Hi friends,

Almost everyone experiences physical pain or a setback at some point in life. While physiological healing is crucial in recovering from an injury, a person's psychological mindset is equally important.

As a physical therapist working with patients weekly, I've observed how their bodies and mental states change during recovery. Interestingly, patients often progress physically week to week, but their attitude toward the injury remains static.

After reflection, I've realized this stems from the difficulty of recognizing incremental daily progress. People tend to think, "I'm still in pain," rather than acknowledging, "Look at how much more I can do with less pain!"

From my professional perspective, I can see noticeable gains each week and make a conscious effort to reinforce the positive strides toward rehabilitation with my patients.

There's a powerful way to track and visualize your progress, even during a slow and drawn-out recovery process: keep a detailed record of how your body feels.

Journaling isn't a new concept. However, most people use journals to track daily activities and emotional states. A physical journal focused on your body's sensations can illuminate the progress you've made in recovery.

Consider tracking:

• Pain levels throughout the day

• Activities that trigger pain

• Descriptions of painful sensations

• New activities you can now do without pain

Pain is a complex experience, yet many people fail to pause and analyze its nuances. The more specific you can be about pain triggers and your interpretations, the easier it becomes to develop a strategy to become pain-free.

Maintaining a progress journal can help you maintain a positive outlook on your physical health and potentially accelerate your recovery.

Until next week,

Kevin

✍️ Quote I’m reflecting upon

“It’s a curious truth that when you gently pay attention to negative emotions, they tend to dissipate—but positive ones expand."

— Oliver Burkeman

❤️ Things I’m enjoying

1. Podcast - The Making Sense Podcast: Bringing Back the Mammoth. If you want to be in awe of what we can achieve with science, give this episode a listen. Sam Harris talks with Ben Lamm about his work with Colossal Biosciences and how they’re resurrecting extinct animals like mammoths, Tasmanian tigers, and dodos using genomics and reintroducing them into the wild.

2. Book - Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A great book on risk management. Nassim talks about how you need to have “skin in the game” to have justice and progress in society, and how many bureaucrats, bankers, and policy-makers optimize their upside and place the risk onto others, aka “not having skin in the game.”

3. Life hack - Time blocking. This was introduced to me by Cal Newport and it’s changed my life. It is about planning every minute of your day. You may think that if you plan every minute, you won’t have time for fun. However, it’s just about being intentional with how I spend my time. Yes, I put in time for working and being productive, but also have time for Netflix, walking outside, and going on social media.