Branded Blog

On Sunday evening the Barefoot man and I were in the car on the way to watch “The King’s Speech”, (highly recommended, as I’m sure you’ve heard) when I happened to look up at the streetlamp hanging high above us at the intersection and noticed that it was actually moving in a wide arc above us as the wind pummeled it around. It’s always a bit disconcerting to find that things that you thought were pretty stable are actually quite mobile, so I commented on it to my Barefoot man who said wisely, as he is wont to do, “Well, its better to bend than to break.”

Indeed.

A lesson I learnt when I decided to leave corporate life instead of hit the wall – quite a good decision so far, I think.

And it happened again recently on my first multi-day hiking experience.

The Whale Trail is a truly pristine “slack-packing” hike ideal for those of us with outdoor aspirations limited by the need for that non-negotiable hot shower and cold glass of wine in the evening. It’s 5 days of incredibly varied walking up and over a mountain top (Potberg), along the ridge overlooking the beautiful Breede River valley, through fields of proteas which have always been there, all along the craggy edge of the continent with dramatic waves pounding below and finally along the white beaches of this untouched area of the Western Cape known as DeHoop Nature reserve.

I find it ironic that the only reason this exceptionally untainted area is so untainted is that the reserve was created by the Defence Force of Apartheid days for use as a missile testing area. And is actually still used as such a couple of times a year. They literally shut down the trail and the various accommodation options available in the reserve and race their fast, shiny airplanes and long expensive rockets (un-activated, thankfully) all around the area checking if they could shoot stuff down if they needed to. And then they put their toys away and allow the people back in (only a maximum of 12 per day on the actual Whale Trail) to marvel at the gorgeous beaches, watch the endangered Cape Vultures circling above and enjoy the simple pleasures of a good evening meal around the fire with interesting people.

And the supreme joy of slack-packing is knowing that you only have to carry your day pack with water, some part of lunch, and either something to keep you warm or snorkeling kit for the wondrous rock pools along the coast. The rest of your stuff, the frozen steak fillets and the cold wine will all be picked up by a local school and transported to the next hut for you – their fund-raising, your delight!

And incredibly given my general lack of fitness at the moment and the stabbing heat of a few days I actually did ok right until the end of day 4 when disaster struck, or so it felt. Disaster struck with a knife in the general area of my left knee and brought me to my, um knees?

ITB. With the last hut overlooking a dramatic sea-view just in sight, my knee decided it had had enough of walking on the downward slope of the beach all day and gave in.  The next morning it was duly rubbed and pampered and strapped by the loving hands of the Barefoot man, but alas – about a kilometer into the  days hike (which was only 6km long!) he stopped me and laid out these options: I was going too slowly. Normally, on the other days, you can go slowly and still get there cause the distances are not too hectic and you have all day. But on the last day you have a cut-off time – you have to meet the transport back to the beginning of the hike at a certain time else you can’t get back to CT in time etc etc. So I had run out of time. My options were to be carried by the Barefoot man, or to walk (slowly) back to the previous nights hut and get a lift out with the rangers to meet the team later again.

Gracious I was not. I sulked, complained about how unfair it was that I would miss the last part and then sat on the rocks watching the beautiful morning light on the sea before heading back to the hut to wait for a lift. No way I was going to endure the indignity of being carried – even by my favourite Barefoot person!

And now, almost 4 weeks later and still fighting ITB strain (climbing 3 flights of stairs to our flat does not help, I’m told!), I have realised that in this instance bending (or bowing out) was clearly the better option in the long term, albeit a miserable choice to make in the moment. 6km more on the beach and who knows what further damage I might have caused!

When it comes to our brands and business I think we have an equally hard time acknowledging that it may be time to bend a little, bow-out gracefully and re-think our approach instead of bull-headedly carrying on regardless and running full-tilt into the wall looming ahead.

So when could be a good time to bend a little, and maybe take a few steps back before you go forward stronger again?

1. When you’re not sure where the trail you’re on is going.

If you’ve been so focussed on the trail and on moving forward that you can’t see the top of the mountain you’re aiming for, and haven’t looked sideways for a while you may need to stop for a few minutes. Stop and check where you’re going to – is it still the place you want to be? And stop and look at the views. Look at the valley below, look at the tiny plants along the trail, look at the gecko watching you go by and remember that the journey is good too. If your working day is so full of stuff that you aren’t actually enjoying what you do anymore, check whether it’s still right for you. Now may be a good time to bend a little and try and new way forward. Or even a new mountain.

2. When you’ve lost sight of everyone you’re walking with.

If you’ve ever walked a day in silence you will know that it’s easy to lose track of everyone you’re walking with. If you look up from your business or brand and realise that you’re completely out of touch with everyone in your business and maybe even outside of it, it’s time to bend a little and reconnect with the people that matter. Take some time out and make sure you’re all still on the same trail. Make sure you share what you’re seeing and experiencing and learning – so that others can grow with you, and so that they you all know where the business is growing and where it needs some bandages. And even more so if your customers are out of sight – stop for a while and refocus on them, otherwise what’s the point?

3. When the end goal is really close.

Most of us tend to push ourselves even harder as we near our goals, as we start to see them coming to fruition and becoming attainable. And sometimes we push too hard in that last straight and can cost ourselves everything in the process. So yes, even when you want to keep walking Johnny Walker style, sometimes you have to bend (unless it’s a sore knee) and realise that even though you believe you could finish the route you chose, there could be other ways of getting to the same goal that will give you much better long-term returns and opportunities.  Risk is inherent in business (and knees), but don’t risk too much. Don’t lose sight of the fact that business is like a 5 day trail and sometimes you can bandage things up and keep going, and sometimes you need to take an alternative so you still get there in the end and don’t regret that last unnecessary sprint for a long time to come.

They say you perfect what you practice, and I think we spend so much time sublimating those small voices of reason (sometimes internal, sometimes not!) and making our decisions based on ego and external opinion and peer pressure.  It seems quite rare, in fact, that we realise (aided or not!) that sometimes bending is the right decision to make. So rare it’s worth celebrating, in fact. We should learn to celebrate the moments when we bend instead of breaking as much as we celebrate the big triumphs in life. Maybe these bending moments will turn out to be more exciting than the others in the long run – they can certainly change your whole world around in a moment!