Using Hope for Healing and Reclaiming Identity as a Lifelong Athlete in a
Sick Healthcare System
Nonfiction / Self-Help / Health
Date Published: February 6, 2023
Publisher: Mindstir Media
We will all struggle and face suffering at some point in our lives. In this
important book, Dr. Dillon Caswell, PT, DPT, SCS takes you through why
suffering is necessary and why the shift in our healthcare field from
transformational to transactional has prolonged the state of suffering and
is leading to a systematic healthcare collapse.
Daily you are given misinformation and flat-out lies, such as your
vertebrae are out of place, opioids are needed for pain control, the pain
experience is due to your degenerating parts, and, phew, we could keep going
on! People are giving up their purpose, life-long athlete identities, and
what makes them live wholeheartedly due to poor advice from respected
figures. You are getting the message of fear, feeling of brokenness and not
being enough, and routined rejection, all summed up as the feeling of
nope.
It’s time to change that… Hope Not Nope will reshape your perspective,
thoughts and behaviors, and equip you with an action plan by giving you the
information you need to turn all of the misinformation, rejection, and lies
– summed up as nope – into the greatest healing agent available:
Hope!!!
Praise for Hope Not Nope
“Who wants to live a life of unhappiness and suffering? If you
answered “not me”, then Hope Not Nope is a book for you! This book
perfectly taps into the enduring spirit of humanity. Dillon explains complex
physiology simply, making the book accessible to people from all walks of
life. You will find yourself nodding, laughing, and challenging your own
dogma, often within a single chapter. Each thematic chapter contains
anecdotes, key takeaways, and reflection exercises to help you move towards
a more positive existence. If you are stuck in a rut or have the desire to
make each day better than the last, then you will thoroughly enjoy Hope Not
Nope!”
-Dr. Tim Gabbett, Ph.D. Top 25 Most Impactful Sports Scientists of All
Time
“The greatest superpower human beings possess is hope – this guide
will teach you how to flex your superpower daily. Dillon masterfully
explains how to channel and direct your suffering experiences into a
position of hope. You’ll learn how to microdose your mindset like an
optimist on a daily basis and change your perspective when life’s illusions
are defying you. As the author likes to suggest, you always have choices in
life, but this book is worthy of a full send!”
⁃Dr. Craig Lindell, PT, DPT, CSCS. Co-Founder of [P]rehab
“Dillon is uniquely positioned in the fitness industry to bring a
vital message to lifelong athletes everywhere – that we must learn how to
empower ourselves in order to create lasting positive change. So many former
athletes surrender to an identity of being ‘broken’ or washed up, and their
health and self-worth suffer in the process. In this important book, Dillon
lays out a clear and actionable path to lead us through some necessary
suffering in order to reclaim our physical and mental health, and an ability
to continue to participate in the activities that bring us joy.”
– Adam Rogers, CF-1. Coach of the World’s Top CrossFit Athletes at Training
Think Tank
“More than ever people need to feel encouraged and empowered in the
modern healthcare world. I was driven away from a career in medicine and
towards a career in health and fitness in order to take part in the
empowerment movement and give clients tools to take into their own life in
order to reclaim their health, confidence, and control over their health
outcomes. Dr. Caswell shines a meaningful light on this dilemma that people
face. He highlights the problem in a way that can allow anyone to recognize
how the system is failing and then supports the reader with tools and
frameworks to enhance their health outcomes and reclaim their birthright of
a healthy and athletic body.”
– Marcus Filly, Founder & Owner of Functional Bodybuilding”
EXCERPT
Foreword
I have had the pleasure of working with Dillon Caswell for several years. It is one of the many benefits that have come from having ALS. Yes, I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gerig’s Disease, my darkest childhood nightmare, and still, there are benefits. I call it not a disease but a condition. I don’t see it as a permanent state. Dillon has helped me—, as he will most certainly help you— realize that perspective is everything. As you will learn from the doctor who changed the protocol for spinal cord injuries in WWII veterans, being paralyzed is not the end of life, it’s the beginning of a new one. It’s something Dillon would say, and does say in this important book.
I say important because seldom hasit is rare to hold such a comprehensive, on on-point, and powerful compilation of all that is positive, been writtenin my hands. I have to go back to The Power of Positive Thinking, written by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale in 1952, to find its equal. Dillon examines and explains every aspect of what it takes to be a modern- day champion. While there is plenty of “positive thinking” in chapters like “Building the Brian Brain” and “Pain Versus Performance,” this book is also grounded. tThere are mathematical and scientific illuminations in chapters like “Bayesian Prediction Models” and “Movement is Medicine” that most athletes have not even considered, let alone contemplated.
Maybe best of all is that this tapestry of self-help is woven together with insightful filaments of humor, history, and cutting -edge knowledge in the fields of sports medicine and psychology. Dillon takes you on a quest for the true father of “bass-ball,” a.k.a baseball, and it’s not Abner Doubleday. He recounts employs a little knownthe classic apocryphal argument between Albert Einstein and his university philosophy professor about the existence of God. And he shatters myths like the benefits of icing an injury and static stretching, which are nearly universal from youth sports all the way up to the professional ranks.
I know first-hand that Dillon Caswell exudes positive energy in everything he says and does. He is living proof of the theories he espouses. This book, brilliantly written, is a must-read for any athlete of any gender, of any age, and parents, coaches, and health care workers as well. It will be your blueprint, your guide, and your inspiration.
Prologue
My initial mission as a healthcare provider was to end suffering. A bold mission that was, as one of my colleagues pointed out, pretty stupid. She politely challenged me that suffering is needed. Suffering is part of the human experience. Enduring that suffering is what creates growth and character. I reflected that night and to this day on that conversation. Why did I want to end suffering completely?
I was angry. I was angry with how my family, specifically one of the greatest women on Earth, my mom, was treated within the healthcare system. I was angry with how I was treated within the system. I was angry with how my patients and friends were treated within the system. I was angry that people were giving up activities they love because poor advice left them feeling fragile and broken. I was angry with the lies being sold and how the field became transactional versus transformational.
But prolonged anger does not solve; it leads to vengeance, and vengeance hurts in the long run. This book initially was my journal, my outlet, and my solution to let go of the resentment and reshape my perspective. In the process, probably to no surprise, my mission needed an update.
Mission 2.0: We all must suffer; however, we do not need to suffer for as long as we have been led to believe.
In the process of societal, technological, and financial progression, we have seemed to regress on the basic principle of truly caring for one another. Healthcare systems are pressured for productivity dictated by numbers, not outcomes. The Hippocratic oath states to do no harm. However, daily, I encountered patients who had been harmed. They were being stripped of the factor that creates the greatest healing: hope.
We all face a fork in the path at some point in our lives, where we can spend our time complaining, or we can try to be a solution. This is my attempt to be part of the solution. To be part of the solution, one must sacrifice. I promise this work will not be perfect, but I promise many sacrifices were made to put it together. Not just my sacrifices, but all the sacrifices each individual has made to endure suffering, open up, be vulnerable and courageous, and share their stories with me.
I am not sure the overall impact this work will have or who it will reach, but I trust that it will be delivered to the right hands. I trust that it will inspire a pathway to hope for those suffering. I trust that our combined suffering becomes fruitful if it positively impacts one other person. I’m hoping that person will be you.
About the Author
Dr. Dillon Caswell is a sought-out enthusiastic clinical Doctor of Physical
Therapy with expertise and a Board Speciality Certification in Sports. He
has spent more than 10 years in higher-level education both as a student and
adjunct professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He desires to empower
and educate the next generation by cutting through the biased lies
surrounding the human experience by constantly seeking and delivering the
truth in science and healing. This mission has fueled him to write Hope Not
Nope and host one of the top alternative health podcasts in the world: The
[P]rehab Podcast. Dr. Caswell embodies servant-based leadership, bringing
people that have been shamed with “nope” to the truth of hope,
in a practice he founded and owns: Action Potential Performance Physical
Therapy (AP3T), PLLC in Syracuse, NY.
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