How often do you get the opportunity to start over again? Not just tweak a few edges, not patch something up, but really start anew. For most of us, it’s rare almost never. Yet here I am facing the gift of beginning again.
Last November (the day before my birthday) I went under the surgeon’s knife for the eight time. Three ACL reconstructions behind me, countless hours on tables and physio benches, and now one more operation that frankly felt like my body’s final warning. As my surgeon Warren looked me straight in the eye, he said it clearly:
“Nick, if you don’t slow rehab this time you won’t get another chance”
That landed, deeply.
At first it felt like a challenge and those who know me well know I love a challenge. I’ve spent a career working with CEOs and leaders who thrive on goals, metrics and outcomes. It’s how I’ve always lived too, training for Ironman, getting to the highest level of rugby, winning a number of prestigious awards for coaching. But it dawned on me a few weeks ago, I was starting to race, started to push to hard and the pain was starting to come back. WHAT AM I NOT HEARING I said to myself, If you don;t slow rehab this time you won’t get another chance…………….To me rehab was a race. It isn’t a race. It’s not a KPI nor is it for anything else than my own wellbeing. It’s a practice in patience. And sixteen weeks post surgery as I start to gently rebuild strength in my knee, Im discovering something unexpected – gratitude.
A Gym With No Goals?
Over the past few weeks, Ive started returning to the local gym. Now before you imagine some kind of powerlifting session, let me be clear, this is rehab gym time ONLY. Small. Controlled. Thirty quiet minutes focused on three machines I have named them (but I will leave that for another blog) the leg press; hamstring cuts, and leg extensions. That’s it.
It’s not glamorous. It’s not loud it is to be frank bloody boring but it’s transformative. For years playing rugby it was all about size and mass. During Ironman training it was to help speed, beat yesterday’s times. Improve get better.When you strip away the noise the music, the phone, the metrics all that’s left is a quiet conversation with yourself. That’s where gratitude sneaks in. Gratitude for simply being able to move. For being given another go. For feeling the ache of rebuilding rather that the silence of inactivity.
And yes, I’m very very sore. Each week I waddle along and it reminds me I’m alive, with muscles that haven’t been tested far too long. But I know tomorrow when I wake up it will be a good sore, one that signals healing, commitment and being where my feet are.
Chris The Physio, game me a simple instruction: Once a week, 3 sets of 8 reps on each machine THEN GET OUT OF THERE. He knows how I used to be………but we all move on. Nothing to overthink, nothing to optimise, just do the bloody work he said. No skipping corners adding more weight etc just do what I say. Yes Sir I reply 🙂
What’s interesting and as I write about it today is how much joy I feel in sticking to something so small. Have you tried it? Go on you might find a new something. Because for me, this time it’s about building forwards.
The Joy of Slow
My coaching clients often nod knowingly when I say “slow-down”. We talk about leadership presence, about sitting with problems, about letting teams find their rhythm before rushing in with solutions. Yet here I am, 51 the person preaching that mantra, being forced to live it in the rawest, most physical way possible.
Rehab is slow. Excruciatingly so sometimes. Progress is invisible week to week. There’s no clear line from Now to Better. And yet, that’s where the magic truly lies. In slowing down, I am noticing more. The tiny sensation of stability returning slowly to my knee. The way the scar tissue feels tight yet less tight after my gym session. The simple rhythm of waking up (still in pain), breathing, and thinking: What does my body really need today? Not “How fast might I be…………….but what can I support it to do?
It’s a subtle shift, but it changes everything. I am noticing my breathing, my pulse.
This year I have made a decision, It’s my year of growth, all round growth. Mental. Emotional. Physical (knee specific). And it starts with being intentional. One of the frameworks I have been playing with recently both in my coaching practice and personally is what I call The Power Of Threes!
The Power Of Threes
Sometimes the simplest frameworks are the most powerful. Over the past few years, Ive noticed through my journal reflections that I/m always driving towards something. Work targets. Family time. Home projects. My brain is wired differently and it’s hard to switch her off.
So I’m trying to put those things into small, intentional boxes what I like to call my Ikea boxes. (And yes, Ikea finally opened in New Zealand, which somehow made the metaphor feel justified)
Here’s how the boxes look today:
One: When I’m home, be home. Not half and half checking work. Not sitting through dinner thinking about tomorrow’s coaching session with (x). Fully unapologetically home.
Two: When I’m at work, be at work. Deep focus. Coaching, strategising, building clarity that helps leader grow. No multitasking across home errands or random distractions.
Three: When I’m with friends, be with friends. Phones away, Prescence up. Real connection. And recently Ive added one more:
Three + A: When I’m in rehab, be in rehab.
Being Where You Are (aka be where your feet are)
It sounds almost trivial, doesn’t it? Be where you are. But in practice, few of us ever are. Our minds spring elsewhere. Our attention fractures. We hurry through moments because we’re addicted to results. My previous rounds of rehab? Rushed. Pushed too hard too soon. Cut corners. Tried to ‘beat the process’. We all know that never works. It only delays recovery, physically and mentally.
This time, I’m doing the opposite. I’m slowing down. I’m noticing my breath. I’m listening really listening to what my body needs. And that’s showing up in other parts of life too. I find myself calmer at work. More patient with clients. More deliberate in my conversations and the beauty of silence is powerful. I pause more before responding. In a strange way, this physical Rehan is reshaping my leadership too. It’s teaching me presence under pressure. The same kind of presence I coach others to cultivate.
Gratitude is the thread connecting it all. Gratitude for the chance to start again. Gratitude for the support. Gratitude for the pause.
Because that’s what rehab is a pause to heal.
The Gift of Starting Over
We don’t often think of injury or setbacks as gifts. Usually they’re seen as interruptions as obstacles. But when you reframe them, they reveal something powerful the opportunity to choose again. Rehab strips you back. It removes ego, competition, busyness. You can’t disguise your weaknesses or fast tract your progress. You’re forced to be honest, both physically and mentally. That’s confronting, but it’s also extremely freeing too. I keep thinking back to what my surgeon said ” Nick you won’t have another chance” That wasn’t a scare tactic it was reality. And it reminded me beginnings aren’t guaranteed. Every fresh start deserves reverence. So yes, Im taking my time this time. Because time, unlike muscle can’t be rebuilt. And maybe if you are starting over the lesson is only a gift if you treat it like one.
Gratitude In Small Moments.
Gratitude doesn’t show up like fireworks. It comes quietly.
It’s that moment when you shave for the first time in months because you finally feel good enough to do it. (The beard went yesterday). It’s when you take a walk without thinking about pain (still working on that) Its when your daughter asks how you’re feeling and you can honestly say “better”. I used to associate gratitude with milestones business wins, major outcomes, achievement. Now I find it in the smallest things, a well stretched quad, an uninterrupted nights sleep a warm coffee shared with her in doors. Gratitude, it turns out isn’t built through success its revealed through endurance.
So, What Rehab Teaches Leadership: (I had to chuck this one in for you)
You might wonder, what does all this have to do with leadership? Well quite a lot actually. Leadership like rehab is a long game. It’s about consistent often invisible effort . It requires you to hold tension between patience and progress vision and reality. It demands you slow dow to speed up (how wired does that sound team…..)
So a few final bullet points to close out my article today March 2026.
+ Recovery is progress
+ Control what you can
+ Seek feedback early
+ Celebrate small steps (pardon the pun – having spent 8 weeks on crutches you won’t believe how much I celebrated getting rid of those things)
A final note to anyone starting over
If you are at the beginning of your own rehab, physical, emotional or professional let me say this. Please Take It Slow.
Notice the good sore, Trust time to do its quiet work. And never underestimate the power of gratitude.
I’m at week sixteen (16) now still some time before I’ll be running or jumping again. And that’s ok. This session isn’t about performance . It’s about strength, stability and a deep sense of thanks for being able to do the work, slowly, intentionally.
See you in another 16 weeks. Much love, Nick
