In this motivational self‑help video, concussion survivor David Brimacombe shares the philosophy and practical routine that helped him recover after 20 years and seven concussions. He argues that belief does not precede progress; instead, belief emerges from small, measurable improvements. He illustrates this with a series of low‑effort, high‑impact actions: moving the phone out of arm’s reach and starting the day with a positive affirmation, tracking a weekly symptom score (1‑10) to generate data‑driven feedback, incorporating five breaths with an elongated exhale to activate the rest‑and‑digest response, and gradually layering additional habits such as gratitude, diet changes, sleep hygiene, and stress reduction. Brimacombe frames each change as an experiment (N‑of‑1 study) that provides evidence of symptom reduction, which in turn fuels confidence and further action. He emphasizes that progress is non‑linear but any forward movement, however small, builds momentum. The video blends personal narrative, actionable protocols, and an empowering message that viewers are “change agents” capable of reshaping their recovery through incremental habit stacking.
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Have you ever noticed that belief doesn't show up before progress? It shows up because of progress. When you're stuck in the post-concussion rut of recovery, belief is the furthest thing from your mind. But what if all it took was one small action, one small event that could help trigger belief, that could help catapult Your recovery. Hey, I'm David Brimacombe, and after 20 years and 7 concussions, I've started to realize that belief is less about telling yourself that something is going to occur, and it's more about the momentum of small little actions. On this channel, I like to give you concepts, lifestyle modifications that can help you rewire your mind Rebuild your confidence and therefore create the life that you've only ever imagined. If you like the content, please subscribe below. Thank you. When I was in the deepest rut of my post-concussion recovery, I remember thinking, I will start believing that a resolution— that I'll be able to get back to the person I want to be when I see results. Now the problem is I wasn't seeing results because I wasn't doing the right things, but that's second to the point. My belief was only gonna happen if I was going to see results. I could not believe in it in a situation where I'd be filming today talking about my recovery. That was so far in the distance, I didn't think it was even remotely possible. So I had to understand that belief was only going to happen if If I started to make the roadmap, I started to add the protocols that would allow me to make those necessary changes. What I realized was that belief is not a result of one massive breakthrough, of going to a clinic and having that physician tell you that, you know what, all this time we've been doing it wrong. We really got to target this muscle or do this exercise. That never happened to me. And I don't think it's going to happen for most of you. What I did realize was that small changes in my daily environment made all the difference. I'll give you an example. When I got up, the first thing I used to do, like most of you, was look at my phone. What messages were there? What unread emails did I have? Now, that put me in a dark state at the first moments of my day. Now, that set the groundwork. That put me in a sympathetic drive, a highly stressed state to start my day. So what I decided to do is I decided to put my phone on the other side of the room. So when I got up, my first instinct wasn't to look at it. It was to think of something. In this case, I reminded myself as my feet hit the floor from getting out of bed, today was going to be a great day. Now, that was the single greatest intervention I had in my recovery. Moving my phone and having that first interaction with the ground, with myself, with my recovery, as today is going to be a great day. Now, I might have felt horrible stepping on that floor. I might have been trying to convince myself of something that wasn't truly going to happen. But guess what? Over time, I did rewire my mind. I did change my belief. That the day could be a good day. And with that, that was phase 1. I started to layer things into my programs. I started to talk more to myself and add breathwork and healing foods. But the first phase was convincing myself that today could be a great day. Up above, I'll link to my videos talking about my morning mindset and my morning Here's the thing about belief. It comes when you least expect it. For me, it came in times like I could take a 5-minute walk instead of feeling symptomatic after a minute or two. For me, it came when I could talk on the phone to a friend, or I could go to work for an hour or two without the lights, the fluorescent lights above causing headaches. Those were small signs that I was making progress. Progress isn't linear. It has its peaks and valleys, but overall progress is progress regardless of how small. I had to look at my recovery as a stepping stone where sometimes one of those stones would be removed and I'd have to take a step down to get back up. But as long as I was looking at from the beginning to the end, I was making those small steps, small changes along the way. I was making progress. One simple way to do this is to keep track of your symptom score, 1 to 10, on a weekly basis. Okay, that's going to give you a good guideline of are you making progress. Okay, so here's one thing I'd like you to institute today. Okay, it could be breathwork, it could be gratitude, it could be something as simple as changing one food item that you eat, but I want you to make one small change this week. That's what I'm asking for you. Okay, for me, I'm going to use the idea of breathwork. So I'm going to get up as I normally would, start my day, look at my phone, do whatever I do, and I'm going to write down what is my symptom score when I get up. I'm going to average it over that first week. Okay, then I'm going to layer something new in. In this case, I'm going to do 5 breaths. In those 5 breaths, I'm going to elongate my exhale. Now, why am I elongating my exhale? Because that's going to lower my heart rate, which tells my body to get into the rest and digest phase. So I'm going to get up, do my 5 breaths with a deeply elongated exhale, okay? And then I'm going to go start my day. I'm going to keep my symptom score with this new protocol for that week. At the end of the week, I'm going to average out my scores from before the breathwork and after the breathwork. I'm going to tell you unequivocally, you're going to have a lower symptom score after the breathwork. That's just from what I found. You might be different, okay, but likely you're going to have a lower symptom score after the breathwork. Now, what does that tell you? Okay, that tells you that there is evidence that what you're doing is effective. It's dropping down some of your symptoms. It's helping some of the systems that are dysregulated. So we start with an action. Breathwork. That creates evidence. I'm lowering my symptom score, which tells me, gives me belief there is hope, there is a future for me, which creates the desire for more actions. You are a change agent. You have this power, okay? Don't ever let anyone tell you that you are a victim of your circumstance. You are, yes, a victim, but you are a victim who has empowerment to change your stance. I would not wish PCS on my worst enemy. I don't really have any enemies, but if I did, I wouldn't wish it on them. Okay, it is a terrible, terrible situation where your body is completely out of sorts. You do not feel like the person you used to be, but there is hope. Okay, you are a change agent. I've gone through numerous specialists. They did help a little. The one thing that did help the most Was me making the changes in my life. Things like diet, sleep, stress reduction, gratitude, having an attitude of gratitude. Those made monumental changes in my life. I can tell you now, unequivocally, I feel better today after 7 concussions than I did prior to my first one. I've created systems in my day. I've created more purpose in my life. I never in a million years would have thought that I would be recording a video explaining to other people how to help resolve their symptoms. But that's where we're at, because I went through the phases. I did all the N-of-1 studies on myself, talking to other people, looking at science, and what is it telling us? This is not a fun recovery to have, but Remember, progress is progress. Small steps now, big wins later. I wish you all the best. Thank you for supporting the channel, and I hope to see you again soon.
