Life after a brain injury can require more than adjusting your daily routine. It can also mean rethinking your goals, understanding your current abilities, and learning to accept a version of yourself that may feel very different from the person you were before.
In this conversation, Adeline and Alex Lombardi discuss how to organize your day around your available energy and capacity. They also explore a deeper question: How do you begin to accept and love the person you are becoming when you can no longer live the way you once did?
⏰ Find Your Most Productive Time
Alex explains that she protects a specific window in her day, around 10 or 11 a.m., for her most important work.
She emphasizes that everyone’s schedule and energy patterns are different. The key is to observe yourself and recognize when you are most productive.
For one person, that important time might be used for work. For someone else, it could be exercise, rehabilitation, or another essential activity.
Alex shares that there was a period when she needed to schedule her neuro-optometry rehabilitation at a particular time because it was the only time she could tolerate it without becoming violently ill afterward.
Her advice is to identify the most important activity in your day and schedule around the time when you are best able to manage it.
🎯 Make Room for What Matters Most
Alex encourages choosing the activity that matters most and giving it priority.
Once that important task is completed, it is okay if nothing else gets done that day.
This is an important shift in perspective for people living with brain injuries. Instead of measuring a successful day by how many tasks you complete, you can measure it by whether you made progress on something meaningful.
For example, your priority might be:
🩺 Attending a rehabilitation appointment.
💻 Completing one important work task.
🚶 Exercising within your current abilities.
📝 Practicing a strategy that supports your daily routine.
💗 Taking care of an essential personal need.
Completing one meaningful activity can be enough. You do not have to fill every hour of your day to feel productive.
🧠 Understand Your Capacity
Alex discusses the idea of capacity and how it can create room for two things to exist at the same time: being ambitious and being unwell.
You can still have goals, dreams, and motivation while also recognizing that your energy and abilities may be limited.
She encourages people to become researchers of their own lives by trying different approaches, observing what works, and keeping the strategies that are helpful.
This means paying attention to your patterns rather than expecting every day to look the same.
You might discover that certain activities are easier in the morning, that you need more recovery time after appointments, or that changing your schedule makes a particular task more manageable.
The goal is not to force yourself into a routine that does not fit. It is to discover a way of living that works with your current capacity.
💔 Accepting That Life May Be Different
Adeline then shares a deeply personal reflection about her life before and after her brain injury.
Before her injury, she was a designer and CEO of a tennis shop. Her business is currently closed, and she recognizes that she may not be able to return to managing people or working at the same level as before.
She explains that although she is a driven woman, her current capacity may never match the abilities she once had.
Adeline also acknowledges that her brain healing has reached a plateau in some ways, although she believes there are still physical improvements she can work on. She wants to continue learning better strategies for sleep, self-care, and everyday life.
She expresses something many people with brain injuries may find difficult to put into words:
She is not going to become the Adeline she was before.
Instead, she is searching for a new Adeline and trying to fall in love with her.
🦋 Learning to Love the Person You Are Becoming
Adeline’s question to Alex is an important one: How do you accept that the person you were is gone, embrace the person you are now, and focus on helping this new version of yourself do the best she can?
This is not simply about changing your goals. It is also about navigating changes in identity, independence, and expectations.
You may miss your previous career, routines, relationships, or abilities. You may feel frustrated when your current capacity does not match what you know you were once capable of doing.
Those feelings deserve space.
At the same time, you can begin exploring what matters to you now. You can discover new ways to express your creativity, contribute to others, build meaningful relationships, and find purpose within your current circumstances.
You do not have to pretend that losing parts of your former life does not hurt. And you do not have to know exactly who you are becoming today.
Sometimes, accepting yourself is a gradual process of getting to know the person you are now.
💗 Love Love Brain Thoughts
This conversation reminds us that life after brain injury can involve two important journeys: learning to work with your current capacity and learning to accept changes in your identity.
You can still be ambitious while respecting your limitations. You can have meaningful goals while allowing yourself to rest. You can miss your former life while making room for a different future.
A few reminders to carry with you:
🔋 Notice your patterns. Pay attention to when you have the most energy and focus.
🎯 Prioritize what matters. Give your most important activity a place in your day.
🌿 Respect your capacity. Your schedule should reflect what you can realistically manage.
💗 Give yourself grace. Completing one meaningful task can be enough.
🦋 Allow yourself to change. You are allowed to discover new interests, goals, and ways of living.
🫶 Practice self-compassion. You do not have to become your former self to deserve love and appreciation.
You may be building a different life than the one you imagined. That does not mean your life cannot still hold meaning, connection, growth, and joy.
💬 We’d Love to Hear From You
Have you struggled with accepting the changes in yourself after a brain injury?
How are you learning to work with your current energy and capacity while discovering who you are becoming?
Share your thoughts in the comments. Your story may help someone else who is learning to embrace a new chapter of life. 💗
🎥 Watch the Video
Watch Adeline and Alex Lombardi discuss managing your daily capacity, prioritizing what matters, and learning to love the person you are becoming after brain injury.
📚 Learn More About Alex Lombardi
Alex’s Book Title:
What You Build From Here
Alex’s Website:
Alex Lombardi Official
Alex’s Instagram:
@alexlombardiofficial
Alex’s Facebook:
Alex Marie Lombardi
Alex’s Podcast:
Explore Enriched with Alex Lombardi on Apple Podcasts.
Book Review:
What You Build From Here
Get the Book on Amazon:
What You Build From Here
Visit Alex’s website to learn more about her work, speaking opportunities, and The Brain Edit™.
If you enjoyed this interview, consider exploring Alex’s book and following her work for more ideas on intentional living, personal development, building sustainable habits, and creating a life aligned with your goals.
Affiliate disclosure: Love Love Brain may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through the Amazon affiliate link, at no additional cost to you.
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Note: Every brain injury is different. This content shares personal experiences and is for education and support, not medical advice.
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