Today is Jill’s birthday.
You may be wondering why I’ve used a photo of Elvis, but keep reading and all will be revealed.
Anyway, because I know she never reads this blog, I can tell you it’s a big birthday for her.
Not that she looks it …
I still remember when we first started going out and I was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation.
She came into the hospital to see me and asked where I was, to which the nurse said, “Are you here to see your Dad?”
I mean, I knew my illness had made me look rough … but I didn’t know I looked that rough, haha!
Anyway, she is someone who never asks for anything …
Or wants to be made a fuss of.
For her, happiness is being surrounded by the family who love her and not being mentioned on this blog, haha.
And while I can definitely promise her the former, I am sorry to say I can’t do the latter … because this is a significant birthday and it needs to be celebrated and referenced.
And while our gift to signify the day doesn’t involve Elvis – as it did for her 30th and 40th – it does involve something that hopefully lets her feel just how special she is to me and to us, because if there’s anyone we want to know that – it’s her.
So Happy birthday my dear Jill, we hope you have an amazing day and we’re so lucky to have you in our lives.
Rx
So today it’s my birthday.
I’m 56.
FIFTYFUCKINGSIX.
I’ve never felt my age, but right now, I can’t even comprehend how old I am.
Just 4 years off 60.
Or said another way, 4 years from being the same age as Dad when he died.
For years that number haunted me … and it will probably be very emotional for me, when I turn that age … but right now, I feel closer to 40 than 60.
Part of it is my attitude … or as Peter Mensch say’s, my “immunity from maturity”, hahaha.
But another part – and I appreciate how superficial this is – is how I look.
Don’t worry, I don’t think I’m Brad Pitt or anything – I’m more like ‘Arm Pit’ – but recently I was watching something with Otis when a 50 year old man was interviewed and I caught Otis staring at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“Nothing. I just can’t work out how he looks so much older than you, when you’re older than him”.
He said it with an air of confusion, consideration and happiness.
Which made me happy.
Not necessarily because I look – at least to him – younger than some 50 year old on the television, but because it means I’m healthier so I’m more likely to be around him him longer than I once may have been.
And while even that may not be as long as I hope or wish … to me, that’s the greatest gift I could ever receive. Albeit this weekend, I’ll be watching the start of the World Cup and eating like ‘old Rob’, hahaha.
Have a great weekend, I know I will be.
“Don’t take things for granted”.
Often those words are associated with work-life balance or more specifically family.
Making sure you’re home in time to see the kids before bedtime.
Making sure your whole life is spent saying, “I’ll do that when I’m older”.
Making sure you don’t spend so much time on what could be, you miss what’s happening now.
It’s good advice, one I started to truly understand way too late.
But I’m not actually talking about that, I’m talking about promises, proclamations and plans.
Especially when they involve or need another person.
Not because anyone is out to fuck you over – though there may be some out there who do, but they’re pricks and its less about you and way more about them – but because situations and circumstance change so promises, proclamations and plans change. Even if you – and whoever it affects – wishes it didn’t.
So, what do you do?
Well despite the fact I started a company called ‘cynic’, the answer is not to become cynical and question the motivations, beliefs and actions of everyone and everything you come into contact with.
I appreciate some will think that approach can protect them from any bullshit they face along the way … but it also means they miss out on the magic and possibilities that can happen when they embrace the people and opportunities that are all around them. Mainly because the wall they build to keep bullshit out is also the wall that stops goodshit coming in.
I was one of those people for a while.
Triggered by the actions of some people who – for reasons I will never understand – tried to fuck me over.
Well, not specifically fuck me over, more try to undermine me so my efforts didn’t highlight what they weren’t putting any effort into.
But I got out of that situation quickly and yet it scarred me to such an extent I did build walls around me for anyone else who encountered me.
And all I was doing was limiting myself from what was in my grasp if I just got over myself about what may get taken away.
Which is how I learned the real meaning behind not taking things for granted.
Because while things may not always work out as you planned, you stand a much better chance if you do a few things right.
Like turning up.
Giving your best.
Taking responsibility.
Being objective, not subjective.
Being transparent about your expectations and living up to your standards.
Staying being open to what could happen while being strong on what needs to happen.
Listening to others, even if they do things differently to what you know.
And enjoying yourself. Maybe not all of the time, but most of the time.
Because attitude impacts outcomes as much as expertise.
Doesn’t mean you don’t have to graft for it …
Doesn’t mean you should dismiss your value and values …
But to paraphrase the famous Gary Player’ the more you care, the better things can become.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, America, Attitude & Aptitude, China, Comment, Consultants, Effectiveness
I was talking to someone recently about town planning – don’t ask – and mentioned a story I’d heard about a Chinese architect.
Apparently a local Shanghai government council had reached out to him asking to help design a new area of their district. As part of their briefing, they’d said they wanted it to look and feel like parts of New York. This architect went on to explain that it wasn’t possible because what had really impacted how NYC was designed, was time.
I would link to the article because I wrote a post about it years ago, but can I find it? Can I hell.
Anyway, this got me thinking about creativity and how – with the pressure to PROVE our work is effective in the shortest amount of time possible or face the risk of the client firing us – we may be stopping our ideas from ever fulfilling their full potential.
Or the clients are.
Now I appreciate we live in competitive times.
I also appreciate there needs to see signs of positive impact and/or change along the way, rather than just have blind faith.
But we also need to acknowledge that some ideas take time to find their time. Or audience.
History is littered with examples of this but they didn’t happen because someone forced it, it’s because there needed to be the conditions for it.
The point being, that I am fed up of the narrative that ad agencies don’t care about effectiveness. Almost as fed up as I am that consultancies like McKinsey, Bain and Deloittes are the masters of it. Putting aside their whole business model is founded on telling companies what to do rather than take any responsibility for fixing any of it – we need the clients to be part of the solution. To commit in terms of attitude, conditions and time.
The quest for quick wins is increasingly resulting in us getting exactly that. A quick win … not a long, lasting and sustainable win.
Because we’re so focused on speed, we fail to value the need and impact of time.
There’s a lot of debate about gender at the moment.
Everyone seems to have an opinion … which then triggers more opinion about the people who expressed an opinion.
It’s become an endless loop of people shouting at each other, rather than listening to each other. As usual.
Which may explain why I loved this story I heard recently.
If you like tomatoes, you must be OK with the trans community …
Because how else can you explain liking something that was born a fruit but identifies as a vegetable?
And I like tomatoes.