Walking Different!

I started a new routine this year.

Identity, what is essentially your brand, is formed from a set of values and the vision that you hold. For these values to truly become who you are, they must be repeated over and over again. That’s why we hear so much about routine and consistency.

When you repeat an activity long enough, it turns into behaviour. That is why behaviour change is neither easy nor instant. By extension, this is also why Social and Behaviour Change Marketing (#SBC), part of the work we do on the ground with the team at @youthplug_ke, takes time, patience, and commitment.

So I started daily walks. Five days a week. Consistently, even on days I don’t feel like it.

Because moving forward does not require a feeling, it requires a decision. It requires us to honour that decision, whatever it costs. Feelings are often the test, sometimes the illusion, and many times, the lie.

When activities graduate into behaviour, they become part of your identity. That is why I’m taking this seriously. Beyond fitness, this routine is rewiring my perspective (my mentality) on how far I can go and how much I can achieve.

Walking, for me, is an admission of my flaws. An acknowledgement that I am imperfect and not there yet. In-fact there might never be a ‘there’ ever, because we are creatures of constant development. There is always more to be done and a long road ahead. It reminds me that I can enjoy the journey and rediscover the joy of experimentation.

Because when I choose a random route every week, it becomes an adventure. A sweaty, heart-thumping, heavy-breathing, muscle-torturing, limit-pushing adventure.

But you know, you forget about all that when you meet that mama selling mahindi choma, who tells you about how her day has been, including how maize this harvest has not done very well, but she still believes it will be enough. Oh, and I can't talk about mahindi choma without reminding you about that pili pili and lemon combo that hits different all the time (Sema kuslap!)

This is #change for me, a positive addition to the vault of values I hold dear. I know it will make me a better person and a better brand strategist.

Because any #brand can change and adapt to achieve its purpose, even when that brand is you.