To all my friends and readers, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

I was recently interviewed by a writer for The Silicon Cape Initiative on the topic of doing international startup business development from South Africa.

I just finished reading "Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever" by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman. It's an ambitious book that tries to distill the latest scientific research on health into a practical set of recommendations that most of us can follow.

Peter Thiel (co-founder of Paypal, investor in Facebook, after tax billionaire) is a very interesting guy. 

"We need science and technology to dig us out of our deep economic and financial hole, even though most of us cannot separate science from superstition or technology from magic. In our hearts and minds, we know that desperate optimism will not save us."

"Indeed, how do we even know whether the so-called scientists are not just lawmakers and politicians in disguise, as some conservatives suspect in fields as disparate as climate change, evolutionary biology, and embryonic-stem-cell research, and as I have come to suspect in almost all fields?"

"We may embellish the 2011 Arab Spring as the hopeful by-product of the information age, but we should not downplay the primary role of runaway food prices and of the many desperate people who became more hungry than scared."

"The single most important economic development in recent times has been the broad stagnation of real wages and incomes since 1973, the year when oil prices quadrupled. "

"The give-and-take of Western democracies depends on the idea that we can craft political solutions that enable most people to win most of the time. But in a world without growth, we can expect a loser for every winner. Many will suspect that the winners are involved in some sort of racket, so we can expect an increasingly nasty edge to our politics."

"Men reached the moon in July 1969, and Woodstock began three weeks later. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this was when the hippies took over the country, and when the true cultural war over Progress was lost."

Thiel's concluding paragraph is brilliant:

"However that may be, after 40 years of wandering, it is not easy to find a path back to the future. If there is to be a future, we would do well to reflect about it more. The first and the hardest step is to see that we now find ourselves in a desert, and not in an enchanted forest."

Admittedly, this is pretty gloomy stuff. I'm not sure if I buy into Thiel's hypothesis wholeheartedly, as the evidence he cites is often anecdotal.

While Thiel's argument intrigues me, I still find myself in greater support for the much more positive technological theory of "Accelerating Returns", advocated by serious scientists and futurists such as Ray Kurzweil. 

A few days ago I had coffee with a friend of mine who works for a large, successful corporation. 

Lately I've been watching an old Allan Pease body language seminar from the 80s, and I'm startled at how accurate it remains today, almost 30 years later. The reality is that our subconscious movements say a lot about how we are feeling, and these behaviours have evolved over thousands of years!

Often the best communicators have a great intuitive sense for reading body language, but as with most things, this is a skill that can be learned. Using body language effectively can dramatically improve one's performance in sales meetings, business pitches, and staff interaction. 

Here's a quick video from one of his more recent seminars:

If you're more of a ready, the book "The Definitive Book of Body Language" by Allan and Barbara Pease is also a great primer.

Actually, the title is a little misleading. Having a good understanding of body language isn't just powerful in business, it's powerful in life!

Every time I flicked on the TV to see the local New York City news, there was an update on the state of the protest.

Clearly, there are some upset people out there--and they are trying to bring about a change. It's still unclear to me however what their goal is, or what the general motivations behind the protest are. Are they pissed off at the rich? At their government? Both? Probably, the answer is yes.

I'm still forming my views on the movement, but I do think that it should not be confused or compared with the protests movements of the Arab Spring, where people were trying to overturn dictators in order to win basic freedoms that have long been the norm in the Western world.

Time will only tell where #OWS ends up. For now, I wanted to share a short piece from a recent weekly newsletter written by the American author and success coach Philip Humbert, who's balanced thoughts on this issue I tend to agree with:

"This week, I want to step gingerly around the edges of politics, hopefully without putting my foot in it. TIPS is not about politics. It's about living our values, achieving our goals, and having a great life along the way.

But this week, the news has been filled with events that put these issues in the guise of "political discussion."

I've been struck by the images of the Occupy Wallstreet protesters, first in New York, then in smaller demonstrations around the country. But, I've also been struck by people, folks we might label as Conservatives, who seem quick not only to disagree with the protesters, but to question the value of their actions.

Based on a flip of the coin, I'll address the protesters first.

I like their energy and passion. If only I could generate that kind of enthusiasm and commitment for my own goals! They're up all night, marching all day, carrying signs, arguing, chanting, pursuing their agenda! It's got to be chilly on the streets this time of year, but there they are. Good for them!

I remember as a younger man I had that kind of energy, but now I get tired and I fear I'm much more skeptical. The protesters remind me to ask whether I still believe that my words and actions DO make a difference. One of my core values is to speak out, share my truth, rock my world and shake things up, and so I try to learn from them. I contribute all I can. I try to stay focused on my priorities and make sure my time and actions reflect my values. The protesters remind me of these things, and I think that's good.

But I'm not sure they've thought clearly about certain things.

I see them protesting a banking system that, for all its faults and flaws, has allowed millions of us to get loans for education, mortgages for our homes, loans for our cars, finance our businesses and have many of the good things in life. I see them texting and talking on iPhones created by one of the great entrepreneurial capitalists of our time, Steve Jobs.

But most importantly, I see them celebrating the freedoms of assembly and speech, demanding the redress of grievances with no fear of repression or reprisal, and that makes me proud of my country. These are good things! I tip my cap to these people and wish them well, even as I disagree with much of their analysis of America's problems and their prescriptions for a cure.
And what of the other side?

Sure, as we get "older and wiser" it's easy to dismiss the enthusiasm of youth, to point out the weakness of their position or to disagree with their demands. Anyone can do that. We disagree with each other all the time.

What's harder is to hold on to our traditions and the good things of the past while being open to new ideas and new solutions. I see folks "of a certain age" dismissing the protesters because they are dirty or making a mess of the parks and streets. Sometimes they are rowdy and that offends my preference for thoughtful discussion. I get that!

But when we defend the status quo without listening to the demands for change, we miss an opportunity to grow. That makes me uneasy. As an old bald guy who likes our American traditions and mostly stands on the conservative side of things, I haven't been comfortable with some things I've heard from my friends this week. At a luncheon, one friend suggested we "Arrest them all!" On television I heard commentators suggesting the protesters should merely be patronized and ignored. That didn't sit well with me. Over-throwing tradition and abandoning the values that have made America great is not a good thing, and merely revolting in the street is more like the violence of the French Revolution than the idealism of our American Revolution. But when a large group of people go into the street to proclaim their frustration, I think we should listen and try to learn.

Whether it's the Tea Party or the Occupy Wallstreet folks, people who take the time to march and protest do us a favor by speaking their truth. We should listen and try to learn. America has always attracted the best and brightest people, and the best and brightest ideas. It's essential that we keep this tradition sacred because it makes life more interesting, and it makes America strong."

What do you think of the current protests on Wall Street, and other around the world?

Today I came upon a memorable passage in a fantastic book called The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game by Sam Sheridan. Driven by interviews with the best competitive fighters in the world (wrestling, boxing, MMA etc), it's chock full of insights on the mindset needed to be a champion.

For a person with no martial arts experience, this book would be interesting, but for others who have spent any amount of time training in the ring or on the mat, it's mesmerizing. (Some years ago I trained in Muay Thai and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and my passionate interest for the sport of grappling and MMA has never left, so Sheridan's book has been a rare treat).

The passage that I found so memorable was about the winner's mindset of continuous progress even in the face of setbacks. In a chapter called "The King of Scrambles", trainer extraordinaire Ricardo Liborio states: 

"Maturity is a big part of success in fighting, because it means that you understand the game--that losing is part of the game. It doesn't mean to let yourself get conquered, but to know that you can win again, at the right time you can be great. The key to doing well in competition is to accept.

Accept that you can lose, you can not perform. Take this big bag of rocks out of your backpack, take the pressure off, and you'll do better. Once you understand that, man, you can do well."

Worth re-reading many times.

Like so many others, today I was shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Steve Jobs. He was the da Vinci of our era.