How to be remarkable

How to be remarkableHow to be remarkableJohn F. Kennedys assassination on November 22, 1963 made headlines across the globe. Who welches Lee Harvey Oswald? Why didnt Jackie Kennedy take off her blood-stained pink suit for the rest of the day? What role did communists play in the plot? What would Lyndon B. Johnson do as President?For fruchtwein journalists, these were the obvious questions to pursue.But one journalist had zero interest in the obvious. Jimmy Breslin was a college dropout turned newspaper columnist. He had a knack for spotting perspectives that other journalists missed. Newspapers are so boring, Breslin once lamented. Media, he added, is the plural of mediocrity, in case his point wasnt clear.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreWhen it came to writing a column about JFKs assassination, Breslin decided to eschew mediocrity and tell the story from the perspective of an u nlikely person.That persons name was Clifton Pollard. The day after JFK was killed, Pollard woke up at 9 am and was eating his Sunday breakfast when he received a phone call. It was his supervisor from work- a call that Pollard had been expecting. Polly, his supervisor said, could you please be here by eleven oclock this morning? I guess you know what its for.Pollard quickly finished his bacon and eggs. As Breslin describes it, Pollard then left his apartment so he could spend Sunday at Arlington Cemetery digging a grave for John Fitzgerald Kennedy.Yes, Pollard was a gravedigger. AndBreslins masterful columntold the story of JFKs assassination from the perspective of the man who spent his Sunday preparing JFKs final resting place.He was a good man, Pollard said, referring to JFK. Now theyre going to come and put him right here in this grave Im making up. You know, its an honor just for me to do this, he added. Pollard didnt get to attend JFKs funeral. When the procession began, he w as already hard at work in another part of the cemetery, digging graves for $3.01 per hour and preparing them for their future occupants (Pollard himself later became one of those occupants and was buried at Arlington Cemetery, just about 100 steps away from the grave he dug for JFK).The column about JFKs gravedigger became a signature one for Breslin, who made a name for himself by covering unusual angles of mainstream news stories. Breslins knack for spotting the non-obvious led him to win the Pulitzer Prize, host Saturday Night Live, and become the celebrity spokesperson forPiels beer.Its exceedingly difficult to notice what everyone else misses. Were wired to follow the crowd. We look to what our peers are doing and follow their lead. Journalists pursue the same stories as other journalists and businesses copy each others absatzwirtschaft strategies. Its like that Chinese proverb One dog barks at something, and a hundred others bark at that sound.Jerry Seinfeld knew the importan ce of not barking at the same frequency as other comedians. When Seinfeld started doing stand-up comedy, he told himself he wouldnt pursue the obvious sources of laughter. He wouldnt joke about sex. And he wouldnt swear. Instead, his stand-up comedy is about the minutiae of life that most of us find boring. I do a lot of material about the chair, Seinfeld says. I find the chair very funny. That excites me. No ones really interested in that?- ?but Im going to get you interested. Its the entire basis of my career.Heres the thing A comedian who jokes about sex isnt remarkable. A columnist who covers the usual angles of a political assassination isnt worth talking about. Everyone is rushing to that same center, grasping for that low-hanging fruit.Remarkable happens when you reach for the fruit that others ignore- the one obscured by all the leaves. A columnist who covers an assassination from the gravediggers perspective or a comedian who can do a 15-minute routine about a chair?Now, th ats something worth talking about.Inspiration My podcast bewerbungsgesprch withRob Walker, the author ofThe Art of Noticing 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday.Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.Click hereto download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, youll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).This article originally appeared on Ozan Varol.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong peo ple