Point Assist

Name: Point Assist
Address: Cambridge, TAS, AU
Telephone: +61417098288

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The Value of Experience
Exploring how we use our experiences to live well
Writing | Speaking

Mark & Sam Direen

29/10/2026

For a significant part of my life, service was quite literally my job.

I wore a uniform, belonged to a team and had a clear understanding of what was expected of me.

There was a mission, a responsibility and a purpose beyond my own interests.

But one of the things I've come to appreciate since leaving the military is that service doesn't have to end when you take off the uniform.

What changes is how you express it.

We hear a lot about the veteran 'crisis'. And while there are certainly challenges, I think there's another side to the story that deserves more attention.

Veterans aren't defined by their struggles. They've had experiences that most Australians will thankfully never have. They've lived at the extremes of life, and those experiences have shaped who they are.

That's part of why I created Point & Shoot - Australian Veteran Photography Exhibition.

To provide an opportunity for veterans to share their experiences of military service with the broader community, through their own photographs and in their own words.

Not to glorify war or portray veterans as victims.

But to give people a better understanding of the experiences of those who have served, and to help make those experiences part of the broader community conversation.

Because every veteran has a story worth telling. And there's value in those stories, both for the people sharing them and those willing to listen.

Looking back, one of the most valuable things military service gave me wasn't simply the opportunity to serve. It was an appreciation of why service matters.

Point & Shoot is one way I've been able to carry that forward.

Different circumstances. Different contribution.

But the same belief that our experiences have value beyond ourselves.

27/10/2026

We often associate service with the military, emergency services or volunteering.

But service is a much broader idea.

It's about recognising that our lives are connected to other people, and that what we do has an impact beyond ourselves.

We spend much of our lives pursuing our own goals, ambitions and success.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But some of life's greatest rewards come from contributing to something beyond ourselves

Service asks us to think differently.

To consider others. To take responsibility. To contribute without expecting something in return.

And in doing so, our perspective changes. Success becomes less about personal recognition or reward and more about the difference we make; how we show up for others, how we use our capabilities and what we're willing to give of ourselves.

One of the most valuable lessons I took from military service was an appreciation that our abilities aren't just for our own benefit.

They also give us an opportunity, and sometimes a responsibility, to help others.

It might be sharing what we've learned, supporting someone through a difficult time, stepping up when something needs doing or simply making life a little easier for someone else.

Experience makes us more capable. Service gives that capability a purpose beyond ourselves.

Perhaps the measure of what we've learned isn't just what we can now do for ourselves, but what we're able to contribute and do for others.

What's one thing your experience has enabled you to give back?

16/10/2026

We often think of discipline as something that limits our freedom.

But experience has taught me the opposite.

The routines, standards and habits we develop through practice give us a foundation to work from, particularly when things don't go according to plan.

And the more capable we become, the more options we have.

Perhaps freedom isn't the absence of discipline. Perhaps it's one of the things discipline makes possible.

What's your experience? Does discipline create freedom, or restrict it?

11/10/2026

Most of us have a pretty good idea of what we want out of life.

Knowing what to do isn’t particularly difficult. It’s actually doing it that’s often the challenge.

Especially when there’s an easier or more appealing option right in front of you.

That’s where discipline earns its keep.

One thing I’ve learned through experience is that discipline gives us more than just the result we’re working towards.

Along the way, we develop habits, skills and standards that become part of how we approach other things in life.

And often, those things turn out to be just as valuable as whatever we were trying to achieve in the first place.

What’s something discipline has given you that you didn’t expect?

09/10/2026

Integrity sounds good until it costs you something.

A few years ago, I was working overseas as a security consultant.

I was directed to take an action that, in my professional judgement, would put people in unnecessary danger. Potentially even cost them their lives.

I questioned why we would take that risk and offered alternatives that I believed would achieve the outcome without unnecessarily compromising people's safety.

The next day, I was fired.

That's the thing about integrity.

It doesn't always look like taking some grand moral stand.

Sometimes it's simply being prepared to ask a difficult question. To challenge a decision. To offer another way when something doesn't sit right with you.

And accepting that speaking up might come at a personal cost.

Experience has taught me that good judgement isn't much use if you're not prepared to act on it.

Integrity doesn't have to be rigid or confrontational. It can be thoughtful, considered and constructive. And it can still come at a cost.

Sometimes integrity isn't about having the courage to say no. It's about having the courage to ask why….

Where have you paid a price for integrity?

07/10/2026

We often associate integrity with the big decisions.

But perhaps those moments simply reveal what has been built through all the smaller ones.

If integrity is something we practise rather than something we simply have, then the ordinary decisions matter more than we think.

Agree?

04/10/2026

Most of us would probably describe ourselves as people with integrity.

Honesty.
Loyalty.
Fairness.
Keeping our word.
Doing the right thing.

The harder part is living by those values when they become inconvenient.

It’s easy to be honest when the truth costs you nothing.
Easy to keep your word when nothing better comes along.
Easy to do the right thing when everyone agrees with you.

Integrity is what happens when the situation changes...
but your standards don’t.

Experience will put our values under pressure.

Convenience. Opportunity. Fear. Money. Ego. Other people’s expectations.

And sometimes staying true to those values has a cost attached.

That’s the test……

Who are you when living by your values is no longer the easiest option?

Because if our values change according to the situation, they’re probably not values at all, just preferences. Things we believe in when circumstances align.

04/10/2026

Sometimes the best thing you can do is step away for a while.

This year, Point Assist has been running our Veteran Fireside Retreats.
Their focus is pretty simple: connection, conversation and time away somewhere we can breathe, de-stress and reset.
They’re about taking a time-out from the noise of everyday life, sitting around a fire, sharing a few stories, connecting with other veterans and remembering what’s important.

People.

On Friday, we finished our second Veteran Fireside Retreat, and once again it reminded us just how valuable a few days away with good people can be.

These retreats wouldn’t be possible without the support and generosity of others.

A huge thank you to the Tasmanian Government for continuing to support Point Assist with funding that helps make these events possible. We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to bring veterans together in this way.

For this retreat in particular, we’d also like to thank PillarsFor Pilgrims for supporting a veteran from Western Australia to join us in the Central Highlands of Tasmania for an awesome few days.
We look forward to continuing our relationship with Pillars4Pilgrims as they continue to support and give back to veterans in so many ways.

And finally, a very special thank you to the generous Tasmanian farming family who allow us to use their property.

What an amazing place.

And in our slightly biased opinion, there’s no better place on the planet to do that than Tasmania.

Sometimes the simplest things are still the most important.

02/10/2026

There's a difference between making life easier and removing every opportunity to work something out for ourselves.

We've become very good at the first. I'm not sure we've given enough thought to the second.

The ability to think independently, assess a situation and make a sensible decision is something we use every day. But like most skills, it needs practice.

Are we making life so convenient that we're losing some of our practical judgement?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Address

Cambridge, TAS

Telephone

+61417098288

Website

http://www.pointassist.com.au/

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