10:54am Friday
Saint Paul
Two months ago I got an urge to write advice for my two young children.
Something they might not understand today, but that would be available to them when they are ready.
So I fired up a Google Doc and started writing.
Short ideas. No structure.
And before I closed it, I had seven pages of ideas I wanted to share with them.
(I’ve since added a page, but it seemed that most of the things I wanted to get down on “paper” made it on that first pass.)
Then I looked at it and thought, “well this is nice and all. But if it were structured into chapters, with personal stories illustrating ideas, it would probably be more valuable to the kids.”
So maybe I’ll work on that.
But one idea in there is what I want to share with you today.
Predictability.
People want you to be predictable.
You show up to work on time. You wear the same style of clothing. You keep your promises.
Or, maybe you don’t keep promises—and people know that about you, and like that you’re predictable in that sense.
There is power in your predictability. It builds trust and authority. It can build a brand.
But it doesn’t get attention in quite the same way as unpredictability.
There is power in being unpredictable, too.
When you are UNpredictable, people don’t know what to expect.
Unpredictability draws attention—for good or for bad.
Unpredictable ads get seen.
Unpredictable writing gets read.
Unpredictable political candidates get their supporters excited and their opponents freaked out.
And unpredictable choices can open new ways for you to see the world and expand your self-imposed comfort zone.
Beyoncé just released a “country album” named Cowboy Carter.
I listened to it last night. There are a few country songs, but I’m not sure I’d call it a country music album.
No matter—it’s drawn a lot of attention to her, bringing in new listeners (like me) just to see what the fuss is about.
Kanye West said it best in his track The Good Life:
50 told me, “Go ‘head, switch the style up
And if they hate then let ’em hate
And watch the money pile up”
Sprinkle in some unpredictability into your life, *|FNAME|*.
Maybe start with a different colored shirt.
Or talk to someone new.
Or spend 10 minutes in silence.
I can’t really tell you what it is for you, because we’re all different.
But I do know, it’s brought great benefits to my life.
New friends.
New opportunities.
New ways to view the world.
This weekend, do something unpredictable—not dangerous—and let me know what it was and how it turned out for you.
Jeffrey