𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗠𝗢𝗞𝗘

People will tell you exactly what you want to hear because they want you to use them to help you. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀, “𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶”? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀, “𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦”.

People will say the exact things you want to hear to convince you they can help, not due to ill-intentions but because they aren’t up to speed on the current state of science or because of some fundamental misunderstanding.

Often the barrier to entry is so low in the pain/exercise/wellness industry that people enter with a misunderstanding, invest so much time (months/years) believing a certain thing, that they are too biased to see it another way despite the evidence, so they just stay there. Add to that the social media influence of “charismatic, and confident authorities” and it’s almost impossible to discern who is current in information, capable of abilities, and who is not.

Be careful. Be familiar with the science. Be wary of being told the things you want to hear. That often comes in the form of things you are familiar with or currently comfortable with. It’s hard to change. Take the time to think it through.

Here’s an example: If someone is telling you to stretch to fix your pain, and you’ve been stretching for the past month, year, or years, then stretching probably isn’t the answer.

Learn about the thought process your potential practitioner is using. Don’t just fall for the smoke that someone may be blowing.