The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride - 2016 Tauranga

Hi you! Apologies I haven't posted in a while. Been a bit flat out if I'm honest. Working and charity work.

So the amazing DGR kicked off this Sunday just been (9th Oct 2016), with around 150-200 bikes turning up. We had old-time scooters, bobbers, Harley's, Triumph's, Ducati's, you name it, we even had a bike built from scratch on deck! The dapper level's were high, moustache's were curled up, moustache stickers applied to bike headlights and the comradery of the DGR pack was solid.

Collectively our riders in Tauranga, NZ managed to pull together $14, 049.00 for the charity, NZ collectively raised a whopping $93,178.00 and worldwide we helped generate US$3,542,031.00! 
A legendary result! 
I even managed to take out second place amongst our riders gathering up $1271.00!! Thanks to all who donated and put up with me spamming them on social media.

The ride day itself is something I highly recommend if you're a motorbike owner. The discussions around men's health, suicide prevention and prostate cancer were great to be had. I even had a good 10 minute discussion with a member of the public who just wanted to share his story of going through prostate cancer with me - a humbling talk and another reason why we do this DGR work in the first place. He is thankfully cancer free now, an excellent result.

Riding in the pack - I was lucky enough to be up front for the majority of it - was chilling in a good way. I am sure that people heard us coming around quarter of an hour before we even showed up. As we passed places, windows rattled. We were a very dapper gang of ladies and gents looking to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer and Men's mental health. 

I think we accomplished that. I even had an opportunity to jump on a tourist bus and let the asian tourists just what we were all about, but they were so quick to get off their bus and get up close and personal with the bikes they literally pushed on past me! Was awesome!

Check out a few of the pictures of the day below. 

The boys - Rich, Stefan and I

Workmate Stefan and I again

This guy was one of the nicest guys around, and probably the oldest riding!

The "Red-Band" band who donated their time for free to play the venue! Legendary band!

Front three and organisers of this Tauranga ride - Damian, Myself and Wayne

Front three bikes. (from left) My Ducati, Wayne's Triumph and Damian's Triumph.

Promo picture - Keith, myself and Damian

And then our newspaper interview and article.

So please keep an eye out for DGR 2017 - I'm going to be involved in it for sure!

If you have a bike - I can't suggest enough for you to get involved too! 

#badass #dapperedup #welldressedgang

2016. 

Done. 
Boom.

SPONSOR ME!! A great cause, please, every dollar counts.

https://www.gentlemansride.com/rider/dazleggatt

Please click the link and if you can, donate. Prostate Cancer and Mental Health issues affect so many of your loved ones. It's time to try and do something about it.

So on Sunday the 25th of September, I'm going to don my finest attire and join men and women across the globe in the 2016 Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride to find a cure for Prostate Cancer and to help Men’s Mental Health. 

Over 1,300 men a day die of prostate cancer worldwide, and it’s time for that to end. Your donation will help The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride reach its goal of $US5 Million to fund research into a cure for a disease that claims far too many gentlemen each year. 

This is the best dressed way to fight prostate cancer and help improve men’s mental health – cheers and thank you!

Wedding Competition! Please vote for Andrea and I :)

Please click the link and select our wedding at the bottom of the page!

http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/wedding-guide/wedding-week/darren-leggatt-and-andrea-deuchrass​

Thanks all - share the word around!

Wedding Photos

We got married!!

Hi there! 

I'm back!! Married!! We're both slightly heavier on the left hand side now, not from eating too many Jimmy's Pies (a South Island delicacy, google them) but because Andrea and I got married on the 23^rd of April down in Arrowtown, South Island, New Zealand. Monday was our first day back at work and things are going great.  

For those interested, our wedding day was nothing short of spectacular, the weather was exceptionally kind to us (even though it had been bucketing down at 3am with forecasts for torrential rain for the rest of the day), everyone had a fantastic time, rave reviews and yes, we can all agree on the fact that I punched well above my weight class being lucky enough to have Andrea think I'm fine, right? 

​Truly, I am a lucky man. Much dancing was done (no, I did not bust out my robot although I was tempted), music was brilliant (some Foo Fighters, little bit of Faith No More, some Cruzados), we had a great time and were lucky to have had the pleasure of so many people we care about attending even though it was such a big trip for some. 

18-20 months in the planning and organised by ourselves, our wedding day couldn't have gone better. It was nothing short of epic. Even the hen and stag nights went off without incident. 

Well, except for the fact my brother Dave (best man) broke his arm on the mechanical bull - but of course carried on partying like a rock star since we Leggatt boys do well in the pain threshold dept - and everyone else sustained minor injuries like rib and back bruising. Now my ride (yes, I know, just had back surgery but some things just cannot be denied) simply ended up making me feel a lot better. And I lasted second longest. 

My physio is now considering getting in a mechanical bull for those messed up spine patients like I had been. I reckon she should. I could do with another turn... 

Now as per all my blog posts, it is always my style to offer up any challenges ​faced so can pass on things we learned and how we handled ​so that these things may one day help you. And not just for a wedding.

Challenge # 1 – stay with me here. 

Cats like fuckn cheese. No, it is a true story. Don't bother arguing with me. I once owned a cat who was mad for cheesy pizza. Mad enough to write a children's book about. Jack the Pizza Eating Cat.

I can see your face right now so let me clarify. In my groom speech, I immediately referenced that I was like "the cat who got the cheese" referring to how incredible Andrea looked (I swear she was glowing) and how happy I was to be her groom. Happy Dazza, grinning from ear to ear. One of our beloved guests decided she would correct me by saying "cream". What was in my head surely wasn't appropriate to voice so I had to let it slide. Was still great for a laugh but I stand by the fact cats do dig cheese in a big way. 

A learning that my wife was able to take away from this? Husband is cool, he probably should have done more prep for his speech rather than just "winging it" and yes, he is a little different. Absolute true story though, she may have known this one already when she signed up. 

Challenge # 2 - we left the rings behind at the house. Yup. The two crucial items for any successful wedding, these shiny circular items were happily sitting on a bedside table back at the Book-A-Bach we rented wondering where we had all disappeared to. Seems our amazing photographer moved them for some shots prior to us tying them in a pretty bow to be brought along to the chapel. Shit.

So what were the lessons we learned from this?

Lesson # 1 – both of us have very strong hearts – neither of us exploded internally. 

Lesson # 2 - Lizzie, our mid 50's driver of one of the daimlers we had as wedding cars, can drive really fast and jump fences all in the name of love. Impressive commitment for love for sure!

Lesson # 3 - sometimes when you have planned things down to the very minute for something so hugely important, not all things can (or will) go smoothly, no matter how meticulous you are. Always make a suitable amount of well-considered room for errors and always triple check your work, utilise those around you as sounding boards too depending on importance of what you're working on.

Lesson # 4 – sometimes when things go wrong, things can actually go much better. With the rings left behind and a mad drive back to the house by one of the car drivers, Andrea was stuck waiting outside the chapel whilst I was standing inside it with all our guests. 25 minutes round trip to get the rings? Nothing we could do but wait. I considered busting out into song, but it didn't take long before both of us, began to really relax. The pressure was off. Something had gone wrong. I know, it sounds weird. But that's exactly what happened.

See, those rings sitting ever so innocently on that bedside table, actually took the pressure off of both of us as our meticulously planned day had had its first hiccup. At the time it was a biggie. But there was nothing we could do but wait. A dent in our amour of planning had occurred. It's kind of like what happens to your nerves in a fight when that first strike catches you. You're shaking with the nervous adrenaline right up until the pain comes – and then you realise you can handle it. It's a feeling of relief.

And that's when you just get on with it. And that's exactly what we did.

NOTE - I am in no way likening my getting married to a fight. Sheeesh.  

Queue shortest marriage in history.

Seriously though, we had an incredible day! My lovely wife had her dream wedding. Quote un-quote. It's a pretty good feeling knowing we pulled that dream come true out of the bag. We got it done AF people.

So yes, to the learnings. To the many of us who are set back by mistakes or errors as we're aiming for our lofty goals or trying to deliver projects or get through workloads, it is important you see any setbacks for what they are.

Each one is a key opportunity to grow/learn, a chance to realise that no matter how intensive our planning to deliver, it is okay (of course depending on severity and importance) for something to go wrong in a purely personal growth perspective. Like one of my earlier posts, mistakes mean you're trying. Sometimes they can be a pressure off moment. Sometimes it can be a pressure on moment that can wake you up to perform even better. The trick is to not let them stop you performing your very best. You just rally yourself and back yourself. You can still succeed!

The other simple fact is, we ALL make mistakes. Do your level best to mitigate making big ones, never be too proud to ask for advice, feedback or help etc. Always learn from any mistakes you make and correct them as fast and as best you can. After all, it's how we all grow.

All that said, I am so glad that we had such an incredible day and holiday, we are pleased to be back (although another week might have been just the ticket aye boss hahaha) and we have been besieged with well wishes, handshakes of congrats and genuine smiling welcome's back.

Here are a few pictures. Enjoy.

[Dazza drops the mic]

Boom.

Got Anxiety? Read this.

Anxiety. 

It's a funny thing. Can be crippling in extreme cases or in lesser extents, be quite good for you. Kinda like small amounts of stress.

If you suffer from anxiety, I might just have a few pointers that may assist you in coping with it.

Like most posts, this one has been triggered. Surprise, surprise, I've just been subjected to a fair amount of anxiety myself by coming back to work. Regular readers will know that I've just been through some major surgery (and subsequent mistakes made by said surgeons) in which i ended up being paralysed for quite a few hours and almost checked out a few times.

But my anxiety was not caused by what you might think, I was never anxious about going back to work, I was (and still am) excited to be back. Back full time now after a graduated return to work program that started off with 4 hours per day for first couple of weeks, then up to five and half etc.

No, my anxiety was because I've been struggling having normal conversations with people, or even speaking publically when normally (pre operations and trauma) I'd been fine. I'm not normally a shy kinda guy.

Anxiety has been creating awkward silences, making me struggle talking to people and making my heart race. Anxiety has been knocking me off my game. 

Not cool. But thankfully, not for long. 

Turns out that trauma, 3 operations in less than 3 days with all that general anaesthetic AND 4 ½ months in recovery with only the odd visitor, "discussion" with difficult ACC people and loving family members to talk to, does not make for a well-rounded, confident workplace conversationalist by any means. 

Seems I had become quite blunt (more than before), less aware of my impact on others and I'd been missing a few social graces like patience and tolerance. Who knew?

Not generally a great look for someone in my position as a manager as you can imagine. 

Interviews (which I deliberately keep semi casual to get the most out of candidates) often created eyebrow raises from potential staff from my lines of questioning.

The good thing however – just like you who come here to read this stuff – I realised. Thankfully very quickly. This is actually something I have anxiety to thank for. See? Told you in some cases it's okay to have.

Now as you know if you visit here often (and again, just like yourself) I'm not one for taking things lying down so have been working hard on sorting all this out. Pretty sure I'm almost back on track now.

Fall down six, stand up seven. Set your goal, nail it.

So the purpose of this post – because of all that palaver - I have figured out a couple of quick win help techniques (and reinvigorated a few from my old fighting days) that may work for you as they have (and are) for me.

• Clench and relax your stomach muscles multiple times. Anxiety (and stress) is often held in this location.
• Pull down your upper back muscles (shoulder blades) toward your waist and release a few times too. Like point 1, this is another good location for muscle bunching from emotional content. You can also use this one for relieving stress headaches as often those types of headache is caused by upper back muscle tension running into the neck.
• Clench and hold your left hand, make a fist, let it go. Again, repeat. Left hand is closest to your heart (why a wedding ring is worn on it) and this action is an old technique I learnt from a very understanding Grandmaster who saw me stressing before a multiple attacker training session, it often works.
• Git your soundz on - favourite song time – play it loud either in your headphones, at home before your anxiety inducing moment or even in the car on the way to it. Music can soothe the savage beast inside or rark it up even more toward the "you won't break me" positive reinforcement

• Most important - BREATHE – oxygen really is your best friend. But it's not just about in and out. Concentrate on keeping your breathing regular as anxiety often speeds up your breathing patterns. Bringing it back to standard (or slower) will reduce all kinds of factors churning through your bloodstream. But dont go too slow. Often thinking everyone has fallen down some invisible hole when in fact you passed out and are staring at the ceiling, can be awkward. Trust me on this.
• "Check yourself before you wreck yourself" – google says the actual origin of this saying actually began in Tauranga! As "street" as I have been in the past (snigger), no it wasn't me. Now this one really is all about self-monitoring. If you know you have anxiety, you have to also know that your emotional reactions or conversational interactions may not quite be on point as they have normally been. Be aware of who you're talking to, check their reactions to what/how you're saying things. There have been multiple moments since I've been back where I've just bluntly stated things or just walked away from discussions when the other person may not have been finished asking for my help. Luckily I think I've caught most of them and wheeled back. If you're one of them, oops, sorry. Work in progress.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. To quote something I have up on the wall of my home dojo;
  

• Last one - lay off coffee and if you're a smoker, try kick that to the curb too. Both generate anxiety, not solve it. Plenty of scientific proof. Up to you though, I'm not telling you what to do, choice is always yours.

And that's about it for now.

Failing these self-help things working for you, suggest talking about it with a friend and/or utilising counselling if you can. Sometimes just talking with someone who can help you discover some "tools" to help can make all the difference in the world.

That said, off you go. .

Time to go get some things done.

Daz.

An old story told new

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move. “Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn't I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the Sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the Sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be over-matched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the Sensei intervened. “No,” the Sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and Sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the Sensei answered. “First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defence for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

The boy’s greatest weakness had become his greatest strength.

Something to think about, right?

​

Are you sure that part of you, that you think is a weakness...is actually a weakness?

The 4 month hiatus is over! I'm BACK!!

Hi you!

Apologies for not updating my blogs sooner! I would've if I could've, promise! Wrote this one up last night so could upload for you today.

See the thing is (if you hadn't noticed), I've been away for just over 4 months, recovering. Its true that I almost died couple of times and almost lost use of my legs forever. Yup. Fairly serious stuff.

So the purpose of this post is to not only let you know that yes, I am absolutely alive and back at my work walking the (new) hallowed halls of power (and gas and internet and phones) but to also let you know what happened (and to save me explaining to everyone who is asking) and to let you know what I learnt so I can pass this on to you. 

After all, that is the purpose of why I started this blog in the first place. To help.

So let's break it down a bit, y'know, set the scene some to speak...

I went in for a fairly standard leg bypass operation back in October 2015. This was the result of a somewhat mis-spent youth, martial arts conditioning and semi-pro kickboxing. Funny thing is that repetitive fights and coming from Matamata (where actual hobbits live) can absolutely result in some long term damage that will eventually need repair. That and being over 40 now. And greying. Nothing too serious, operation would've had me off work for 3 weeks tops.

Or so I planned. But as life is, sometimes life doesn't work out that way.

Had operation over in Braemar Hospital in Hamilton. Yay for Southern Cross Healthcare. Everything went well...right up until around 4 hours later when they found a blockage in behind my right knee. Another operation scheduled immediately as risk of losing my right foot. 2nd operation in less than 6 hours.

Transferred to Waikato Hospital where things began to go pear-shaped as no team available in Braemar. Long story short, trainee anaesthesiologist and his boss signed off 10 times the normal amount of blood thinner (to which the hospital admitted full liability) during my op and in HDU post care.

As the method to knock me out to remove the blockage was via an epidural, I ended up developing a rather large spinal hematoma which pressed on all available nerve endings creating a pretty good amount of pain and had me completely paralysed for a good 6 hours, a paralysis they were fairly sure was going to be permanent.

During this hematoma prior to the third operation (5-6 hours between each of the three ops) to remove part of my spine, turns out I came about as close as you can to going into cardiac arrest 2-3 times with massive blood pressure peaks and pulse rate spikes. 

I remember them happening and just clenching my teeth/fists/every muscle I have as all the machines I was hooked up to all went crazy.

Good news is...I survived every single one. Much to a lot of the medical staff's surprise. The spinal specialist seemed quite pleased when I caught up with him only a few weeks ago. 

Like my grandmother used to be fond of saying though, "You can't kill the weeds". True story.

So then has come the long and slow process of getting better. 

Yes, at times it has been incredibly frustrating, a lot of the time painful. I still have constant pain in my left leg, some numbness on my left foot and a disc in my lower back that has decided to slip out as a result of all the trauma. I have multiple visits to physio's per week, each of which almost wipes me out. I am constantly standing then sitting, sitting then standing as long term of either, hurts. Stamina is also an issue, pain is kind of like a slow leak on a car tyre. Hence my short days to start with until the tyre gets fixed.

But even with all of this, I am still very much alive and walking, both of which were up for grabs on more than one occasion.

So what have I learnt from all this that could possibly help you? 

And how is it that I have managed to get back to work so soon given the specialist expected me to 

a) never walk again 

b) on the outside chance I would walk again, that I would need assistance for the rest of my life 

c) if lucky enough to be in the 2% of people who have had the same size hematoma in same place be able to walk again unassisted, I would still be messed up for upwards of 2 years before I could return to some normality

So then exactly how am I back at work now, only 4 months later? And mowing lawns at home?

Well, like a lot of my previous posts, the answer is very simple.

DO THINGS FOR YOURSELF 

DON'T LET YOURSELF BECOME A "VICTIM"

​No, I'm not kidding. Allowing yourself to be the victim changes your outlook on things. Negativity can creep in. Depression. Expectation that things will indeed go wrong or get worse. You have to fight this feeling.

So if you can do something for yourself (without getting hurt), plan out how you're going to do it, then do it.​ ​

Own that shit. Then celebrate your success. Even if it's tiny. Every single success counts towards getting - and keeping - your head on straight. It also helps your body repair.

POSITIVITY counts.

During my recovery, I have stood by a few simple rules (most of which have gotten me growlings from my better half Andrea for doing too much) like pushing myself every single day. Every day I got out of bed at 7:30am, even though I had nothing to do. I got my own breakfast (well mainly, the ones where I couldn't get out of bed Andrea made it for me), I made a list of things to accomplish every single day and I nailed every single one. Some were simple like "walk 3 steps" or "change light bulb" right up to "swim 30 lengths at pool" and "mow lawns without stopping". Now sure, a couple of times I took things a bit far and popped a few stitches, but all in all, I have busted what was a 98% certainty prognosis and shown the world what is possible with some stubbornness, drive, setting goals and teeth gritting determination - all of which YOU have in spades too. 

Trust me - this is not something "special" about me.

YOU just need to believe in yourself too and TRY. It is always better to try and fail, than fail to try.

Do things for yourself, never let circumstances beat you, you are the one who gets to choose how you will react to any and all situations. 

Yep, YOU.

Now I'll wind it up here so that you can grab a drink and a bite to eat since it's been a fairly long post. Eating and drinking at regular intervals is advised.

In the coming weeks as I get stronger, I'm happy to talk to anyone if you need help unlocking any of these skills and attitude changes (for free), just put in a request in the comments or email me and I'll see what we can do.

But all in all, remember...

You're so much stronger and more resilient than you think you are.

Talk soon.