Wednesday Real Stories: "Borrowing Resilience: Learning from David Holmes"

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Hello and welcome to Real Stories Wednesday on the Choosing Happy Podcast.

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I'm Heather Masters, your host and today I'm talking about a story that's been on my mind this week.

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David Holmes.

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Maybe you've heard of him.

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He's a brilliant example of resilience and hard times.

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His strength isn't about being a superhero with unbreakable will.

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It's about perspective and the way he borrows and models qualities to build inner strength he never knew he had.

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And today I want us to explore how we don't have to be born a homes to stand tall in adversity.

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Instead, we can borrow resilience from those who inspire us, then shape it into our own.

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So stay tuned for today's Choosing Happy podcast.

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Now, David was the body double for Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter films from quite a young age.

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But in: 2009

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Now, instead of letting that define or defeat him, David rebuilt his life with remarkable resilience, adapting and modeling new ways of being strong.

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David wasn't just daring because he was brave.

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He was relentless in his commitment to excellence.

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Performing as Daniel Radcliffe's body double, he pushed himself to master stunts with precision and grace, always raising the bar on what was possible.

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And this dedication to craft shaped the discipline and mental toughness he later drew on after his accident.

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His journey has been captured in the documentary David the Boy who Lived, produced with Daniel Radcliffe himself, showing a raw and real journey from tragedy to transformation.

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One that teaches us that true strength isn't born.

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It's crafted, borrowed and adopted.

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Now I remember traveling to Sydney from Tanzania to take part in the NLP and timeline therapy trainers training with Dr. Tad James, the founder of Timeline Therapy.

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And halfway through the journey, I realized I'd left my debit card behind.

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I had an eight hour stopover in Dubai airport and I didn't even have enough money to buy a coffee.

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And when I finally arrived in Australia, coming from Africa meant extra security checks that held me back.

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And it was 5am when I arrived at the hotel and it was closed.

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Sitting alone on the beach, head in my hands, I have to admit, I cried.

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It felt like everything was against me.

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And in that vulnerable moment, I reminded myself of why I was there, who I was learning from.

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Dr. Tad James, a man who embodied calm, strength and transformational power.

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And I asked myself quietly, what would Tad do?

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And that simple question helped me tap into resources I.

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No, I had.

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And I did that for the full training it's one of the hardest trainings I've ever done, if not the hardest.

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But in that moment, I felt a shift, a new resolve.

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And I watched the sun coming up.

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A fresh start, full of possibilities in a land where I actually could walk free.

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It wasn't so in Tanzania.

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And in that moment, even though I. I couldn't yet fully see it, everything had changed.

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I had changed.

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And it was up to me to choose for the better.

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Pause for a moment and think.

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When was the last time you faced a challenge and surprised yourself by reaching inside for unexpected strength?

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Who or what did you unconsciously borrow that strength from?

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And just let that settle in?

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This is where the power of NLP comes in.

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The idea of modeling.

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You don't have to be a resilient person on day one.

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You can learn resilience by studying and adopting the mindset, emotions, choices and behaviors of those who have it.

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When you think about it, this changes everything.

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This is the real meaning of nlp, the modeling of excellence.

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Instead of beating yourself up for not having enough resilience, you accept it as a skill that grows an aspect of your identity that you can borrow and make your own.

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Another presupposition of NLP is that if you can identify it, then you already have it.

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So here are three simple NLP modeling tips.

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Number one, Be like a child watching their favourite superhero.

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Notice how they talk, move and breathe and borrow one small trait like calm or patience or the way they choose something and try it on.

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Number two, play character.

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Walk for two minutes.

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Walk like the person you want to model.

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Notice how that changes your mood and energy.

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I remember when I took some acting lessons some years ago and they had this exercise where you walked around the room either with the physiology and attitude of someone who's a 1 really depressed down upset, or someone who's a 10 ultra confident out there standing tall.

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And it was amazing how instantly your mood and your whole attitude changes by just changing and trying on those traits based on that number range.

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Okay?

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Number three, mirror the language subtly.

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Adopt a phrase or tone from your resilience role model in your your next conversation and feel the shift even in the conversation with yourself.

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So if you have a role model who boosts themselves up by just reminding themselves you've got this, then practice that.

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But practice in a way that works for you.

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Often in moments of struggle, the first mistake is comparison to those with powerful will or unshakable courage.

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We think, I don't have that.

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I'm not like them.

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I'll never be that way.

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But the truth is that you don't have to be like them.

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You need your own version of that strength, one borrowed, built and blended with your own story, your own way of being.

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This perspective shift is what turns vulnerability into power, fear into courage, and hardship into transformation.

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And at a time when many are searching for purpose, resilience and direction, remember, this purpose isn't somewhere far away.

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It's a choice we make in each moment, especially in today's fast changing world.

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Like Choosing Happy itself, resilience comes from within, cultivated by thoughtful choice, not just raw will.

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David Holmes didn't become powerful by accident.

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He became relentless on purpose.

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And you can too.

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Remember, resilience isn't a fixed trait, it's a resource you tap by borrowing, blending and becoming.

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Keep standing tall, borrow wise, and above all, keep choosing Happy thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode.

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If you enjoyed it or think it would be valuable to others, please do share.

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And if you really enjoyed it, please leave me a review.

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It really helps the podcast.

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All of the links are in the show notes and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Choosing Happy podcast.

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Sam.