How Do You Become Memorable? By Being A Little Weird

In conversation recently, one of my favorite childhood stories came up and I thought it was very fitting to share:

The Napkin

Back when my friend was 5, his family was eating at this fancy restaurant. As a 5 year old, it’s hard to sit still so he got bored sitting and not really understanding what was going on. So he began to play around with the things he had in front of him. Very quickly saw the perfect opportunity to turn the napkin he had into a hat.

His mother began to trying to calm him down and lecture him. “You don’t see anyone else in this restaurant wearing a napkin on their head.”

Little did she know, but a neighboring table had been overhearing and watching everything. One of the people at the table decided it would be good idea to put a napkin on his head to encourage my friend’s mischief. So now there is both a 5 year old and an adult wearing napkins on their heads in this fancy restaurant.

As my friend and his mother began looking around to see if she was right, they see this guy. “What about him?!” my friend exclaimed, leaving his mother embarrassed and now completely unable to explain why this wasn’t acceptable to do in a fancy restaurant.

A Little Weirdness Is What You Need

I’ve realized how memorable something can be if you do things a little unorthodox. I’ll never forget this story and I will always look for opportunities to be that random stranger to someone else.

No matter what you’re doing, whether it’s hanging out with friends, working, or spending time on a hobby, the most memorable things are usually something that was a little weird.

Do something that’s a little odd. Github didn’t have to make all these Octocats, but it’s one of those things that makes me love them just that much more because it’s different.

Weirdness like this should be celebrated and encouraged. It’s harmless and puts a smile on someone’s face. It gets them to think outside of the ordinary for a moment and that’s rare. People appreciate that.

This can be great for marketing, and if you’re good at what you do AND you can market yourself, you become dangerous.

For me on a personal level, I’m sometimes known as the guy that has an animated gif for every situation.

Pick something you enjoy and make it YOU.

With all that said…