Remarkable?

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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Randy Black.

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He’s a troublemaker.

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Welcome back to Randy Unscripted.

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I’m your host, Randy Black, and this is the podcast where I infrequently share something

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that’s just come across by mind.

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And today, I want to share something that I’ve been thinking about lately, and that’s a very

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specific word.

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That word is remarkable.

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honestly it’s been on my mind because of a friend of mine dave jackson dave is a podcast hall of

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fame inductee and he is the voice behind the school of podcasting and he’s been talking lately

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a lot about creating what he calls remarkable content and and i get it i get what he means

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he’s talking about content that stands out content that that makes people lean in content that makes

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someone say, wow, that was totally worth my time. And in the podcasting space, that is a worthy goal.

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Nobody wants to create forgettable content. Nobody sets out to be average.

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We want to make something that matters. But as I’ve listened to that word,

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Remarkable.

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It’s made me stop.

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And it’s made me think.

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Because when we hear that word,

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we almost automatically assume that it’s positive.

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We say things like,

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that was a remarkable achievement,

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or she’s a remarkable leader,

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or what a remarkable recovery.

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It sounds like praise.

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But that’s not actually what the word means.

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At its core, remarkable simply means worthy of being remarked upon.

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It means something stands out.

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Something grabs attention.

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Something is noticeable enough that people want to talk about it.

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That’s it.

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It doesn’t automatically mean good.

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It doesn’t automatically mean admirable.

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It just means memorable.

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And that’s where things for me start to get interesting.

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Because something can be remarkable for two very different reasons.

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It can be breathtakingly good.

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Or it can be astonishingly bad.

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A remarkable act of generosity.

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A remarkable innovation.

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A remarkable comeback.

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But also, a remarkable failure.

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A remarkable scandal.

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A remarkable collapse.

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A remarkable lack of judgment.

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plane crashes are remarkable

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public meltdowns are remarkable

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historic mistakes are remarkable

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they stand out

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they get talked about

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they refuse to blend into the background

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they are remarkable

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not because they’re admirable

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but because they’re unforgettable.

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So when we talk about making remarkable content

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or building a remarkable career

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or living a remarkable life,

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I think there’s an assumption that’s built in.

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We assume remarkable equals excellent.

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But culture shows us something that’s different.

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In a world today that’s driven by clicks, by outrage, and by algorithms,

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you can become remarkable by being extreme, by being controversial, by being loud, by being dramatic.

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And that right there, that raises attention for me.

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Because being remarkable isn’t the same thing as being meaningful.

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Being viral isn’t the same thing as being virtuous.

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us. Being noticed isn’t the same thing as being noble. And I don’t think that Dave means any of

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that when he talks about remarkable content. I think he means excellent, impactful, helpful.

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But the word itself carries more weight than we sometimes realize.

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And if I’m honest, I’ve had some remarkable moments in my life.

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Some that I’m proud of.

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Some I wish fewer people remembered.

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But both kinds get talked about.

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Both kinds leave a mark.

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So maybe the better question isn’t just, how do I become remarkable?

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Maybe the better question is, what do I want to be remarkable for?

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Because one way or another, we will stand out.

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The only question is whether it will be because we were extraordinarily good

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or just extraordinarily noticeable.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of Randy Unscripted.

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I’m Randy Black, and this is the show where I just kind of

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share my thoughts on whatever’s crossed my mind.

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I hope you will continue to check out the show as episodes come out, even as infrequent as they are,

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and maybe even consider throwing support for the show my way.

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Every episode of the show on the website and the page on the website itself for the show

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has links there that you can provide some support to the show, and that would be greatly appreciated.

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When I’ll be back, I don’t know, but I can tell you one thing.

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It’ll definitely be Randy, and it’ll definitely be Unscripted.