Ever wondered what would happen to your life if you just said "screw the rules"? 

Drayton Bird is one of the world’s best-known copywriters and direct marketing experts, having taught many thousands in 55 countries and worked with some of the world’s biggest organisations. 

A former member of the worldwide board of Ogilvy and Mather, he was a close associate of the late David Ogilvy - perhaps the most influential advertising man of the 20th century. 

His book, Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing, is a classic, published in 17 languages and still selling after 57 years. 

Like you, this author has two lives: public and private. This book mostly covers his private side - a little hectic, sometimes verging on scandalous. 

He has been married three times and lived with three others. 

He has been run over by one car and flown through the windscreen of another, hit by a motorbike, survived a train crash, and was stabbed nearly to death by infuriated women. 

"What did I do to deserve all that?" he sometimes wonders. 

Well, Drayton was also more than a little drunk for nearly 40 years, so cannot swear on his life that what you listen to in this audio is 100 percent true. But we suspect you’ll find it more than a little fascinating. 

Because he’s also gone broke, lived under a false name for seven years, made - and lost - a million or two, and tried (unsuccessfully) to sell fake Chagall paintings. 

In fact, all the things you really shouldn’t do if you want a quiet life. 

But as he says, "Why be like everyone else? You might just as well never have lived." 

We hope you’ll enjoy these snapshots of a life less ordinary: You Did What?!