Why I Share This Journey

The Five Words That Became My Tools

Through every up and every down of my life, I discovered that five words kept showing up and they became my survival tools to help me deal with the crazy ride that we call "life" - So in no particular order let me introduce you to the words and one time that they became apparent these words helped me grow :

POWER.

When my marriage ended after 11 years, I had to relearn that I was enough as an individual person and that I could live and be on my own. As the divorce went on and became harder I had to be taught how others perceived them and this led to me reframing someone who I thought I knew and loved was actually not the person I thought and had made them out to be.

My POWER showed up by NOT controlling circumstances or reacting to provocation — BUT understanding me and who I was and then reclaiming myself.

COURAGE.

My children needed a father who showed up, even on days when I felt broken - and sometimes that courage was actually telling them that I was sad and I needed hugs.

Courage wasn't about feeling brave—it was choosing to be present anyway. 

Courage has helped me to do things that have made me feel truly alive - It helped me on that first jump out of aeroplane when I went for my skydiving license - It's what got me on the mat for BJJ when everything hurt. It's what took me to Kala Patthar to see Everest, a boyhood dream I thought I'd never achieve.

PURPOSE.

When your identity shatters, purpose is the anchor that can help you really deal with the storms.

Even though my world has been turned upside down and there have people saying the most untrue and nasty things about me - I was still a life coach and a fitness instructor. 

Still someone who helped others achieve their goals and they were so glad to have someone like me in their corner as they knew my true being and worth. On the days I felt like a failure, purpose reminded me who I really was.

MINDSET.

At 26, partial deafness changed my world overnight.

I couldn't control what happened, but I could control how I thought about it. It took a long time to get into the swing but NOW I always say losing my hearing was one of the best things that happened to me as it changed the direction I was on and now I have lived a life that I am truly grateful for!

Mindset became my superpower—in business setbacks, in grief, in starting over.

It's the difference between "this happened to me" and "this is happening for me."

AMBITION.

After the downs that life can throw at you including, divorce, family loss, things out of my control and also things that were totally my fault —ambition would ask:

"What does your new life look like?"

It has got me to assess where I am right now and why ... then where do I want to be and how do I make that happen!

Ambition pushed me to complete Zurich Ironman - which I hated doing and will never do again. To lose my ego so that I would compete in BJJ tournaments against men 15 years younger than me. To build businesses where I get to help people (just like this one). To love again. Ambition isn't about achieving—it's about deciding you're not done yet.

These five words weren't motivational quotes I saw somewhere. They were tools I used every single day when life got hard.

I put them on my walls.

In my notebooks.

On my phone background.

They became my daily reminders that I was stronger than I thought, braver than I felt, and capable of more than I could imagine.

Then I realised: if these words saved me, maybe they could help someone else too.

That's why The Up & Down Journey exists.

Not to sell you clothing—but to give you wearable tools.

When you put up a Life Guidelines poster or pull on a POWER t-shirt or drink from a Mantra Mug, you're reminding yourself that you have what you need to navigate whatever comes next.

Because life isn't about avoiding the downs. It's about having the right tools when they arrive.