A Measure of Success.
One of my measures of success with a client is whether or not they begin to move more on their own without me. Movement and training is one thing, but it’s when I see a client coming in early and getting on the rower, warming up without me, asking questions about movement or diet and following through that I start to think of myself as being successful with them.
What I want most for people is for them to develop a movement lifestyle. I love to see people become non-judgementally curious about themselves enough that they begin to move more on their own. They learn to improvise a little from the movement I’ve shown them. They experiment. They begin to see results and ask themselves what they can to do to get better. Whether it’s diet, sleep, breath, movement, recovery. Whatever. You get what I am saying here? It takes patience. Patience on both of our parts.
I look for long term organic change. It’s not linear. I like to begin with movement and see what questions or motivations spring up from there. It can be simple like what should I do to recover after a workout or bodywork session? It can start anywhere and in my opinion, the simpler the better. Small changes over time can equal a sustainable movement lifestyle.
It’s probably the same as leading a horse to water or teaching a person to fish. But this is how I measure my own success as a manual therapist and movement coach. It’s my job to figure out how to work with a person in a way that will create curiosity, wonder, motivation. And I can be relentless in my pursuit of this. If a person isn’t responding in a way that I measure success then I figure out what the hell I can do differently to make that happen. Is it the way I talk or communicate? Is it the movement or exercise or technique? The progression? As long as someone does the basic work, which is show up for scheduled appointments and be open, then I think we can be successful. It takes time though. If you show up and are ready to move, I will be there for you. Just know that a big meaningful goal of mine is to get you moving and exploring movement more on your own. I can show you all kinds of interesting things and you may progress brilliantly with me, but if I don’t get a sense that you are carrying it into your life, then I don’t feel like I am truly helping you and I don’t feel successful.