Things That Matter

I recently discovered a copy of Start Something That Matters, an autobiography-slash-business/

life manual by the founder of the TOMS shoe company (who, by the way, is named Blake, not Tom). While it is unlikely that I will do anything even close to founding a company, shoe or otherwise, any time soon, I am fascinated by both his story and his opinions on making businesses and charitable endeavors work. It all starts, he says, with a good story.
 

For Blake, the story was discovering simple, durable shoes in Argentina and realizing that he could both introduce these shoes to the American consumer and provide shoes in general to the millions of people worldwide who couldn't afford them and were suffering immensely without shoes. Through a tremendous amount of creative business-building and telling his story, Blake turned Toms into a worldwide phenomenon, both in business and in charitable giving.
 

So, if I am unlikely to create anything nearly that large, what do I take away from the story?
 

Well, the story itself. The idea that telling your story not only strengthens your own cause, but enables others to buy into it. Which somehow sounded a whole lot like my blogging daily.
 

The idea of keeping the things that can be simple well, simple. When we are surrounded by things that are hard to understand or hard to accomplish, it is immensely freeing and empowering to have some things that are manageable, simple, and not encumbered by layers of baggage and bureaucracy.
 

The idea of using the free and available resources around us--whether social media, our own personal networks, or local goods or media outlets.
 

Again, don't be expecting me to start a company any time soon. "Starting Something That Matters" is about starting all sorts of things in our lives, many of which can be guided by the same principles that help create a successful large business or charity. Story, passion, simplicity, resourcefulness. All pretty good ways to start a new day or a new plan.