In this instructional video, concussion survivor David Brimacombe explains why "momentum"—the cumulative effect of small, consistent actions—can dramatically improve recovery from post‑concussion syndrome (PCS). He argues that momentum is not an innate trait but a skill that can be built by deliberately choosing tiny habits each day. Brimacombe outlines three core reasons momentum helps: it reduces friction by shifting focus away from others and short‑term gratification; it reshapes identity by giving the brain a new predictive pattern of agency; and it separates useful signals from the noisy overload of advice, supplements, and protocols. He stresses that momentum does not require intensity, only consistency, leveraging neuroplasticity to rewire neural pathways. The video culminates in a practical three‑step morning framework that can be started immediately: (1) set a positive intention (“Maui Habit”), (2) perform five rounds of breathwork with elongated exhales to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and (3) write one gratitude note on a sticky placed in a visible spot. Brimacombe advises repeating this routine for a week, then gradually layering additional habits, ultimately fostering a new identity and lifestyle that supports long‑term PCS recovery.
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Momentum will not heal your post-concussion syndrome, but it will make every good choice easier, every setback less scary, and every small win that you have even louder. Hi, my name is David Brimacombe, and after 7 concussions over 20 years, I learned that momentum became the magnifier of every part of my recovery. In this video, I want to give you 3 reasons why you need to incorporate momentum within your recovery routine. And lastly, at the end of the video, I'm going to give you a 3-step framework that you can start today to increase that momentum. Let's begin. The first thing we need to understand about momentum and motivation in your recovery is that it is not something that you either have or don't have. It is not something that is innate. that is born into you. It is something that you gain from making small choices every single day. Now, here's a simple framework. Small actions create momentum to do more, which increases your belief that this is possible and your motivation to do more actions. This becomes a cycle of your recovery. Every time I add a new framework, a new protocol, therapy, supplement, okay? And I do it in a dose that I can handle. I'm reinforcing to my system that these are the steps that it takes to become the new version of myself. I'm changing who I am, I'm changing how I view myself. But how do I get to that point? How do I get that layer of momentum? And what typically stands in your way? So the 3 reasons why momentum is such a huge catalyst in your The first reason is that it reduces friction. Now, for me, the hardest part of recovery was that I was always looking at how everyone else was behaving, how everyone else was living. They were eating whatever they wanted, going to sleep whenever they wanted. They didn't have to worry about their stress levels. They didn't have to worry about their energy, and I did. So herein lies the first problem, is that that momentum that I created by scaling those small changes in my life reduced that friction. I started— stopped looking at everybody. I stopped looking at the average person. And just on a side note, this should be something that you strive for. Now understand that the average person strives for short-term satisfaction versus long-term fulfillment. That is not something that you should be striving for as well. So the concept that momentum is going to reduce the friction So when I saw everyone else doing all those things that I wanted to do, it was hard. But when I started to do the small things, I scaled a 3-step framework— what I did in the morning, what I did before I went to bed— those started to create momentum. They started to change how I viewed myself. I viewed myself as someone who had agency in my recovery. See, this momentum reduced that friction. The hardest part of recovering Is waiting. Waiting for your next appointment, waiting for that shipment of that supplement that is going to be that magic bullet that changes everything, waiting for the energy to start that new protocol. You're constantly waiting, waiting for the perfect day, waiting to have the time. But here's the problem: if you are always waiting, you'll never start. If you never start, You'll never recover. So starting today and starting with a small scalable action will create momentum. Momentum also changes your identity. See, your brain and your nervous system are prediction machines. They are simply trying to use what you've done in the past, how you've thought in the past, that subconscious loop that runs in your brain all the time to determine what you're going to do in perpetuity, what you're going to— how you're going to act in your recovery. So if I start to add small changes to my routine, a little bit of gratitude, breathwork, changing how I eat, one— changing one item in my diet every single week, I'm now adding momentum. I'm starting to change that identity, and my brain no longer feels like this is a threat to the system. But if I never take action, if I'm constantly a passive observer in my recovery, I will never see those benefits. I will constantly be thinking without acting. So I need to start small. I need to start with one little action that I can build momentum on, that I can increase my belief and therefore my motivation to do more. The last way that momentum helps with your recovery is it helps distinguish the signal from the noise. So if you watch a ton of videos about recovering online You know, go on Facebook groups, Reddit groups, subgroups. You're going to see a variety of things that have worked for people, any and everything. But if you're constantly trying a new supplement, a new protocol, a new routine, that your body has no rhythm, it has no consistency, that is going to create that chaos in the system. That is when your brain starts to have those alarm bells firing off. Because it feels like that is a threat. All those things that you're doing is a threat to the system, and therefore you can't ever recover. So momentum, by doing one small thing a week— I'm going to this week start with gratitude. After a week, I'm going to add some breathwork. You are now distinguishing what is the signal, what is actually causing changes in my system, changes in my identity, from the noise, all that chatter, All those people on those groups telling you that this works for everyone, you must do this. All the friends saying, don't get up, you can't do that, you'll become symptomatic, it's going to make it worse. How do you distinguish that noise from that signal? Well, the more you do something and the more it starts to align with your identity, and the more you start to feel like it's having an impact, the greater chance you're going to distinguish that signal from that noise. Now, that is a hard thing to do. It's a hard thing to distinguish what people are telling you have worked for them and what is working for you. But you need to start by adding small things that you can start to discern what is working, what is not. Now, if I do everything at once, if I throw every supplement, every therapy, every routine all at once, how will I ever know what is working and what is not? If I start to feel terrible, am I going to assume that everything is not working? That I can pinpoint one singular thing that's not working. So I need to layer in one small thing at a time, add momentum, create more action, therefore have more belief and motivation to continue. But it has to start small before you scale big. Now here's the thing that most people don't understand is that momentum doesn't require intensity. It doesn't require doing everything. It requires doing something consistently. Now, let me say this again. Habits for me, for the longest time, I thought they had to be complicated, 5-step habits. But habits don't need to be complicated. They need to be completed consistently. They need to be done so often that the brain understands that this is now the path that I'm walking. Okay? Again, those neural pathways in your brain, They're changed through neuroplasticity, okay? Happen through repetition. The more you do something, the more your brain understands this is the route I want to take. If I have 2 paths, the old me that was well worn because that's how I thought, that's how I acted, the more I start to act in this new form, the more well worn this becomes, the more grown over this side is, and I'm now only using this path. The brain now understands this is the new me. But it's not done with intensity. I'm not doing everything at once. I'm doing one thing consistently, adding another step after step after step. I'm allowing my body to understand these new things that I'm adding, and I'm not overburdening the system. I'm not overburdening my autonomic nervous system, which is going to cause those alarm bells, cause an increase in stress in that sympathetic state. I'm keeping it Simple, because simple is what I need. So I want to leave you with a 3-step framework that I want you to do today. Now, what I found is in my recovery journey, if I didn't apply what I learned in that moment, as soon as I stopped reading that book, watching that video, it just vanished. It was a nice-to-do intention, but never an action. So I want you to turn this intention to an action. 3-step framework. I want you to come up with 3 small things that you're going to do in succession today for a week consistently. So for me, the easiest thing to do, the first thing I do when I get up is I am setting the groundwork for the day. Here's the 3 things that I would do if I would do nothing else, okay, that would kickstart your recovery. So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to create that intention in the mind. You're going to change that mindset. The first thing you do when you get up, you're not thinking about your phone, you're Thinking about the stresses of the day. I get out of bed, I put my feet on the floor, I look out the window, and I tell myself, today is going to be a great day. If you're struggling, if it's really tough, you can say, somehow today is going to be a great day, or I'm going to do my best to make today a great day. But what you're doing is you're restating that this is possible, that you're telling your system that regardless of what happens to me, All those things that I can't control. I can control my mental state. So the first thing you're going to do is called the Maui Habit. This is from BJ Fogg from the book Tiny Habits. Now, the second thing I'm going to do is I'm going to breathe into that new thought. I can continue thinking that today is going to be a good day. I'm going to do 5 rounds of breathwork. Again, anything that you're going to elongate on the exhale. So maybe I'm going to do 4 counts on the inhale, 6 or 8 on the exhale. The reason why you're going to extend on the exhale is that's when your heart rate lowers. When your heart rate lowers on that exhale, it tells your body to get into that parasympathetic state, that rest state, that relaxed state. This is how I'm setting my framework for the day. The last thing I'm going to do, I'm going to get a sticky. I'm going to write one thing I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for life. I'm grateful for my kids being home in the summer. I'm grateful the opportunity to watch videos like this and learn. Whatever it is, you're going to write it on a sticky, put it somewhere visual that you're going to walk by multiple times in the day. 3 things that took me no longer than a minute or 2. It's simple, it's repeatable, and I'm going to do this for a week. Now what this is doing is this is starting to tell not only myself, also my nervous system and my brain, that I am Going to be responsible for my recovery. These are the small things and actions that I'm layering in. I'm going to add more once I feel comfortable, once I feel like this has been situated in my lifestyle. Okay, maybe in a week or two I'm going to add something else. Maybe I'll just inverse this routine at night. I'll go ahead and I'll look at the sticky, I'll do the breathwork, I'll put my feet on the floor and say today has been a great day and go to sleep. That's my next step. But this is a simple framework to convince yourself that you are safe, you are supported, that you are in control. Understand that habits can take weeks to actually take hold. A new lifestyle, which can include a number of different habits, can take months. A new identity, which is all those lifestyles, all those habits, all formed into one, and with that new mindset, can take years. But it will never happen if you don't start today. So you need to start with those small habits that you can scale later into a different lifestyle and eventually to a new version of you, a new identity. I hope you got value from this, and I hope you have yourself a fantastic day.
