YCDAYWTDIYWTDIE!

That’s the abbreviation of a phrase I often use when I’m talking about achieving goals. It stands for “You can do anything you want to do if you want to do it enough” and I first put it together when I made the decision to try and run a sub-three hour marathon, which was something most people said was not in the world of possibilities for me!

When facing the amazement of my friends after I managed to achieve my sub-three I simply responded with that phrase.

Now so far, I haven’t bored you about anything I saw on my bike riding trip in New Zealand, but I will from time to time no doubt. However when I was touring the magnificent Marlborough wine growing area we visited a huge vineyard, Yealands Estate, that had been created by a man named Peter Yealands. A real example of YCDAYWTDIYWTDIE!

There’s precious little about him on the net. Local Kiwis however were proud of him and had the inside knowledge to know what he’s done. And boy what a life! He started off as a labourer, then built a bulldozing operation, got into mussel farming in a big way, went into deer farming and finally began sustainable wine growing. Starting with a vision he contoured the hills of what was regarded as poor wine growing country into a great site for grapevines so nature could do its amazing work and, to cut a long story short, recently sold a share of his huge estate for $NZ80 million.

As I’ve said, it’s devilishly hard to find much information about him but I did love his motto which, as you will see in the photo, is “Think boldly, tread lightly and never say it can’t be done!”

Great words from a man who has achieved much and great thoughts for each of us to remember when we tackle a tough task!