “Does she have friends at school? Is her boyfriend bad news? And on and on for the rest of our lives. For someone who has never really worried about much, this is a whole new scenario for me.

Somehow, together, we have found something that looks like a rhythm. It’s messy and chaotic, and I have never danced around the room or sung so many Disney songs in my life (and she’s not even a toddler yet), but we are getting to know each other day by day and Sienna is a lovely happy baby.

Becoming a parent is a giant leap of faith. It is one of the bravest things you can do, and often you don’t realise just how much courage you need until it actually happens. Two months into this parenting lark I don’t yet have much advice to share (learning, learning, learning) but I do know this:

Every single one of you who is a parent is brave, and amazing.

And every one of you who is doing it as a single parent is, in our opinion, even more brave and amazing.

Parents, we salute you.

Beth and the team

Want to learn about online marketing? Or about how to create an online course that sells? If so, read on…

Do What You Love has grown rapidly over the last three years, and in the past year alone we have sold over $1 million of online courses, supporting the dreams of thousands of people in 50+ countries worldwide.

But we didn’t always know how to create e-courses that make a real difference, or how to market our offerings and generate an income online. We had to learn it. We learnt about e-courses the hard way – by investing thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in taking other people’s, by experimenting with technology, by making mistakes and correcting them. We learnt about online marketing the easy way – by taking Marie Forleo’s B-School in the early days.

So if you want to learn how to package your expertise into a profitable virtual programme, reaching people in every time zone, 24/7, and if you want to learn how to sell that expertise online, we have the perfect opportunity for you. If you take B-School with Do What You Love, together we’ll show you how. Find out more here

As the sky over Sochi burst into life with fireworks to mark the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympics on Friday, I was transported back to the eve of the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. As I stood there in the stadium looking up at the awesome pyrotechnics, I had to pinch myself that I was actually being paid to be there, providing language support for the British Bobsleigh Team, having somehow managed to blag a month off university.

While there I had to interpret in all sorts of situations – from getting one of the bobsleighs resprayed after someone put the wrong sticker on it, to lessons in noodle making for the coaching staff; from scoring free ski slope access for the administrators to lunch with Princess Anne. And the craziest part of it all was my Japanese wasn’t actually all that good. I was only in the third year of my studies, so looking back I’m amazed how I had the guts to take on the job!

But that’s the point. I did the very best I could with what I had at my disposal. It wasn’t perfect, but the fact is even then I spoke Japanese better than any of the team, so my skills, however limited, were of use to them. It is so easy to get caught up with being ‘perfect’, and never actually taking action because we are always wanting to do a little more preparation, but sometimes you just have to go for it. By all means learn as you go along, but don’t wait until you know everything because that day will never come.

In the end the British Bobsleigh Team were the only Brits to get a medal that year, so you can imagine the party we had once the event was over!

How did I get the job in the first place? I asked. Simple as that. I wrote a good old snail mail letter to the General Secretary of the British Olympic Association offering my services. I never actually thought he’d say yes, but I am so glad he did. And if the job at the 1998 Winter Olympics wasn’t cool enough, it led to a whole host of jobs at some of the most incredible sports events in the world, including the World Games, Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cup, World Athletics Championships and more, where I worked alongside some of the world’s top athletes and made some amazing friends along the way. It is all connected.

So whether or not you like sport, take a moment to watch some of the Winter Olympics over the next couple of weeks and find a way for it to inspire you. Whether it is with the courage to try a new sport, the curiosity to find out about a new country, or even just to reflect on my little story and decide to ‘just ask about that job’ and see what happens. It might just work out!

Beth and the team

Want to create your own online course that sells?

Every week we receive emails from people asking us to help them develop an online course which allows them to share their unique expertise with the world whilst making money doing what they love. For the first time we have decided to put together a special masterclass revealing our secrets to creating an online course that sells. We are offering this exclusively as part of our special package for anyone signing up to Marie Forleo’s brilliant B-School online marketing program through Do What You Love.

As a proud affiliate of this fantastic program (which we believe in because we have taken it and seen the results), we are offering a special package to help you build on your B-School experience:

• VIP pass to the Bundle Your Brilliance Masterclass – a private LIVE online workshop revealing the secrets to creating an e-course that sells, taught by someone who has sold over $1 million worth of online courses (that will be us!)
• Access to a private Facebook group of others just like you, for extra support throughout the course and beyond
• A FREE place on the Do What You Love e-course, to help you discover and pursue your true passion (course begins April 28)
• PLUS the chance to win a series of 6 Mentoring Sessions with e-course producer Beth Kempton to help you get your course up and running and making you profits you can be proud of!

Sound good? Click here for more details!

“A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what a ship was designed for.” Anonymous

Being brave in all the parts of our lives, even when it doesn’t really matter, can help us be brave when it does really matter. This month on the blog we are talking about being brave – one of our very favourite topics. Bravery takes many forms – from facing childhood fears to taking on physical challenges, from speaking your truth to putting yourself out in the world with your art, from trying something new to quitting something old, from taking a stand to choosing the life you were meant to live.

To explore the meaning of being more brave with your creativity, we had a chat with top art agent Lilla Rogers, who has inspired brave creativity in thousands of artists worldwide. We found it fascinating and wanted to share it with you…

(more…)

Not many people know this, but I used to host my own TV show in Japan. It was called ‘Beth Nicholls and Friends’ – cheesy or what? In it I interviewed foreigners living in Japan about their life in that very different culture. It was a huge amount of fun, and a brilliant experience. It was hardly prime time TV, although I did once get recognised by a monk in a clifftop temple. Who knew they had cable up mountains?

Anyway, the other day I was thinking about the unusual opportunity I had to present the TV show, and tried to pin down the exact decision that had led to it. I realised that it was back in school, when I had chosen to study Japanese for my degree. And that had been no ordinary decision.

Back then I was one of those people who just loved school – a straight A student studying A levels in very academic subjects, aiming for Oxbridge and a career in accountancy. But something happened the summer I turned 17, and everything changed (that’s a story for another day).

The upshot was I decided to use my time at university for a big adventure, and was determined to find a course that sent me somewhere exotic for a year. At that time, if you hadn’t studied a language at A Level (high school equivalent), you could not take languages at college. The only exceptions to this rule were Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Arabic. So with no knowledge of any of them, I used the children’s counting rhyme ‘Eeny Meeny Miny Moe’ to choose Japanese. Simple as that. Pure chance. And that ‘decision’ has shaped every step of my life ever since.

The point is that every decision is a chance for a new beginning. And it is never too late to make a new decision. This week, when faced with a decision, however big or small, think of it as a chance for a new beginning and see how this influences the decision you make – or even be bold and leave that decision to chance!

Have a great week,

Beth and team