Wow, has it been 10 years already?
I am super excited to be celebrating my 10 year anniversary of MikeReinold.com. I knew that I started my website in 2008, but honestly, I swore it was in the fall. So I sat down this morning to figure it out and noticed I actually wrote my first blog post 10 years ago last week!
I wrote a review of a journal article on ACL injuries. For sentimental reasons, you should check it out. My first blog post from 10 years ago:
I was pretty nervous to look at it. It’s been so long, who knows what I actually even wrote?! And what I do and how I think has changed so much since then! But, you know what? I was actually pretty amazed at how the article is quite similar to what I still write today. A quick review with clinical implications.
How This All Started
That is exactly why I started this website, to help others grow and stay current. To take new research and discuss the clinical implications. To make the complicated more simple. My plan from day 1 was to share my journey with you by writing about what I am learning and how this is changing what I do every day.
Today, everyone wants to be an expert on social media, but I always advise our students and interns to not try to “fake it ’til you make it” and try to proclaim expertise online. It’s easy to spot a lack of authenticity. Rather, just humbly share your journey and what you are learning.
I’m not going to lie, though, I started this website for me.
To keep me sharp, to keep me growing, to push me to never stop learning. I always recommend others get into education. Honestly, it helps you as much as the person learning from you.
I started my career off as a clinician that spent my spare time in the evening conducting clinical research, and then my spare time on the weekends traveling around the world teaching. It was an amazing experience, and something that really made me grow as a clinician during the first 5+ years of my career.
Then a funny thing happened.
I actually landed my dream job with the Boston Red Sox.
While this was exactly what I wanted to be doing everyday, I literally worked everyday (all day…) and stopped teaching.
I simply couldn’t. There was no time to travel.
After a few seasons, I felt that I was getting stale. I started trying to figure out a way I continue educating, because I missed it so much, and I missed how much it pushed me to keep growing.
I actually remember the day I decided to start this website. I don’t think I ever told anyone this story before…
We were in Yankee Stadium, and I walked out of the clubhouse onto the bench during the game. I sat down next to the other athletic trainers and I clearly remember asking them, “hey, do you think people would read a website if I review journal articles as they come out? Would that be helpful?”
That was it. What a ride it’s been.
I found an image of one of the early versions of the website (very web 1.0 haha):
Take a closer look and notice I had under 500 readers and 219 twitter followers hahaha!
And people love cracking up at Lenny and I from some of our earlier work:
While my site has changed a lot and I personally got LASIK surgery, dropped a few pounds, and even started wearing slimmer clothing, I’m pretty proud of how the content has remained consistently impactful for people for 10 years.
I took a look back and also notice that I also recently published my 1000th blog post (missed that too… I guess I’m not big into milestones, haha).
I have consistently published ~2 articles a week for 10 years. The website is visited by 2 million people a year now. We’ve expanded to have a ton of video content on Youtube, a podcast, and now a dizzying amount of micro-content on my social media accounts like Instagram each and every day. And I have slowly developed a ton of great online courses for people to learn from me at anytime, from all over the world.
But most importantly, I’m still having a blast! Because I am still learning and still growing. So while I admit I started this website for me, I sure hope you’ve learned from it as well.
So What’s Next? It’s Going to Be Amazing…
Earlier this year, I knew I was entering the 10th year of the website, so I sat down to brainstorm the future.
In the past, I sort of just used this website as a brain dump, just sharing what I am currently thinking about. But for the first time, I think I really have mapped out an amazing plan to truly help a ton of people. I talked to a lot of people, surveyed everyone on my email list, and essentially found out what people need to take their careers to the next level. This goes for students, new grads, young clinicians, and even veterans with a ton of experience.
I’ve mapped out everything I want to do to help everyone along their journey and it’s all coming together. I think I got it.
Here’s just a sneak peak:
- A revamped Inner Circle. This is going to be big. There is going to be a ton of new content helping people get started the right way in their career, and for everyone to stay current and ahead of the game with their skills. I have 1000’s of people in my Inner Circle that rave about my program, however I’m not kidding when I say I think it’s going to be 10x better.
- My system of Performance Therapy and Training. I’m not saying that what I do is better than anyone else, but after 20 years, I have learned a ton to shape what I do today and what we have built at Champion. I love to systemize things. And soon (early 2019???) I will be releasing my FULL system of what I do. How I evaluate people, how I assess movement with our integrated movement assessment, how I perform my manual therapy and corrective exercises, and how I build my functional training programs to optimize mobility and performance. This is going to be HUGE, and I think is going to be really eye opening for everyone that feels overwhelmed. There is a need for this. So many people are showing you bits and pieces that people don’t know where to go. I will show you exactly what to do. You’re going to love it.
So to all of my readers, thanks for joining me on this ride. Happy 10 year anniversary. Here’s to the next 10 years! THANK YOU!
Do me a favor, comment below and let me know how my website has helped you in your career, I’d love to hear about it!
~ Mike
