I was amazed to read in Jonny Wilkinson's autobiography that as early as doing the lap of honour, not even World Champion for a few hours yet, he was thinking - well, what now? He had just achieved a goal he had been chasing for 15 years, a goal that would prove extremely hard for … Continue reading Goal vacuum →

The documentary about Ronaldinho on Netflix claims that Ronaldinho won Barcelona the Champions League in 2006. But to the initiated, this would be a twisting of the truth. The real hero of that final was Henrik Larson. Before he came on Barcelona were losing. Then he assisted two goals and then Barcelona won. But that … Continue reading More individual less team →

When the women's rugby players talk about the excitement of playing in the main stadium in front of a new record attendance it strikes a much more wholesome note than the male players who probably take for granted full colosseum like stadiums but then again they are probably focused on delivering on the much higher … Continue reading Yump →

The internal enforcer says - you haven't written today, you said you would write an hour a day! The internal child screams - don't make me write, I'm exhausted, that 14 hour bus ride was torturous. They both make good points and I think a good way out is to get the two of them … Continue reading Mental mitigation →

I think people generally overestimate what the press will be interested in. I think it's good to keep your expectations low for newspapers picking up your story. It's quite likely that you are biased toward the interestingness of it because you're immersed in it.

For a child the world is a wonderful place full of novelty and exploration. But then when you get to a certain age it's very easy to become jaded because there's less and less new in the world. You've been to Disneyland, you've seen Star Wars, you've tried escargots. You can see the echoes and … Continue reading Mozzarella Peach Sandwich →

A local girl hits the big time and overnight becomes a massive star. I think it's always heartwarming to hear that people remain nice despite their fame. Similarly it feels like a shame when someone becomes a diva from the recognition. I think at the heart of it, we like to think nice people are … Continue reading Always nice →

The aspirational part of the brain says you should write a book. But when the pre scheduled time for writing arrives, another part of the brain, a silent scared part, pulls all the distraction levers and makes sure no writing gets done today. But what I think is mad, is that the scolding voice enters … Continue reading Neural rock and hard place →

It's hard to post into a group chat and receive no engagement. Particularly when you can see how many people read it. It feels like rejection. It erodes your passion. But I don't think at any point, that the answer is coercion and anger. It's just feedback and a chance to practice empathy. Maybe you … Continue reading Group Ghosting →

In 2004 Kleberson joins Man United and quickly finds Roy Keane on his case at all times. To Kleberson it feels like too much and surely Sir Alex who had been so nice to him doesn't condone this behavior. So Kleberson decides to trap Roy by making him shout at Kleberson in front of Sir … Continue reading Kleberson’s discovery →