GEORGE BUSINESS NEWS - As the year draws to an end and people are running on their last reserves, George Business Chamber members were encouraged by none other than the 2018 winner of Survivor South Africa, Tom Swartz. 

Swartz spoke at a breakfast hosted by the chamber in collaboration with George Airport and the Airports Company of South Africa on last Friday 29 November, where he shared his experiences and told about his life in the Eastern Cape.

Having come out tops in the popular television and reality contest in the Phillipines, Swartz knows how to persevere. He has learned a lot about himself and adversity in Survivor 2018 and feels it is time that he share it. 

He said at this time of the year everybody's spirits are sagging - "it feels like it's the 23rd month of the year" - but one can go beyond your limits.

"Some of the things that I have learned can be applied in daily life. I learned in Survivor that you are not done until you say you are done. You can do much more than you think.

"If your head tells your body you are finished, you must know you are only 70% finished. There is still 30% left." A person must learn how to get to that 30% and use it.

Tom Swartz, 2018 winner of Survivor South Africa, shows the audience how he reacted during the filming of the programme. 

In an interview with George Herald he said that Survivor is much tougher than normal life.

In Survivor your family is not there to support you. The mental aspect is also much more challenging than the physical, because you can't trust anybody.

If given the opportunity, he will definitely participate again. "I encourage people to participate. For anybody who would like to challenge themselves, Survivor is the game."

But he warned that it was very demanding and that you learn a lot about yourself, even after the competition is over. "In normal life if people talk behind your back, you will probably never get to know about it.

In Survivor you learn about it four or five months later, when it is aired. Then you actually get to hear what people said about you. That is quite humbling."

He said one must understand that participants are willing to do anything to win, including backstabbing. "A lot of the game is about pride. Nobody wants to be voted out soon."

"In the end, R1-million is R1-million," he said. "People will play hard to get the R1-million."

Tom Swartz, 2018 winner of Survivor South Africa, addressing members of the George Business Chamber. Photos: Eugene Gunning

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