Design Your Journey as a Learning Physiotherapist

Where will I be in 10 years? Who will be in my life? What skills will I have improved? What challenges will I be facing? What soft skills will I have developed? Will I still be a Learning Physiotherapist?

Many of us have heard of the penny vs the jackpot question - Would you take a pot of €3 million today or 1c that doubles in value every day for a month. Instinctually our instant gratification monkey and short-term desires say, “give me the €3 mill!”; however, a more thought-out planned assessment would show that the 1c per day route would yield a much higher return…a €10 million+ payday in fact! Compound interest is a powerful tool and one we can take advantage of by doing the everyday basics consistently well. Carrying out small acts daily can lead to a much greater future trajectory to align with your goals as physiotherapists.

So, what is the lesson here…As humans we are extremely poor at assessing our own abilities and setting realistic goals. We vastly overestimate our current abilities - just ask yourself how competent a driver you are versus the rest of the population. The majority will think we are better than most. We overestimate how much we can get done in a year and underestimate what we can achieve in ten years - see Gates’ law! In other words, without an objective and self-critical focus on where we are, what we want and who we would like to become, we are often left spinning our wheels on life’s motorway.

Patient centred goal setting, implementing a progressive rehabilitation plan, and auditing, refining, and determining future interventions are key skills we develop as learning physiotherapists. We learn the fundamentals throughout our academic journeys and then consolidate these with experiential learning in physio clinics, hospitals, pitch side and treatment rooms – but, our failures lie in the fact that we rarely utilise these skills to guide our personal or professional career path!

We often operate without intention when looking for our next opportunities. We take jobs that satisfy a current itch …like getting on the employment train, attractive salaries, or a short commute to work. Do not think short term! What is increasingly rare in our community is an intentional practice of setting a destination for our career and building a specific and detailed roadmap to get there!

There is a huge opportunity…for those willing, to lay out a planned framework for their journey as a learning physiotherapist, and more so as a whole person. We are expertly positioned to be the masters of our own destiny through the unique skill set of reasoning, deduction, optimism, and person centeredness that we acquire in our training.

So, what can I do now?

Firstly, begin with the end in mind, one of Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Create a rich and immersive HD image of your future self. Be as detailed and specific as possible. Then build back a self-determined path to get you there. Strategically position milestones and goals based on time or outcomes. Identify alternative avenues and lateral moves that allow for unexpected challenges or setbacks, which most certainly will occur!

Alongside this path, involve your life’s key stakeholders…your family, friends, and significant other. Share your desires and wants with them and collaborate to build a framework that can help everyone actualise their dreams!

Seek a mentor or mentors that can guide you in times of progress, stagnation, or regression! Lean on them, give value to them, and learn from them! This community will be there to support your quest!

And finally, always remember this is not a career focused path. This is about you as the whole person! You are a combination of your personal and professional life. Do not silo them! Invest time and energy into identifying what makes you tick, what brings you energy and where you give value. Incorporate your values, beliefs and wants into this road map and let the journey be filled with learning, enjoyment, and growth!

In the words of the late Rudyard Kipling:

“If you can dream — and not make dreams your master; 

If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim…

If you can fill the unforgiving minute, 

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, 

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, 

And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!”

Start small and build. 

Plant that acorn.

#LearnAndGiveBack