WHERE I COME FROM
I grew up in Launceston, a small town of 100,000 in Northern Tasmania. I am a product of the public schooling system at Summerdale Primary and Prospect High School. I come from a tight-knit family where my Nan and Pop were my day carers and their shack at Musselroe Bay was our holiday destination. My brother was my best friend even though he and I were butting heads for most of our adolescent years.
(Below are excerpts from my book Take Control)
"After my parents separated when I was 7 years old, the relationship between my mum Maxine, my brother Mat and myself grew even closer. The three of us were inseparable and it was as if we all worked in sync with one another, as if we had a chemistry between us."
After my dreams and aspirations of becoming an Air Force Pilot got crushed, I dropped out of college and moved to Brisbane to live and work with my dad Peter. This period of my life taught me many valuable lessons which I still use today."
"After a heated argument with my dad, I packed my bags and made the move back to Launceston where I also made a career change into the Banking industry with Westpac. I quickly progressed through the ranks and found myself in a Managerial role in Hobart, which coincided with my brother's move to the very same location."
"Hobart was a step up from Launceston in terms of culture, vibrancy, night life, career opportunities and most importantly for Mat and I, Football where we joined the Clarence Football Club."
"The events that followed after losing Mat in 2008 saw me move back to Launceston to do some soul searching and be near family - this only lasted 6 months as I attempted another go in Hobart, this time working with the NAB."
"In 2013 I made the move to Melbourne. I convinced others and myself it was for 'career purposes' but in reality I was just removing myself from the constant reminders I had of Mat when I was in Hobart. I thought by moving, I would also cut ties with the memories and grief that haunted me but I wasn't aware that these memories and grief would simply travel with me, without the extra baggage allowance necessary."
"The move to the big city provided me with the necessary distractions. A great new role with the NAB and plenty happening in Melbourne's night life scene to keep me occupied. I worked hard and I was rewarded for my efforts with a promotion which saw me managing one of NAB's biggest branches in the country in the CBD. It was an ego boost to say the least and it further justified my actions and behaviour. Until it all came crashing down of course. After a night of intoxication, poor behaviour and bad decisions, I resigned from my role with the NAB. Everything I spent 5 years working hard for was lost in 1 night and the only person responsible was me."
"The 6 months that followed were the most challenging of my life, professionally, personally and emotionally. I kept the truth to myself because I was ashamed of my actions and what they led to. I couldn't find another job, I couldn't bounce back and I just worked my way deeper and deeper into a hole which seemed beyond the point of no return. I eventually found myself in bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating putting an end to it all. What stopped me? I couldn't bare the thought of putting my mum through losing her second son."
"After one particularly restless night and other-worldly sleep, I woke up with a sense of weightlessness. Things seemed clearer, I knew that I was the only one that could take control of my situation if I wanted things to change. What followed over the next 6 months was a rebuilding process and I did it by prioritising my health and my attitude towards my wellbeing. I wanted to become a better person, a stronger version of myself and the only way I could do this was by becoming healthier and removing anything that had a negative effect on me."
Four years later I am now co-owner of what I consider to be a nation leading training studio called GRIPT in South Yarra. Along with my close friend and business partner Jack Boon, we have built a business, a training facility, a community and a culture around supporting people in becoming their best selves by prioritising their health.
It's during these 4 years that I have gained a greater understanding of what being healthy truly means. The human body is one of the most complex systems in the world, yet we know very little about how it works, how to care for it and how to get the most out of it.
What keeps me up at night, what makes me put pen to paper or typing into a document in this case, is the issues we are facing now and the issues that are in the not to distant future. The more I read, the more I listen, the more my views come from a place of concern and this place is growing each day.
My concerns rise from the current course we are on, from the experiences I have had previously and what I see, hear and learn in my day to day life today.
The concern I have is that there are issues that are only growing, creating a negative effect on peoples lives and although there is a lot of talk about them, there is no serious action. And unfortunately these are not small matters that can go on without any serious consequences, because I am talking about people’s lives and their happiness.
Those key areas:
The health of Australian's continues to decline
The state of the environment in Australia continues to worsen
The quality of education being delivered in our schools is declining
Australian's are working harder and longer than ever
We carry the second most amount of household debt in the world
There has been no real change in closing the gap with our first people
The way I have heard it best put is by Hugh McKay in his book Australia Reimagined - "as a society we are over weight, over stressed, over medicated and financially over stretched".
With our health, environment, education and well being continuing to be neglected, I believe we will continue to become more disconnected with our physical communities and society that we live in, as we become further drawn into technology and the online space where we can choose to create our own reality, by only showing our best self or further yet, create our best self.
This may all sound very grim, that’s because it is or it could be, but it doesn’t need to be the case. The current course we are on doesn’t need to remain the same, it can be changed, but only if we want it to change.
I have been waiting for the change to start at the top. I have been waiting for a vision to be created that I can see clearly. A vision that I understand what my role is in it and when I wake up each morning how I can contribute to making it a reality, but this hasn't eventuated. The constant state of talk with no action and prioritising personal gain instead of whats best for the people is what continues to slow us down.
Change needs to start with you and I, by understanding the real issues that we are being faced with now and what we will be faced with in the future. Without our voice being heard, these problems will only continue and the consequences continue to grow.
Drew