I will share with you my thoughts on key themes taken from some of the most inspiring and powerful books I am reading. I will be attempting to find crossover between our professions and the ideas and concepts of the authors in 500 words or less. Enjoy!


Linchpin by Seth Godin

Everyone should read this book!

Such an ‘oh yes that’s an amazing point’ book. 

You can make a difference, be a difference, you can be the Linchpin. 

While reading it you will feel a refreshing awareness that the ‘blue print system’ we get caught up in is not an inevitable way to live and there is a way out. 
Godin highlights societies unhelpful rule book on work: ‘exchange a days work for a days pay’ and hide behind an instruction manual, numb to the beautiful craft and potential of our work. People, the world, want and expect more. 
​
So what is relatable to OT?

1 Inspiration From A Non-OT “are you indispensable?” 
This book, with its short anecdotes of inspiring, creative individuals and companies, more than ever, brings out a sense in me of the fantastic potential of our profession. It makes me believe that at the moment, we are only just scratching the surface of what we have to offer.

2 Fear of Failure 
Godin touches on the phenomena of individuals being suppressed through the fear of making mistakes and fear of ridicule. We have been taught to run from these when really they should be embraced. 
We should work to push our profession as far as we can and uphold and respectfully acknowledge the criticism of people who don’t see us “fitting the mould” that the system has cast for us, but carry on anyway, creating, testing, connecting, inspiring. 
​
3 The art of creating gifts within our work 
This book highlights the power of “creating gifts” within our work and drums home the concept of going the extra mile. This, in my opinion IS the OT way. How could it be any other way? With a profession that looks at the person in such a holistic way. We don’t just focus on the issue at hand in front of us- we see more- we treat more. Our client is more than just the ‘poor performance at work’, they are the unbalance that falls across their life actions that needs restructuring. We learn our clients and utilise so much of this in our treatment. Seth Godin would be proud of Occupational Therapists

“under pressure we do not rise to the level of our expectations, we sink the level of our training. (Archilochus), (navy seals)  

• what does this mean for us humans? what is our level of training if we have never specifically trained yet alone even considered how we would react when we are subject to a stressful event….? most likely we would fall to the level of our most basic ancient /primitive instincts. 
• What kind of behaviour will this insight?- 
• behaviour that will most likely be initiated by these baseline reactions could be driven from our most basic instinct- to survive? Fight, Flight, freeze. 
• Most people are lucky enough that most stressful encounters today are not a threat to our survival but as an “un-trained” human we meet these with the same intensity of reaction that we would if we are facing a sabre-toothed tiger. 
• how can this negatively impact on our daily life?

• this then when repeated in numerous circumstances throughout our life (maybe even several times a day) becomes our habitual way of being. 

How Can OT Help??

• increasing self awareness. 
• OT Can set goals within this area by first identifying with you what kind of reactions, responses, interactions you would like to achieve under pressure. making it fit with the over all kind of person that you would like to be. 
• OT would explore what previous mechanisms you have used while reacting to stressful events through activity/action analysis and through exploring your own personal narratives. Often, if you are aware of it, you can change it. 
• OT would then establish doorway drills, utilise doing being becoming and self evaluation, self documentation of stressful events. 
• OT would work on enabling the client to take a more cognitive approach as opposed to a reactive approach to these stressful events.