Ben Smith Mackenzie

Using range instead of rigid specialization to navigate modern life.
British marketer and founder in Colombia 🇨🇴

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

People talk about finding yourself like it's a search with a known endpoint. My experience is more like being several people at once and negotiating between them constantly.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

I've started many things. Finished fewer. The ones I finished weren't necessarily the best ideas. They were the ones where something external made stopping feel worse than continuing. I'm trying to build more of those conditions deliberately.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

I suspect many “successful” people were able to find environments that rewarded their natural way of thinking.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

Over 10 years living in Colombia taught me a lot about culture.

The most surprising lesson wasn't about Colombia.

It was about myself.

New piece: https://t.co/AEaRZLqP85

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

I think familiarity can sometimes disguise itself as stability.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

One of the strangest parts of adulthood is slowly realising how many invisible rules you absorbed without ever consciously agreeing to them.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

I’ve noticed some environments make me feel more ambitious and others make me feel strangely heavy.

Geography seems to affect psychology more than we admit.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

Sometimes I wonder how much personal growth actually comes from changing environment rather than forcing ourselves to change internally.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

I’m increasingly convinced that range gives people more ways to adapt when one area of life becomes unstable.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

A lot of people aren’t actually afraid of change.

They’re afraid of becoming visible as someone different.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

Being adaptable is useful.
Becoming so adaptable that you slowly lose your core identity is something else entirely.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

One of the strangest things about living abroad is realising that entire national moods exist.

You stop absorbing them automatically once you step outside them.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

Some people travel to escape.
Others travel because different environments unlock different versions of them.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

The internet made it possible to build a life from multiple worlds at once.

Most people are still psychologically operating like that isn’t true.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

A lot of adulthood seems to be unlearning identities you adopted just to make other people comfortable.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

One of the hidden benefits of having multiple interests is that no single area of life gets to completely define your identity.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

@ImCharlieBullen I'm in Colombia. Don't know if you've ever made it over this way but I couldn't recommend it enough!

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

@talesreisa Right! The ability to connect it all together. It's a fascinating way to live life.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

The more I live, the more I value people who can think across different worlds.

Work.
People.
Culture.
Creativity.
Business.
Life.

Everything connects eventually.

[Ben Smith Mackenzie @BenSmithMac]

Living abroad makes you realise how many of your “normal” thoughts and behaviours were actually cultural defaults you inherited without noticing.