The idea of the purple cow

Imagine you're driving along a country road.

You pass a field full of cows. Nothing unusual. Just cows grazing in a green field, much like you've probably seen hundreds of times before.

Then, off in the distance, you spot something different.

A purple cow.

The light catches it just right. You do a double take. Is that actually a purple cow?

You remember it. You tell your friends about it. Maybe you tell your family, too. Long after you've forgotten the other fields you passed that day, you still remember the purple cow.

That's the idea behind Seth Godin's Purple Cow. In a world full of things that blend into the background, being remarkable makes people stop, take notice and remember.

I first came across this idea in my first year at university, nearly ten years ago. For whatever reason, it stayed with me.

Since then, I've tried to apply it to my own career. How do I stand out? How do I do things differently? How do I become someone people remember, not simply because I'm different, but because there's something worth remembering?

I don't think the answer is to be different for the sake of it. A purple cow isn't remarkable just because it's unusual. It's remarkable because you weren't expecting to see one, and the experience stays with you.

Perhaps the challenge is finding that balance. Being curious enough to question the obvious, willing to experiment and brave enough to do things differently, while creating something that genuinely matters.

Nearly ten years on, I'm still exploring what it means to be a purple cow, both in my career and in life.

I don't have all the answers. But I have a feeling that curiosity has something to do with it.

This journal is a place to explore those thoughts, share ideas, question the things we take for granted and document what I'm learning along the way.

Because maybe becoming a purple cow starts with looking at an ordinary field and asking yourself:

What would make someone stop and take notice?