Content By ALAN KNOTT-CRAIG
It started as a personal reflection. Almost like a diary where I thought about all the memorable moments of my life (mostly setbacks) and the lessons learnt (mostly painful) and then wrote them down in the same way I would tell the story on a stage — brutal honesty laced with self-deprecating humour.
It wasn't hard writing my story. What was hard was that, while jotting down my narrative, I realised that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't always in the right in my life, and some of the hits I've taken were well deserved.
In other words, it was humbling, and I learnt a lot about myself.
In short, writing a memoir is an excellent exercise in self-reflection. Which is useful if you use the lessons to course correct in your life.
One of my mentors, Jannie Mouton, once said to me: "When you're a private company, it's like you're playing rugby on the B fields with no lights and no spectators. When you're listed, there's fans and lights and TV cameras. There's no hiding. You play better!"
It's the same for a private memoir versus a published book. Writing it for my eyes only was a fun, but sloppy exercise. Once I'd made the decision to make it public, I really applied my mind. I really had to think about what I was saying. I really had to think about what I'd learnt in my career.
In short, it was an excellent furnace in which to sharpen and harden my personal life lessons.
Credit for my final decision to publish must be given to Francois van Niekerk, another mentor, the founder of Mergon. Anyone who knows Van Niekerk, knows that he's not the type to willy-nilly hand out compliments, even less so encourage cheeky young souties like me to publish a book about myself!
Once he'd nudged me, I thought to myself: Maybe this is a story that others want to read. So a friend introduced me to a publisher, and bada-boom bada-bing: I was swept up in (yet another) adventure.
I'm probably close to the halfway mark of my life. I'm extremely grateful to my excellent parents, and for the many opportunities I've been given in my life.
Not all of those opportunities led to success. Many in fact led to failure (and pain). Regardless of whether I won or lost, every time I've taken the path less travelled, I've learnt new stuff, and the experience has contributed to my life of adventure.
This book is another path less travelled. It's a way to find others that resonate with my thinking. A way to find my tribe (assuming I have a tribe!). Only one way to find out.
Life Lessons: How to Fail and Win by Alan Knott-Craig is published by Tafelberg.
