June 2019 marked our ten year anniversary since opening the doors at Fulham.
We were VERY green back then (and I don’t mean the paint job because the original colour scheme was blue)!
To mark this occasion, I thought I would do something ambitious:
- Make a wish-list of people that have had the biggest influence on me personally as a physio, a business owner and a human.
- Ask the same thought-provoking question of each person on my list.
- Cross my fingers that I got some answers.
To my surprise, every single person responded.
I can’t tell you how incredibly chuffed I was with each reply that came through. Really, who can be bothered responding to a request like this? It takes precious time out of a busy day, and it takes effort to think about an answer.
Some answers were long, some were short; some were physio-related, some business-related; some were just great life learnings.
These were the recurring themes: passion and enjoyment of work, continuing self-education, development of mindset, laughter, persistence and good communication.
The Participants
This is an amazing and diverse group of humans and I am very proud to share their thoughts.
Health-related: Dr David Butler, Dr Helen Clare, Tim Cocks, Dr Richard Hetzel, Prof. Lorimer Moseley, Kirsty Prior, Peter Schoch, Dr Dean Watson, Cassandra Zaina
Business-related: Sonya Keenan, Molly Pittman, Mike Rhodes, Ash Roy
Friends of Adelaide West: Nicole Dal Piva, Ian Gifford, Mark Harrity, Rae Lawson, Alison Swannell
I don’t want to imply that one person is more important than another, so I decided to list the respondents alphabetically. Sorry Cass!!
I am so grateful to each and every one of these people for taking the trouble. Thankyou.
The Question
The question that I asked was purposely vague:
‘Being our 10 year anniversary, I thought I would ask a few people who have been instrumental in our direction and our philosophy in the last 10 years about what they think the biggest lesson that they have learnt in the last 10 years.‘
All of these answers dated to before COVID-19, when the world seemed a simpler place. Although I planned to publish this earlier in the year, it didn’t seem like a great time.
There were other things that needed to be discussed that were more important. I knew this could wait for the right moment.
Dr David Butler
It is fair to say that if it weren’t for David, I wouldn’t still be a physio. I became pretty frustrated at the large gap between what people were experiencing and what I could rationally explain with my university education. David and Lorimer Moseley (see below) changed that. They introduced the idea of providing quality neuroscience education to patients and made the knowledge accessible to therapists. Their book ‘Explain Pain’ is the best selling text on the topic of pain neuroscience, suitable for both the layperson and health professional alike (you can find it here).
Dave is always well ahead of the curve with science and fashion. We share the same haircut.
In the last 10 years by far the biggest thing I have learnt is how changeable humans can be – how bioplastic we can be.
We all need to lift our expectations of outcome and we can all get better to meet that potential.
Education is the most powerful tool for change and best of all, it’s the most renewable energy we have on earth.
Helen Clare
Helen has been a massive influence on my professional career. She was the International Director of Education of the McKenzie Institute International from 1999, and is now their CEO. Helen invited me to be on the McKenzie Institute Australia committee, on which I sat from 2011 untii 2018. Helen’s answer to this question really exemplifies the essence of the McKenzie Method. The italics are mine.
The most valuable lesson I have learnt is that patients can get better without me performing “hands on” procedures as long as I educate them well.
Tim Cocks
Tim Cocks a SA-trained physio, who teaches at the NeuroOrthopaedic Institute (NOI) with David Butler. Apart from his superb ability to grow a beard, he is a really deep thinker about physiotherapy, physiology and philosophy. Tim is a really nice guy who has replied to some of my inane questions with an investment of his time into incredibly in-depth email responses. You could take any one of these 10 points and live by them.
A really big and heartfelt congratulations on reaching your 10 year anniversary at Adelaide West Physio.
The longevity is an achievement in itself, but I know first hand that your longevity has been combined consistently with the highest level of person-centred care, making your achievement that much more impressive.
Thanks for the invitation to share some thoughts on your great question.
It’s really had me thinking – 10 years is a long time and that adds a certain pressure to answer with something significant and profound that I have learnt in that time!!
So I’m going to cheat and offer a number of thoughts rather than trying to pin it down to one. Hopefully at least one will hit the mark and sound semi-intelligent.
- You must never stop reading and learning
- Read widely, not just in your own professional interest, and read something every day, even just a little
- No field of enquiry is ever complete and if you ever think there is nothing more to know, then you are fooling yourself
- Avoid dogma at all costs, don’t trust anyone who tries to sell you theirs as the only way
- Embrace uncertainty and not knowing (and see 1.- 4. above again)
- Respect expertise, but never blindly trust an expert, go and do the reading yourself
- Science needs philosophy, and clinicians helping people can benefit from philosophy too
- Anything to do with humans is probably much more complex than you think
- Pain is a human experience, it isn’t ‘in the brain’ or ‘in the tissues’, if it is ‘in’ anything – it is in the person
- Listening to other people, really listening and hearing them, may be the most therapeutic interaction a therapist of any kind can offer
- Never trust people who develop lists of 10 important life lessons!
If anything, the list above is a list of my mistakes and failings over the past 10 years, but ultimately, that is where most lessons come from.
Nicole Dal Piva
Nicole is someone we have had the honour to get to know over the last two years as a patient of the clinic. Nicole has had many challenges in her life, including needing an above knee prosthesis due to a congenital loss of her leg, open heart surgery as a young child, and more recently, neurosurgery to clip an aneurysm in her brain. Nicole is full of life, always positive and completely inspiring. It seemed like no-brainer to ask her opinion on this question.
Truly honoured you’ve thought of me to ask this question.
The last 10 years have personally been a landmark which has shaped my own life, and in turn this impacts and influences my life today.
In short the biggest lesson I have learnt through the past 10 years is to cherish every day, every opportunity, and every person; to celebrate every day, every birthday, every milestone; to live, laugh, learn, and forgive.
A side note, from a medical side of things, I’ve also learnt that it is sometimes worth getting second (or third) opinions!!
Ian Gifford
Ian has been the President of Lockleys Football Club for as many years as we have been involved with them as sponsors. He has overseen the continued development of a very friendly club with an great culture (and a redevelopment with swish new clubrooms).
I’m not sure what to put as my biggest lesson, as I don’t learn too well sometimes and keep making the same mistakes!
My motto has always been that you only get back what you put in, whether it is work, family, friends or other interests.
Mark Harrity
Anyone who has followed cricket for a while would know Hags. He has represented both South Australia and Australia as a left arm fast bowler. Since his playing career, he has held coaching roles with the South Australian Cricket Association, West Torrens Cricket Club and is also head coach at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy.
Mine is quite simple – over the last 10 years I would say my biggest lesson is “Don’t use it, you lose it” referring to strength and conditioning.
I notice the difference if I don’t workout enough. I also noticed, once I retired, how quickly my bowling pace dropped once I stopped bowling regularly.
Dr Richard Hetzel
Richard is a local western suburbs GP with an interest in, amongst other things, mental health and chronic pain. Not surprisingly then, I am always interested in what he has to say. Coincidentally, his father Dr Basil Hetzel was chancellor of University SA when I graduated from physiotherapy and his signature is on the bottom of my degree.
I think the following lesson has been with me for a while but remains very apt.
If I am finding a situation difficult, be prepared to stand back and consider a fresh view on managing it – it always works.
Sonya Keenan
I met Sonya in 2019 at the annual event that she organises on the Gold Coast – Digital Marketers Down Under. As the organiser, Sonya opened her three day event with a speech that was dripping with passion. Since then, I have tried to tap into that same passion for reaching people through digital means who are looking for our help. These are all excellent lessons, but I really appreciate the last lesson!
My biggest lessons are:
- You never stop learning – the business environment is changing so fast that what worked as recently as month ago might not work next time. You need to keep investing in updating your knowledge across all opportunities to grow.
- Turnover is vanity – profit is sanity.
- If you don’t value your own time in your business, you will go both financially and emotionally broke. Money does make the world go around and but it comes in two currencies – cash and time. Value both.
- You can not scale if you cannot systemise your business. The stuff that you are not good or efficient at needs to be documented and outsourced. If you time is worth $100/hr why are you doing work that some will do for $30/hr?
- Pick your church and stick with the it. There are so many ‘experts’ out there, if you don’t pick who you want to learn from, and then implement and test it, you will never move on.
- There are no quick fixes, hacks or short cuts that are sustainable… stop wasting time and money looking for them.
- Implement… just do something, don’t wait for it to be perfect. It never will be.
Rae Lawson
I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to know Rae through our association with Henley Surf Life Saving Club where she is President. I always come away from seeing her feeling incredibly inspired. I think that is the hallmark of a great leader.
I think the greatest lesson I would share with people is to constantly invest in yourself but more importantly believe in yourself, no matter what age you are.
We are always investing in upgrading our cars, our homes or lifestyle but how many of us seriously think about how we can invest in ourselves?
Not from an external, cosmetic perspective, but from a personal growth and development perspective.
Investing in our health, our education or our skills should be our first priority.
We should never stop learning, but I know many people who once they hit their 40’s say ‘oh I’m too old to start again’ or ‘I’ve left it too late’. Not true.
I didn’t become a surf life saver until the age of 43, I then went on to become the Club President 7 years later and then recently completed my Masters in Business Administration at 53.
It is amazing the doors that will continue to open just by trusting myself and being willing to learn.
I am a big of believer in the 7 Year Cycle and can certainly look back over the last couple of decades and identify major life changes that happened in 7 year increments.
My next 7 year cycle is due on 2021 – watch this space !!!
And my final words of wisdom are from my favourite saying from Craig Crippen:
Believe in yourself.
Know your worth.
Set healthy boundaries.
Trust your intuition.
Release toxicity.
Command respect.
Lead with love.
Prof. Lorimer Moseley
Professor Lorimer Moseley started his professional life as a physio but must have needed more answers, and that journey has lead to being Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Foundation Chair in Physiotherapy at the University of South Australia. He presents keynote lectures all over the world, has written hundreds of journal articles and a number of essential books (check them out here). Along with David Butler, he is largely responsible for me still being a physio.
Lorimer was recently presented with an Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for distinguished service to medical research and science communication, to education, to the study of pain and its management, and to physiotherapy – a most deserving recognition for his amazing work.
Aside from feeling a little undeserving of such company, and not having been given such a grand question as the biggest lesson, the things that come to mind are a bit fluffy, but nonetheless feel of sufficiently critical import that I hold them dear.
Not limited to the last decade perhaps, but I have become more convinced over that time:
- that one should do things that matter
- that quality always wins in the end (we just have to last the distance)
- that science requires us to be get it wrong and move on
- that, at the end of the day, perhaps it is all about ’to love and be loved’.
However, I imagine you are after more ‘physio-ish’ things.
I have learnt that wonders never cease – that some people recover against all apparent hope and that some people don’t against all apparent expectation and that therein lies both the challenge of being a physio and the magic of being a ‘professional explorer’.
I am exploring a subject (human experience) that is fearfully and wonderfully complex and not feeling like I am going to really understand it all any time soon (or indeed, ever).
Sorry I haven’t got something like ’that if you do A, then B will happen. Guaranteed.’
Congrats on a decade, Russell – keep up the outstanding work.
Molly Pittman
I had the great pleasure of meeting Molly last year after learning from her for a number of years. Through ambition and hard work, her last 10 years have been an amazing journey from being a bartender in Kentucky to a rockstar amongst digital marketers and the CEO of Smart Marketer. Like others on this blog, Molly has an amazing gift for teaching and her enthusiasm about what she does is infectious.
For a good read on digital marketing and some insights into successfully pursuing that elusive work-life balance, Molly has just published a book called Click Happy that I can highly recommend.
My biggest lesson is simple: relationships are almost everything in personal life and in business… the only thing more important is relationship with self.
Focus on both of these areas and your life will be fulfilling.
Kirsty Prior
When I first met Kirsty, she was Kirsty Beinke. Kirsty courageously agreed to join us when we were about 8 months old as a business. She had to put up with my formative years as a business owner – I can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been at times! Thankyou for hanging in there as long as you did, KB.
One of the most important lessons I have learnt over the last 10 years – keep striving for the best version of you and what you want in life.
Share it with your favourite people and have much laughter along the way.
Mike Rhodes
Mike Rhodes lives in Melbourne and is the founder of WebSavvy, Australia’s largest independent Google Agency. He is the co-author of the highest selling book on Google Ads – ‘The Ultimate Guide To Google AdWords’. On top of that, he is one of the sharpest minds of anyone I have met, and a particularly nice guy. You don’t have to be in business to benefit from this piece of advice – it really applies to anything in life.
The success of your business (or really any large goal or project) depends on two things: your mindset & your team.
One will always be the constraint.
As you work on yourself & grow, the size and capacity of your team will need to be the focus.
But it can only get you so far.
Until you go back & work on your mindset, leadership ability & skills, the business will stall.
Keep growing both, looping between the two, and there’s no goal you can’t reach.
Good luck & enjoy the journey.
Ash Roy
I met Ash on the same day I met Molly Pittman, at the same event, at the same moment actually! I have worked with Ash ever since, and learnt such a lot from him on different topics like productivity and mindset. He is one of the most selfless, giving people I have met, and we share the same shiny haircut too.
For me I’d say the biggest lesson has been that life’s limited. Honestly, it’s my personal story I shared with you at DMDU that’s helped me realise how limited life is and how important it is to take (intelligent) risks in life.
Whether it’s starting a business you’ve always wanted to start, or pursuing a passion (with a careful plan of quitting that meaningless job that pays you enough to keep you coming back but not enough to set you free ….)
There is a video of Steve Jobs (his Stanford Commencement speech in 2005) which impacted me massively and I included it in a blog post that I wrote – ‘Death is the ultimate change agent. You’re already naked.’
[Click here to read the blog post to which Ash refers – I highly recommend you do.]
Peter Schoch
Peter is the Chairperson of the McKenzie Institute of Australia, and works at the Barwon Health in Geelong. A more passionate advocate of MDT (the McKenzie Method) you would be hard pressed to find. And he also shares the same sleek haircut.
Wherever possible in (life and) clinical work, apply the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle, especially when it comes to communicating with people!
Along the lines of:
Listen more than you talk. Nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak – Richard Branson
When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new – Dalai Lama
Alison Swannell
Ali has been a client at Adelaide West Physio for the best part of 10 years. We first met her when she was just starting her road to recovery. She had suffered a severe response to an accidental overdose of intravenous medication that occurred from hospital error. This resulted in a hypoxic brain injury and damage to her central nervous system.
The result of this injury has been a complete change to her lifestyle. She has been a fighter though, and despite other injuries, frustrations and life-events, her persistence and positive attitude has been a lesson to everyone that has met her.
I think the main comment I can say is: please please never give up!!!!
10 years on Physio has dramatically changed my life ?
So people, don’t ever give up – the only way is up.
Dr Dean Watson
Dean is a physio and internationally recognised expert in the role of the cervical spine in headache and migraine. His approach to assessment and treatment has been refined over more than 30 years of treatment, 8000 headache and migraine patients and more than 29 000 hours of treating nothing but these conditions. His passion for his work and advocacy for the migraineur is inspiring. We also go to the same barber.
By focusing exclusively on just one condition (headache and migraine) my level of skill and expertise has increased exponentially.
Trying to be really skilled with the myriad of conditions that a physiotherapist faces is near on impossible.
Focusing on a specific condition, which you might not be passionate about initially, means you have increased skill, increasing the likelihood of achieving successful outcomes, and then you ‘fall in love’ with that condition, because you are passionate about making a difference.
Niching changed my world.
I am in love with headache and migraine – my ‘work’.
Cassandra Zaina
Cassandra has an amazing resumé as an occupational health and musculoskeletal physio, but first and foremost she is a fantastic human. She oozes empathy. Her current role is physio advisor with Return To Work SA, having owned her own private practice for 10 years. Cassandra is incredibly experienced and incredibly lovely.
Something that has become more important / valued over the last year is realising just how important it is to not just explain things in clear layman language, but also to present information in a way that is meaningful and valued by the receiver.
And then there’s the quantity, this is all down to what the receiver prefers also.
You might be a person who loves to receive a couple of pages of solid text from Optus to read, digest and action.
Personally, I can’t stand it and glean a few key words and file it. Or possibly just file it after reading the heading.
So what information do we really want them to grab onto? How can we make sure this happens?
Even though I have probably known this for longer than 10 years, it has become even more important to me to ensure that we all care for each other as human beings and support and inspire each other through our life’s journey.
And it’s important to laugh every day.
Even better if it’s laughing at yourself!
Final thoughts
I am so grateful to everyone who has contributed. I look at the list of people that have spared their time, and it is truly humbling.
As for my own thoughts:
- Sometimes it is better to talk it through than to think it through
- Surround yourself with people that push you, inspire you and know more than you (I don’t know if the saying is that you are the average of the people that you hang out with, but something like that)
- Listen, really listen – don’t just think about the next thing that you want to say (it is easy to tell when someone is doing that)
- Self-reflection and introspection is a good thing to a point, but can be corrosive if you allow it to turn into self-doubt
- Everything in the human body is connected to everything – nothing happens in isolation
- You can never have too many guitars
