Izzy is a master at continuously doing the same thing in a different way. As a cat she is magnificent at finding different places to sleep. As a human, I clearly had to up the ante, and so imagined a more daring challenge. What could be bigger than to do as many things differently today as possible?
Years as a passionate marketer, compelled me to capture the main highlights as a list of ‘insights’and frustrations:
1. Inspiration and mentorship can be discovered anywhere and from any being, yes a cat can be a mentor, so give credit where it is due.
2. Salad for breakfast and cereal for lunch do not stave off cravings for real food (eg Lean Pockets – that also can be munched whilst driving). I will not repeat this part.
3. Driving in silence is uber boring, no podcasts + no music +no phone calls + no ambience = commuter tedium ! The journey goes slower as the mind has no distraction.
4. As a right hander, left handed eating with a fork is plain sailing, but try a spoon and it becomes annoyingly tricky.
5. In a similar way, I realized that left handed computer mouse usage becomes painfully intolerable after only a handful of minutes.
The above scenario led to the suspension of the challenge around 2pm, with the following repercussions:
6. Note to self - parking in a new garage requires perception and attention - as mental auto pilot steers you to a fruitless search in the wrong spot. The addition of tiredness, hunger and winter leads to irrationality and delusions of surprising proportions.
7. You can still do something different without being so radical…Serendipity struck on the drive home as I discovered that classical music can go metal ! Check out “Thrash” by Eric Schwartz, featured on The Classical Music Discoveries podcast, and found via a random podcast search on Stitcher Radio.
8. I must do something differently more often …Thanks Izzy, you’ve earned some delicious wet cat food tomorrow.
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About the author: A Brit Marketer, happily living in the US, and Director - Kenmore Brand at Sears. Blogs about brands, innovation, creativity and music across the pond and beyond! You can read his blog here.
