From Closure to Clarity
Published October 16, 2025
There’s a strange calm that comes after finally letting go of something that you once thought defined you.
For a long time, I thought closure meant an ending, a clean break, a moment where everything made sense.
But life doesn’t always work that way.
Sometimes closure comes quietly.
In a conversation that didn’t happen.
In a moment you thought would break you, but didn’t.
In finally being okay with what is, instead of what could’ve been.
When I walked back onto the field at Loftus years after leaving the game, I didn’t feel the rush of nostalgia I expected.
I felt something better… clarity.
Clarity about what mattered.
Clarity about who I was without the game.
Clarity about what the next chapter could look like if I stopped carrying the old one.
That’s the thing about closure, it frees up mental space for movement.
The danger is getting stuck chasing the “perfect ending.”
The one that explains the pain, redeems the loss, or ties everything neatly together.
But real growth doesn’t need perfect endings, it needs honest ones.
The truth is, closure isn’t what ends the story.
It’s what allows you to turn the page with peace instead of regrets.
And when you finally do, that’s when you get clarity, not in one big moment, but through quiet consistency.
In showing up again.
In trusting again.
In rebuilding belief in yourself where disappointment once lived.
That’s where new beginnings start, not with noise, but with awareness.
Not with applause, but with understanding.
From closure comes clarity.
And from clarity, a different kind of strength.
The Reset Advantage
Published October 9, 2025
Momentum is powerful.
But it can also make us blind.
When things move fast, we often confuse motion with progress.
We keep pushing, not because it’s working, but because stopping feels like failure.
The truth is, the smartest players know when to hit reset.
In rugby, a reset scrum isn’t a setback. It’s a recalibration.
You tighten the formation, re-establish balance, and go again, stronger, clearer, more aligned.
Business and life work the same way.
A reset isn’t about losing ground.
It’s about regaining clarity.
It’s the moment you stop reacting and start responding again.
It’s the pause that turns pressure into perspective.
The advantage comes from what you see during that pause; the misalignment, the noise, the habits that stopped serving you.
Most people rush past that insight.
The ones who don’t grow faster when the game resumes.
So if you feel off-balance right now, don’t force momentum.
Step back. Re-centre. Reset.
Sometimes the most strategic move isn’t acceleration.
It’s alignment.
Starting Over Is Not the End
Published October 2, 2025
![]()
We don’t talk enough about beginnings.
Everyone celebrates the win, the breakthrough, the highlight reel. But the truth is, most of us spend more time starting over than standing on podiums.
I’ve started over more times than I care to count.
After injuries ended seasons.
After rugby ended as a career.
After business plans failed to match the reality on the ground.
Each time, it felt heavy. Frustrating. Almost like failure.
But looking back now, I see those moments differently.
Starting over was never the end.
It was the doorway to something I couldn't see yet.
It stripped away the comfort of routine and forced me to grow.
Here’s what I’ve realised:
Starting over is not weakness.
It’s a sign of resilience.
It’s the courage to keep showing up, even when the story didn’t go the way you planned.
Maybe you’ve had to restart too.
In your career. In your health. In your relationships.
Maybe you’re in the middle of a restart right now.
If that’s you, I'm here to tell you:
You are not back at zero.
You’re beginning again, but this time with experience, perspective, and strength you didn’t have the last time.
Because starting over is not the end.
It’s just the beginning of a new level.
The Long Game
Published September 25, 2025
In business, it’s easy to get distracted by quick wins.
The flashy launch. The overnight success story. The hype.
But here’s the truth I’ve learned over the last three years:
The wins that matter don’t show up overnight. They arrive slowly, through discipline, consistency, and patience.
When I first stepped into entrepreneurship, I thought momentum would come quickly.
One client, one deal, one idea, surely that would unlock the breakthrough.
Instead, I found myself starting over more than once. Facing pivots I didn’t expect. Learning lessons the hard way.
And yet, every time I stayed consistent, sending the emails, making the calls, doing the unglamorous work, things slowly began to compound.
Not instantly. Not loudly. But steadily.
That’s the heart of what I call The Long Game.
It’s about choosing discipline over distraction. Patience over panic. And trusting that the seeds you plant will grow, even if you don’t see results right away.
Here are 3 ways you can practice The Long Game this week:
Build systems, not just goals. A system you follow every day will outlast a target you chase once in a while.
Trust the compounding effect. Small actions done consistently will always beat sporadic big efforts.
Redefine “progress.” Progress isn’t a viral moment. It’s building trust, learning skills, and creating something that can stand the test of time.
The quick win might look good today.
But the long game.
That’s what builds something real.
The Energy Audit
Published September 18, 2025
![]()
We track money. We track time.
But how often do we track energy?
Over the years, I’ve realised it’s not the hours in the day that hold me back, it’s the energy I bring into them.
One hour of focused, high-energy work beats five hours of tired, scattered effort.
Some tasks drain me. Others fuel me.
The difference decides how I show up in rugby, in business and in life.
That’s why I started doing what I call an Energy Audit.
It’s simple:
- Notice what drains you. The meetings, tasks, or even people that leave you flat.
- Notice what lifts you. The work, environments, and habits that leave you sharper and more alive.
- Do more of the second. And protect yourself from the first wherever you can.
Because in the end, it’s not just what you spend your time on…
It’s what you spend your energy on that determines your results.
Here’s how you can try an Energy Audit this week:
Step 1: At the end of each day, jot down one thing that drained you and one thing that gave you energy.
Step 2: Do this for 7 days. By the end of the week, you’ll see clear patterns.
Step 3: Adjust your week ahead to do more of what fuels you, and reduce what drains you.
Trust me, this small shift compounds fast.
It changes not only your output but the way you feel about the work you’re doing.
Because energy, not time, is the true currency of performance.
The Compass Check
Published September 11, 2025
![]()
We all start with a plan.
In rugby, that plan is the game sheet, the structure, the strategy, the lineup.
In business, it’s the proposal, the roadmap, the launch plan.
But here’s the thing: the plan doesn’t always play out the way you expect.
Last week, I found myself in a playoff game for Hamiltons.
That was never part of my plan this season.
I only intended to play a game or two, just to get some match fitness.
Fast forward 10 games and I was cramping in both calves in the middle of a quarter-final, fighting to finish strong alongside my team.
That’s the power of a compass check.
On Monday leading into the game, we had a very hard conditioning session. Honestly, it felt brutal. Days before playoffs, we were pushed to the edge. At the time, I questioned it. Why now? Why so hard?
But when the pressure came on Saturday, it made sense.
We’d already been there.
We’d already felt the burn together.
So when the cramps hit, when we went down to 14 men for 30 minutes, when the pace lifted, it didn’t catch us off guard.
That’s what a compass check does: it reminds you that the route might change, but the direction is still right.
In life and business, the same principle applies.
The “map” is your original plan, the job you thought you’d take, the business you thought would unfold in a certain way.
The “compass” is your deeper direction. Your values, your purpose, the things that matter most.
Sometimes the map leads you to a dead end.
Sometimes you realise the route you’re on was only meant to be temporary.
But if you keep checking the compass, you’ll find your way back to where you’re meant to be going.
Here’s how you can practice your own compass check this week:
Ask yourself: Is my current path aligned with my deeper direction, or am I just following the map?
Be open to shifts. Sometimes the detour is the real route.
Trust that what feels like an unplanned turn might be taking you somewhere you actually need to go.
The compass check isn’t about throwing away plans.
It’s about staying true to the bigger direction when the plans shift.
Because sometimes, the detour is the destination.
The Quiet Win
Published September 4, 2025
![]()
Not every victory comes with applause or hype.
Some of the most important wins are small, steady and almost invisible.
In rugby, those were hitting rehab milestones no one celebrated, being able to jog again after surgery, adding a few extra reps in the gym, or finishing a recovery session without pain.
No cameras, no crowd. Just small steps forward that built confidence over time.
In business, it’s been the same. Signing my first small client. Learning how to deliver consistently. Figuring out systems that work, even if nobody notices.
Those quiet wins didn’t feel big in the moment. But stacked together, they became the foundation for growth.
That’s the heart of what I call The Quiet Win:
Progress often hides in the little things that add up over time.
Here’s how you can practice it this week:
Notice the small steps. Celebrate them, even if no one else does.
Stay consistent. Small wins compound but only if you keep showing up.
Share them. You never know who might need the reminder that progress doesn’t always look like a highlight reel.
The truth is, the quiet wins are the ones that prepare you for the loud ones.
And over time, they matter just as much.
The Bounce Back Principle
Published August 28, 2025
![]()
Resilience isn’t about never falling.
It’s about how fast you get back up.
In rugby, mistakes happen. You miss a tackle, drop a ball, get stepped. The best players weren’t the ones who never made mistakes, they were the ones who could reset the fastest and be ready for the next phase.
That short memory is what kept a mistake from turning into a disaster. Because in rugby, one error isn’t the problem. The problem is when you start compounding errors.
I had to carry that same mindset into life after sport.
When my shoulder ended my career.
When I ruptured my Achilles just as I was finding my feet again.
When I started over in business with more questions than answers.
Each time, the temptation was the same: get stuck in the failure.
Replay it in my mind. Try to “fix it.” Spiral.
But resilience isn’t about living mistake-free.
It’s about developing the tools and mindset to bounce back quickly when life knocks you down.
That’s the heart of what I call The Bounce Back Principle:
Your speed of recovery matters more than your speed of success.
Here are three things that help me apply it:
Reframe fast. A setback is feedback, not a final verdict.
Anchor in habits. My routine gives me something steady to fall back on when everything else feels shaky.
Ask for support. Whether it was teammates, family, or mentors; I’ve learned that bouncing back isn’t a solo sport.
The truth is, everyone falls. Everyone fails.
What separates people isn’t the fall, it’s the bounce back.
The Hidden Work
Published August 21, 2025
![]()
In rugby, trust was never built on game day.
It was built in the hidden hours, the extra gym sessions, the video analysis, the recovery routine no one clapped for.
Those quiet wins created confidence when it mattered most. Because on the field, you’re only as strong as the trust you’ve already built.
I’ve come to realise that the same principle applies in life and business. Trust isn’t about big moments; it’s about the so-called hidden work.
The calls you follow through on.
The promises you keep.
The consistency no one sees but everyone feels when pressure arrives.
That’s the heart of the Hidden Work:
The things you do in the dark determine the trust you carry in the light.
When you show up consistently in small ways, people begin to rely on you in big ways.
Here’s how you can practice it this week:
• Pick one area of your life or work where you want to build trust.
• Commit to one small, consistent action in that area, even if nobody’s watching.
• Repeat it until it becomes second nature.
Trust is slow to build but powerful when it’s tested.
And when the spotlight comes, you won’t need to prove anything , your unseen work will already speak for you.
Why My Work Must Have Impact
Published August 14, 2025
![]()
I grew up in Belhar in Cape Town, a place that taught me more about resilience, community, and grit than any textbook ever could. It wasn’t the easiest start, but it was real, full of people who showed up for each other, even when resources were scarce.
When rugby entered my life, it opened doors I never imagined. I got to travel, meet incredible people, and experience moments I used to only dream about. But it also gave me something deeper, perspective.
Because no matter how far I’ve gone, I’ve never forgotten where I started.
Today, in boardrooms and business meetings, that perspective guides me. I don’t just want to “win” in business. I want my work to create opportunities. I want young people from communities like Belhar to see that it’s possible to take what you’ve learned on the field, in life and use it to make real change.
Impact isn’t just a nice to have for me; it’s my compass.
Here’s what I’ve learned about doing work that matters:
• Purpose beats profit (but purpose drives profit when done right)
• Partnership is the multiplier - nothing impactful is built alone
• Impact needs follow-through - vision without action is just talk
From the streets of Belhar to the boardroom table, my mission has been the same:
Use my platform, my skills, and my network to create something that outlasts me.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your work can really make a difference, here’s my answer: It can. But only if you decide that it must.
The Resilience Toolkit: 5 Principles That Helped Me Rebuild
Published August 6, 2025
![]()
After I ruptured my Achilles during the first tournament back with the Springbok Sevens, it felt like the air had been knocked out of my lungs. A wave of disbelief settled in.
I had just come off a 3-month pre-season. I was the fittest I’d ever been. And after two years of grinding through rehab from a shoulder injury that ended my rugby career, I truly thought I was back.
Then, just like that, everything changed.
When life strips away everything you’ve fought so hard to reclaim, you’re forced to ask:
What’s left when everything stops?
For me, what remained were a few core principles. Not motivational quotes or silver linings but habits and truths I could hold onto when nothing else made sense. I now call them my Resilience Toolkit. And whether you're coming back from an injury, a business failure, or a life curveball, I hope something here helps you too.
1. Discipline > Motivation
When your body is broken and your spirit is drained, motivation disappears.
But discipline. Showing up, doing what matters, even in small ways, becomes the anchor.
There were mornings I didn’t want to get out of bed. Days where the progress felt invisible, even pointless. But sticking to my rehab schedule, writing (which became the foundation for this blog), and even just showing up for my family taught me this:
builds momentum, even when results don’t show.
2. Build a better Environment
Resilience doesn’t just come from within, it’s shaped by what surrounds you.
I became intentional about what I consumed: less noise, more signal, better quality.
I cleaned up my social feeds, reconnected with uplifting voices, and created a space that reminded me of who I was becoming.
Your environment either feeds your strength or drains it.
Build one that backs your growth.
3. Let People In
As an athlete, you’re taught to push through, to tough it out. But isolation is the enemy of resilience.
This time, I allowed myself to be supported. By my wife, my family, my mentors. I had honest conversations, accepted help, and let myself be seen.
Resilience isn’t about doing it alone.
It’s about healing in community.
4. Rebuild the Identity First
What makes injury or failure hard isn’t just the physical loss, it’s the identity crisis.
Who are you without the game? The job? The title?
The turning point came when I started asking: Who do I want to become next?
That question helped me move forward with purpose, not just recovery. It’s what led me to entrepreneurship, to writing, and to this journey I’m now on.
5. Zoom Out Often
Pain pulls you into the now. It makes your world feel small.
What helped was learning to zoom out, to see this setback as part of a bigger picture.
That didn’t mean pretending it didn’t hurt. But it reminded me that this was a chapter, not the whole story. And some of the most meaningful chapters are written in silence, without applause.
Remember
Setbacks test more than your body, they test your belief.
And real resilience is built long before the comeback is visible.
If you're going through your own rebuilding season, I hope you know this:
You're not starting from scratch. You're starting from strength.
Let’s connect:
If this resonated with you, subscribe to the blog or share it with someone in the thick of it. Your story’s not over either.
Sport Taught me about showing up without applause
Published July 30 2025
![]()
In professional sport we have the advantage of getting instant feedback. As an individual on the field you immediately know whether you had a positive or negative action by the reactions of the crowd, applause echoing around the stands. On the other hand, the score board is an easy indicator of whether your teams plans or strategies worked or not. So, you see, there is that constant feedback loop.
When I stepped away from the game into corporate and entrepreneurship that instant feedback loop was no longer there. Things went quiet.
No match day, no jersey to put on and no fans cheering. Just early mornings, a whole lot of unanswered emails and late nights working and figuring things out. It’s in this time when nobody’s watching that the self-doubt creeps in.
There is a shift that no one talks about. In rugby, I know my role. I know exactly how to prepare for a match; I know the structure.
But starting something new. Building from scratch was a whole new game for me. It felt like being in rehab all over again. Learning to make small basic movements and hoping they’d add up. No applause for showing up. No one clapping when I signed my first small client. No one watching when I stayed up late fixing things I barely understood.
That was hard.
But that is also where the real growth started.
What rugby taught me and what I had to hold on to is this:
The reps or work that matters most are the ones that no one sees.
The belief that matters most is the belief you have in yourself. The belief that doesn’t need applause, that doesn’t need external validation.
The habits that matter most are the ones that even though they feel boring builds something real over time.
Whether it’s in the gym, doing recovery or showing up for rehab, the mindset is the same in business: You show up. Even when its quiet. Especially when its quiet.
So why am I sharing this? Because I know what it’s like to feel unseen. To pour your effort into something new and wonder if it’s even working. If you’ve left a title, a team or identity behind and you’re starting over… I see you.
Keep showing up. Even if it feels small now, you're building something that matters.
From the Field to the Boardroom: How Rugby Set Me Up for Business
Published July 23 2025
![]()
When I first had to stop playing professional rugby I didn’t know where to start or what I will be doing next. So, I started with the one thing I knew – Rugby. I ended up coaching part time and I must admit it was something I enjoyed. I always figured I would give back in one way or another when I am done playing. I was still searching though.
I longed for something different, something that will have impact, something other than rugby. My first step forward? Transport and logistics, not by design, purely by chance. It wasn’t glamorous, but honestly, it grounded me. It gave me direction when I needed it most.
What did Rugby Really Teach Me…
Looking back, rugby didn’t just teach me how to perform — it taught me how to live.
- Game plans became business strategies
- Opponents became competitors
- Coaches became mentors
- Physical endurance became mental resilience
It all transferred — just in ways I didn’t expect.
Once again, I was in the Deep End
I didn’t go into Logistics because I was passionate about it. I went into it because I was searching, looking for ways and opportunities to expand my knowledge base and expertise. Looking for different systems to explore and learn.
I didn’t know anything about transport; it was all new and I had to learn quickly. Handling different tasks, I was managing deliveries, figuring out systems, handling clients — most days felt like I was scrambling.
But I’d been here before. On the field, under pressure, learning fast. That muscle memory kicked in. The mindset from sport carried me through the early chaos.
Now, I am Rewriting My Story
These days, I spend most of my time in business development and marketing — helping build brands, drive growth, and most importantly – helping people connect. It’s a different game, but the same principles apply, preparation, execution, trust.
The biggest shift? I’ve gone from chasing personal performance to building something bigger — a career, a brand, a legacy.
What’s Stuck with Me
- Stay humble: You’re never too experienced to start at the bottom again.
- Discipline wins: My habits on the field became my anchor in business.
- Identity can evolve: You’re not limited to who you were — you can become more.
Honestly
I didn’t plan or want to leave rugby when I did - but life has a way of redirecting us when we least expect it.
Now, I’m learning to tap into that past to guide me in building what’s next. It’s not perfect. I’m still figuring things out. But if you’re reading this and you’ve had to start over, I want you to know this:
Starting over isn’t failure. It’s a chance to discover your purpose and build with more intention.
And that, to me, is a win.
The Slipstream Principle
Published July 14 2025
![]()
“A slipstream is a region of lower pressure that forms behind a moving object, like a car, aircraft, or even cyclist.” By riding in the slipstream, cyclists or cars can reduce the force of aerodynamic drag, making it easier to move and potentially increasing speed.
Having been living a life of sport for as long as I can remember it has been the guiding light for me when it comes to dealing with life and its challenges. Over the years I have had to deal with many challenges in sport and in life. Through sport I’ve had the opportunity to deal with great success and massive failure and all within a short time frame, one day you can be up in the clouds and a few days later down in the gutters. I’ve had to learn how to deal with these massive emotional and mental rollercoasters on a frequent basis. Again, it was within sport that I found many of my answers and developed principles that guided me.
We all have dreams and aspirations, if not, we wouldn’t be able to get ourselves out of bed in the morning. The thing with dreams is, they rarely fall into your lap. It takes extreme discipline and perseverance to chase your dreams. So, what happens when you have been doing the work, putting in the hours, operating under enormous amounts of pressure and yet you still no closer to reaching your goal? We end up losing hope, our drive starts diminishing and our cadence declines. Why does this happen? One major reason is because we have been the "lead rider" in a solo race trying to do it all ourselves without even realising it. It was through experiencing rollercoasters like this that I unconsciously found myself applying what I now refer to as the “Slipstream Principle” in all areas of my life.
Let me explain how it works.
1. Find someone who resembles who you want to be or has the career you want to have or the body you wish to have - you get the point.
2. Think of a way you can assist them in achieving what they want.
3. Convince them to allow you to help them.
4. Let them take charge and guide you (let them be “lead rider’’)
5. Learn as much as you can as fast as you can (Ride the slipstream)
By applying these principles, you relieve enormous amounts of pressure from yourself. You mitigate unnecessary costly errors (there will always be errors) and you are forced to operate at a higher cadence, only this time having to exert less energy. Your “lead rider” will be absorbing most of the drag for you and you will likely get valuable exercise in taking the lead by relieving your “lead rider” from time to time, only this time when your cadence starts to drop your “lead rider” will be there to take the lead and push the pace once again. Using this principle with the consent and co-operation of your fellow rider/partner is a sure way of strengthening your resolve, increasing your endurance and getting both of you to your objectives much quicker. Make no mistake, this is not a free ride. To stay in the slipstream, you will need to keep up with the pace and stay close enough, because if the gap gets too big you will be left fighting the drag and surely be left behind.
So, ask yourself this question, are you currently a “lead rider” or do you need to slide into a slipstream?
The Art of Becoming
Published July 10 2025
![]()
One of my favourite concepts in life is a Japanese proverb called Wabi – Sabi which simply means “beauty in imperfection.”
In life we are indoctrinated to believe if we are not perfect then we are not enough. If we do not fit into a system, then we do not fit into society. We spend our entire life fighting and striving to fit in and through that find a sense of belonging. How then do we grow, how do we learn and how do we become?
You see, growth does not lie in always trying to be perfect. The mere aspiration of trying to be perfect unintentionally eliminates countless opportunities and possibilities that cannot be considered unless it will turn out to be perfect.
Consider this. What if you attempted everything you ever dreamed of without attaching a certain result to it. What if you fail while colouring outside the lines as well as inside.
What if you dare to break everything down then try and glue it back together and in the process stumble upon perfection. Isn’t that the point of living.
