When I was doing my orthopaedic surgery training, I remember one of the joint replacement professors giving us a lecture on prosthetic joint infections. “I can’t always diagnose my own, but I can easily diagnose Ed’s!” He avowed, referring to his esteemed colleague in the department. We find this often in life – the perspective we gain by being external to a situation gives us a clarity of evaluation not available to the person within the situation. Too bad for the person in the situation. That’s the person that needs to decide and act. This is one reason why we ask people to give us advice. But advice can’t make a decision for you. A piece of advice plus $3 will get you a ride on the New York City Subway.
But what if you could have that clarity? Separating yourself from a decision is a common thought exercise. It can take various forms. Imagine yourself on a balcony looking down on the situation from above. Or imagine the whole world or whole universe and your problem’s place in it. Imagine you are giving advice to a friend, or to a child. As a physician, I might ask what I would tell a patient. As a coach, I might ask what I would tell an athlete.
These thought exercises sound straightforward enough, but they can be relatively difficult to implement. There’s a certain amount of cognitive dissonance required to pretend that you’re not as invested in the situation as you actually are.
To take an example from my own life, I recently sustained an injury. Like most athletes, my thoughts dwelt constantly on when I could get back to my pre-injury activities. I started a rehabilitation program and mapped out a planned return-to-sport. (A more ideal situation would be if I did my rehab under the guidance of a rehab professional, but at least for starters, I planned to do this on my own.)
The plan I mapped out had me returning to running in a graded fashion after four weeks of no running, during which time I was actively rehabbing. On the cusp of the fifth week, I jogged a few steps here and there just to test things out. I didn’t feel strong and stable, but I didn’t feel especially painful. What to do with this information? Follow the plan? Or delay return to running? I missed running so much during my month without it. Fortunately, I was able to remain active, but it just wasn’t the same. So I was looking forward to running in that fifth week.
Here is where I had to split my perspective. On the one hand, I was invested in the perspective of an athlete/patient. I needed to split off a second perspective, however, that of doctor/coach. As an athlete, I could only think of reasons to justify returning to running as planned. I had followed the rehab protocol. I had allowed a specified amount of time. I would be starting off slow. I could always back off if I needed to. And on and on. There was no shortage of reasons to move forward. But as an athlete, I also have experienced setbacks, and dread those.
It wasn’t until I approached this from a coach’s or doctor’s perspective that the decision became clear. The best course of action was to delay returning to running at least one more week. What difference did it make if I lost a week of short, graded runs? None! What did I stand to gain? More time to heal. The big picture suddenly came into focus. I could easily back off and still revisit the decision in a week. I thought about what I would say to a patient: “Of course! Take one more week if you’re not feeling strong and stable.” The decision seemed so obvious when I thought of it from that perspective.
But as clear as it appeared to me from a doctor’s perspective, it was equally clouded and fraught from an athlete’s perspective. I have the benefit of not being a professional athlete. There is no big game next Sunday that I’m being paid to play. Sure, I’d like to be able to rip off a nice time in the next 5K road race that comes along, but these events come and go, then come again. But even if I were a pro athlete, the same analysis could benefit any situation.
There’s no denying the value of advice from a trusted source. I’m not saying you should consult only yourself next time you make an important decision. But try coaching yourself sometime. It’s a valuable exercise. And if you want that outside perspective on your training or your longevity journey, contact me and let me know!
Comments