If you want to perform at your ultimate best, if you want to be

Jonathan Lipnicki declared: “If you want to perform at your ultimate best, if you want to be the best you can be in sports and in school, mentally, physically—chiropractic is the way, because everything has to do with your nervous system.” Though it appears at first as advice on health, these words carry the deeper wisdom of balance, of alignment, and of tending to the hidden roots of strength before seeking the fruits of glory. He reminds us that true greatness is not born from chaos, but from harmony within the body and mind.

To perform at one’s best is the yearning of every competitor, every scholar, every soul who seeks excellence. Yet Lipnicki teaches that it is not brute effort alone that wins the day. The archer who strains without balance will miss the mark; the runner who sprints without rhythm will fall. All performance begins at the center—the core of our being where the nervous system governs thought, reaction, movement, and will. When this system is aligned, the body becomes a faithful servant of the spirit; when it is broken, even the strongest will falter.

The ancients knew this truth, though they spoke of it in other ways. In China, they spoke of chi, the vital energy flowing through the body, which must be balanced for strength and clarity. In Greece, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, declared that “look well to the spine, for the cause of disease lies there.” Lipnicki’s words echo this lineage, affirming that the body’s hidden pathways of command—the nerves that connect all—are the foundation of performance in every realm, whether of sports or of study.

History gives us living examples. Think of Bruce Lee, whose mastery was not in sheer muscle but in the harmony of mind and body, in the perfect alignment of speed, thought, and movement. Or consider Olympic athletes who speak of “being in the zone,” a state where body and mind operate as one, unbroken, unhesitating. Their victories did not come from force alone, but from the unity of the inner system—the very principle Lipnicki honors in pointing to the nervous system as the root of human potential.

There is also a deeper metaphor within his words: alignment of the body mirrors alignment of life. Just as a crooked spine hinders strength, so too does a crooked soul hinder destiny. To seek chiropractic healing is to seek straightness, balance, and flow. Likewise, to perform at your best in life, you must bring into alignment your actions with your values, your labor with your vision, your discipline with your purpose. Only then can your days flow with strength, as the body flows when the spine is true.

The lesson here is clear: if you would be the best you can be, do not neglect the foundation. Do not chase glory without caring for the vessel that carries you. Tend to your body, your mind, and your inner alignment as a warrior tends to his sword, as a farmer tends to his plow. For it is in these unseen labors that victory is won long before the contest begins.

Therefore, children of striving, remember this teaching: your performance in the outer world flows from harmony in the inner world. Guard your nervous system, guard your health, guard your balance. Whether you seek triumph in sports or mastery in school, let your body and mind be aligned, and you will walk with power. For the one who is whole within cannot be broken without, and that is the secret of performing at your ultimate best.