Back in the summer of 2018, my family was getting ready to head out on I-70 West for a 5-day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

As many business owners do, I doubled my workload in the weeks before our trip, leaving me exhausted and on the verge of illness. The habit of running myself into the ground before vacation had previously left me sick on trips to San Diego, Duluth, and Machias, Maine.

Working myself to the point of sickness has led to good outcomes during the beginning of my professional life. Effort and sweat were equal to my outcomes.

But then you get a bit older with a fuller plate, and the strategy that worked for the first quarter of your life stops working.

I'm a slow learner.

A new version of yourself

My biggest missteps often occur when I'm unwilling to acknowledge that what used to work no longer does. I see this same pattern with athletes dealing with recurrent injuries, frustrated that they continually find themselves in the same situation.

The first injury is often an eye-opener to the complex nature of health and performance. They meet with dietitians and doctors, gaining a broader understanding of their overall health as they return to training. Tests and assessments give them a better handle on their own science.

When the next one hits a few years later, they find themselves even more perplexed. They have so much more information, yet they ended up back in my office. Often, the likely culprit is a training approach that conflicts with their current life.

Many patients will arrive, beating themselves up for getting into their current situation.

"I should have known better!"

There are times when patients are unwilling to acknowledge that their decisions played a role in their eventual injury. But beating themselves up is not a helpful long-term habit.

One of the benefits of working with a PT, coach, or mentor is that they can offer a perspective outside of their own situation.

A new version of yourself

I've worked with endurance athletes in Kansas City for close to 15 years, meaning I have seen many runners transition through multiple stages of life.
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High school runners who eventually marry and have jobs.
Post-collegiate athletes who become parents, juggling family and training.
Dedicated athletes who transition to caring for a sick loved one.
Older runners shifting from aiming to achieve their yearly BQ to simply being able to run until they kick the bucket.

Our priorities and strategies change as life changes.
Transitioning from what you used to do to what you currently do rarely comes without some missteps.

Patients need to take ownership of their situation. But they don't need to continually criticize themselves for not knowing better.

People do the best they can with the information they have.

It's frustrating when things don't go the way you want, but you didn't choose to fail.

When you are in a position to help someone through a struggle, acknowledge that beating themselves up over something that has already happened doesn't change anything.

Take the time you need to be mad and frustrated, then let's figure out how this newer version of yourself can move forward with confidence.