Feb
09
Things, Chains, and Changing the Fucking World
Some people think this website is about small business.
Other people think this website is about marketing.
Still others — okay, most — think it is about me embarrassing myself publicly and profiting from it.
They’re not wrong, per se. They’re just not really right, either.
It’s actually a website about changing the world.
Let’s say you have a thing. Sometimes your thing is a small thing — you want to spend more time with your kids. Sometimes your thing is a big thing — you want to stop world hunger. But you have a thing because everybody has a thing.
I have a few things. I have the vegan thing. I have the unschooling thing. I have the Kiva thing.
And I have the change the fucking world thing.
You want to devote more resources to your thing. You want to give your thing more time, money, energy and attention. And something is stopping you from doing that.
The thing that is stopping you is your chain.
While there are as many possible chains as there are people and more, the biggest chain is the money chain.
As long as a person is dependent on somebody else to give them money in exchange for large amounts of time, energy and brain power, they can’t do much to change the world.
Eliminate the chain.
Do your thing.
Change the world.
Seems simple? It is, kinda.
Why is little Johnny fat? Well, there are lots of little superficial reasons for childhood obesity, but let’s look at the domino effect.
A child is obese because of a combination of dietary problems, activity problems, and self-esteem problems.
Johnny has dietary problems because no-one is there to show him — by example and without being a bitch about it — the how and the why of nutritious eating. Mom and dad are slammed at work and are either absent when he’s eating or they’re present but feeding him shit. Maybe they try to give him “healthy” food but it’s so full of chemicals that it’s fucking with Johnny’s brain.
Johnny has activity problems because at some point somebody taught him — maybe mom or maybe the media or maybe the kid down the street — that being entertained by pixels in a box was more stimulating than the rush that comes along with physical activity.
Johnny has self-esteem problems because nobody has the time to teach him how to love himself, understand himself, value himself or know himself. “Who fucking cares about Johnny anyway?”, says Johnny, as he reaches for the Doritos and the Xbox controller.
Now, childhood obesity is not my thing. I don’t care too much about what Johnny’s mother feeds him. But somebody does care. And that person can’t do their thing because they’re in a cube somewhere hoping that someday they’ll be able to get out, do their thing and save Johnny.
So I don’t want to save Johnny. I want to save the woman in the cube so SHE can save Johnny.
There are a lot of resources on starting a home business out there. Some teach you how to declutter your mind and your desk so you can get on with work. Some teach you about productivity. Some provide a supportive place where you don’t feel so alone.
I suppose I could do one of those, but there are lots of websites and books and courses that are already doing those things quite well. Plus they’re not my thing.
Marketing is one of my things, so I made the website about that.
No marketing = no sales.
No sales = no business.
No business = no resources.
No resources = no thing.
The world needs your thing.
It has come to my attention that writing a blog about marketing and stopping at that is not the most efficient way to break the chains and save the world. So I’m going to go away and think about what I can be doing better. I’m teaching Marketing 101 to an amazing group of people and that’s going to be a great start, but I’m going to need some time to come up with something awesome. So you’re going to get some pretty incredible guest posts over the next little bit, while I refocus.
IttyBiz isn’t going anywhere, and it’s only going to get better, I promise.
In the meantime, tell us about YOUR thing.
My ‘thing’? Amnar is my thing. You know that bit in Stranger Than Fiction where she says she decided to make the world a better place with cookies?
Well I’m doing it with this world – a story about a girl finding her destiny, a guy struggling with the decision to leave his family behind so he can serve his country. A bunch of people trying to make their world a better place. Giving people something to believe in, and somehow, through fiction, the courage to go out and make the world a better place.
That’s my thing.
My things?
I help people understand a particular program, WordPress MU, which is like WordPress but multiplied so you can “Be the next Wordpress.com”. Or something like that.
And I help people set this up so they can get on the business of their own blog network, which might help them out of their own rut, or give them a bit of an extra income.
I guess, for some, it helps fulfill their dream.
My thing is giving people a decent shot and a chance at something better. I don’t care if that’s by making a new friend, getting out of isolation, listening to someone while they’re having a hard time, writing them some copy that converts, building a business with a pretty design that makes people go OOOohhh, suggesting a small change they could make to free up an hour or get a higher rate.
All I care about is having someone come and say, “Thank you. I took a chance because I tried what you suggested and it worked. I’m happier now.” If I hear that, I’ve done my job.
My BIG thing is helping people see patterns, and how things fit together, which can sometimes help you see why things that you thought were bad may NOT have been.
My work thing pays the bills and introduces me to more people who need help seeing how things fit.
Y’know, I’m not sure I’ve ever nailed it down like that before. Thanks for making me think about it, Naomi!
One thing for me is to be able to help animals. I mean, I am anyway, but I seem to be putting myself into debt doing it. It would be nice to be able to do it without worry.
On a much smaller scale and much closer to me, I want to be able to help my grandma. To give her the things she lacks and sacrifices when she does *her* helping.
My thing has long been to get people to understand that creating plans around communication – an actual strategy with implementable tactics – is critical to business success. Not the ugly step-sister of marketing, Communication is Marketing’s twin. A fraternal twin perhaps, but a twin nonetheless.
Without a plan and actions born of that plan, the best marketing in the world will still fall flat.
So I guess in my ideal world, I’d be strolling down some hedge-lined English lane with Namoi, hand-in-hand, helping people fulfill their Things by Communicating better, while Naomi helps them Market the hell out of their Thing.
My thing? I’m looking for my thing! But my soul-sucking, mind-numbingly boring job has stolen all my thing-thinking ability.
I’m trying to learn to be true to myself — and thereby pursue my thing — but I have no idea who I am anymore. That’s where Naomi has hit it dead on. You can’t do your thing — or, as in my case, find your thing — chained to a 9 to 5.
I’ve got a plan, but it’s going v-e-r-y slowly. Mostly, I need to find the anatomical fortitude to take the plunge.
I didn’t know you did the vegan thing, that makes me heart you even more! :) Plus unschooling is pretty awesome.
I can’t wait to talk to you! I am working on my thing, which is probably going to be a health-thing or a do-your-thing-thing. Might seem silly, but yeah.
I just got some bad news about my grandfather today, so I’m afraid I’m going to stop focusing on my thing. I think this might just push me and motivate me even more though.
My thing is a bit like your thing in that it bothers me a lot that people hate their jobs. Particularly when they are doing jobs they love. The job I know best is academia. Was one. didn’t work for me, but hindsight being what it is…. So I help academics (social scientists and humanists, really) love their jobs. Or do more of what they love about their jobs. And stop stressing about all kinds of stuff that they really don’t need to stress about.
I wish I knew how to distill that thing into some kind of searchable key word though.
This post really hit home for me. I’m creating two photo books – one on rescue dogs and one on deaf dogs – both to help animal rescues raise money and also educate about the animal rescue problem. I’m about to start a road trip across the U.S. to photograph for the books, a huge undertaking, but instead of focusing all of my effort on that, I’m trying to keep my day job editing from home, so that I can still pay my mortgage, fund the trip, try to get these books printed, so they can help rescues make a difference, so that I can make a difference, so that more animals can get off the streets and into good homes, blah, blah, blah… It’s hard to concentrate on everything I want to do, because I’m so worried about my bills. I imagine a large number of your readers have this same issue. Can’t wait to see what you have in store!
P.S. I embarrass myself publicly all the time, but unlike you, I don’t profit from it. Please show me the way.
Wow, Naomi! what a great, great post, and how glad I am to read it on this Monday morning. Thank you for showing up like this! You’re an inspiration.
My thing is about helping people get clear of the stuff that’s keeping them from their thing. So when I read some of the comments here, I just want to reach out and say, YES, yes, yes, you CAN do your thing. But it’s so hard to do it all by yourself. It’s so hard to see the stories and limiting beliefs that we all carry around – drag around – behind ourselves.
I wouldn’t be here, doing my thing, if it weren’t for the help of other people – good friends, great coaches, incredible support – on getting clear of my stuff.
So a big huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s helping. And for those of you who know you want to do something, but who may not know exactly what or how – hang in there, keep going. And get help. It’s a lot easier that way.
My thing has been living a life worth living and attempting to self actualize all the things I already know. I am a healer and a communicator. I know humanity and see so much for them, but not sure how to do it really, how to help “bigger”. to step up my responsibility. i started a blog, so i am moving, I want to create security, although I have had to really step away from it to have the courage to do something new. Perhaps marketing would be the answer, I feel I have so much knowledge, ability and desire, just not sure how to get my thing out there. thanks for your insight, i will be thinking more about this.
Hey, maybe the 60’s have finally returned ( which makes this baby boomers heart very glad) cause that was the last time we heard people talking about doing your thing – which we called “Doing your thang!”, but our issues around not being able to spell, because we were constantly stoned out of our minds, is a whole other story
Anyway, as usual you have hit a very powerful emotional chord, which is that we all want to be doing something with our lives that feels like we are contributing to making the world a better place. I think that is completely hardwired into us and that is why so many people are unhappy when they find themselves stuck in meaningless jobs that are often making the world a more sucky place.
My thing ( or thang ) is that I want to help people to reclaim their natural ability to be creative and to live a creative life. There is way too much bullshit in the culture about what it means to be an artist, and how only certain very special people get to be creative and the rest of us just get to sit on the sidelines and watch or consume.
I came to my creativity pretty late in my life because I didn’t believe that I was a creative person. Now, it’s all I do. I live with an amazing man who’s an artist and musician and our home is one big, crazy, art studio. My creativity is also my spiritual practice and my medicine. It keeps me healthy and sane and alive and whole. I couldn’t be happier.
My thing is that I want other people to experience that same joy and happiness that I have found in being creative and that the main thing that stops people from having that joy is the belief that they are not good enough or that they have to be perfect or that they don’t have talent or all the other crazy bullshit that the culture feeds us about being creative …. which JUST MAKES ME WANT TO TEAR MY HAIR OUT…..AAARRGHHH!!!
OK…. I’m calmer now.
I have my own business called Creative Juices Arts where I help other people who are blocked or don’t believe in themselves to fall in love with themselves through their creativity or who want to experience their creativity as a path to spirit and a source of soul transformation and healing. Which is a really cool thing that allows me to feel like I am contributing something of value which helps other people.
Thanks Naomi! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. I know that it will be just fabulous. And congrats on getting a headline above Michael Port!
Beautiful post! I’m so glad you wrote this, Naomi. A post like this confirms and reinforces your resolution.
And you are doing so great. You surely helped my thing to take off. I just published my 1 year anniversary gratitude on my blog Yes to Me, and in it, I shared my January financial of my Akashic Record Reading business (made $6K — not a super glamorous figure, but not too shabby for a 9 month old buz, huh?) Your advice really have made a difference.
Oh, and since you are encouraging solicitation — I do my share of undoing the chains and freeing up people and their energy. Only I do it by reading people’s soul records (called Akashic Records), find the energetic blocks and restrictions, and clearing them. This may sound vague, but the effects are very real.
* Come to akashicrecordreading.com to read Naomi’s testimonial *
We talked about one of my biggest things on the phone a lot. Changing the world by being the changes I want to see, that’s my thing. Teaching people how to connect with each other, how to communicate with themselves and each other, that’s my thing.
My other thing, my before-this-moment-it-was-mostly-secret thing, is surrogacy: I’m working on getting myself to a state where I can carry babies for alternative families (or alternative single people) who can’t or don’t want to have one on their own.
My health goals started out being all about reaching this state, but somewhere along the way, I started being healthy for me. I’m still working toward goals that will better enable me to do this thing, but now I’m becoming healthier for me and the surrogacy is a bonus. (:
I haven’t talked about it much, but there you go. My things.
This is my favorite post of yours since my friend Amy turned me onto your site last fall.
You and I share the “change the fucking world” thing, for sure. The only thing better than changing the fucking world is helping others change their fucking world. Amen.
Great post, Naomi! My thing is helping support dog rescue groups acquire the funding they need to do the valuable work they do. I paint custom pet portraits for the kind and generous people who donate big bucks to a select few of the thousands of rescue groups around the country. I can’t work on the front lines of dog rescue — I’d be one big snivelly snotty pile of emotions — but I can use my artistic ability to help.
Good luck to you on your vision quest…we’ll all be better off for your time and effort.
I think I sell self-confidence and esteem. I help folks feel better about their wardrobe options. I also help women and men to accessorize and extend what they currently have in closets.
I also sell amazing handbags, and great mens’ accesories. I’m not online with that yet, but I will be.
My “thingy” is to help people change elegantly and deeply. To respond to the world around them. I am a Shaman and do “enlightenment coaching”. I have a deep metaphysical background and work with people on their way to awakening, and beyond. Absolute responsibility. At this point, it is time we reach beyond the allure of enlightenment, I help people do that.
Thanks Naomi.
rickparis17@yahoo.com
What a fabulous post, simply the best I have seen in a long time. Talk about nailing ‘it’, you totally did in this post. We only recently discovered the site, it is now a daily read.
Our thing is being able to work together for the greater good, us being myself and The Spousal Unit. We both had lengthy tv careers, ultimately both as department heads (at the same stations), leading two generally antagonistic departments, news & promotion. We were able to accomplish a lot of good for those needing help, be it Honduran hurricane victims, Oklahoma City bombing survivors and the community as a whole, etc., etc. In a nutshell: leveraging the power of the medium and the brand to accomplish good things. It was also a big plus for employees to be able to participate in these things, it never ceased to be an eye-opening and sometimes life-changing experience to shepherd one of these things through its lifecycle.
So now we get to work together again, only in our own small business, with the end goal of doing well enough to donate lots of $$$ to two groups we feel strongly about, Fisher House & Dogs for the Deaf.
Our thing is leveraging our combined efforts to make a positive difference. Thanks to you and the Itty Biz community, the journey is a little easier.
Dudes, these comments are blowing my mind. I am so moved. Keep on rocking, please!
I might be looking at this from a self-centered POV, but spending time with (and providing for) my child is a big thing…possibly the biggest. I’m a solo parent with a thang (southerner, not boomer) for helping kids and teens realize that they can change their worlds and helping them develop the skills they need to do it – that kind of thing has to start at home.
Those are my biggest related things. My other thang is listening to people and helping them to plan, implement, and market their things – escape from a hated job, securing a desired job, getting (or keeping) a business going, or any combination of those things. I’ve got to eliminate the chain so I can do my thang with passion and persistence.
I had been looking at the money “chain” as a money “anvil”. Thanks for the new view. The money chain is still a big chain, but it seems like it allows for more movement (read accomplishment) than an anvil.
Good luck with your things (and thangs)!
Naomi,
My thing, outside my wonderful work and wonderfuller kid, is helping women break free from domestic violence. I use my money when I can, my mouth all the darned time, my creativity, and my time when my local charities can benefit. The f**king world can’t change fast enough for women and children who’ve lived through physical, psychological, or financial abuse.
May you do your thing a brilliantly as you always help others to do theirs. Happy hunting for your future awesomeness.
Regards,
Kelly
Dude.
I’m so excited by your words.
HURRAH! and YAY! to you.
My thing?
Is to help women all around the world see they are a Goddess.
And that they can live joyful, creative, sacred, empowered, gorgeous Goddess lives.
I’ve got two things, a ‘me’ thing and a ‘you’ thing, I guess.
For me, I really enjoy the quiet spaces between doing, aka Doing Nothing. As much as I really love accomplishment and creation and doing, I also loooove me some nothing days.
For you, which is by far the cooler thing, I love making your world a more beautiful place. My favorite work this past year was the three commission paintings I did, giving people something they thought was cool and beautiful and awesome for their walls, and I would love, love, love to do more of that. I also enjoy making people’s websites nifty looking, but that’s starting to really take a back seat to just making cool things for cool people.
I don’t know if it’s very smart financially to try to move away from being a designer and toward being an artist, but I know it’s a pull I’ve had for a long time. Well, that and the nothing thing. ;)
My thing is making a clean tidy dog out of a filthy matted mess. Most people don’t want to spend the time/acquire the skills to do more than bathe a smooth coated dog, and if it’s a large dog and they have a bad back, not even that. It just feels so good when people bring the dog back and it’s in good shape because they LISTENED to what you told them!
It’s also a great way to acquire second-hand dogs: I’ve never been a dog’s first owner (waving to the dog rescue people up there.)
Now I need to transition to working for myself, at home, because my father lives with me now (he’ll be 96 next week.)
When we know what we are trying to accomplish it makes the decision process easier. It all comes down to tying the end results to a passion that pushes us to be awesome.
Every entrepreneur has days they feel like giving up, but they don’t because they know how important it is that they are out in the world making a difference.
My thing is to help people learn math and have fun doing it. It’s good to laugh while you learn math. I’m a math tutor and trying to make it go as a business.
Another thing is that I listen to people and give them things to think about that help them on their way be it with school, jobs, and people in their lives.
Hmmm….great post, great question, Naomi. I think maybe there are seasons where certain themes (or things) are more dominant in our lives than others.
Like you taking a break to regroup and determine how to move forward with your main thing.
For years, my thing was homeschooling. It’s still important to me (I’m still in the middle of it!) but I’m not quite as evangelistic about it these days. Right now, I’m focused on empowering stay-at-home moms (including homeschool moms) to step up, take a risk, and discover *their* thing. And then I’m teaching them how to create online businesses that honor their family priorities.
As I grow and change, my main thing will grow & change with me. But I think it will always relate in some way to the value of each unique individual and the power of family.
Deann
PS Funny – I feel I should add some salty language to make this more colorful but then that wouldn’t be my thing – I’d be stealing one of yours. ;)
Telling stories. That’s my thing. I really want to tell stories. Romances. Thrillers. Fun stuff. Because there are women out there who are working their asses off doing something they love, like being lawyers, real estate agents, computer programmers, or stay at home moms. Or maybe even micro-business marketing consultants. (ahem)
And at the end of the day, they need a break, some time for themselves. For some of them, maybe that’s a little time to unwind in front of their favorite TV show, or time to have a few drinks with friends or their sweetheart. But for some of them, their favorite break is a story. A really great story. A story that reaches up through the pages, grabs them by the throat and sucks them in.
And the better the story I write–the more I can engage them with a laugh, a good cry, or a page-turning thrill ride–the more I’m helping them rest up and recharge, so that they can get up the next day and go back to work and their Thing, and rock it the hell out.
That’s what I want.
What a great post and what great timing for me since I just recently realized my “thing” was staring me right in the face.
My thing is helping people with food restrictions find safe food to eat. My 3.5 year old daughter is allergic to corn in even trace amounts. Corn derivatives are so much a part of our food system she can’t eat 99.9% of most food sold in a normal grocery store. (Ever wonder why those apples are soooo shiny.) Figuring out her allergy and finding her food to eat has made me realize how hard basic things like eating are for people with any food restrictions.
I’ve just started on a project to combine my computer programming knowledge with my allergy knowledge to create a system to help people with food restrictions. Both to find things to eat at home as well as safely travel beyond their home base without worrying about getting sick or hungry. My end goal is to give my daughter and people like her a way of living as normal and healthy a life as they can.
(No website link since I’m just starting and don’t have even so much as a blog up yet.)
I help people, including myself, to share their travel experiences.
I hope to either entertain people from the comfort of their armchair or inspire them to go out and see the world.
Andy
“words & pictures to inspire & enthuse”
I’m not fat. I’m big-boned.
Its perhaps a little too self absorbed for most but I want my family to live a life less ordinary…….simple in theory, difficult and frightening in practise.
I just want my kids to have the most engaging, absorbing and enlightened upbringing they possibly can, including, but not limited to, having a mother and father who are not on the mouse wheel of corporate life, growing and eating their own food (sorry Naomi, but thats gunna include food that clucks and moos), swimming, running and climbing more hours a day than sitting and so on.
Snaps Naomi, to you, your website and perhaps more importantly your story, for inspiring without preaching and instilling in others the courage to say “Fuck it, I’m going for it!”
Thank You Naomi for helping me crystallize my thoughts.
My thing is very near your thing.
My thing is standing behind the person who wants to change the world. To enable people achieve their dreams. To help bring more joy and happiness and yes – freedom to the world.
With things as they are today who knows what they really want my guess peace of mind my concern where the hell has it gone.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
My thing?
I’m starting small, I want to change myself. I want to change my city.
My hope is that, by changing my city, and making it my home, I can inspire others to do the same.
I’m going to do it with a small business, that encompasses everything my city needs. Good food, community awareness, and a collaboration of ideas.
I’d bet my shoes that you already know what it is, so giving yourself a bit of time and space will allow you to notice what you already know, and maybe even give yourself permission to go do it.
Go take the time you need to bring the pieces together Naomi, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
As Curly said in City Slickers – the secret of life is one thing. Just one thing. What’s the thing? That’s for you to figure out.
My thing? It’s getting people to feel kick-ass, real-world confident so they feel ready to get going on their thing.
My thing?
To help people see the beauty and talent they have within and become brave enough to let it out.
To that end I’m writing a book, Color Your Life Happy.
I have been searching for my thing for a while now. I use to be clear about what my thing was until the kids started to grow up and get their own thing. At the moment I am working on getting my own thing back.
my thing….is my family.
They have taught me lots about what life is really about.
So I have another thing. I help people in their business to figure out their thing, because at the end of the day if you are doing your thing, helping other people to do their thing then you are HAPPY when you are with your FAMILY….which goes back to my THING.
Great blog, can’t wait to read some more, thanks for being to real!
I’m brand new to ittybiz; what an awesome site. *
Like Chris Z. above, ‘creativity’ is my thing. I was in my mid 40’s working as a web analyst when the concept of ‘creativity’ came into my life. Now it’s everywhere.
To put it into mission statement-style form, my thing is “To Explore, Promote, and Inspire Creativity.”
My overall personal mission statement is “to encourage and inspire the pursuit of happiness in an entertaining way”; which explains why I LOVE what you do, Naomi, and who you are as expressed in the honest, straight-forward, and funny content of your site (salty language and all). *
As a general statement, it’s amazing how the posted comments show how at the core of all human beings is the inherent desire to be of service. What a concept!
the “*”s in my previous comment…
*notice the use of semicolons ;)
I loved your tattoo story. Thank you for sharing it with us.
“I didn’t know you did the vegan thing, that makes me heart you even more! :) Plus unschooling is pretty awesome.” – I totally agree!
My thing is making elegant software with inherent quality instead of the cross-your-fingers effect that’s running billion dollar systems right now.
My thing is to increase productivity and get to work on what we were hired to do, instead of mindnumbing paperwork and meetings. Agile does this, so my thing is also agile. (this is the one I’m going to monetize right now)
My thing is animals. Helping dogs by giving them homes and money in shelters. Being a vegetarian now and hopefully a vegan later.
My thing is breastfeeding and attachment parenting and doing what’s best for our children even though it’s hard and inconvenient.
My thing…helping people with skills they think they cannot do. Mostly in the realm of knitting and crochet, but it is awesome to see people be able to fix a mistake themselves that before they would have untraveled a whole project (!) or had to have someone else fix.
I also bring tradition back to the craft world- I make yarns and fibers that are unique and one of a kind, things that can’t be made on a machine and that others find too time intensive to try.
Great thoughts, very much on target. Figure out what it is and go for it! Kind of like the old saying, “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”