To hear Dame Kelly Holmes, the Olympic double champion and motivational speaker, tell it, her career has been dented by setbacks from early on. Speaking on the Pendulum Summit stage in Dublin's Convention Centre this month, she held nothing back, sharing insights into her highs and lows with frankness, humour and clear compassion for herself.
An athletic icon, Holmes started off in the British Army, where she worked her way up to the rank of honorary Colonel, while competing in multiple middle distance events. Working through injury after injury, she made it to the 1996 and 2000 Olympics where she won a bronze medal.
She specialised in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events and won a gold medal for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Not only that, but she set records for Britain in numerous events, most often breaking her own previous records with her drive, focus and fierce discipline when it came to what her body could do.
"I made a vow that I would never suffer alone again...I talk to my friends, I call people and say I just need to talk. Sometimes we think when we're up at the top of the ladder that we can't show any other weakness - of course we can." @damekellyholmes #PendulumSummit pic.twitter.com/5u3Rmbg5hI
— Pendulum Summit (@PendulumSummit) January 9, 2020
However, after years of pushing and striving, Holmes' mental health began to deteriorate. On stage, she spoke movingly about reaching out to others, caring for yourself and keeping strong.
"We go through our life in different journeys, we're all very very different", she told RTÉ LifeStyle. "We're all going to have really good highs, if we recognise them as highs, and we're all going to have things that make us feel really low", she added.
"Through both of those areas it's recognising success and realising you can be good, patting yourself on the back ... and on the other side knowing that that emotion is real."
In her speech, she touched on the importance of role models in helping her reach her goals. "When somebody achieves something, the doors open to anybody else following suit." But key to this, she says, is knowing how to use their influence to bolster your personal goals.
Central to her success was maintaining a hold of her passion through shifting circumstances including injury and the painful death of her mother. When it comes to building and sustaining resilience, she said, it's about staying in the present and checking in on where you want to be in that moment.
For her tips on how to build strength of character, passion and resilience watch the video above.
