I had a patient the other day who had fractured her calcaneus.
Walking with crutches was incredibly difficult for her. Instead of smoothly using the crutches, she was essentially hopping on one leg all day. And to be fair—without judging her fitness level—she wasn’t particularly good at hopping on one leg.
By the time she arrived for her first physiotherapy session, she was already exhausted.
That wasn’t surprising.
Even if you’re reasonably fit, hopping on one leg all day is hard work. By the evening, she barely had enough energy left to climb the stairs at home.
So during our second session, we first worked on making her crutch walking more efficient. The less energy she wasted walking, the more she would have left for the things that actually mattered.
Like climbing the stairs.
But before we practiced the stairs, I introduced an easier step.
Sit-to-stands.
It sounds almost too simple to matter.
Except she wasn’t allowed to use her injured leg.
That turned the exercise into something much closer to a single-leg sit-to-stand using only her healthy leg—which is almost exactly what climbing stairs requires.
There was only one problem.
Her healthy leg wasn’t particularly strong.
Before she even tried, she looked at me and said,
“I can’t do that.”
What made the situation even funnier was that her daughter had come along that day to drive her. She was watching the session and every time her mother said, “I can’t,” she immediately replied,
“Mom, think positive! You can do it!”
For a brief moment, the daughter became the parent.
And honestly…
Thinking positively matters during rehabilitation.
But I think it’s only half the equation.
I recently read a newsletter by Sahil Bloom where he distinguishes between Passive Optimism and Active Optimism.
Passive optimism is believing things will somehow work out.
Active optimism is taking the actions that increase the chances they actually do.
Believing is important. But unless you’re planning to perform miracles, your actions have to confirm that belief.
You can believe you’ll build a house.
But unless you start laying bricks, you’ll never have one.
Recovery works the same way.
So how do you turn optimism into action?
In my patient’s case, I didn’t try to convince her that she was stronger than she thought.
I simply made the first step easier.
I raised the treatment bench.
Now standing up required less strength.
She stood up successfully.
Then I lowered the bench a little.
She did it again.
I lowered it again.
And again.
Until we reached the exact height where, only a few minutes earlier, she had confidently told me,
“I can’t.”
This time she stood up.
Did she suddenly become dramatically stronger within five minutes?
Of course not.
Her belief changed because she collected evidence that contradicted her old belief.
A few minutes later she climbed the stairs twice.
A week earlier it had been a complete struggle.
Now she approached them differently—not because I had convinced her with motivational words, but because she’d just proven to herself that she was capable of more than she expected.
That’s something I see surprisingly often in rehabilitation.
People think confidence comes first and action follows.
Many times it’s the other way around.
Action creates evidence.
Evidence builds confidence.
Confidence makes the next action easier.
That’s why I spend less time trying to convince my patients that they can do something.
I’d rather give them an opportunity to prove it to themselves.
Because beliefs are important.
But evidence is much harder to argue with.
🧪 Let’s Experiment
Confidence isn’t built by thinking differently.
It’s built by collecting different evidence.
Positive thinking has its place.
But your actions are much more convincing than your inner monologue.
🎯 Try This:
Pick something you currently believe you can’t do.
Then ask yourself:
- What is one easier version of this?
- What is one action I can successfully complete today?
- What evidence would this give me?
Remember the sequence:
Belief → Action → Evidence → Updated Belief.
🧠 Final Thought:
Your brain believes what you repeatedly show it—not what you repeatedly tell it.