Systems + Mary + Low Hanging Fruit + a Shoe Review

I’ve been working for years on implementing systems into my practice. My mentor, Dr. Mark King, has preached the necessity of systems since I’ve known him. I drilled the idea into Mary’s head because as the Back Office Manager, she was in charge of how the office flowed in places no one saw, but got to experience. This means that we have a system for how many needles or tissues are in a treatment room - this isn’t something a patient would see or notice, but would ensure that while in the middle of a treatment, we don’t run out of things we need.

Inevitably, as we worked out these systems, we’d drop the ball and realize how important the system was: like one morning when we came in to the computer system being down. We had not printed off enough copies of new patient paperwork while simultaneously being understaffed due to Mary having a migraine while Ashley was already planning to be out for the day. That was a system failure. Everything that could have gone wrong seemed to be going wrong that day, but if we’d been using our systems (have enough new patient paperwork printed), then when things went south, we still could’ve kept going.

Mary worked her tail off this year getting systems into place. This October marked three years of her being here, and in this last year, she was conducting a systems overhaul of our whole practice. Anything that had to be done more than once needed a “system” for how it should be done so that we didn’t waste time figuring out what the next step was.

In the weeks before she died, she had finalized a binder full of every single front and back office duty, how to perform them, and what systems were in place for each position. This is a gift I still cannot fathom the worth of.

One of the quotes that Dr. King shared with me in his relentless pursuit of perfecting systems was: “Goals are for people who want to win once. Systems are for people who want to win everyday.”

I have no idea who said it, but I love it and it motivates me to keep sytems running and create new ones whenever possible and necessary.

Systems remind me of the idea of low hanging fruit. This is the idea that the things that are easiest to get done are more readily available and easier to accomplish: the lowest hanging fruit is the easiest to gather. Systems make repetitive tasks easier to get done. Systems create low hanging fruit. Clearly, these aren’t just lessons applicable to business operations.

I have spent the last days and weeks clinging to the low hanging fruit of my daily systems. The daily routines that I have of grounding each morning, taking my supplements, using breathing techniques throughout the day, and doing pushups each night are keeping me physically going in a time when it seems impossible to do so.

My weekly systems are doing the same. The movement practices that I’ve cultivated for several years meant that in the weeks after Mary passed, I was able to move energy through my body in a way that created more emotional space. Getting adjusted, practicing my rehab exercises, and working out have helped me mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I was feeling like doing some explosive movement on the Tuesday after Mary passed, and I had some new Xero Shoes that I wanted to test out. I wanted to feel powerful and strong and capable because I did not feel powerful, strong, or capable at the time.

Something about the strap across the top of my new kicks - the Women’s Forza Trainer - invited me to attempt some Olympic lifting. It made sense because Olympic lifting has always made me feel powerful, strong, and capable (well, after I stumbled through figuring out the basics, anyway), but I hadn’t done any of it since getting a concussion in January 2021.

I knew my brain could handle it because I’ve been so diligent about conucssion healing. I also knew my body could handle it because I’ve been so diligent about taking advantage of the low hanging fruit that is moving my body with regularity. And honestly, I knew my feet could handle it because I’d ditched shoes that didn’t let me feel the earth over a decade ago.

Are the Forza Trainers the perfect Olympic lifting shoe? For me: yes. For someone looking for a rigid platform with a heel lift to help assist them in their lift: not at all. The top strap helps secure the shoe in place, and the tongue isn’t moveable, so it won’t slide around at all either. The tread is flat and grippy without ridging, so it has a nice firm grip on the ground, and because they’re Xero Shoes, they of course have a wide toe box to allow your tootsies to splay.

I don’t think these will translate to court shoes as well as the Kelso or the 360, but they’ll definitely make their rotation into my regular workout shoe option. Speed Force is still my favorite workout shoe overall, but I will intentionally choose the Forza Trainer if I’m doing more lifting than agility work.

I’ve had a working relationship with Xero Shoes for a few years now, and I love it. I get to test out their new shoes in exchange for my honest reviews, and I can give tips to my patients when recommending shoes for specific activities since I’ve had my feet in so many of these shoes over the years. I also get paid if you purchase their shoes using my link (but it doesn’t cost you any more). What I’m saying is that this is a good relationship and one that’s pretty easy to keep up with. I got the Forza Trainers and wanted to test them out, and then my world changed on October 13th.

I know I could’ve told the Xero Shoes that I needed more time to get this review done; they would’ve been incredibly understanding in giving me some space and time to honor my end of the bargain while honoring my grieving heart. But in the spirit of low hanging fruit, writing a little bit more about Mary felt much easier than having to explain to someone else the pain of her not being here. Part of what’s become my “system” for grieving is writing.