The first writing class I signed up for I told myself I could leave in the middle if it sucked. And I told myself it would definitely suck because who would want to be in a writing group if they were letting me in? So I didn’t go to the class. In fact, I found a lot of writing classes that looked good. And I found a lot of reasons to not go to them.

Studies show that high performers thrive on feedback. If you want to know what you’re good at, ask yourself: what would you like to hear feedback about? I was so excited to hear feedback about my writing, so why did it take me ten years to actually show up to a writing course?

It’s not fear of failure. We can imagine failure just like we can imagine success, so it’s predictable. But whatever is in between failure and success is hard to imagine; fear of what we can’t imagine is what causes inaction. I know that was true for me with my first writing class.

I’ve found that facing the gap between failure and success takes practice, like lifting weights. If you lift weights you’re tearing your muscle which is kind of gross but it’s the only way to get a bigger muscle. And if you try something new you might feel lost and incompetent for a bit, but that’s the only way to get better at anything.

When I started selling the year-long writing course I had very little sense of what I’d do to make it work. I wanted to get to know people better but I worried a year of Penelope is too much for anyone, and people would write terrible things about me online and say the course sucked.

The course turned out to be so good that I am having a whimsical weekend workshop at my apartment for all the people who signed up for a second year. It’s a big deal for me to invite people to my apartment without charging them any money. I’m nervous because I never do this. But that’s what they thought when they signed up for the course. Which is probably why I like them: their bravery. It sucks to not be certain where you are going and when you’ll succeed. But it sucks more to not try something new.

At the beginning of the course, I did live videos for common how-to-write topics: character, plot, dialogue, etc. Then I started doing obscure how-to-write topics. And the more quirky the topics were, the more popular the videos were.

Making the weekly video is a lot like writing on my blog, except the video is live and when my kids need something from me they show up on screen. Also, I don’t self-edit in the video so I take intellectual risks I wouldn’t normally take in a blog post.  I don’t know exactly what I will do with this library of how-to-write videos I’m amassing, but the intimate nature of video inspires me, and I’m grateful that I’m not alone while I’m in that in-between stage of not failing and not succeeding.

In the meantime, here is one of my favorites. And, if you sign up for the course you’ll get access to last year’s archive: sometimes gut-splitting, sometimes heart-wrenching, always a surprise, even to me.

This course includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials about the issues INFJs face that no other type has to deal with. You can purchase this course for anytime, on-demand access. 

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Melissa and I have a love/hate relationship with INFJs. We hate them because they are so judgy. And we are not judgy because we are too uncaring to be judgy. But actually we spend a lot of time being judgy about the INFJs for being so judgy.

Two days ago I was pacing my living room coaching an INFJ and it went like many coaching sessions with INFJs. I said, “To get started, what’s your personality type and how old are you?”

The person answered, “I’m an INTJ and I’m old.”

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This course includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials. We’ll meet four days in a row, Nov. 15 – Nov. 18, at 8pm Eastern. The cost of the course is $195. 

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When I first started this post, I wasn’t going to launch another course. I wondered if it was OK to follow a post titled I want to die with a post about a Happiness Bootcamp? But then I realized, wait, it’s a perfect combination. Because you don’t really know how happy a person you are until you have a really, really bad day. Read more

This course will help you create the relationship you want. This course includes four days of on-demand video sessions and email-based course materials. You can purchase this course for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195.

 

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Of all the ways personality type has helped me in my life,  getting along with my significant other is the most valuable benefit but also the most stunning. Romantic relationships are complicated and difficult and personality type cuts through all of that. Really. And I’m excited to share the insights with you. Read more

Here is some feedback from other people who have taken writing courses with me:

Penelope is absolutely brilliant at cutting through the bullshit.  – Cheryl C.

Your writing course is a way better crash course than anything I got in college.  – Caitlin

As a writer, you’d think I’d just write my own testimonials, but the research that shows people instinctively know a fake testimonial. I’m not sure how, but part of being a good writer is knowing your limits. That’ll be in the course. Read more

This course includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials. You can purchase this course for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195. Sign up now!

This is Dana. Skydiving. Dana is a great specimen of an ENFJ.

She is flying through the air with her husband, Alex, an ESTP. Alex is an example of the most fun personality type in the whole world. As long as you don’t think fun is being emotional. Dana is a fun facilitator. For Alex. She is a work facilitator for Melissa. Which makes sense because Melissa is an INTJ so she thinks fun is work. Read more

This course includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials. You can purchase this course for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195.  

Sign up now.

You can judge if you are one of my good friends by whether or not I’ve fired you. Melissa, for example, is my really really good friend because I’ve fired her three times.

I fired Cassie twice. In fact, I was going to throw out that picture up top because it was from when she was working for me, but before I could even get to my delete button, she had reinstated herself as my favorite freelancer. Read more

This webinar will show you how to leverage your strengths by understanding personality type.  It includes four days of of video sessions and email-based course materials.  You can purchase this webinar for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $199.

Buy it now.

The most popular webinar I’ve done is about personality type. I’ve taught thousands of people how to crack the code on personality type to get what they want in life.

But you know what? The on-deamand webinar that people have been downloading is really bad video quality. And people complain. To be honest, it’s mostly the ISTJs who complain, and ISTJs hate personality type anyway, because it is in their nature to hate everything except what is perfectly logical to them.

But even if I ignored the ISTJs, which, being an ENTJ, I am inclined to do, it is still true that the video quality of the webinar stinks. So I’m doing a second round of the course.

I could tell you that the course is so so fun and everyone loves it. But maybe you would think I’m saying that only because it’s so fun for me to make money from the course.

So here’s proof:  Melissa and I started doing the courses together when Melissa was always on the verge of not making rent. But since then, Melissa has taken everything she knows about personality type and turned it into a recruiting business and she’s on track to make half a million dollars this year.

Can you believe it? Even as I write this, I’m shocked.

So, anyway, you can be sure that I am not paying Melissa six figures to do this course with me, but she’s doing it with me anyway, because we have so much fun. The courses we do together always make us so happy, and we love meeting the people who attend, and I sort of feel like I am inviting you to a party and not a webinar.

Although I am charging you. But I think you get the point.

I am going to have to tell you what you’ll get from the course because I know people like to know that:

You will find out all the terrible aspects of each personality type. You will find out why your boss misses deadlines, why your spouse can’t stop arguing with you, and why you are not a millionaire by now.

You will find out essential tidbits about everyone’s strengths. For example ENTPs are the most adventurous in bed and ISTPs are the most competent in bed. Quick—pick which trait is more important to you.

Did you pick?

The course will also show you why you picked what you did.

I will show you tricks for memorizing traits of each type. For example, it’s hard to memorize that INTJs like to make elegant plans for complex problems, and ENTJs like to lead people with a big all-encompassing plan. But it’s easy to memorize how if an INTJ were going to commit a crime it would be murder and if an ENTJ were going to commit a crime it would be racketeering.

The reason I’m fanatically in love with learning about personality type is that it’s helped me so much in my life. Understanding what motivates me, and the people around me, has made me a better sales person, a better mom and a better wife. When I want to tell my brother to shut up, I remember his personality type and I remind myself what he really means when he says what it is that I want him to shut up about.

The best part of personality type, though, is that when I coach people they think I’m a mind reader. Almost all the time. The truth is that my coaching is a combination of two things: My ability to know what people are thinking and feeling based on their personality type, and my ability to say things to people that no one else will tell them.

I like that people tell me I’m clairvoyant, but you can get that too. Well, you can get the part where you can see it. I’m not sure if you can get the part where you will say it. That might be a special trait that gets you selected for special education in school, and top coaching awards as an adult.

I was going to put links in there — to special education and top coaching awards – but I am an ENTJ. Which means I’m very goal-oriented. And what I want you to do right now, before you read about my career as a special ed student, is to sign up for the course.

Here’s an outline of the course, which I may or may not stick to. But I promise you will learn tons about personality type and you’ll have a lot of fun.

What you get: Everyone will receive course materials, including a link to take a personality type test, and you will receive an explanation of your personality type. And, if you cannot watch the sessions live, you can download the recordings later. Plus, we’ll cover the following topics: Read more

This webinar includes four days of video sessions and email-based course materials. You can purchase this webinar for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195.  

Buy now!

I need to tell you at the top of this that I also have a special guest for this webinar: Guy Kawasaki.

I probably should have a huge picture of Guy because really, he is the king of networking. The last time I hung out with him was at SXSW and he rented a limo to party-hop, because he was invited to all 50 parties that were going on that night. So we are bouncing from party to party and finally I announced, “Did you see how nice the lighting is in this limo? I’m not getting out anymore. I brought a book. I’m reading it.”

But Guy kept going. I asked him how he could manage that and he said,”It’s just part of my job.”

Networking is part of your job, too. It’s part of everyone’s job because really, all good things come from having a network.  Well, except one-night stands. But actually, I never had a good one-night stand, because if I liked the one-night stand then I would stalk the guy til he’d do it again and then it went from a good one-night stand to a bad short-term relationship.

So all good things come from networks. Read more

After a long break from new courses, Melissa and I did a course on how to start freelancing. This is especially timely because over the last six months while I have been rejiggering my online courses Melissa has launched a freelance business.

My first thought was: Oh. Crap. Melissa is too busy to do courses with me. But she says that will never happen.

So join me for Get the Guts to Start Freelancing: it’s a four-day online course with chat and constant chatter from me, and from Melissa who will sometimes moderate and sometimes cut me off to make her own points. You’ll learn how to make a strategy to start and create tactics for attracting more clients as you grow.

This course includes four days of of video sessions and email-based course materials.  You can purchase this webinar for anytime, on-demand access. The cost is $195.

Enroll now. Read more