Unique, Discounted Products to Unleash Your Creative Mojo
If you are looking for a simple, engaging, inexpensive way to increase your odds of succeeding with your most inspired venture, I may have exactly what you need.
What previously I sold only to forward thinking organizations, I am now making available to the general public. Why? Because, post-COVID, I've decided to focus my efforts on individuals, schools, and entrepreneurs instead of corporations.
My creativity-sparking materials are time-tested, easy to use, and get results. Plus, 10% of all profits will be donated to Prem Rawat's humanitarian foundation.
Continue reading "Unique, Discounted Products to Unleash Your Creative Mojo"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)
SELF-INQUIRY PAGES: How to Unleash Your Creative Mojo
One of the reasons why aspiring entrepreneurs, writers, artists, musicians and other cultural creatives struggle is because they routinely run into obstacles (inner and outer) that derail them. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Sometimes all that's needed for a creative person to get unstuck is a few minutes of reflection, ideation, and a change of mindset.
That's what Idea Champions' online, self-inquiry pages are all about.
Created by Idea Champions' co-Founder, Mitch Ditkoff, self-inquiry pages are a kind of chiropractic adjustment for your creative mojo.
What follows are the names of the 84 self-inquiry pages I have developed so far, some of which are used in my online Year of Living Creatively course (the date of the next one is yet undetermined).
Continue reading "SELF-INQUIRY PAGES: How to Unleash Your Creative Mojo"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 30, 2022THE SELF-INQUIRY RAFFLE: Unleash Your Creative Mojo
If you have a big aspiration to create something new and wonderful in this world and currently find yourself operating on less-than-all-cylinders, this is your lucky day.
WHY? Because I am giving away five of my mind-opening creativity catalysts for free -- as in no cost to you, no fine print, no strings attached. And YOU get to choose which ones you want.
I am launching this raffle because I want to, not because I have to. It is not a marketing ploy, gimmick, or sneaky way to get you to buy something from me. I'm doing this because I trust my intuition and know that the five people who WIN the raffle are going to get some major value from it and, PERHAPS, what they are here to manifest in the world will have a better chance of seeing the light of day.
Continue reading "THE SELF-INQUIRY RAFFLE: Unleash Your Creative Mojo "
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:20 PM | Comments (2)
We Were Made for These Times!
What follows is an extraordinary call of the heart by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Not only is it worth reading, it's worth reading aloud -- so you hear it and feel it as well as see it. Then, you get to decide who you want to share it with -- and how. This is a piece of deep, soul-inspired, primal writing that deserves to travel to every corner of the Earth.
Continue reading "We Were Made for These Times!"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2022In Honor of All Our Fathers
I wrote the following piece the night my father died three years ago and read it at his funeral three days later. If your dad is still alive, love him today and every day. If you're dad is gone, cherish his memory and all that he taught you. If there's anything you need to forgive him for, today's the day.
Last night, I sat in my father's office attempting to write this eulogy. I started five times and stopped five times. I started again, trying to find the words to describe how it feels to be here without him. I still don't know.
You see, I had a father for 94 years and have only not had a father for three days, so anything I say must be understood as the words of someone only three days old. But still I will try.
Indeed, this trying -- this effort to accomplish the seemingly impossible -- is a gift I've received from my father...
Continue reading "In Honor of All Our Fathers"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2022THE YEAR OF LIVING CREATIVELY: An Overview
"Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller
The Year of Living Creatively is a two-month, online course for anyone committed to manifesting an inspired idea, project or venture and knows they need some support to do so. Click any of the links below for a deeper dive. The next course will begin in September. If you need more info, please contact the creator and facilitator of the course, Mitch Ditkoff (mitch@ideachampions.com)
Overview
Testimonials
An invitation to dive deeper into your own creative process
Who is the course really for?
What is the real value of The Year of Living Creatively?
How to identify your Year of Living Creatively project
The Year of Living Creatively Manifesto
The underground we cover
Entering the movie theater of your own creative process
The self-inquiry pages
The back story -- origins of the course
More about the creator of the course
People's three biggest concerns about enrolling in the course
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2022The Six Sides of the So-Called Box
Unless you've been in a coma for the past 20 years, I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase "get out of the box." It's everywhere. Whole industries have sprung up around it, including mine.
No one can deny that getting out of the box is a good thing to do. Seems like a no-brainer, eh? Kind of like helping little old ladies cross the street. Or tearing down the Berlin Wall. But before you start planning your heroic escape, answer me this: What the heck is the box, anyway? What is this so-called thing that keeps us so contained, confined, caged, trapped, claustrophobic, and otherwise unable to create?
Let's start with the basics. A box has six sides, including the top and the bottom.
Continue reading "The Six Sides of the So-Called Box"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:44 PM | Comments (2)
March 25, 2022Want to Become a Certified FREE THE GENIE Facilitator?
If you are looking for a simple, engaging way to spark powerful new ideas for your friends, colleagues, team, department, or clients, you have come to the right place.
1. WHAT IS Free the Genie? Free the Genie is a 60-90 minute online creative thinking session that sparks clarity, insights, new ideas, commitment, and the kind of positive mindset needed for aspiring innovators to make meaningful progress with a new venture, idea, or opportunity.
2. WHO IS THE CREATOR OF FREE THE GENIE? Mitchell Ditkoff, Co-Founder and President of Idea Champions -- a thought leader in the field of creative thinking, innovation, and the creative process. His clients. And... what they say.
Continue reading "Want to Become a Certified FREE THE GENIE Facilitator?"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2022THE CURE FOR THE CREATIVE BLUES: Self-Acknowledgment
If you're a creative person working on a project that is unlikely to get results overnight, here's a simple practice to save you from the all-too-familiar phenomenon of depressing yourself by focusing on the proverbial cup being half-empty.
Continue reading "THE CURE FOR THE CREATIVE BLUES: Self-Acknowledgment"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2022Steve Jobs on Marketing
And here's the Think Different ad that emerged from this way of thinking.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:14 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2022TESTIMONIALS from GRADUATES: The Year of Living Creatively
"Mitch Ditkoff, the Founder of The Year of Living Creatively, has the ability to awaken the creative spark in others -- an ability he has honed and refined to a fine elixir over decades of teaching and writing. Be prepared to have your mind blown, your funny bone tickled, and your lights turned on. Mitch's insights, empathetic listening, and presence have had a profound effect on my life." - Michelle Cameron
"Mitch is part creativity shaman, Muse whisperer, writing coach, and mad poet. He employs all of these characters in the service of helping participants launch and bring to fruition their cherished projects." -- Mira Rubenstein
"The Year of Living Creatively is a wonderful course. It's helped me clarify my vision of what I want to accomplish and create a roadmap to get it accomplished." - Mark Stephen Miller
"I am ever so grateful for the Year of Living Creatively experience and for the expansion that I perceive in my consciousness and in my everyday life! This is truly one of the most wonderful gifts I have received from the universe and have given myself in a long time, especially after this outrageous pandemic experience. This course has been like the opening of the clouds after a storm and the joy of letting the warm sun shine into my skin." -- Mercedes Garcia
Continue reading "TESTIMONIALS from GRADUATES: The Year of Living Creatively "
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2022Try to Love the Questions
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer." -- Rainer Maria Rilke
In times of the unknown, like these days of the Coronavirus, most people want answers. Totally understandable. But, like Rilke notes above, there is great value in loving the questions that precede the answers. Towards that end, here is a list of 20 questions for your reflection. Hopefully, at least one of them will resonate with you and begin working its magic.
1. What is the silver lining, for me, in the Coronavirus cloud?
2. These days, what is there to learn about myself?
3. What is the biggest opportunity before me now?
4. How can I find joy in the simple things of life?
5. What am I feeling moved to do or create?
6. What am I thankful for?
7. What is my responsibility during these challenging times?
8. How can stay in a positive frame of mind?
9. What do I really want?
10. How can I best be of service?
11. How can I go beyond worry, doubt, and impatience?
12. Who do I need to forgive?
13. How can I tap into the source of my courage?
14. How can I better pace myself?
15. How can I reinvent the way I make a living?
16. How can I truly bloom where I'm planted?
17. What is there at this moment that I lack?
18. How can I better listen to the birds?
19. Who can I reach out to today?
20. What can I do, right now, to nurture myself?
Prem Rawat's series of Lockdown talks
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2022The Information Overload Phenomenon
One of the biggest obstacles for aspiring innovators, these days, is information overload -- the all-too-familiar phenomenon of too much input coming our way, 24/7. Unable to process the overwhelming amount of information delivered to us by the nanosecond, we get distracted, fragmented, stressed, and mentally fatigued. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Click here for a newly published article of mine on this phenomenon -- the first in a series of articles like this I will be writing for PremRawat.com in 2022.
If you find value in it, please consider posting it on social media and/or emailing the link to friends and family. Thanks.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2021Year of Living Creatively Manifesto
The Year of Living Creatively is a two-month, online course designed to help anyone committed to manifesting their brilliance on planet Earth. The next course begins in April. What follows is the course's manifesto -- it's irreducible DNA.
-- Creativity is our birthright
-- Everyone has a calling
-- We are never more than a breath away from a breakthrough
-- This is the perfect moment to begin
-- Self-expression begins with the self. Know thyself.
Continue reading "Year of Living Creatively Manifesto"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:05 AM | Comments (1)
December 10, 2021THIS JUST IN: The Year of Living Creatively Testimonials
If you are in the process birthing (or wanting to birth) an inspired idea, dream, vision, goal, or creative venture, I invite you to consider enrolling in my upcoming YEAR OF LIVING CREATIVELY course -- a two-month, online learning adventure (starting on April 17th, 2022) designed to provide aspiring innovators with all the insight, mojo, and mastery they need to manifest their heart's desire.
It's fun. It's engaging. And it works. Tuition is $479. Payment plans are available.
Here's what recent graduates have to say about it:
"The course had a profound affect on my life." - Michelle Cameron
"I got my mojo back and made huge amounts of progress." - Maribeth Raullerson
"It set me on a very positive course of making miracles happen." - Joan Apter
"I not only enjoyed the course, I made major headway" - Tucker Robbins
"Every time I attend a session, I walk away full of renewed courage, energy, and trust." - Tina Lindgreen
"A catalyst that provided the guidance, support, and structure I needed to transform my dream of starting a business into reality." - Doug Stuke
"This course has been like the opening of the clouds after a storm and the joy of letting the warm sun shine into my skin." - Mercedes Garcia
"Helped me clarify my vision of what I want to accomplish and create a road map to get it accomplished." - Mark Stephen Miller
"There is a lot of humor involved in the course. And one of the things I want in life right now is to laugh a lot." - Barbara Drausal
"Provided me with the emotional support I needed to free my inner artist." - Tina Lipson
"I was humbled by experiencing my own humanity." - Gretel Rogers
"A unique program that helps unleash human potential in a full-fledged way. - Nim Lal Bhandari
"A safe and fun meeting environment where there are no wrong answers, but perhaps better questions to ask ourselves." - Linda Hurst
"Helped me choose a project that really sparked my passion and go after it in a big and bold way." - Janet Cook
"A truly amazing learning experience." - Gilman Hanson
"The Year of Living Creatively helped me take my project three steps up, making it feel beyond a dream to a reality." - MaryJane Fahey
"I'm so delighted in my enlightened-up experience as a result of The Year of Living Creatively course, that I've just re-registered for the next one." - Ellen Goldberg
More about the course
Who is the course really for?
What is the real value of The Year of Living Creatively?
The Manifesto
More about the creator of the Year of Living Creatively
The underground we cover
Want to talk? Need more info? mitch@ideachampions.com
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2021Get the Support You Need to Manifest a Bold, New Possibility
In these odd times, it's easy to get thrown off course. Our regular schedules are very different than they used to be if they can be called "schedules" at all. Our usual human interactions with friends, peers, and co-workers have been dramatically curtailed.
Indeed, these days, the normal interactions we've always counted on to help us work through problems, issues, and opportunities rarely happen by themselves. We must seek them out.
If you have a bold, new possibility you're excited about or an old problem you're tired of dealing with, you will need to make some extra effort to get the kind of support you've always taken for granted.
Enter Free the Genie -- an affordable, expertly facilitated, 60-90-minute online ideation session designed to help you generate the kind of clarity, creativity, and commitment you need to make a quantum leap of thought and action.
And it's simple as 1-2-3.
First, we ensure that you frame the right question via a simple online survey.
Second, we explore the history of your question and why it really matters to you.
And third, we facilitate an engaging creative thinking process, doing everything we can to help you get out of the box and to higher ground, generating new ideas as we go.
It simple. It works. And it's a lot of fun. Plus, (hint, hint) it makes the perfect gift for that special person who "has everything!"
Here's what others are saying about Free the Genie.
Want to find out more? Call Val Vadeboncoeur, Idea Champions' Chief Brainstorming office at 845-377-0222 or sign up for a session on Calendly.
Continue reading "Get the Support You Need to Manifest a Bold, New Possibility"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2021THE YEAR OF LIVING CREATIVELY: The Big Picture
The Year of Living Creatively is a highly engaging, eight-week online course that helps aspiring innovators transform their inspired visions and ideas into new products, new services, new forms of expression, new businesses, and breakthrough ways of living.
Previous graduates describe the course in a variety of colorful ways:
-- A GPS for the creative process
-- An incubation chamber for bold, new possibilities
-- A chiropractic adjustment for creative mojo
-- A midwife for the miraculous
-- An all-you-can eat buffet of brilliance
If you are on fire with an exciting new possibility and want the kind of support that will help you turn theory into practice, this course is for you.
Continue reading "THE YEAR OF LIVING CREATIVELY: The Big Picture"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2021Brainstorming vs. Braincalming
If you work in a big organization, small business, freelance, or eat cheese, there's a good chance you've participated in at least a few brainstorming sessions in your life. You've noodled, conjured, envisioned, ideated, piggybacked, and endured overly enthusiastic facilitators doing their facilitator thing. You may have even gotten some results. Hallelujah!
Continue reading "Brainstorming vs. Braincalming"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:23 PM | Comments (6)
October 21, 2021The Syndrome Syndrome and the Rise of the New World Disorders
Here's a fun test for you: If you can read the rest of this paragraph without tweeting, texting, or thinking about crop circles, there's a good chance you do not have ADD, ADHD, or any other recently-identified medical condition.
That's the good news.
The not-so-good news? The overwhelming number of disorders, dysfunctions, and syndromes popping up daily make it almost impossible to understand exactly what condition you actually have.
As a concerned citizen, humanitarian, and Johnny Depp look-a-like, I've decided to go beyond my SAHS (Social Activist Hesitation Syndrome) and actually do something about it.
Below, you will find my guide to 14 of the most recently identified medical conditions. Study them carefully. If you have one of them, please check your health insurance policy immediately to see if it will cover the cost of the medicines you will soon feel compelled to buy.
Continue reading "The Syndrome Syndrome and the Rise of the New World Disorders"
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2021How to Go Beyond the Team Leader Overload Syndrome
Most people who are in a leadership position often find themselves overloaded and overwhelmed. "Too much to do and not enough time," is their mantra. And here's why:
1. They haven't established clear expectations with their team
2. They don't totally trust the people they lead
3. There are insufficient standards of excellence
4. They want everyone to like them
5. They don't know how to delegate
6. They have unclear boundaries
7. They are addicted to rescuing people
8. They think their way is the best way
9. They are impatient for results
10. They don't know how to empower others
Not good for business. Not good for the team. And not good for the health of the leader. But it doesn't have to be that way. And the "fix" is way simpler than you think.
Next time a member or your team tries to dump a problem at your feet, shirks responsibility, or wants you to "save the day," STOP and ask yourself any of the following questions:
1. "Who's problem is this, really?"
2. "How can this issue be framed as a HOW CAN I question?"
3. "Does this person understand what I expect of them?"
4. "Is this person clear about their roles and responsibilities?"
5. "Do I have the time and interest to take on this project?"
6. "If I do have time, what support can I offer?"
7. "Who else, on the team, might be able to help with this?"
8. "How can I empower this person to own the project?"
9. "How can I let the person do it their way?"
10."What's the simplest thing I can do to lend support?"
PS: Leadership doesn't mean doing everything yourself. Leadership means helping other people lead -- and take ownership for results.
Idea Champions
WORKSHOP: Launching Project Teams
The two-hour, online brainstorm facilitation training
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
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