Branded Blog

January is one of those months that I find comes screaming out of the corners at me full tilt when I’m still trying to hold on to the slippery wondrousness of time at leisure in wonderful places.Every year for probably the last five years I’ve been hoping that life would still adhere to those elegiac ideals of a bygone time when people relaxed into December, smiled at those they had ignored the rest of the year, and remembered what life was about well into January when they slowly picked up those forgotten habits of work again, and eased into the New Year elegantly. Alas, it never happens anymore, the Old Year simply steams through the Festive Season at pace, picks up a New Year engine along the way and keeps hurtling onwards in the endless pursuit of upwardly curved graphs and happy shareholders.

So in my own small act of defiance I have decided to dedicate my January to remembering the small lessons I was reminded of by small people during the festivities of the past few months.

I have never been a beach-bunny, having a skin that does not love the sun and a boredom threshold that could put most Geminis to shame, endless hours on the beach have never been high on my list. But going to beach with the Barefoot Man’s two sub-six year old blonde little girls has been a revelation. We spent a belated Christmas day with them and my folks in Pringle Bay (you will have noticed by now that it may be my favourite place in the world!) and pretty much sealed our fate by giving them both a fabulous selection of beach toys, so off to the beach we went. And there, with much glee, scurrying to the lagoon edge to fetch water, scavenging for drift-wood and shell decorations, and general joyousness, we built sand-castles. Serious sand-castles with multiple buildings in a row, turrets, courtyards, a moat (with some seepage issues, I admit, but still), a tree and even a draw-bridge as stipulated by a certain blonde 5 year old: “This castle needs a draw-bridge, I think.”

And it was one of the most satisfying things I have done in a very long time! I was reminded of an article I read recently citing some research that has found that hand-crafts and activities like cooking and gardening are rocketing upwards in popularity because so-called “knowledge workers” don’t ever really feel like they’ve made something real at work – so they turn to leisure activities that have concrete and immediate results to help them feel a sense of achievement. We like to make stuff that we can see and be happy with. And in many of our day to day working lives, that just doesn’t happen anymore. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed sometime soon, when everything is piling up metaphorically around you – go build a sandcastle somewhere and put it all back into perspective. Cause sandcastles rock!

The other thing that occurred to me during the construction of said impressive sand-castle (moat notwithstanding), was how the basics of building something really cool and worthwhile are often the ones we either forget or don’t really want to have to spend time working on or thinking about. But they really do matter.

If you’re planning on building your brand or business (or anything else, for that matter) this year, here are some Sandcastle Rules to try.

Sandcastle Rule 1: Get some structure.

Having attempted sandcastles before without those really cool blue and pink plastic sandcastle moulds, I can highly recommend them. Having some real structure does not mean you are forced to be less creative or less “out of the box” or less innovative. In fact, some good solid understanding of the basic shape of things and what you are trying to achieve can really help you create something much more impressive than you ever imagined. Good basic structure makes all the rest so much easier and more fun, it’s worth the effort.

Sandcastle Rule 2: Sand is sand.

It doesn’t matter that you have the same sand as all the other kids on the beach. And it doesn’t matter that all the sand looks the same. Apart from some good structured thinking (cf. Rule 1), what matters is that you have you. And you are unique. So make the best of what you bring to the beach and you will be amazed at how distinctive and wonderful your sandcastle can be.

Sandcastle Rule 3: Walk away.

It can be hugely humbling building sandcastles. Sometimes the fabulous tall turret you spent the last half hour building and are massively pleased with yourself about, is unceremoniously flattened by a 3 year old who shrieks in glee as she stomps all over it. And sometimes the tide comes in too fast and washes half your buildings away. And sometimes the 5 year old makes a new friend while at the waters edge and you and your glorious castle instantly become yesterdays news. The trick here is to try and keep it all in perspective. It was fabulous while it lasted, we all loved the build, but now it’s time to move on.

Walking away from something you are passionate about can be heart-breaking, but in truth nothing stands still indefinitely and we need to remember that sometimes you can knock down a few walls and add some new stuff and it’ll be wonderful all over again, and sometimes you just have to say thank-you, and walk away.

And sometimes the only way to make yourself walk away, is to find a trusted hand to hold on to. It can make all the difference.