03/04/2026
đ§ Why is the world making life so hard at the moment !
Globally. Nationally. Personally.
You donât need me to list it l, most people are carrying something heavy at the moment. Cost of living pressures, uncertainty about the future, mental fatigue, loss of direction or media driven dark narritives⌠itâs there in the background of almost every conversation.
And yet, when things get hard, the same question always comes up:
What do you do next?
For me, that answer has always come back to a set of values I learned early on in the Royal Marines:
Courage. Determination. Unselfishness. Cheerfulness in the face of adversity.
Theyâre not just military ideals. Theyâre life tools.
I see them every day on the mats in Brazilian Jiujitsu.
⢠The white belt who keeps showing up, despite feeling out of their depth.
⢠The parent juggling work, family, and training, refusing to quit on themselves.
⢠The person whoâs had a rough year but chooses to step onto the mat anyway.
Thatâs courage.
Not loud, dramatic courage but quiet, consistent courage.
The kind that says: âIâm still here. Iâm still trying.â
Writing my book forced me back into that mindset.
Revisiting moments from Afghanistan, Iraq, and life outside the military wasnât easy. But it reminded me of something important:
Resilience isnât something youâre born with itâs something you build, rep by rep, decision by decision.
Just like in Jiujitsu.
You donât rise to the occasion.
You fall back on your training.
And right now, a lot of people are being tested.
So maybe the question isnât:
âWhy is this happening?â
Maybe itâs:
âWho am I choosing to be in the middle of it?â
Because even when life feels chaotic, uncertain, or unfairâŚ
You still get a say in that.
Turn up. Stay in the fight. Keep moving forward.
Thatâs where growth lives.
đ¸ .oliver_media
