Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to the TOPS at Spar Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc Tasting at the Mount Nelson (yes dear, they did serve in crystal) here. I took along a good friend, who appreciates wine and loves a night out where he can be just that tad posh.

Jane from Wine Magazine was kind enough to send the invite and we were both grateful for her kindness, as I have become a particular Sauvignon Blanc fan in the past year or so. Whilst I am not a huge fan of the ultra fruit bombs that some of the farms are now producing, I do love the variety that South Africa is producing and the different flavours from the areas of the West Coast, Elim, Constantia, etc…

Our tasting was hosted by David Nieuwoudt and he is potential stand-up material. Not only informative, he had us in stitches, especially when one of the audience noted he got the distinct hint of “gunflint” on the pallet.

Nieuwoudt purely commented that “Did you operate cannons as a child?”

Classic.

Ok, onto the wines…

Here is the list of wines we quaffed with no reserve and no, we didn’t spit. They were all just too good…

David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner 2008
Diemersdal Single Vineyard 2007
Graham Beck Pheasant’s Run 2008
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve 2007
Kleine Zalze Family Reserve 2008
Kumkani Lanner Hill 2007
Rietvallei Special Select Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Strandveld Vineyards 2008
Tokara Elgin 2007
Woolworths Reserve 2007 (Groote Post)

Now the thing to note here is that some of these Sav Blancs are 2007’s – which means they have some ageing potential (albeit not for too long!).

The other thing to note is the regional diversity of the winners as well as confirmation of the fact that good Sav Blanc generally comes from cool climate growing area’s – in particular coastal regions.
Was it worth the R120 they are charging to be a part of this experience?

TOTALLY.

When is the next one?

Surepure Chenin Blanc Challenge is on the 12th of March, so get onto www.winemag.co.za and make sure you get your entry for this awesome event.

Can I please get another invite for 2 Jane? I loved this… (insert big puppy eyes here)

PS: My favorite was the Groote Post. Love that I can taste the West Coast in the bottle.

Continue Reading →

A man was hitchhiking on a very dark night in the middle of a storm. The storm was so strong that he could hardly see his feet in front of him.

Suddenly a car stopped next to him. Without thinking, he got in and closed the door, just to realize that there was nobody behind the steering wheel. The car moved off slowly. He looked ahead and saw a curve in the road. Scared, he started praying, begging for his life. He was terrified. Just before hitting the curve a hand appeared through the window and turned the steering wheel.

The man, now paralyzed with fear, watched how the hand kept appearing every time they got to a curve. Gathering all his courage, he jumped out and ran to the nearest lights He could see. Wet and in shock, he went into a shebeen and asked for a double brandy. After drinking it, he told everyone of the horrible experience he just had.

Everyone was silent when they realized he was crying. About half an hour later, two men came walking into the shebeen and, on seeing the terrified man, the one said to the other:

“Mfowetu, isn’t that the idiot that got into the car while we were pushing it?”

Continue Reading →

tell me that didnt have you giggling like a pigglet…

Continue Reading →

So, the first month of the year is almost over. I know I know!

Its going a lot faster than you anticipated and you are far more hectic than you remember from last year. Racing season is upon us and with this new economic freak out the world is having, your work load seems to be twice it was last year.

The `ol Urban Ninja has a trick up his sleeve for you this week. I call it the 7 day mental detox, and has a lot to do with clearing your mental junk food, and rigging your mind for the rest of the year. We plan a lot at the start of the year but its easy to set the path that the rest of the year is just going to go by without a hitch. This will help you on your way.

Now, for the athletes who read this blog to relate (we need numbers and athletic terms for it to make sense right?), its about the same as going through the mental process of: what kind of workout can I do to improve leg strength and leg speed, increase my threshold power and VO2 max and lose 5 kilograms in just one week?

Riiiiiiiiight…

That takes a while longer than a few days. The body takes time to adapt, but luckily, the mind is a incredible tool, our most powerful took. It can see huge gains in just seven days. You can significantly improve performance, motivation, focus and confidence; not just in your cycling pursuits, but in every aspect your life.

A disclaimer: this is not something I invented. During my years, I’ve come across this concept several times in a variety of incarnations. I’ve heard Deepak Chopra, Ekhardt Tolle & various other smart people I know talk about it. All religions speak of it too. It’s a simple program in the sense that it doesn’t require intervals, meditation or hypnosis. In fact, you don’t even have to set aside five minutes a day to work on it. Nonetheless, it takes a great deal of concentration and a larger than life motivation to want to improve your life by making the right choices moment to moment.

I cant admit to getting this right all the time or that its easy, but the point is that we make the effort. Experts are overrated, its all about passion and people who want to be involved, right? I’ve started it a few times, but I’ve never seen it through to the end. However, right now as I write this, I am making a vow to start it again on Monday next week, and want to start a group to keep each other motivated. So, if you`re keen after reading the article – let me know and we can start a group. I’m hoping the knowledge that some of you reading this will come along for the journey will give me that added incentive to see it through to the end. Afterwards, I look forward to hearing your stories of success and, let’s not say failure, but abandoned attempts. Let’s face it, if it were easy, everyone would do it. But to know this and not do it, is not to know it at all.

This program is so simple that I can give the instructions it in just one sentence.

Only think positive thoughts for one week.

Restricting thoughts to those with only positive connotations for seven days will permanently change the deep-seeded thought patterns in your brain and the brain chemistry that has developed around them to keep them in place. Negative, self-deprecating thoughts are like an old worn out pair of sneakers. They’re bad for your arches, the hurt your knees when you run and they look like your dog’s been using them as a chew toy, but they are comfortable and you are used to them so you keep them around.

These thoughts, though negative, are comforting and reassuring, not just because we’ve cuddled up to them for so long but because, let’s face it, they give us an excuse to fail:

- You get dropped on the group ride = I’m too old to keep up with these guys.

- You have to walk the last few hills on your long run = I’ve always been a terrible climber, i`m too fat and I will never be a fast runner..

- You cant get your 1500m swim time under 25minutes, no matter how much you train = I suck at swimming. Full stop. I will never ever improve.

These thoughts take the sting out of failure, but they don’t help us move forward. In fact, they allow us to sink deeper into our own negative misconceptions about ourselves and prevent any chance of achieving success in these areas. It’s time to change all that!

The comfort we find in these negative patterns has a lot to do with the 3000 odd marketing messages we receive a day that tell us “you are not enough”. Without that make-up, those high heels, that expensive whiskey, you will never be enough. How is that motivational? Lets think of a new set of trainers. We all have to go through this process, triathlete or not. Almost everyone buys new training shoes at some point. They look great right, but your first few wears are a disaster. Blisters, stiff and a grave fear of mud all have you scared, but you tread lightly and within a week they are almost like slippers (dusty slippers). Most of the fears are gone and a quick wash can solve the rest.

The feelings you will experience when you begin the withdrawal process are similar to those you might feel in the first few days wearing new sneakers. You may even relate it to the feelings of withdrawing from an addictive drug like nicotine. Your ego has actually become physically addicted to those thoughts and needs them to function. They’ve worn comfortable tracks into your mind like the groove in a record. You will actually become physically uncomfortable as you enter the mental detox. This is the ego dying off and I don’t know anything that likes to die, so it will fight you.. You will feel a desperate pull to return to those negative thoughts like an alcoholic might feel when he walks past a liquor store. Its like the woman who goes back to a wife beater husband time after time. The fear of starting fresh and alone is bigger than the fear of being hit.

The first few days will be the hardest. After that, the positive thoughts will begin to flow more freely and the pull of the old habit of doubtful, negative thinking will dissipate. After a week, the new positive thoughts you’ve been filling your mind with will have scratched out the old grooves that the negative thoughts created and worn their own, new grooves. Now, the positive, hopeful, optimistic thoughts will be the ones that pull you in – your new, healthy addiction.

This is what you must do. For one week, you can not say or do anything negative. You must immediately banish negative thoughts as they come into your head. You must do this not just with sports, but with all aspects of your life. Not only should you avoid thinking about what a bad climber you are or worrying that you might crash or get hit by a car, you also must not worry that you might lose your job, worry that your girlfriend will dump you or even get angry when you see suffering and injustice on the nightly news.

Do everything possible to avoid any negative thoughts. Unfortunately this will also mean a opening of the eyes to who and what you surround yourself with. You might find that your friends are actually overly negative, that your work environment only deals with bad news or negative ways of doing things. I can only promise a long term benefit with more time, less illness and far more energy.

And trust me, you will want to. Perhaps some of you are thinking, I’m a pretty positive person, this should be no problem for me, but consider the following emotions that must be completely avoided in the week. Anger, sadness, irritation, impatience, doubt, worry, insecurity, resentment, hatred, bitterness, dislike, nervousness, disgust, worry, depression, dejection, despair, unhappiness, anguish, misery, anxiety, angst, dislike. You can’t be too hot, too cold, itchy, hungry, uncomfortable, tired, sore, or bored. You can’t get angry at the driver who cuts you off in traffic or the rider in front of you who forgets to call out a pot hole on a group ride. Don’t get upset at the guy who touches your feet in the swim, or who skips the queue at the supermarket. You also can’t get angry when you ride into that pothole and get a double flat and you can’t get upset when no one stops for you and you have to shell out R100 for lunch for your buddy who came to pick you up in the middle of nowhere. Doesn’t sound so easy now, does it?

So how is it done? How is it possible to simply banish negative thoughts with the snap of a finger? Although it is a difficult process, the technique for doing it is actually quite simple. First of all, do not try not to think of negative thoughts. Try this exercise. For the next 10 seconds, whatever you do, don’t think about purple polar bears. How did it go? Not so well I’d imagine. This time, for the next 10 seconds, instead of trying not to think about purple polar bears, instead try to think of something else like yellow panda bears. How did it work out this time? Better, right?

The technique for adhering to this mental cleansing is just as simple. Instead of trying NOT to think something negative, try TO think of something positive. In one word… affirmations. Every time a negative thought of any kind starts to sneak into your mind, you must IMMEDIATELY cancel it out with a positive thought or affirmation. You must have this affirmation ready at all times, somewhere in your mind where you can quickly and easily pull it out like a gunfighter with his six shooter. The affirmation can be any positive phrase. Anything with any positive connotation whatsoever.

There is quite a bit of stuff which works for different people, but lately, because I am aiming for this goalpost to be a great guy, in all spheres of life, I find that telling myself that indeed, I am a great guy, works well to calm me.

The words themselves don’t necessarily mean anything. What counts is the function that they serve, which is to block the negative thought before it takes root in your mind. Try to come up with a few affirmations that are unique to you, that trigger a positive feeling in your mind. Think of the feeling or thought that you wish to banish the most. Then think of the inverse, positive version of that doubt or fear and make that your affirmation.

Now that you have an understanding of the monumental task ahead of you, you are ready to embark on your journey. Before you begin, you must decide if this is really something you are ready to do. You may even want to think it over for a few days before you start (hence the start next Monday). It’s a huge commitment and it’s not something you can casually approach. Prepare yourself for the possibility that it will be harder than you’d imagined and that you may, at many points, want to quit. Once you’ve purposefully determined your intention to complete this task, approach it like you’d approach a new goal on the bike, in the pool, or out on the road. Love the challenge and even the pain and always keep your eye on the end goal of crossing the finish line, winning the race and having your best day ever.

Conquer that ego, one decision at a time.

Continue Reading →

As I was driving to swimming this morning I was a little miffed out that it was quite far away from Marilu`s house, that it was early and indeed, I was driving on the highway to get to swim training.

But as the swim progressed and I realised what a power session it had been, I realised that driving relatively far is not that bad at all. Ok let’s clear this up – it was roughly 18km to the pool. Now in Slaapstad proportions that’s covering the Grand Canyon because people here don’t travel. I have no such problems in general, but every now and again you wish you could roll out of bed into the pool, or into the gym. No such problem in riding and running as they can start from your house.

Mind you, I could swim from my house.

If I wasn’t scared to be nibbled on by a flying great white in my Orca Apex II that is.

Have you seen those flying sharks? I mean seriously, what a homosapien like me going to do when a 5m flying minibus hits me at 50km/h out the water?

Anyhow, back to the point…

I believe we should have no problem travelling to get to training. The mental, physical and emotional effect that training has on us, or should have on us, should far outweigh the effort it takes to get there and back. I see the guys who drive to gym, spend 10minutes looking for the best parking, then hit the treadmill for an hour.

Hit it for 59minutes dude and walk a little extra to the gym and back. Won’t kill you!

So next time you moan about having to get up and get to training, maybe its time you took it in your stride and went out with a positive attitude. 2009 doesn’t need experts; it needs people who are keen to get involved. People who are passionate.

What do you think?

Continue Reading →

I just had to share. Its made my week…

Have a good weekend.

Continue Reading →

click the pic.
its the Obama inauguration from outer space…

the ants are people….

Continue Reading →

Dudes….we are different. This might have roughly been inspired by my boys night last night.

I will have a ‘proper’ post up later today, promise.

Continue Reading →

thanks Seth

Continue Reading →

I had a long chat a few weekends ago with a really smart guy on start-ups and Harvard Business Schools new way. I realize there are a lot of entrepreneurs who read my pages and thought to share the discussion. He noted that hardly anyone takes the first step of creating self-awareness. At Harvard Business School, they have an entire course on the subject. Most of us can’t go to Harvard but we can review the course and take the best points that come from it.

HBS`s course notes that it is extremely tough for us to figure out ‘where we belong’. In the world that we live in, in current economic conditions, so many people are struggling just to pay their rent, never mind figure out what and who and where and how to really make themselves happy. They suggest that we should start by noting where we don’t belong as well as the situations that don’t suit our strengths. This sounds simple, but how many of carry around a simple laminated piece of paper with reminders of what to avoid and what to pursue? Do you log your successes and failures, to avoid patterns of failure?

They counsel that we enhance our strengths while working to eliminate our bad habits (rather than our weaknesses). Lord knows we all have bad habits. I have a few I am always working on, so avoid “the shoe from across the room to the head” with Marilu. There is much greater return from supporting top performers than “fixing” mediocre players.

Focus on being polite, trim the bad habits and place yourself in situations where you can use our strengths. Simple right?

We all have intellectual arrogance that limits our success on a daily basis. I know very very few people who have conquered that. Tonight I am going to do a bit of a write about the areas where I am intellectually arrogant. I know it might not be pretty but it’s needed. I am far from perfect.

To know, but not to do, is not to know. (thanks Gordo)

I am constantly trying to surround myself with people who do it, instead of knowing it. There is an important role for the academics – those of us that have “done” are biased by our experience – combine us with people that are biased by their textbooks and we might breakthrough together.
In my youth, my greatest limiter was a core belief that winning was everything. I competed all day, with everyone. In my teens and early 20s, all that mattered was performance. Now, if you are a high performer then you can get away with that for a while. However, we pay a high price in terms of ultimate success and effectiveness. I was fortunate that my first boss had lots of patience. Thanks Al. Hope Australia is rocking.

Values – we tend to think of values and ethics as being crystal clear – black/white or right/wrong. HBS makes the point that, in life, we can find ourselves in a situation where conflicting values are both “right”. To give an example, here is what this website stands for:

• Low leverage
• Full disclosure
• Focused, specialized personal excellence
• Clear instructions
• Return on capital employed focus
• Long term achievement trumps short term gains

Consider the opposite of the above points – Snazzy Company Limited values:

• Maximum leverage
• Necessary disclosure
• General, personal excellence
• Accepts that life is imperfect with changing information
• Growth focus
• Consistent short term gains

In one job, I would be happy – in the other… a disaster. It is important for me to remember that the other company isn’t a “bad” company, just different.

Armed with your strengths and personal values you can decide if an opportunity makes sense for you. Before signing on, use your self-awareness to lay out what is required for you to succeed. The other interesting part of the discussion was a description of the different ways that people communicate, learn and work. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I work/learn by writing and reading.

Define the people you work with. Are the readers, writers, talkers or listeners? Your business won’t be successful unless you know how to effectively deal with the people around you properly, by focusing on their strengths and how they do things. You can’t change who they are! If you are working with people with a different style then acknowledge it. We are paid to be effective, not right. The tip here is to remember that, more than changing your style, respect and adapt to the styles of our co-workers.

Feedback analysis each time you make a key decision – write down what you think is going to happen and revisit it 9-12 months later. I have so many business plans lying around, that I should really go back and learn from them. They each have something I could possibly be using today.
Some things that I notice about my daily life:

• When I get nervous about a situation there is usually a reason
• My goals are challenging, I achieve them but rarely exceed by a large margin.
• I need people around me who believe in me
• I need people with excellent people skills around me
• I would benefit from pausing after my greatest successes
• Painful personal feedback from the people closest to me is normally correct – I listen but, typically, at least two years after I am told. This could indicate that I am stubborn…correct.
• I could be far more effective by taking a greater personal interest in the people around me. This is a general point for most people.

The best thing that was pointed out to me was that in any situation there is the person acting and the person facilitating. Maybe this is why women communicate so much better. They seem to understand this, whereas with guys we seem to need to be in control.

As a coach, athletes try to get the professional OK to continue with their bad habits. At one level they want success but, at another level, they want acceptance/love and the OK to keep rolling just as they are. So we start by acknowledging what is working and good in their lives, and then I try to get them to stop the stupid stuff. It’s harder with some than others, especially the ones who are irregular with their training. They won’t see the benefits and they will find blame in the coaching methods, rather than just accepting their own decisions.

Without a basis of trust, we can get fired when we refuse to facilitate. When we fail to surround these difficult conversations with manners and tact, they often fall on deaf ears. Nothing fruitful will come from deaf ears, and with the amount of anger and fear in society today, there is rarely an opportunity where someone listens with a truly open mind.

Whether we like it or not, our actions have a multitude of direct/indirect impacts. Questions that I considered:

• Do the companies that I support back the best people?
• Do the websites that I visit share my values?
• Would I be friends with a person that had a personality like my favorite sites?
• Do the blogs that I read bring out my best emotions? Do they lift me up?
• With the people/firms that don’t share my ethics, how are they linked to me? Am I facilitating them? DO they take credit for my work?
• Would direct action strengthen, or weaken, my adversaries?
• If I cut my RSS list down in half, what would the impact be?

I read a great tip the other day which was “Stay on message and stay positive” – with that in mind, I won’t share my answers. One of the things that I am working on is my need to “be right” all the time. I am finding situations in daily life where it’s best to just “Shut up”. Who would have thought, right?

- This article was combined from a great conversation, reading up for an hour on self awareness and the HBS philosophy (some cool stuff on the net these days) and some time and effort. It plants a clear message in my mind, and I hope it does the same for you.

Continue Reading →