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Speaking Events and Workshops

Most of these speaking events and workshops are delivered in less than 60 minutes.  Our target audiences include people served by local non-profits, the parents of youth in need and the mentors and staff of non-profits serving these groups.  All are free.  Contact: tony.aloise@lifesolutions-network.org.

 

Featured Events

 

Details

Live with Purpose

 

Passion, personality, potential, needs, goal setting, life planning and more are blended into a framework for living a passionate, purposeful life.

 

 

Live to Your Potential Potential flows from purpose and passion but there are underlying skills and attributes including time management, energy, discipline, structure, rhythm, process and more.
 Other Events

Target Audience

Topics

Life Skills

Non-Profit Clients

  • Money Management 101 (presented in a fun Jeopardy-like game)
  • Know Your Values
  • Time Management
Organizational Capacity

Non-Profit Staff

  • Organizational Capacity Strategy
  • Process Management
Mentor Development

Volunteer Mentors

  • Mentor for Purpose
  • Be Available Attentively
  • Ask Powerful Questions
  • Uncover Your Beliefs
  • Discover Vision and Goals
  • GROW Model
Volunteering

Potential Volunteers

  • Retire with Purpose
  • Volunteer with Purpose

 

Toolbox Overview for New Alliance Members

This is to summarize the extensive free resources available on the Life Solutions Network website and how to gain access.

Our target audience includes the non-profit mentoring staff and volunteer mentors.  We want to equip them to perform their roles with excellence.  Anyone can use most of these resources though including clients.

Click the image above to open/download our Toolbox.
  • Life Skills Wiki on LSN Web Site. This vetted compilation of life skills topics can be used by mentors to personally prepare for mentoring conversations.  You will find links to articles, web sites, videos and more.
  • Mentor for Purpose Workshop Series. Many workshops are available to non-profit organizations.  In particular, the Principles and Skills Tool is significant.  The workshop content is not online; these can be requested or scheduled by contacting tony.aloise@lifesolutions-network.org or can be used by a trainer you develop internally.
  • GCMLA on LSN Web Site. Here you will find our Charter, Masterplan and other key organizing documents for the Greater Cincinnati Mentor Leadership Alliance.  The Alliance has many people who are willing to share their time and talent with you; all you have to do is ask.  Most pages are open to the public.  A few pages require registration to view.
  • 250 Words Blog. These easy-to-read topics on Purpose, Life Skills, Mentoring and more can be used for personal learning or in a small group discussion.  250 words is what a typical adult can red in a minute.  You can sign-up on the main page to receive new blogs in your email inbox.
  • Newsletter. This newsletter is published quarterly and summarizes the activity of LSN and the GCMLA.  It’s a good way to keep up to date with what’s new.  This newsletter is open to the public but targeted to Members and Friends of the Alliance.  Click here to see previous newsletters and signup.  You can cancel at any time.
  • GCMLA on Facebook. This is a closed Facebook page for non-profit leaders and key mentors of those organizations.  It’s the best way to encourage peer-to-peer communication of events, news articles, insights and questions.  Send an e-mail to aloise@lifesolutions-network.org to register and get approved.
  • Live with Purpose on Facebook. This Facebook page is a compilation of personal writings by Tony Aloise and shared links.  The themes include Life, Life Skills, Volunteering and living to our purpose and potential.  This Facebook page is open to all without registration.
  • Work with Purpose on LinkedInThis LinkedIn content is a compilation of personal writings and shared links.  The content is similar to Facebook but more Work focused.  Click this link to personally connect with Tony Aloise and to follow his postings.

 

LSN Operating Model

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What’s New

This page highlights recent additions and changes to the LSN web site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s).

What do I do if I forgot my password?

Just click the Forgot Password link at this page.

How do I change my password?

Simply update your profile by entering your new password twice.  You must be logged in to do this.

How do I become a Member?

For the time being, all Members are in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area.  A personal meeting is preferred but the only “requirement” is to commit to capability-building.  Once registered on this web site, I’ll adjust your membership level from Friend to Member.  This gives you access to all content.

Topics

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This “topics” section is a collection of ideas and content that digs a little deeper.  Explore and grow to serve to your potential.

Explore

Use the menu on the left to navigate.  Note that links in a green font require Friend or Member-level registration or login.  Come back regularly to check for new content.

Leave a comment below for suggested topics.  Note that you can leave a comment on most of the Topics pages.  I’d love to hear from you.

Development Guidance

This document provides “guidance” to LSN Guides and Authors as we pursue development of an open-source life skills “wiki”.  Our objective is to encourage life skill building for ourselves, with families, with clients (e.g. mentees) and with agencies/churches.

General Guidance:

  • Customer:  Our general customer is a person “in need, stressed, struggling with life“.  People might include the recently unemployed, the homeless or teens from troubled families.  This should cause us to write simply (6th grade language) and short (2-page lessons or one point lessons).  We are not writing a technical encyclopedia but an “easy-to-read and use” short document.
  • Page Writing:
    • Encourage as much personal authorship as possible.  Everyone has a “favorite” topic.
    • Sources from books or web sites are OK but require citations to avoid plagiarism.  We need to identify the “benchmark” authors.
    • Initial writing by a single author is only a starting point.  Over time, other members who have interest or use a topic will hopefully provide further content.
  • Page Format:  We want all pages to have an exact format as part of the LSN “brand”.  Some aspects such as skill description, learning map or one-page lessons are part of our uniqueness.
  • Page Approval:
    • Minimum:  Guide actively critiques and edits a page.  The Guide moves a document from Draft to Published status.
    • Desired:  A small group (peer review) discusses and provides input and constructive criticism.

Using the Wiki:

These skill summaries are not in themselves the lesson plan.  They are the “modules” from which lesson plans can be prepared for any situation.  Examples include:

  • You only have 5 minutes:  use the One-Point Lesson only.
  • You have 30 minutes at a church:  use the Skill Description + Faith Worldview + Key Learning Points + Exercises + Questions.

The possibilities are endless with the intent being that a custom-tailored lesson plan can be developed easily from the various modules.   In addition, previously prepared plans will be linked and can be reused (in last section).

Lesson Plan Preparation:

  • Know your audience (e.g. teens, adults, seniors).
  • Determine how much time you have (e.g. 10  min, 30 min, 60 minutes).
  • Assess your goals (e.g. simple overview, skill level 1 = know the concepts, skill level 4 = proficient).
  • Determine if previously prepared lessons will meet your need or develop custom lessons.

If in-depth skill development is needed we may refer people to partner agencies or programs.

Each of the wiki sections are described below…

Introduction:

  • Add a paragraph or two that provides an overview of the skill.  It needs to entice the reader to want to explore the skill, e.g. why it is important in their life.

Skill Description:

  • This includes a small number (typically 1-3) of bullet points focused on activities that can be demonstrated.  It moves beyond “I know the concepts” to “I can do it well“.

Key Learning Points:

  • A short list of points that summarize the skill topic.  In effect, this is the very short “lesson” on the skill topic.

Faith Worldview:

  • A discussion of what Jesus might say on a skill topic.  We need to engage the broadest faith-based audience and avoid being religion-specific.

Learning Path:

  • This is an expert’s perspective on how best to learn a skill topic step-by-step.

Deeper Topics:

  • This section includes a more in-depth look at the skill concepts.

Exercises (by age group):

  • Example short activities that can be done 1:1 in a mentoring relationship or in small groups with a life skills coach.  This can be sub-divided into age groups.

Discussion Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking:

  • Questions to provoke introspection and critical thinking.  These questions could be asked in a 1:1 or group setting or could simply be “homework”.

Tools and Templates:

  • Forms that provide structure and can be completed individually or in small groups.

Word Definition:

  • A dictionary-like summary using Bing/Google and Wikipedia.

Short Stories/Books/Web Articles/Videos:

  • Vetted and recommended-by-member resources with links (to Amazon for books).  These should be in their own section.  Amazon is just a place to see a book description and review.  People can buy the book or see if a copy exists at their local library.

Quotes:

  • Bible references and inspirational quotes from “famous” people.

One Point Lessons:

  • One-point lessons are: 1) short visual presentations on a single point, 2) detailed on one or two pages, 3) supported by diagrams, photographs, or drawings, 4) generated and used at the point of need.  Source:  Reducing Training Costs With One-Point Lessons by Brice Alvord.  It may cover just a sub-topic of the skill.

Related Skills:

  • A list of related skills with links, e.g. Goal Setting is related to Life Purpose or Vision.

Summary 2-page Lesson Examples:

Ready-to-use or easy-to-adapt lessons.  Note that most of the 1st generation lessons were developed for use by the teens at Mentoring Plus in Newport, KY.

Inspiration

Create An Open-Source Life Skills Toolbox

As submitted to the Big Idea Cincinnati competition in 2013.

Life doesn’t provide an instruction manual for our many roles.  Young mothers need to comfort a crying baby, a graduate needs to know how to budget and buy a car or find a job, a business owner or agency leader needs to give constructive feedback.  We frequently don’t think of our actions as skills we need to succeed let alone the process to gain the knowledge, training or experience to do these things.  If we are lucky, we learn some life skills from our teachers, parents or employers.  If not, we may struggle.

Skill definition is the starting point for learning, i.e. “what do I need to know”.  Examples include manage my time, develop a job resume or control stress.  Once curious about our learning need we then turn to the library, internet, friends or parents (or TV).  This is good but insufficient thus the idea for the Toolbox.

Skill documentation will be developed and managed by volunteer “Guides” (subject matter experts) who we will attract to build an open-source toolbox. The Guides’ reward is in building a foundation of hope, help and stability for those in need – of creating a vibrant and prosperous Greater Cincinnati.  The content should be broad:  interpersonal, financial, job & career, parenting, leadership and more.  The structure should be flexible:  skill definition, the pathway to learn it and various short and in-depth content such as lessons, exercises, tools, videos and reading.

Taking responsibility for our personal learning empowers us and it should never stop.  We all deserve coaches or mentors for encouragement but the confidence and self-esteem gained from owning our “personal development plan” is invaluable.   We want people to learn when they want to vs. having to wait for the next course to be offered or the library to be open.  The Toolbox should address all age groups, youth, teens, adults and seniors.

Imagine a “Wikipedia” of Life Skills freely available to teachers, parents, agencies and anyone who has a need to learn or teach life skills.

 

Tony Aloise

Links

The Life Solutions Network sponsors the Greater Cincinnati Mentor Leadership Alliance and personally works with many of these mentor-focused organizations.  Consider a local volunteer opportunity as a mentor.

GCMLA – Member Organizations

The Life Solutions Network produces unique content such as our Life Skills Wiki and Blog but also believes in sharing the good work of others.  The links you see are consistent with our purpose and mission but we do not have an affiliation with these organizations.  Enjoy exploring! 

Web Sites – Mentoring

Web Sites – Life

Web Sites – Life Skills

Web Sites – Financial

Web Sites – Health

Web Sites – Volunteerism

Bloggers – Life

Bloggers – Spiritual

Books – Life

The links are to Amazon.com and for reference only.  You can buy them at many places or check your library.  I have personally read each book and can recommend them.  Some are faith-based, others are more secular.

Welcome Visitors

Welcome to the LSN public web site and thanks for taking an interest in us. Please register below to get access to our free library of life skills content and mentoring and volunteer resources.

Banner - Welcome Message

Are you a new or experienced volunteer? Are you a social service professional serving to build the capability of others? If so, I think you will find a lot to like on the Life Solutions Network website.

The LSN toolbox tries to help with practical solutions to everyday problems, for example:

  • I need a job and don’t know how to develop a resume.
  • I am tired of never having enough money, what are some practical ways to save more and put a budget into place?
  • I seem to always be fighting with my boss or teenager, how can I develop better listening and communication skills.

We grow personally as we serve and the journey never ends.

Take a look at the Solutions for Individuals page. We have a goal to support you in serving to your passion and potential.

Feel free to contact me for more information or to get together.

You will be automatically be added as Friend-level access and receive our Newsletter. Contact us to be elevated to Member-level for additional page access.  Please review the membership levels on our Home page for more information.

Note: links in green font on this site require registration and appropriate access level.

Friend

 

Except for your name and e-mail address, we do not collect personal information and will not share this with third parties.  See our complete Privacy Policy.

Tony Aloise
Life Solutions Network Founder


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