In this motivational video, David Brimacombe argues that recovering from post‑concussion syndrome (PCS) requires first establishing a compelling personal reason— a “why”— before focusing on specific healing techniques. He explains that without a strong why, symptoms and setbacks feel like stop signs rather than temporary speed bumps, making it hard to stay motivated on tough days. David shares his own experience: seven concussions over 20 years, a debilitating concussion eight years ago, and the death of his father from a brain tumor, which became the catalyst that gave him purpose—to be present for his children and regain his former life. He then outlines concrete steps: write a single sentence that captures why healing matters, repeat it each morning and night, verbalize it to others, enlist accountability, and maintain daily habits such as breathwork, consistent sleep, and healthy eating, emphasizing the rule of never missing two consecutive days. He urges viewers to identify their own why—whether it’s family, future milestones, or returning to beloved activities—and to use that purpose as a guide throughout their PCS recovery journey. The video ends with a call to comment with personal why statements to foster community support.
Chapters
Most people try to figure out how to heal from PCS before they figure out why they're healing. Now understand this, that reasons have to come first. Otherwise, all those symptoms, all those setbacks will feel like stop signs instead of speed bumps. On this video, I want to break down the importance of creating a reason for your recovery. Let's begin. Why the why matters. Now, on those days when your nervous system feels heavy, your symptoms are flaring, you feel like nothing you, you are going to do is going to help you— those are the days you need the direction. Those are the days your brain needs to understand why you need to get out of bed, why you need to do your breathwork, why eating healing foods is going to help you in the long term. Because recovery from PCS is a long-term proposition. We have to layer in the successful habits today so that we can reap the benefits tomorrow. Now, on those days when you feel like nothing is going to work— now, there's sometimes you just need to take a day off, but in most cases, okay, having that roadmap and having that North Star that is guiding your recovery is going to help pull you out of bed and give your nervous system the direction it needs to start the healing process. In my own healing journey, I did not start to see significant recovery gains until I understood what was my reason. Why was I getting out of bed? Why was I performing breathwork 5 times a day, eating healthy, going to sleep at the same time every night, and getting up at the same time every morning? What was my reason? Until I figured that out, okay, everything I did was moot. Because on those days that I felt heavy, like I felt insignificant, like I felt nothing was working, I just would quit. I didn't have a reason. My reason wasn't significant enough initially. Improving is not a reason. Feeling better is not significant because on those days when you're just mentally fragile, on those days where you feel like nothing is working, it's not going to be significant enough. Until I figured out what was my motivation, what was my reason for getting up, did I see significant recovery. Now I'm going to give you my story, then I want you to think about yours. So my story, 7 concussions over 20 years. Okay, my latest concussion that happened 8 years ago was a debilitating event. Okay, what happened thereafter caused me to Changed the way I acted. I became a shell of my former self. I became someone I was not proud to be. And again, this viewing myself in this light, watching myself act the way I did around my family, behave the way I did as a teacher, as a professional, was not something I was proud of. Okay. But the biggest guiding star in my recovery was when I realized that on my 42nd birthday, I was 1 year removed from the year that my dad passed away from brain— a brain tumor. Okay, so that significant of event, okay, was my final straw. It was my biggest catalyst. It was the one thing that told me, that is your reason, that is your why for your recovery. Because I want to be there for my children. I want to be there as long as I can, and in the process, I need to get better. I need to work on all the systems that are currently dysregulated. What you need to figure out now at the end of this video is what is your reason? What is your biggest motivator? Again, this could be anything. It could be your kids, your future, um, to be the, the best version of yourself. It could be to see your daughter get married or see your first grandchild. Or it could just be, I want to be able to surf again, I want to be able to ski again, I want to be able to do the things that I used to be able to do without setback. Okay, but you need a reason, you need a motivator, you need something that's going to pull you through the muck. Okay, your brain needs a guide. Whatever your motivator is, You need to say it out loud. I want you to say it out loud every morning, every night. I'm doing these protocols so that whatever the case may be, but you are going to actually lay that out. You're going to verbalize that. I want you to tell people, have someone keep you accountable, okay? Remind you on those days that yes, it's tough. Yes, you feel terrible, but guess what? You're not doing it for you. You're doing it for someone else. That's going to bring you along. You're doing it for that person that That's going to help you stay accountable. Okay? That is the most important part. Understand the importance of never miss 2 days and understand the importance of doing it for someone else, because that's going to help guide you along. What I want you to do today, once you're done watching this video, is I want you to write one sentence. Okay? And that sentence is going to answer this question: why does healing matter to me? And that's going to be highly individualized, but I want you to answer that. And that is going to be the statement you're going to repeat. You're going to repeat that at night. You're going to repeat that in the morning. You're going to tell everyone so that they can tell you, remind you on those days where you don't feel great, and that will happen, that you are not doing this for you. You're not doing this simply to get better. You're doing this so that you can be at your daughter's wedding. You're doing this so that you can hang out with your friends and go on that ski trip again. You're doing this to be the better version of yourself, whatever it is. You're doing it with a reason. You're doing it with purpose. What is your purpose? Okay, I want you to write that down. You can put it in the comments below. We can keep each other accountable. I really appreciate your support of my channel. If you want to hear more about my story, my PCS recovery story, I will put that up above, and that's going to talk about my raw PCS recovery journey. Okay, that one's going to go into great detail about how long it took and the different setbacks that came along the way. I appreciate your support. I appreciate the fact that you're willing to listen to this to the end. That tells me that you're willing to take the steps to recover. And that first step is, why are you doing this? Okay, again, write in the comments below, write a statement out, repeat it morning and night. That's going to help you with your recovery. Okay, until next time, have yourself a great day.
