Interview with Andrew Barns
Owner
of Mischa Wines in Wellington
Andrew Barns is the Co-owner and winemaker from Mischa Wines in Welington. He gave us some interesting morning rituals and habits in his life as an entrepreneur.
View the full video below:
Below a few points of interest taken from the interview:
Tell us more about the industry you are in?
Mischa Estates consist out of three businesses. One being Mischa winery, with premier exporting wines.The second being Mischa nursery where they grow table grape stokkies.
Thirdly the business called NutraFarm, where they support their customers with improving the soil health with the long term goal to reduce the inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers.
Andrew and his bother Gary is currently the 3rd generation on the farm.
What are your morning rituals and daily habits?
He reminds himself regularly of the Aristotle quote ... We are what we repeatedly do, then success (excellence) is not an action but a habit.
Wanting to be successful, assisted him to find the correct habits.He rises early at 4:45, and study for about an hour. Andrew is busy with a business degree.After that he workout for about 45 minutes.
By the time he gets to work, his body and brain is going and ready for the day.Getting up early was not always easy, and it took him about a month to get into the new habits.
Like myself, Andrew also uses the Wim Hof breathing technique and start his day with cold showers.When he gets to work he journal about whatever is sitting on top of his mind, good or bad.He also plans his day in this time and try to allocate specific time slots for activities.
What do you use to settle down before you going sleep at night?
He practised his brain to not think of too much before he goes to sleep. Before the goes to sleep, he makes himself a cocktail of fibre, calcium, magnesium and boron powder.
Like myself, Andrew also uses GABA, which main benefits are calm, relaxation and stress reduction. GABA also assist in recovery of lean muscle. They also make their own kombucha at home, which is a good probiotic. He takes it after dinner to assist with digestion. Make sure the light is low, and no cell phones before bed times.
Any bad habits entrepreneurs need to stop immediately?
Social media is nice business and social tool, but it is very shallow. Use it, but always keep in mind, all things in moderation. Anything too much is too much.
Deep happiness cannot be found on a shallow platform.They have a rule as family, no phones at the table. Eat and talk about your day, around a table.Being a winemaker, Andrew compared the use of social media to alcohol usage. One glass of wine a day is beneficial for you, but using too much can become a problem.
Any books that you recommend?
He signed up to only two newsletters.
Barking up the wrong tree, by Eric Barker
Brain Pickings by Maria Popova
Best book by far was Barking up the wrong tree by Eric Barker.
