My Thing is absolutely what I love to do. My Thing is that I help people find their Thing. More specifically, I help people find their Thing and then get famous for it. My intention in this book (and everywhere I do my Thing) is to create the space for people to find that Thing they are brilliant at and then help them get paid for it. It's like marketing meets business strategy meets personal branding with a few Lucy sparkles on top.
Until I did it, I'd always known I wasn't doing my Thing. Don't get me wrong, I was very good at what I did (and that was a lot of things), it's just that I wasn't doing MY Thing. It's hard to put your finger on it but if you know, you know. I can stand up in front of a room of people and say ‘I help people find their Thing’ and anyone in the room who hasn't found their Thing yet gets it immediately. They know. Just like you knew – which is why I'm guessing you're reading this book. I'm guessing you've not quite nailed it yet (your Thing that is).
This doesn't necessarily mean you're drifting around right now in the middle of an ‘I’m trying to find myself' gap year (although it might be, and that's okay!). It's just that nag, that doubt, or if it's been there a while, that SHOUTING that is telling you ‘this’ isn't it. This is just some-thing, not your THING thing. After all, was this REALLY what you were born to do? Just be ‘good’ at something? Very often ‘this’ is a job you're doing when you actually want to be doing your own thing instead. But if you're going to take that leap into working for yourself you want it to be your ‘Thing’ thing otherwise you may as well stick where you are, doing another thing for someone else! Or maybe you took the leap already – you have a business, or you're a consultant selling something you're good at – but it's not your Thing thing and you know it. Maybe you're just doing what you're ‘good’ at to pay the bills and it's not exciting you…
What I do is find that Thing you do that's brilliant. And I didn't know this was MY Thing until I started looking for it. And I started looking for it because I'd gotten grumpy.
Why being grumpy is great
The typical side-effect of not doing your Thing yet is that you are grumpy about what you are doing. But this is good. If you're grumpy, you're far more likely to do something about how you feel than if you're ‘okay’. I do also help people who are ‘okay’ but want more, but it's when the grumpy kicks in that more of the motivation to change does too. So yes, I like grumpy people!
I once had someone message me (on Facebook, where all good business is done!) to say he was ‘beyond annoyed’ that he didn't know his Thing yet (yes Dave that was you!). That was grumpy kicking in…
Good news – you already have it
The good thing about your Thing is that you already have it. Everything you've done up to now, everything you've learnt, watched, read, experienced, understood, formed an opinion on, worked out a better way for, reacted to, adapted to, challenged, accepted and said – all of that is your Thing. Because when it comes down to it, your Thing is YOUR thing. It's what YOU do that's brilliant and it's entirely yours to own. No-one else's Thing is exactly like yours. No-one's. And that's a really good thing when it comes to selling it, as everyone wants to buy something that's different.
So, while I can help you ‘find’ your Thing, it's not actually lost. A bit like when you run around the house barking ‘where are my sunglasses?’ and you realise they've been on top of your head the entire time and, of course, everyone else could see them as plain as day… hmm, yes that's the Thing's best hiding place – in plain sight of everyone else (more on that later). The good news that you already have your Thing means there's no new qualification to pass or item to buy to get it. The trick lies in seeing it and then doing something with it! And in my world, doing something with your Thing means getting paid for it.
Here's what's coming…
This book will take you through the process I have used over and over to help people just like you find their Thing. I'll tell you where to look for your Thing and what it will feel like when you have it – those are the ‘Finding Your Thing’ chapters in Part One. Then I'll suggest (strongly!) what to do with your Thing once you've got it – that's the ‘Getting Famous for Your Thing’ chapters in Part Two. I am pretty serious when it comes to Things as the last thing I want you to do is find it then stuff it away in a cupboard out of sight so no-one gets the benefit of it. Don't get me started on that… When you have your Thing my recommendation is that you get ‘business famous’ for it. You learn how to sell your brilliant Thing to the people who need it.
Now of course once you know your Thing you can go and find a job doing it. And in fact, I do have some clients who – once they'd found their Thing – were able to find a job description that fitted, or were able to ‘develop’ their current role to do their Thing. Corrine was determined to work independently as a coach but when she saw her Thing was helping people manage choices she saw opportunities in her job (as a Business Analyst) to coach there. Having said that, Corrine has since taken the leap and is ‘on her own’, so don't rule out going solo. For most people though (and definitely myself), it's not an option to find a job doing your Thing. If you ask me, the best way to really do your Thing is to do it YOUR way.
Being an Indie Professional
‘Indie Professional’ is the name I've given to those people who are best doing their Thing (and getting paid for it). These are the people I absolutely love and choose to work with. It means being business-like, being different and definitely doing your Thing your way. It's important to me that it's ‘Indie’ not plain old ‘independent’. Why be normal when you can do something brand new?
Being an Indie Professional means you're in charge – it's your business that's allowing you to do your Thing, get paid for it and then get business famous for it. And who wouldn't want that?
Getting business famous
To make your business easy, my advice is to get known and sought after for your Thing. Just like being ‘properly’ famous, you'll be well known and recognised but the difference in being a ‘Business Celebrity’ is that what you're known for is a valuable business service or product (not that I'm suggesting all celebrities are airheads or anything… there's the odd exception, right?
Valuing your Thing means you'll get paid for doing your Thing. And if you can get paid for doing your Thing then you've just reached that holy grail of ‘doing what you love’ for your work. So now we're talking: life purpose, fulfillment, legacy – or just smiling every day, that works too.
So here's what being business famous looks like: you, standing in your own spotlight, clearly showing off what you do that's brilliant – so your value is clear and obvious to those who need it. It's about confidently attracting attention, not desperately seeking it. It's about being bold and being in business, not simply shouting and showing off with nothing to share (see previous comment about vacuous celebrities!).
The fact that you get paid for doing your Thing also demonstrates the value of what you know and have experienced. Build a business around this and you'll have something that's exciting, easy and yours. You'll have created a mini monopoly and that means you can charge and supply exactly what you want to. And while a monopoly is definitely not a good thing when it's a utility company it's brilliant when it's your business. Welcome to being in charge.
It's on the end of your nose
You could stop reading now because I've just told you exactly where your Thing is! We're not even done with the Introduction and already I'm giving it all away…
Your Thing is on the end of