Hi Everyone
Time for the midweek blog post.
People keep trying to tell me “It isn’t all about you.” I always find that really hard to believe. But for this post I’m afraid it really is all about me (sorry ). I thought I would share a few things about me so you can get to know the person behind the stories (if you don’t know me already)…
1. I’m fascinated by how our minds work
I’m convinced by the principles of neurodiversity and that all of our brains work in really different ways, it’s just hard to spot because it’s not visible. I’ve been told I’m on the spectrum, and maybe that’s true. My biggest revelation about my own mind came when I discovered Aphantasia. It’s the inability to create mental images. I’m not completely ‘blind’ in my minds eye, but I find it very difficult to create mental images and rarely do. Instead I think conceptually and thrive on frameworks and models. It’s been interesting to explore how this very different way of thinking influences the writing process.
2. I love mountains
I really do. And apparently I say it a lot. When I was growing up we went on family holidays to Switzerland every year and I was forced to do lots of walking. I think I used to moan and ask why we couldn’t go to the beach like ‘normal families’ do, but now it’s my favourite kind of holiday. In the last few years I’ve done Mount Kilimanjaro, Everest base camp and Mount Kenya hikes, and later in the year I’m going to Bosnia.
3. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur
This is embarrassing, but when I was about six I saw an ad on the TV for Natwest’s new business startup account; pick up a starter pack in your local branch. So I did. I can’t imagine what the woman behind the counter thought when a small unaccompanied child walked into her branch and asked for his starter pack, but to her credit she gave it to me anyway. I didn’t know what kind of business I wanted to do, just that I wanted to be my own boss (there must be control freak issues buried there somewhere, probably not too deep). Anyway, twenty years ago I was invited to join my first agency startup and I’ve been an entrepreneur ever since.
4. I love food, maybe a bit too much
I love all kinds of food, from snack food through to fine dining. I’m particularly obsessed with marmite and cheese, often together. It does have a cost though, I try to watch what I eat and exercise a lot otherwise the pounds really do pile on, but I guess that’s a struggle lots of people have. I went pescatarian a few years ago, mostly for health reasons, and found that a good change.
5. I’m the only man of the house
Gender wise I’m outnumbered in my own home. It’s me, my wife, two daughters and a female cat called Tilly. And the companies I’ve worked at have typically been 80%+ women too, reflecting the profile of the insights industry as a whole. I think I’ve really benefited from this and think of myself as a feminist. I want my daughters to grow up in a world where they feel safe all the time, and have the same freedoms and opportunities as their male counterparts.
That’s it for now.
Thanks for reading and look out for the first Chapter out this Friday (4th of May).
Jonathan.
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This is great, very humorous and a brilliant insight into your mind.
Coincidentally, I am also frequently told “It’s not all about you”.. Which I also find very difficult to believe.
That NatWest story made me laugh out loud. That is pure Jonathan.
I think there’s a lot more of us on the spectrum than people realise.