In this solo instructional video for the PCS Resilience Collective, David Brimacombe draws on his personal experience of seven concussions over 20 years to explain how neuroplasticity governs post‑concussion recovery. He argues that the brain does not respond to intentions, wishes, or imagined recovery; it only adapts to what is repeatedly done. Consequently, merely thinking about getting better can increase stress and reinforce negative neural pathways, especially when a person constantly symptom‑checks or fears never recovering. Brimacombe proposes a practical, incremental approach: identify one small, concrete action each week (e.g., walking to the mailbox) that stays below the symptom threshold, repeat it daily, and let the repeated behavior reshape neural pathways. He applies the Pareto principle, suggesting that 20 % of these small actions generate 80 % of recovery gains. He also emphasizes layering mindset work—brief breathwork, gratitude, positive self‑talk—so that the brain perceives safety and hope, gradually raising the baseline of tolerance. Over weeks the “floor” rises, allowing longer activity periods and eventually a return to normal function. The tone is motivational, instructional, and empathetic, urging viewers to start immediately with tiny, consistent rehearsals to rewire the brain and rebuild identity.
Chapters
You might be training your brain to stay stuck without realizing it. See, your brain doesn't care what you want, what you intend to do in your recovery. It only adapts to what you repeat. Hi and welcome to the PCS Resilience Collective. My name is David Brimacombe, and after 7 concussions over 20 years, I learned that the brain cannot tell between a lived experience And one that is vividly imagined. Let's begin. Now understand that most, if not everyone, at this stage of their recovery intends to get better, wants to get better, thinks about getting better all the time. You see people out walking around living their life. You remind yourself and you remember there was that time when you were living without symptoms, living without having to have those restrictions. You want it. But the brain does not care what you want. The brain is very simplistic in what it does for you. It's doing things to keep you safe. It's doing things to keep you alive. And what you intend, what you hope, what you wish is irrelevant to it. The brain only really replies to what you repeat. It only really adapts. So if you intend to feel better, if you intend improve your symptoms, you intend to go and start your new diet, and you intend to include breathwork. Those are all great in intention. Until you actually change those neural pathways by practicing what you preach, everything is moot. Everything is irrelevant to your brain. Again, this is one of the sticking points here. Many people say, well, I just, I want to get better. I hope, I dream, I think, That's, that's not getting you any better. In many cases, just by thinking about it, by dreaming about it, but not doing the next steps, you're actually increasing the stress because you're bringing— making the gap between where you want to go and where you are now greater. And it's just going to keep getting greater and greater because maybe you start to actually regress over time because you're not layering in the steps that you need to do. The brain is simple. Okay, what you do, what you continually do, will create those neural pathways, and those neural pathways become deeper, will become more expansive the more you do it. Okay, in this case, practice makes perfect, or perfect practice makes perfect, because what you do tells the brain that this is what I intend to do in the future. What you think is irrelevant. Now, thinking can alter your mindset. But in this case, practicing alters those neural pathways. The tough thing to understand is that many people are actually doing things that are regressing their recovery. So if you're the type to constantly symptom check, to constantly fearmonger about your future, to constantly think about what if, what if I never recover, what you're doing is you're actually furthering those neural pathways, those neural pathways of negativity. that you're actually moving further away from the path that's going to take you to the place you want to go. So what we need to do first off is stop those thoughts, stop that, those patterns, okay? Because those are not progressing you, those are actually making you regress. Anything that you have done can be undone. Don't ever think that because I've been thinking this way for 5 years, for 10 years, for the, for the entirety of my life, it doesn't mean that it can't be changed. But the longer you've had these thoughts, the deeper those neural pathways, the more expansive they are, the harder and longer it's going to take to change them. It doesn't mean it's impossible, and, and never think that you cannot change those thoughts and those patterns, but you have to be realistic and you have to start with some small pattern changes, pattern shifts in how you think, how you act, and then Over time, that compounds. And eventually, you, without even thinking about it, you start to change your identity. When you start to change your identity, you start to have a different understanding and expectation who you are and where you're going. You see how this works? It's a very small start, but like anything else, it takes a long time to get to $100 of investing $1,000. But then after that, it starts to compound. You get to $5,000, $10,000, $100,000, $1 million a lot quicker. The same thing happens with your recovery. It starts really slow to go from having to being highly symptomatic, okay, to being someone who can actually go out occasionally in public and not feel those symptoms. It does take time. But after that, maybe then you can go out for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 minutes. And after that, maybe it's half a day. And maybe after that, you can feel somewhat normal again. But It starts small, okay? Because you're reinforcing that safety in the system. That safety in the system is going to tell your nervous system everything's okay, but it needs that practice, that constant reinforcement that that is the case. So what are we going to rehearse that is actually going to have dividends? Now, I follow the concept of the Pareto principle, okay? That 20% of our actions result in 80% of our outcomes. Now, you're at a point potentially that you do not have a lot of energy, a lot of mental capacity. You want to basically conserve your energy and use it for only things that are going to make a difference. Change your state. So I would suggest starting small. Choose one thing to change this week. That's it, just one. Find one thing that you can improve upon. And that's starting your recovery. So maybe this week, instead of wanting to be able to exercise without having those symptoms flare, maybe now I'm actually just going to go ahead and I'm going to put my shoes on. I'm going to walk to the mailbox and back, walk a few houses down and come back. Again, I'm setting the intention and I'm layering in the practice. So not only am I telling myself I can do this, I will do this, I want to do this, I'm now adding that rehearsal, that practice, so that my brain actually believes me when I say it. It's not just a false statement. It's now something that I'm going to back up. And again, next week I may be doing a loop of the block. Maybe the week after I'm walking for 10, 15 minutes. It doesn't matter where you start. It matters that you start. Okay? And again, It seems so insignificant at the beginning, but again, if you're coming from a state of doing nothing, doing anything is going to be better than where you were. So, understand that your body has tolerances. So, don't go too fast, too soon, where you start to be symptomatic really quickly. What you want to do is stay below that symptom threshold so that you're not actually provoking your symptoms, but you're creating that resilience in your system, that Safety in the system where you start to feel like you can do this. Okay, just remember that small reps every day becomes your new baseline. It becomes your new floor. Every week your floor is raising. Soon you're going to be on the second level, the third level. You're going to be at the attic. You're going to be near the end of your recovery. But it does take time. You just need to start, and the sooner you start, the better. So if I was starting my recovery again, Okay, the thing that I would layer first is my mindset. I would focus on changing how I perceive myself and my recovery. Okay, when I get up, okay, my brain is highly malleable. Okay, it's open and receptive to things that are coming in. The first thing I'm going to remind myself of the possibility of recovery. I'm going to change that, that mindset, and then I'm going to actually act on it. I'm going to perform one action that reinforces in my mind that what I'm doing is working towards my goal. So maybe I get up, I'm going to remind myself today is going to be a great day and that I'm walking towards the future that I want to get to. Okay. I'm then going to reinforce maybe with some breathwork, some gratitude, start small. Okay. And again, you're not just telling yourself something and then not practicing it. You're backing that up. And you're instilling a sense of safety, of hope in your system that will hopefully be the starting point, the catapult for your recovery. Okay, I appreciate you watching to the end. I hope you have yourself a great day.
