What Would Mr. P Say?

We spend most of our time procrastinating about making the simplest of decisions, our DNA is somehow programmed to put off until tomorrow, decisions that would be so much better if we made them today. The chief protagonist, the Mr. P procrastinator is January, Mr. P is always ready and waiting for you, standing by to pounce on New Year’s Day so happy to pile on the guilt. Mr. P whispering to you in joker like tones, “so how’d you go with those resolutions?” – oh how you mock Mr. P, how you mock! But wait, this is no ordinary January, this is 2021 and let’s be honest, 2020 was not the year to be making any promises. For many, 2020 was a matter of survival, so my guess is Mr. P is going to sit this one out.

You see there is a lot of promises stacked up out there. Those that said I will travel a little more, ‘Paris here I come’, or promises made to elderly parents, ‘golf every Sunday dad?’ I love this one, I’m going to make an effort and get out of the house and do more ‘arty’ things, the theatre, art galleries and antique markets. And my favourite, I am going to buy much more toilet roll because I never want to get down to the last roll ever again!

Mr. P has been fooling us for years. We end each year with promises never to be fulfilled. We intentionally level the most difficult and outlandish to-do’s with never a hope in hell of achieving them. We aim too high; we think Mount Everest when we should start with a grassy knoll. 2020 made us all realise that many of our promises needed to be wound back - just a little. Paris, you will have to wait a little longer – but hello my lovely suburb. Dad, no golf, but how about a game of scrabble over Zoom? And books are a great start to any future cultural activity; as for toilet roll, c’mon, this will always be a little odd.    

So, at Freeworld we have decided to continue 2021 as we began 2020. We wanted to create a walking brand that started with a sandal and ended with a walking shoe. We wanted to do this as fast as we could, but we set ourselves no timeline to completion. We maintained from the get-go that if we are to triumph, we need a team that can work, as one, over networks not aeroplanes, a team that can take a chance and go with the flow. We know we want the best, so we made invention our better angel, our factory our partners and the customer our extended family. We failed to complete our task in 2020, but we got, oh so close, tantalisingly close so much so that 2021 is our 2020 on Weetabix.

To have finished nothing is our biggest success, to have restarted everything to “build better” was to be at our bravest and when we were backed into a corner, we thought of nothing else than building a new door to a better room. Mr. P was promised nothing, and in a no-promise world we let go of failure and held firm on doing our best, learning and laughing as we tried and tried again. Sandals, a Comfort Shoe and a Pro-Walking Shoe is not landing a rocket on the moon, but it is our moon-shot and in being we have tackled the challenges with exquisite naivety.

So, Mr. P, we are going to take our time, we are not going to be rushed. We cannot promise excellence, we cannot promise success and in truth we may fail. It’s refreshing to know that we have only one thing to think about, making a product that will be valued for simply trying to be the best it can be. To make something without prejudice and bring it to life freely and not a single promise other than the promise to be the best it can be is a perfect stick-it-to-the-man meme of 2020.

Freeworld is an idea that is still in build, still cooking and like a handsome Pavlova will not be rushed, and we aim to keep our oven door firmly closed until we are ready to serve. We would like you to know that we have many attempts under our belt and whilst we will never make the perfect Pav, it is shaping up to be the best we have done to date.

So, thanks for your patience 2020 and get your spoons ready 2021 for it is willing itself to be a year where all those fake resolutions can now be made real. Our advice, for what it is worth, read a little more, talk to your friends and family as often as you can and don’t forget you can really walk yourself well.

Finally go and conquer fear, give whatever is your passion a go and remember to aim just a little bit lower, Mr. P will understand ☺