Trigger warning: suicide, depression, acts of war.

Many of us have seen war movies, but nothing can truly explain the horrors and intensity of war. So we can only begin to understand the mental impact that going to war can have on the brave soldiers who are involved.

Dave Payne has carved a difficult path from the frontlines to the boardroom.

He has served as a leader in Iraq and Afghanistan wars and, as a security supervisor at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru.

Dave has battled PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. He has since rebuilt his mind, body, spirit, and purpose.

Now, bringing this skill set to Lifespan Supplements as Director, Dave delivers top quality health products that help people live stronger, longer, vibrant, and more purposeful lives.

He also uses his hard fought and won skills to support and enrich the lives of veterans through Sage and Sovereign Group, as well as his Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) coaching business.

In this episode he shares:

- His early upbringing in Australia with his parents and why it was good and paved the way for him to have the life that he has now

- The things that built resilience in his youth

- What life in the military was like

- The accident he had while off duty

- How he was made to go back to military work when he hadn’t recovered

- His time in Iraq and the horrors he witnessed

- How he realised he was in trouble while back home on leave

- The damaging response he was given when he opened up about his struggle

- How bottling up his feelings lead to drinking

Key Quotes

“I just felt this, like a hole just appeared in me. These thoughts and feelings were creeping in. There was lots of sadness.”

“They were testing chlorine bombs…and it just literally melts skin. It just melt human.”

More about

You can find out more about what Dave does via the Lifespan Supplements website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE.

Trigger warning: sexual abuse

For many survivors of child sexual abuse, the moment the truth comes out can almost be another form of trauma while for others it can be cathartic. In fact as Alison Mau knows very well, the needs of survivors are infinitely varied.

Alison is an award-winning journalist with more than thirty years in major television, radio, and print media roles. A long-time advocate for gender equity, in the wake of the global #metoo movement, Alison created a ground breaking investigative journalism project at NZ’s largest news platform in 2018. Over five years, the #MeTooNZ project published dozens of major investigations and supported hundreds of survivors to tell their stories, leading to widespread change in the way sexual harassment is reported by media.

In many ways her experience helped her when it came to exploring and sharing her own personal experience with childhood sexual abuse.

In 2023, Alison co-founded Tika, a tech-first access to justice charity designed to remove the barriers survivors experience when seeking justice and accountability.

Her #1 bestselling memoir, No Words For This, was released in April 2025.

In this episode she shares:

- How her curiosity, optimism, and likely undiagnosed ADHD have shaped who she is

- Why she wrote No Words for This and the lack of language around sexual harm

- The decision to tell her family’s story and why leaving it out felt dishonest

- The unexpected impact of the book and how it helped survivors feel less alone

- Her role leading Me Too NZ and changing how survivor stories are reported

- What trauma-informed journalism looks like in practice

- How a phone call from her sister brought buried childhood abuse into the open

- The relief and complexity of discovering she was no longer alone

- Why justice and healing are not one-size-fits-all for survivors

- How she transformed anger, struggle, and grief into advocacy and systemic change

Key Quotes

“I spent my whole life pushing it down just so I could survive, until one moment made it impossible to stay alone with it.”

“Struggling isn’t weakness, it’s what happens when you’re carrying something that was never meant to be carried alone.”

“The hardest part wasn’t what happened to me, but learning to believe it wasn’t my fault.”

More about

Find out more about Tika here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE.

Welcome to 2026! For many 2025 was a pretty hard year, and some of you may have just been knuckling down and powering through, often even being the support for those around you whilst also desperately trying to keep your head above water.

I wanted to do this episode to help those of us who have fallen into the role of being ‘The Strong one” find a way to an easier 2026.

In this episode I shares:

- How we can take a moment to pause

- What it means to be the strong one and why people become the strong one

- The cost of always being the strong one

- What happens when the strong one finally can’t be strong

- What is a more positive kind of strength

- A simple strategy to begin shifting the pattern

Key Quotes

“Over time strength stops being something you do and it becomes someone you are.”

There is a hidden cost of being the strong one.”

“Your body often knows the cost long before your mind does.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.