Am I a Linky Brain? Or a Leaky Brain
When I first read it I thought it said Leaky Brain. I think I have one of those.
Then I read a bit more here and here and questioned whether it’s a term for women, as it’s only men listed on their website #diversity :)
So what the hell is it seriously, I want to know. Do I want in?
Is it basically people who are wired differently. People who think differently and don’t give a crap about fitting in. People who make leaps, links and might be seen as outside of the norm.
I’m much older than people normally think I am, because I look about 27. I’m 10 years older than that. It’s taken me a long time to start to understand myself, much to my frustration. It’s like an endless search of discovery. And you know what, I might never totally understand because my brain is ever evolving. And I’m going to just roll with it.
So here’s what I’ve learnt:
I will always be quite immature. I don’t want to ever take things so seriously it alters who I am. I want to find the fun and passion in things. If someone says it’s not a good idea I’ll probably do it.
I have massive imposter syndrome. I only discovered that term last year. Then a lot made sense. I’ve been pretty lucky where I’ve worked, on what accounts and what I’ve learnt. I joined M&C Saatchi’s digital start up in 2005–2010 and helped them get their first retainer worth millions (maybe +£3M over the years) with RBS Group. Jim the main client liked me and always signed off costs without any questions, because he trusted me. Even though I knew this I still had imposter syndrome.
I constantly connect the dots, it can be tiring. I like to sleep quite a lot, like 7–9hrs a night. My brain often feels in overdrive.
I connect the dots by structure and seeing things as networks/links. If that makes any sense to anyone?
Connecting the dots gives me energy. It also takes it away.
I’m a bloody ambivert, I’ve done those tests.
I’m more introverted, and discovered a love of reading in my 30s. I love being alone watching films and reading, and since I’ve accepted this I hate being in crowds or with loud noise. I have to do yoga and meditation to keep me grounded.
I used to drink quite a bit and party quite a bit. I was more extroverted then. I got ill more frequently and felt it wasn’t sustainable, normal I’m sure. I now don’t really drink or go out. It’s either on or off.
I’m shit at letting anyone help me. I’m proud and stubborn and like learning for myself. I’m polite though and do listen. I’m like a sponge.
I’m cynical. Maybe in case people aren’t as great as I hoped, so it prevents disappointment (a bit).
I’m also optimistic and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, until they’ve crossed a line. Then I have no tolerance of them. Like non.
I love working on projects with risk. Otherwise I get bored.
I’m lazy unless something is a passion. Then I can’t bloody stop or switch my brain off.
I like to do lots of different things, starting new experiments like this one.
I like building things (and want to launch my app/community this year). I don’t care about failing, I want to get the learnings.
I expect a lot from people, and myself. I’ve failed at quite a few things earlier on in life, and have just tried to move past it. Now I trust my gut.
I LOVE learning. I’m addicted to it. I did a social enterprise leadership programme (On Purpose) in 2013–2014 for one year, working with Big Issue Invest and JustGiving. I recently did Seth Godin’s altMBA. I have no idea how I won the Perkins award, for the ‘most exceptional body of work’. I’m delighted but I don’t know what the hell happened. I can’t write.
Because I can’t write I did Write Like A Girl in Oct-Nov, every Wednesday evening for 6 weeks beforehand. I was the shittest person there but I went with the flow.
I believe in serendipity. It leads you places.
I believe in people, communities, collaboration, connections, empathy, kindness, the power of we. People can transform things.
My superpower is empathy. I can walk into a room or project and get a sense of things within minutes, pretty much. Sometimes I want to turn it off. I need to learn how to fully harness it.
When I did On Purpose the feedback I consistently got was how creative I was. I was surprised, I’d been hiding. In the tests we did I was a ‘starter’. I also got the cohort award for ‘the person most likely to be an entrepreneur’.
And the hard bit, I don’t feel like I fit in. I’m an innovator, rebel, rule breaker. I used to get told off for turning up late to school assembly. I used to get told off for waking up late and missing the bus. I used to get told off for hiding in a bush for cross country. Following rules is tough for me. I don’t really give a crap about that. I want to shake things up and create change.
I don’t believe in fitting in. What’s the point? What value would I add if I just did that? What will I learn? How would I grow? I want to use my brain. Maybe it’s a Linky Brain. Or maybe it’s a Leaky Brain.
I think I tick most of these though.
p.s. I want to use my brain to mix for good +for profit to create a better world. That’s my moonshot. That might be personal passion projects (like The Clothes Club) and that’s cool.
I love working on lots of different things.
