Believe The Hope

Connect With Dr. Carl Nottoli at functionalpainrelief.com

Summary

In this episode of the Believe the Hope podcast, host Paul Nottoli speaks with Dr. Carl Nottoli about the concept of hope, particularly in the context of healthcare and personal growth. They discuss how hope begins as a belief and evolves into action, the importance of building hope in clinical practice, and how individuals can spread hope within their communities. The conversation also touches on maintaining hope while having realistic expectations and the impact of positive interactions on overall well-being.

Takeaways

  • Hope starts as an attitude or belief.
  • It should evolve into action and become part of your character.
  • Naive hope can lead to confidence and success.
  • Building hope in clinical practice requires empathy and understanding.
  • Every interaction can spread hope in the community.
  • Healthy and happy people transfer positive energy to others.
  • Maintaining hope involves reflecting on personal growth over time.
  • Realistic expectations are crucial for sustaining hope.
  • Hope is contagious and can influence those around you.
  • Small acts of kindness can significantly impact someone's hope. 

Sound Bites

"Hope is an attitude first or a belief."
"Hope should evolve into action."
"You have to believe before you have evidence."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
04:00 The Nature of Hope
10:03 Building Hope in Clinical Practice
17:04 Spreading Hope in the Community
24:53 Maintaining Hope and Realistic Expectations
30:58 Final Thoughts and Insights

"Dream Catcher" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/



Creators & Guests

Host
Paul Nottoli
Host: Entrepreneur Spreading Hope & Positivity
Guest
Carl Nottoli
Doctor Carl Nottoli has been trained in one of the most successful and specific ways of treating patients, Integrative Diagnosis®.

What is Believe The Hope ?

Welcome to "Believe The Hope," the podcast where inspiration meets reality.

Join us as we delve into stories of resilience, triumph, and the relentless pursuit of hope.

Whether you're seeking encouragement or simply a reminder of the power within us all, this podcast is your guide.

From personal journeys to expert insights, we explore what it means to believe in hope against all odds.

Get ready to be inspired, uplifted, and empowered. This is "Believe The Hope."

Carl Nottoli:

I think the simplest answer is you just have to do it literally one person at a time, one interaction at a time. I mean, there's there's certain people in this world, don't get me wrong, that that can take on large scale global issues and get themselves in a position where they can actually make a meaningful change, right? But most of us, 99.9 percent of us, can't do that, so why are we worried about it? Like sure, it's these world events are important, right? But how how much can I worry about that and physically change it versus when I leave?

Carl Nottoli:

Not even the not even start with leaving the door. When I wake up in the morning and my wife comes downstairs, how can I react with her? When the kids wake up, how can I react with them? When I get to work, how can I react with my staff? And then of course, when my patients get here, how can I react with them?

Paul Nottoli:

Hello, and welcome to the episode of the Believe the Hope podcast. I am your host, Paul Natoli, and I am here with doctor Carl Natoli. So if you're paying attention, yes, this is my brother. And if you're watching on the other side, if you watch our podcast episodes, this physical specimen is actually my younger brother across from me. So, yes, I don't know if you can you can see that when you may be, brother.

Paul Nottoli:

I think people say our eyes or our nose is kinda I didn't know that. Nose. They say that we can we can talk with your work together. So, he has been trained in one of the most successful and specific ways of treating patients with integrative diagnosis. He's treated 1,000 who have overcome long term injuries and pain.

Paul Nottoli:

His passion is to ensure that each patient gets exactly what they need. His clinical practice exists to break the cycle of the patient becoming commodity in a revolving door of health care. He discovers the root cause of your chronic pain, then identifies the best treatment to improve your function and eliminate your pain. The most enjoyable part of his profession is seeing the glimmer of hope when someone's problem is truly identified, then getting to see the hope turn to joy when their pain is gradually resolved. So thank you for being on, and because he's humble and modest, he's also a world master jiu jitsu champion.

Paul Nottoli:

So, I think that's pretty cool that, that he still can he still has that in him. I do not have that in me anymore. I don't even run anymore, but, yeah, he still got he still got that.

Carl Nottoli:

I think our ears used to look the same too, and so I started jujitsu. And then

Paul Nottoli:

Yes. I don't have the cauliflower ear, but, you're starting to get that with jujitsu.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. So, my first question I ask everybody because it's, everyone has different perspectives, and, what does hope mean to them personally?

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. That's a great question. And I've been thinking about this a lot because I've been listening to a lot of your other guests, and they have such great answers and, you know, different backgrounds. And I think it starts as an attitude first or a belief. You know, you have to you have to believe before you have evidence sometimes.

Carl Nottoli:

And and I think hope is one of those things that starts that way. And then eventually it should, in in my experience, it should evolve into action. It should evolve into a character trait. You know, you should view yourself as a hopeful person and that should be a part of your character, and I think that can drive, drive you forward in a lot of instances because, obviously, life is full of ups and downs. It goes from that initial, like, well, I hope things work out, but if you don't have if you don't first have faith, you don't first have the belief that it's possible and then you don't start acting on that, you know, like being positive.

Carl Nottoli:

A positive mindset's kinda similar. If you can be positive instead of negative, you can overcome a lot, and and you can start to transform your life and transform your actions. And I I see hope as a as a similar, similar thing. You know? Again, it starts as just a belief, and then it starts as an attitude.

Carl Nottoli:

Alright. I'm gonna get some actions done to lean into that a little bit more and to make something happen. And then if you do that enough times, that becomes part of your character. Mhmm. You walk around and say, I am a hopeful person.

Carl Nottoli:

You know? It becomes a part of you rather than just, yeah, I hope I hope things work out. Mhmm. I hope this and I hope that and I hope the Bears win, but they won't. You know?

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. Yeah. Well

Carl Nottoli:

because you have to you know, that's another thing. Like, you have to be able to have tangible control over it as well.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. And it's that goes I think that goes back to your intention and thoughts and, what you tell yourself reflects some of the actions that you take, or who you surround yourself with, because if you're constantly just in the cycle of, some one of the guests that is coming up, he said hope is not a strategy in a just in general because you have to have that, but in turn, it becomes an attitude or a way of life. Yeah. You don't you don't take action. You don't have those wins.

Paul Nottoli:

You don't have those, outcomes when you need to when you need to pull yourself out of something, a bad situation, or just a not ideal situation.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

I know Yeah. And just

Carl Nottoli:

just a a a real silly example, you know, talking about jiu jitsu. I had been doing a lot of competitions this year. You know, basically from February to August, I was basically doing a pretty large scale tournament every month. And a lot of it involved travel and, you know, sleeping in hotels and eating crappy foods, like training my butt off. But it was all geared towards you know, at first, it started as I I wanna win this one.

Carl Nottoli:

And then I sign for the next one. Okay. I wanna do a little bit better, you know, win my division and then win the open class, which is if you can medal in your division, then you can enter the open class and it's all weight classes, same skill level and age group, but all weight classes. And then it's like, okay. I'm gonna win my division and win the open class.

Carl Nottoli:

And then each tournament, you gain a little bit more confidence. And you think, alright. Well, there's this large world's tournament in Vegas at the end of August. Could I even sign up for this? Could I even do this?

Carl Nottoli:

And each win, you're like, okay. I I wanna I wanna do this. And again, it kinda starts so like, I hope I can actually be able to sign up for this and not make myself look like an idiot. And then as you keep training, you know, you you gotta actually sign up for it to, you know, get that fire. But then you're like, okay.

Carl Nottoli:

I hope I can meddle. And you tell yourself that. And then you gotta train your butt off, and you're you're training all the time even when you're tired and a little bit sore and maybe even a little bit injured.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

But eventually, you know, you just keep doing that, keep piling up wins, and then by the time you get there, you're like, you know, not only can I be on the podium, you start winning a couple matches? You're like, I'm gonna win this whole thing. But, again, I you know, like, back to your your point, this whole podcast that in a kinda simple example, I think it all starts as hope.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm. Well, last last, weekend or the weekend before, we were both home with dad, and we were just talking about football and stuff like that back in the

Carl Nottoli:

back in the day, back when

Paul Nottoli:

we played. We were so much tougher, back in the day. And, I was thinking about how almost basically, how I started my senior year and wasn't I mean, I'm not big at all. I'm like, the people are always like, I have no idea how you actually play that position. You know, Robert tells me that all the time because he played the same position.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

That was how you played the same.

Paul Nottoli:

He's he's and he's 6 3. He's 6 3, £200, and I was playing the same position at 510, a 135 when I was in high school or whatever. And, I look back at it as one, it's that people believed in me, my teammates believed in me, my coaches believed in me, which gave me that it gave me that, okay, I hope I can I hope I can start my senior year and actually be on the field? 2, I think there is almost, like, a naive, not in a bad way, but just I thought I belonged out there. I thought I was I I'm gonna I'm the best.

Paul Nottoli:

Like, you're coming at me. It doesn't matter. I'm here. I'm starting with this team. I can do it.

Paul Nottoli:

But then it's the like, I don't get blown on the hole. I make some tackles. I make some plays. Like, they run away from me. You know what I mean?

Paul Nottoli:

They're running to the other side. They're not even running towards my side anymore. You know, that gives you confidence to say, yes. I do belong. And that's, again, another silly example of that.

Paul Nottoli:

But, I mean so even some naiveness of that hope, I think, can go a long way because it pushes you to have that confidence and to build that character.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

With that and then not naive in just, like, totally delusional naiveness, but just almost like a almost like you don't know what you don't know type of naiveness, but it sometimes it can give you some confidence that you belong. And, and you see this all the time, especially in we played a lot of sport, but you see it all the time in athletics. A lot of young teens, that they're like, oh, I don't know how this team's doing it, and it's almost because they they're just they they're just young and they just are like, I'm just doing my thing, and it turns in and they build that confidence and character. You see these teams that you're like, I don't know how they won the championship, but they just they did because they had that. Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

And Yeah. They had it all along. You know? And I to to piggyback off what you're saying, I think as long as you're putting in the requisite amount of work, it's okay to have that Mhmm. Naive hope at first because until the universe kicks you in the face enough times, it says you're not ready.

Carl Nottoli:

Like, you just keep going. Right? And if you keep having successes, even if it's not a 100% of the time, if it's the majority of the time, you're on the right track. And if you can withstand the losses and withstand the the face beatings, then, yeah, keep going.

Paul Nottoli:

Yep. I know we do, because we practice the same with the integrative diagnosis training, shockwave, and other things. We see a lot of people that have don't have a lot of hope

Carl Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Paul Nottoli:

With because they've been around the bush for a lot of different areas. When people are coming into your practice, how are you how are you helping them find that hope again, not just with results, but just with giving them confidence again and give them that hope back?

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. Boy, it's tough sometimes. You know? There's there's a because like you said, they've, you know, they've already had pain for years, sometimes decades. Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

They've already seen 3, 5, 10 different therapists, doctors, you name it. And some of those people still come in pretty positive. You know? So those those those folks are a little less difficult to kind of coach through initially. Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

Because once you once you get your consultation and do your exam, you, you know, as a provider with our skill sets, you kinda know with pretty good certainty how this thing's gonna play out. Right? But that person still has to trust what you're saying, still has to be on board to show up to the appointments to pay for and to do what you ask them to do at home in order to heal. So even if you have a good certainty that you can heal help heal them, with all those variables that we talked about, they still have to believe them. Because some people frankly don't.

Paul Nottoli:

I've had

Carl Nottoli:

you know, this doesn't happen very often, maybe a few year, where you have a clean exam, clean consultation. You know you can help them, and they walk out the door with the same expression and tone and belief system that they had when they walked in. It's like, well, you actually really don't want this right now. Mhmm. But they can't admit that to themselves.

Carl Nottoli:

Mhmm. You know? But so those those are the bookends. Yeah. People that are already pretty positive and hopeful and then people that are just so despondent that they either never will get help or they're not ready to accept accept help yet.

Carl Nottoli:

There's a large portion that you're talking about that's right in the middle that really needs that first bump, And and those are tough. And I think over the years, my mindset has gone less away from let me show them how smart I am to get them on board to let me talk to them like a human being that that I can empathize and sympathize with them because either I've lived it or I've had a lot of patients live it, and maybe share some success stories briefly if that's if they if it seems like they are into that or they they ask about it. And let me just show them that we're on the same page, that I understand where they're coming from, before I start talking about, yep. I've seen this a 100 times. It you know, it's likely x, y, and z diagnosis.

Carl Nottoli:

We'll do the exam, because some people, you know, they like that nuts and bolts, but most people, they're gonna connect on that emotional front first. So, you know, you kinda have to get that buy in that, yeah, we're on the same page. It's time to have that little sliver of hope. It's time to have that little sliver of positivity. And, again, just start taking steps.

Carl Nottoli:

Mhmm. So I think I think I answered your question. I know. I was kinda Yeah. Roundabout, but it it's just such an interesting, take on on, how it works in clinical practice because you just see all all types.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm. Yeah. And, I mean, there's been a few episodes where people they're like, hope the opposite of hope is despair or apathy, which I think that's where you get some of those people

Carl Nottoli:

Or even

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. Just almost like it yeah. You have well, so you have that extreme. You have the other people that are just they're just already just very hopeful, positive people, and they just need someone that they feel is confident, smart enough or confident enough to take on their case and they're in. But that yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

Definitely the middle ground is I found people that have trusted me more because I was the first person that actually, like, asked them enough questions and actually listened to them. They had been a lot of providers that they're like, I think they meant well. They're like, they weren't mad about it, but they just they, like, they just would they just felt like they didn't listen. Every time I told them something, they just were just like, oh, it just has to be this, and they went to the same thing that they had gone to, you know, because that was what they were trained in or that etcetera. And sometimes just listening and give letting them give you the feedback because I find that, through this podcast and just different trainings with some life coaching is when people tell you something, it's important to for to them why they're telling you that.

Paul Nottoli:

And it's it's especially as a job as a provider or some type of professional, you have to decipher why are they telling you this, why is this important, and is this relevant right at the moment that we can help them go forward. And with that, I think that goes a long way, not only as a practitioner, but just a person in in the world in life because Yeah. You see people react on emotion now, not rational thinking a lot, and you see it all over social media as everybody reacts on emotion versus but most of the time, it's because they're not being heard or they're not being people wanna hear what they wanna respond to, not they don't wanna hear to understand something or somebody. Mhmm. So that's just a little bit of my take on that as well.

Paul Nottoli:

But, yeah, I totally agree that

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. No. I think that's a great point. You know, feeling feeling heard because I think that's probably the number one, you know, vocal complaint if some if a patient is gonna express that during the consultation or during the exam, they're they're like in so many words, sometimes they just flounce. Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

Like, they didn't listen to me. But in so many words, that's kind of the vibe Mhmm. We're getting as they're telling us their story is they just didn't freaking listen to

Paul Nottoli:

me. Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

I was telling them this and this and this, and, you know, they just didn't listen. Mhmm. And I've told patients before, I'm like, look, you as a doctor, it's our job to listen to what you're telling me verbally, but also what your body is telling me. Mhmm. And then from there, it's my job to have the requisite skill set to know what to do with that information.

Paul Nottoli:

Exactly.

Carl Nottoli:

And clearly, other people didn't have that. Again, they meant well, but if you don't have that skill set, it's just, okay, I'm gonna hear only what I wanna hear and then plug that into whatever I do as a clinician, and and that's it. Mhmm. And if it works, great. If it doesn't, sorry.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

Where do you what would you suggest for listeners or anybody listening, watching, listening, that they would how do they spread more hope in their community environment? How would you suggest people do that?

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. I think the simplest answer is you just have to do it literally one person at a time, one interaction at a time. I mean, there's there's certain people in this world, don't get me wrong, that that can take on large scale global issues and get themselves in a position where they can actually make a meaningful change. Right? Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

But most of us, 99.9 percent of us, can't do that. So why are we worried about it? Like, sure. It's these world events are important. Right?

Carl Nottoli:

But how how much can I worry about that and physically change it versus when I leave not even don't even start with leaving the door? When I wake up in the morning and my wife comes downstairs, how can I react with her? When the kids wake up, how can I react with them? When I get to work, how can I react with my staff? And then, of course, when my patients get here, how can I react with them?

Carl Nottoli:

Mhmm. Or how can I act rather than sorry? React

Paul Nottoli:

Yes. Energy matters. Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

Basically, act and react. Yes. Yes. How can I how can I interact and act with them in a way that that builds those relationships, that builds that trust, that builds that hope, that lets us think the world is not gonna fall apart because x and Instagram and Facebook tell us it is? Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

Then the Legacy Media tells us it is. It's like, no. We're getting so worked up about stuff that, again, the vast majority of us absolutely have no business looking at other than to be somewhat informed. But ultimately, it has to start at home. It has to start at work.

Carl Nottoli:

It has to start, you know, like for me at the jujitsu gym, like, all these little interactions when you go get coffee, when you go to the gas station, when you go to a restaurant, like, how are you acting with with the people around you? If you're an asshole, everybody but you expect everybody to be nice back to you. No. Absolutely not.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

Don't. And some people don't even know they're doing it. You know, it's just it's unfortunate. But again, I think they're so wrapped up in their own head, in their own little world, that they're on a mission to save the planet, that they're not even seeing the obvious things in front of them. Like, how could I be nice to this waitress?

Carl Nottoli:

How could I be nice to the to the guy at the gas station? How can I be nice to my kids and my wife? And how can I help my patients really focus on their health and focus on what matters? And I think that's how you start to really build that trust and how you really build hope in your community because healthy people and happy people are gonna transfer that energy onto other people. Miserable people and unhappy people are gonna transfer that energy onto everyone else.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

So I, you know, it sounds cliche and it sounds silly, but I literally think it starts with every single interaction, of every single day.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. And you're not the only guest that has said this in a a variety version of that. We actually have a Mary and I have a mentor and coach that he says it's the mirror mirror philosophy is, like, whatever you're seeing or whatever you're portraying is often is what's sent back to you. And, and those little things of holding the door for somebody, saying hi, being kind to somebody because they may be having a bad day. They may be lacking hope.

Paul Nottoli:

They may be in a portion of where they're going on into the despair because of a variety of things in their life. And you said hi to them and held the door for them or pay for their coffee or, you know, whatever it is. You did that little thing, and that might made the difference to keep them to have them have more hope and build that character's mindset and to even take action, which you talked about before. So, Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

I've been really trying myself to be more mindful of that. It's, like, how am I from the time I get up to the time I go to bed, like, how am I reacting on a regular basis to be more positive? Or and this this podcast has has helped that because I'm trying to get this message out there. And the same time I'm I'm doing these interviews is sometimes you hear, as I'm doing the interviews, you hear exactly what you need to hear at that time. So I get I get someone might not be getting anything out of the interviews, but I am because there's sometimes where, you know, you're you're like, oh, yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

I I guess I am doing that. I should probably change that. But, by having these conversations, I this is my little way of giving that interaction to the world to spread more hope to to give somebody

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's great. I think it's great because, again, I think you said this on one of your other episodes is, like, all the negativity gets to clicks Mhmm. Especially in an election year.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. Like, who wants to listen to the the belief of hope and the positivity of hope? Yes. It's like everyone should. Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

But how many of those people are gonna listen to this versus, what the vice president debate or what Trump or Kamala Harris said?

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. Just everything in the hurricanes and are just there in a portion of despair because, I mean, if they need hope, that's what I don't even ever wanna live in or experience I wanna ever wanna have because it's just every they mean, those people are feel bad for them because they're desperate. They don't they're in a place of despair, and a lot of them are just trying to have a glimmer of hope to get something to eat for the day, get some clean water, brush their teeth, you know, things like that. Not even yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

But I bet a lot of them would say something similar to this if you if you sat down and talked to them. It's like, look. You know, you're not gonna have power for 6 months. We can't get you out of this location for a little bit, or we have to you know, it's gonna take a couple years to rebuild your house. You know, how are you keeping it all together?

Carl Nottoli:

They would probably say something similar like, well, we're just trying to live one day and one moment at a time. You know, we're trying to be happy with fresh water. We're trying to be happy with a little bit of food. We're trying to be happy if my kid has cleaned clothes.

Paul Nottoli:

And,

Carl Nottoli:

because this I mean, that that would be extremely difficult. But, you know, given our circumstances right now where we live in Illinois, like, we're very fortunate we don't have any natural disasters right now. And it's still hard to to live every day hopeful and positive and and have those positive interactions. You know, you get a bad night's sleep or your kid gets in trouble at school or the dog chews up something in your house.

Paul Nottoli:

Like, you

Carl Nottoli:

wanna just or somebody cuts you off in traffic or or almost runs into you or, you know, actually does fender bender you or you just wanna, you know, lash out. I'm just as guilty of this as everyone else. Right? But if we can quickly turn that into something different, I think that's where the real magic will start to happen.

Paul Nottoli:

You touched on this a little bit with our previous conversation earlier. How does one maintain hope for the future and a better outcome, but also have the real realistic expectations with where they're at at the moment?

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. This one's tough for me because I I'm a I don't know what you would label it psychologically, but I'm very hard on myself.

Paul Nottoli:

Me too. Go figure.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. So I don't know if I'm super qualified to answer this because I struggle with it every day. But I try to remember look. You know, if you look back at least far enough, like, especially if I'm having, you know, just a rough day or a rough week or whatever it is, where did I come from 6 months ago, a year ago, 6 years ago? Am I am I doing better now than I was then?

Carl Nottoli:

And if I can say honestly say yes to that, then alright. Yeah. We're at least on the right track. Yeah. If I can't, then I have to really look in the mirror and and do some inventory and figure out, you know, what's going on.

Carl Nottoli:

But your so your question was

Paul Nottoli:

No. I think that's I think that answered yeah. I think that answers it. It's maintaining the the belief of hope to that there's something better and brighter for you, but also having the expectation that there is that the situation that you're in and the the steps you have to take to move into that hope

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

Maintaining that realism versus the I mean, talk a little bit about the naiveness of the hope being totally delusional. And like you said, the well, yeah. I hope this gets better, but then you just or, like, you go about your day. Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

You don't do anything. Yeah. You just go about your day. So I know we touched on a little bit, but it I mean yeah. I I think you're absolutely right.

Paul Nottoli:

I am very hard on myself too. Erin always just tells me. She's like, yeah. You're harder on yourself than anybody else's, like, on you. Your expectations are

Carl Nottoli:

I think our expectations for ourselves is up here, and everyone else's expectations for us are here. And that and that, you know, that delta is where we struggle.

Paul Nottoli:

Very much so.

Carl Nottoli:

But, again, I think, you know, every once in a while, if we can look back and say, are are we on the right track?

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. I

Carl Nottoli:

think that's how you can maintain some some parity in the whole situation. But, yeah, if you if you're listening to this and you're kinda wired like us, maybe you have to do it more often. Mhmm.

Paul Nottoli:

You

Carl Nottoli:

know, maybe I should just do it more often to try to keep myself out of the out of those loops of, like, you know, what the hell are you doing? Are you doing enough? Mhmm. Did you do you know, did you do this today? Did you do that today?

Carl Nottoli:

Did you do that last week? Can you do more? Mhmm. Because sometimes I just need to chill to chill up.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. Sometimes it's

Carl Nottoli:

And take it easy.

Paul Nottoli:

Sometimes rest is actually the answer to rest and just chill and turn your brain off for a little bit is actually the answer, not not pushing harder.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. Because there I mean, there's honestly bad times if I take a nap or I get a good night's sleep or I just chill out and watch a silly movie with Shannon and then, like, all of a sudden, I'm like, oh, I feel great. The world's fine. But a moment ago, I was, like, just boiling about nothing. You know?

Carl Nottoli:

Like, I can't even pinpoint. And I think that's one of the reasons I like jiu jitsu so much is because it's just naturally like that. If I don't have an outlet, I can just start to boil for no reason. You know? I've always kind of been wired this way.

Carl Nottoli:

So it's just a, you know, it's just a good outlet for me physically.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm. Is there anything that we other insights that you personally wanna add that we didn't discuss or talk about a message you would like to share?

Carl Nottoli:

I think I'd just reiterate some of the things we talked about because it's it's it's what I reiterate to myself to try to maintain some sanity in a world that seems to be crazy. It's staying positive, building building hope as a belief first. If it's something new, something scary, as a belief first and then as action, as an attitude, and then gradually as character, in in just the small interactions we have every day with people.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

Because, again, that's to me, that's what really moves Sydney. Mhmm. You know? When people talk about changing the community and changing their world, I don't think they fully grasp how important it is to literally start in your own home and then as soon as you leave your door and then as soon you know, all the way up until when you go to bed. You know, it's just such an important thing that I think we all tend to overlook and and over index when, in fact, that's the thing that matters the most.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. I think of it as the way where, when a stadium's sometimes, you know, they they have, like, the Super Bowl halftime. They turn off all the lights, and then someone lights a phone, and then there goes a phone. And then you see, like, like, the light, like, light up the entire and then, eventually, the entire stadium's lit up. And then all of a sudden, there's, like, a stage and a concert, and I think that's the way, Hopefully, this podcast eventually does.

Paul Nottoli:

It's just one light, one light, one light, and that yeah. No. Maybe it's only this section that has more light than the darkness or the craziness. But that's the best analogy I can I can think of? It's just this one light, one light, one light, one light, one light.

Paul Nottoli:

And then, eventually, by everyone doing that, everyone listening, everyone helping their community or their homes and bringing that positivity. It is contagious. Eventually, light will bring out dark will will will overcome darkness no matter what situation that it's in. Mhmm. But, yeah, I I think we just need to do a small part and

Carl Nottoli:

And I think that's how it changes generationally too. Right? I mean, if you could see that every day

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

Whether it's the positive side or the negative side, chances are they're gonna lean into that and do that. Obviously, there's always a a few outliers that buck the system. But, again, those are the exceptions. That's not the rule. You know, the rule is everyone that you interact with is likely gonna translate that energy onto somebody else.

Carl Nottoli:

I think it's honestly only the few very strong willed that, like, just don't ever let it Yeah. Really tough

Paul Nottoli:

for me.

Carl Nottoli:

Just just slides off

Paul Nottoli:

of them.

Carl Nottoli:

It's just something that you cannot affect. They're just always, always in such a positive mood or have their shit together or whatever it is. But I think the vast majority of us feed off of off of energy. And, again, whatever you're gonna expose yourself to, be careful with that and be very careful with that. I used to think that was a silly idea, but I I no longer believe that.

Carl Nottoli:

I'm 41 now. I have 3 kids. Like, when I was in my twenties, I'm in teens, I was like, ah, that's crap. You know? You're strong enough to see whatever, listen to whatever, and be fine.

Carl Nottoli:

I no longer believe that. Yeah. Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

How can people connect with you, learn more about your practice, work with you, or just, see how really good you are at jujitsu?

Carl Nottoli:

Well, I'm not that good, so either we don't need to worry about that. The I mean,

Paul Nottoli:

you're good enough to win a term a large term in Vegas. I mean, that's pretty good.

Carl Nottoli:

Yeah. As a blue belt. Let's let's put

Paul Nottoli:

it on. Alright. Yeah. It's alright.

Carl Nottoli:

I'm not sure if you go back every year and and, and and when. But, yeah. No. Don't get me wrong. It was it was a lot of hard work, and it was very rewarding and very fun.

Carl Nottoli:

And I'm very proud of myself, but that's the cool thing about jiu jitsu. It's just never ending journey.

Paul Nottoli:

You know?

Carl Nottoli:

As soon as you succeed in one thing, you start over at the next level and you gotta work your way back. Yeah. You know? So but, you know, my clinic is located in Libertyville, Illinois, which is, like, North Shucks North Suburbs of Chicago. We are on social media.

Carl Nottoli:

I tend to rarely post, but if you DM us or send a message or, you know, I I think all our contact info is on our, bios for Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Instagram is functional_pain_relief. Facebook is functional pain relief and YouTube is functional pain relief and our website is functionalpainrelief.com. So there's lots of ways you can contact us again even if we're not actively posting. We do respond to messages, phone calls, emails, you know, the like.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah. And I will I will obviously, you're my brother, but I will also say that I've as a practitioner, I've learned a lot from you and my skill set, and, you and doctor Brady have helped a lot over the years. And I don't think there's anybody. I mean, I'm in Illinois too, but there's no one as skilled as you are in the state of Illinois at what you do. I'm trying to be as skilled as you.

Paul Nottoli:

I'm working hard at it. You know, I do on a regular basis. But Yeah. Yeah, your skill set is your skill set and your knowledge of how to read the body and understand the body are not just what people are saying, but also how it reacts. That's one thing I've always tried to get better on and one skill that I try to get better on is not so much people telling you the things and figuring out what that is, but how what's the body telling you?

Paul Nottoli:

What how are they moving? How are and I feel like you have a, you and doctor Brady had just have, like I call it the savant.

Carl Nottoli:

So, like, when it comes to that stuff, it's like this weird

Paul Nottoli:

I don't know. You guys just pick up on it really quickly, and it's been it's always nice to train with you and learn a lot from you guys because it it does I'm like, oh, I never even thought of to look at that, or I never even thought that that was, like, a big a big clue based on how this was the tissue was responding or how they or the person was moving. So I will endorse you a 100%. So if you're in anywhere within an hour of, yeah, of Carl, yeah, I would and you got some type of pain or injury, you need to invest time and effort to to get there. And I will continue to

Carl Nottoli:

You even have patients that will fly in Yeah. To see us.

Paul Nottoli:

So And I will continue to train with them. So if you're coming to my clinic at any point in time, you are getting

Carl Nottoli:

Oh, yeah. You're in great hands if you're seeing doctor Paul. That's for sure. And it's interesting, you know, just to put a fine point on what you said because, you know, how you first learn is listening to what the patient's telling you and interpreting that. Right?

Carl Nottoli:

Because pain and different qualities of pain in different locations of pain can mean different things. And then it's doing the physical exam and watching their body move or putting them through ranges of motion and seeing what moves and what doesn't. So those those two skill sets alone are very, very complex and complicated, and most physicians are absolutely terrible at those two things.

Paul Nottoli:

Or they overlook them. They don't think they're as important as they are.

Carl Nottoli:

Yes. Absolutely. That's a good point. And then there's another 2 tiers to those first two things that we discussed, what they're telling you and what their body can physically tell you by moving it. And the other 2 basically are what are what's the gray?

Carl Nottoli:

What's really being said here? Because they may tell you something and show you something by moving, but it means something than what they're different than what they're telling you. And they're just doing their best to interpret it. But it it can it can change clinically. You know?

Carl Nottoli:

Like you said, that's sometimes these things that we that doctor Brady and I will pick up. Like, oh, it's actually this and not Yeah. The thing that they're telling you because of the presentation. So there's that gray area that you get better at with time just, you know, just doing the work, right, and paying attention.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

And then the last thing, which is probably just as hard, is being able to feel their body, their tissue, and what that's telling you. Mhmm. Right? Because that can even tell you just as much or more than what they're physically telling you with their mouth and what their body will move, like, and tell you. You can get that gray area that I was talking about of how to interpret those two things.

Carl Nottoli:

And then finally, feeling their tissue and what does that final say. And those four things, I mean, that that in a nutshell is what we've been learning since we graduated. And that's why it's so difficult. Not a lot of providers will do what we do because that is so much harder than learning a technical skill.

Paul Nottoli:

Yeah.

Carl Nottoli:

Everyone just wants to learn the technical skill. It's like, okay, that's cool. You can help a lot of people with that. But if you don't know all these other things, you are doing yourself and your patients a vast disturbance. And if that's your choice, that's your choice.

Carl Nottoli:

But that was that's that's how I believe, and that's how I practice.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

So that's how I've always carried myself,

Paul Nottoli:

as

Carl Nottoli:

a physician and as an integrated diagnosis provider is that I always want to be getting better at those other four things. The technical aspect is the cherry on top. You know, that's that's to me, at this point in my career, that's the easy part. Yeah. It takes years years years and thousands of thousands of hours to get good at, to get really good at, But those other things you can continue to to hone over your career and still pull gems out of.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

But, again, that's what separates me and you from

Paul Nottoli:

a

Carl Nottoli:

lot of other people.

Paul Nottoli:

Mhmm.

Carl Nottoli:

And and I don't know what else to say about that. I think that's Yeah.

Paul Nottoli:

So if we got a little bit of tangent of that, we only we say that because this is a podcast about hope, but that's exactly those types of things and that type of detail is what we're thinking about to give patients hope back into their life. So it was not that versus not

Carl Nottoli:

a treatment podcast or a or a science podcast, but

Paul Nottoli:

I'll tie it in. It's alright. I'll tie

Carl Nottoli:

it in.

Paul Nottoli:

So but it's those are the type of things we think about, while we're working with the patient. These are the types of things at that level that I think about. So we really need to to talk about on these podcasts, have a guest, and what the message I wanna wanna portray in the world. All of that brings hope. It brings light.

Paul Nottoli:

When people aren't in pain, when people are functioning better, when people are healthier, it's contagious. You will when I'm around when you're anybody that's around someone that's healthy, energetic, good attitude, they always feel better. I mean, it's I mean, it's like I've been to places where everyone's like you're like, man, this is just everyone has them. They have the the group of friends or family that they're like, oh, man. And they're just like they walk out.

Paul Nottoli:

They're like, I wanna go to bed. Like, because the whole time, they were just complaining about x y z. And then you have the friends of the family that are always positive, and they're always uplifting and, you know, they we they encourage each other. They laugh together. They spent you know, all those things, and you're like, oh, I wanna do that I wanna do that more.

Paul Nottoli:

I wanna hang out with them more. And Yeah. Yeah. So I I I think it goes all the way through there. So, a little bit of tangent at the end, but, again, I wanna just emphasize that all the details that we put together, all the details that we think about is to encourage more hope and give the hope back to the to the patient as what what we do Absolutely.

Paul Nottoli:

As we do. Yeah. And even more hope to anybody listening to this podcast. So thank you so much for your time today, Carl.

Carl Nottoli:

Thanks for

Paul Nottoli:

having me. Yeah. Thank you for being on. And, and until next time, we'll bring you in up another episode of the Believe the Hope podcast.