As I’ve written many times, my parents drilled into me that a life of fulfillment is much more valuable than a life of contentment.
As I’ve also written many times, I didn’t realise what this really meant until I hit my late 30’s.
And yet, despite that, I seemed to have embraced their philosophy in how I was living my life, including who I hired.
Put simply, I gave always valued someone who lived an interesting life more than someone who lived an interesting advertising life.
You’d think the two are connected, but that’s not always the case.
And that’s why I liked – and still like – people who have tried stuff.
It almost doesn’t matter if it worked out or not, the key is they’ve tried things and can recognise why it all turned out as it did.
Even if that’s about acknowledging the importance of luck.
So people who have travelled, worked in different industries, toured in a band, studied contemporary art, been arrested, written a fanzine, graffiti’d the hell out of things, created stuff – even if that’s kids beds – will always be initially more attractive to me than someone who studied advertising, worked in advertising and made advertising.
That doesn’t mean people who live an ‘ad-life’ aren’t good or valuable – of course they are – but I genuinely believe the more experiences you have, the more you will contribute to ideas that don’t just differentiate themselves from the usual ad noise, but offer a point of view that is undeniably infectious creatively and culturally.
Because as Peter Ustinov, the great actor, once said …
“People who reach the top of the tree are those who haven’t got the qualifications to detain them at the bottom”.
But here’s the thing …
While I am celebrating ‘generalists’, this is more than just someone who flitters from one thing to another.
I’m talking about those who commit to something. Throw themselves into what they do. Are seriously wounded when it goes wrong but have it open doors to something new they may never have considered without.
And while outsiders may see all this as random acts of experimentation, is actually a continuous stream of fulfillment because the people who do this stuff know the more they live, the more they have to offer.
Or to paraphrase Mr Ustinov, the more you explore, the more see what’s possible.