BooneThink

John Maynard Keynes said, “The hardest thing is not to get people to accept new ideas; it is to get them to forget old ones.”  I’ve thought about this quote for many months.  It is as true as any quote I’ve ever read.  And, it is particularly true (I think) for exercise physiologists.  Or, that is what I feel right now.  In all likelihood, it is true for most people of other fields of study too.

Thinking and living the old ways is both comfortable and non-threatening.  Above all, everyone knows what is what.  To try something new is uncomfortable.  It may also carry a certain threat to one’s secure feelings about work and/or association with others.

Ours is a new age of exercise physiology with a host of “new ways” of doing things.  Who would have thought the stuff of professionalism would require one’s own professional organization?  Well, that is exactly the boat exercise physiologists are in, and thank goodness that some know how to exercise their leadership skills as well as just exercise (regardless of how stressful it is in dealing with colleagues who are too uncomfortable to do what it takes to build their own organization).