This is Part 1 of a 3-part series. Part 1 on ways of life business. Part 2 on why starting a business makes sense. Part 3 on picking out stepping stones.
—
My prediction is that the Ways of Life business is the next frontier. This is where we’re heading in the 21st C. We’re not talking about product services; we’re not talking about desire manipulation; we’re talking about shaping and designing a suitable, meaningful way of life. The good news is that the spoils of Way of Life services could very well go to the good, intelligent, responsible guides out there, not to the charlatans and the cold-hearted bottom-liners. Perhaps you’re one of them?
Here are some rules of thumb for getting things under way:
- Identify spiritual needs not being met by our current institutions or social arrangements. I mean genuine life needs. (E.g., The desire for love not being met by the random hookup.)
- Come up with a new idea that could satisfy that spiritual need (or those spiritual needs). “But what’s a new idea look like?”
- Build infrastructure–forms of communication, modes of address–that allows your idea to travel but that doesn’t require any overhead. Aim for zero overhead.
- Make sure the idea can’t be outsourced or replicated because it requires your human presence. You are the Face of the idea. Let’s call this the “charisma requirement.”
- Forget about marketing and PR. That’s just fishing and attention-grabbing. Expensive and low percentage. Instead, make the idea look so desirable and make yourself look so attractive that people want to come to you. Let’s call this the “invitation requirement.”
Some examples off the top of my head:
(ex. 1) How about being a consultant who helps organizations in transition become more resilient or more robust? Resilience and robustness are buzz words today. A curator of collapsonomics!
(ex. 2) Suppose you’re an architect and an amateur sociologist to boot. Have you noticed that co-habitation is changing dramatically? The German philosopher Jurgen Habermas wrote that the modern house was designed during the 18th C. when the idea of private space began to take hold. Look at all the private rooms. Strange, huh? Well, we’re living through a “post-nuclear family” period, and I’d like to see homes, apartments, and condos re-designed to reflect all the strange forms of co-habitation going on today. An architect just needs to think imaginatively about how we could better inhabit intimate spaces. Start sketching.
(ex. 3) How about doing a whole survivor’s guide thing for “emerging adults?” These post-college individuals are totally lost in life, and they’d love to get some help–forums? guides? platforms? conversations? above all, stepping stones?–on sorting things out (and quickly)! How about rules of thumb for digging out of the muck? (Note: Starting a band would not be on the list.)
(ex. 4) Too much hedonism and such a profound, untapped yearning for spirit! Ever thought of doing some kind of ascetic retreats over Skype? Asceticism should return as a remedy to the soullessness, vacuity, and nihilism of modern life. Why not get paid to help people with this?
Further Reading
Andrew Taggart, “The Puzzle of Material Prosperity and Spiritual Cultivation”
You must be logged in to post a comment.