Friday Night Lights provides wholesome TV viewing. I watched all 5 series a while ago and have been meaning to highlight some of the classic performance lessons scripted in. For anyone interested in winning, there is plenty of inspiration. Mindset: Winning the state championship is the ultimate dream for the players. There is a scene in […]
Ranulph Fiennes: Army officer, Adventurer, Author. One of the most inspiring men alive. He has explored and in many cases conquered, the toughest environments on planet Earth. With two SAS colleagues he journeyed around the world on its polar axis, using surface transport only. Nobody else has ever done so by any route before or […]
After reading scores of books on leadership, teamwork, discipline, and indeed performance, like many aspirant “self-improvers” out there, I recognise certain patterns and consistencies. I have always been interested in sketching a user-friendly thought-model which could help any individual or team to accelerate their journey from average to automatic. By automatic I mean an approach […]
Yet again Matthew Syed has delivered a fascinating book from which numerous insights can be drawn to help us build better leaders, better teams, and better versions of ourselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and want to share my key takeaways. Diversity is key. Insufficient diversity in the US intelligence services meant that specific indicators in […]
The sense of relief I felt when Alex Honnold reached the summit of El Capitan in the docu-film Free Solo, was exhausting. The build up to the climax of this phenomenal endeavour, was a roller-coaster of emotions. I physically sensed the anxiety and adrenaline consuming me throughout the movie, but certainly during the record-breaking climb. The […]
We live in extraordinary sporting times. Not only have we seen a bolt from the caribbean blue who destroyed the sprint records in the last decade, but we have this year witnessed marathon magic too! Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:40 to achieve the seemingly impossible; 26 miles under 2 hours. He achieved this in special conditions […]
The dust has settled and we have had time to reflect on what the Springboks achieved in Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. I am an avid Springbok fan but also a passionate performance coach, so my reflections have drawn on the inspiration I felt during and after that Final, as “all the dots” […]
I grew up in Southern Africa supporting Liverpool because Zimbabwean Bruce Grobbelaar was the flamboyant goalkeeper during the ’80’s heydays of Liverpool football. Recently I watched “Kenny” which documents the footballing career of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish, including the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. This film is incredibly moving and inspiring at the same time. It […]
I have become intrigued by kindness. Kindness was not something I used to ponder often. Now I place it in my top five values alongside respect and courage. “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” It really is so important and so simple, yet apparently not so easy […]
In 2017, CrossFit Coach Ben Bergeron published a great book called “Chasing Excellence” which focused on the 2016 CrossFit Games, and particularly the two individual champions, Mat Fraser and Katrin Davidsdottir who were trained by Bergeron. The book provides interesting insights into the common elements of mindset, skillset, and strength development for champions in any […]