Dr. Josh Axe
👤 PersonPodcast Appearances
It's accurate.
It is.
I actually had a patient who said, hey, this has been helping me sleep.
And so I...
Yeah, and so I used it one time, but I was looking for it at Air One here in Culver City.
I have to think about if they can post it.
I have my part of my non-compete... They probably won't anyway.
...for a year is...
Let me just say this.
I'm going to have a hard time.
If I have any caffeine at this late in the day, I will not sleep.
Reclaim your brain.
I mean, I love a lot of the ingredients we got.
It's really good.
Matcha, bacopa, cordyceps.
Yeah, it is.
A lot of the stuff I like.
I mean, the flavor's great.
Yeah, they did a great job.
Yeah, ashwagandha.
I don't think it's correct.
I mean, my whole belief system is very much personalized nutrition.
And so I think that there are a lot of people who take it long term.
One consideration people don't think of always with ashwagandha is that it's a nightshade.
So there are a group of people, if they're sensitive to nightshades, that do not do well with ashwagandha.
And so there are other adaptogenic herbs that can work very similarly if people are looking for thyroid health or adrenal health or stress relief.
But
But overall, I think that people can use ashwagandha for longer periods.
I mean, let me just say this.
There are different classes of adaptogens, some that can be used more long-term than others.
For instance, I would kind of classify it like this.
Panix ginseng, eleuthero, those are known as very, very strong adaptogens that you may only do for...
a few weeks or even a month or two.
And then you typically don't want to do it unless you're older, then your body can tolerate it longer because you have such a weak constitution.
Then you kind of have the next class would be ashwagandha, maybe cordyceps, those sort of things are kind of in the middle.
And you can do this pretty long term.
Like what happens if you take- Three months, six months.
Well, I think some adaptogens might kind of be overstimulating to your... I mean, ginseng would be one of those.
And I think just like caffeine, your body might come to rely on some of the compounds to a degree.
Now, what I'm sharing is more philosophical.
I mean, based on my study of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.
But overall, I do think that can happen.
Or you just stop seeing the benefits because your body has had so much of a compound.
It's not... And we know this...
People probably experience this the most with a lot of sleep compounds.
Like a lot of times people will notice, hey, I took the sleep supplement one night.
Wow, it really helped.
Second night, third night, but after a week or so, they're like, ah, it's just not affecting me anymore.
We see that with theanine a lot, GABA a lot, some of those sort of things.
And adaptogens, some adaptogens might have a similar, you know, similar thing.
I think reishi is an adaptogen.
Reishi mushroom is one of the best you could take forever, pretty much.
Really?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's amazing.
I mean, it's very good for sleep, very good for lowering cortisol, anti-cancer.
So it's a good one.
I mean, most people today take it in capsule form or a tablet.
I mean, they take it as an actual reishi mushroom.
But historically, it was done as a decoction, which is a type of tea.
Yeah, and I think, you know, all the ancient forms of medicine speak to this in terms of there are seasons when your body probably needs it more than others.
So a lot of these adaptogens are, according to Chinese medicine, if they're in tune with supporting the adrenals and kidneys, those are going to be needed most in the winter, typically, in terms of when you need it the most.
But it just depends.
Yeah, well, I think once your body sort of reaches that level of it's had enough, doing more and more and more isn't going to continue to help you.
And the other thing is too, like sometimes we try and supplement our way out of, there's a lot of people that will try and everyone does this.
We try and supplement our way out of mental, emotional, lifestyle issues.
And you can't fix those with supplements or food.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, I would say the biggest fundamental of health that people miss is sort of your spiritual and mental health and having just good lifestyle and habits.
Most people today schedule things from the second they wake up till the second they go to bed.
And a lot of it has to do with this sort of self-help and high productivity lifestyle.
Which, listen, I...
High achievers.
And there's a balance to that.
Yeah.
But I have so many patients and people I've cared for over the years that are sick, not because they're not getting enough of something, it's because they're just doing too much.
I mean, this is a chronic, you know, this is a chronic thing with a lot of people.
Like hypothyroidism would be a good example of this.
A lot of women struggling with hypothyroidism, they're moms, they've got three kids, and they are doing something from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed.
And then dietarily, they're also eating completely wrong.
Like eating a lot of salads and superfood smoothies are terrible for people with hypothyroidism.
One of the things that we know in these ancient forms of medicine, but even medical research today generally is that people with hypothyroidism, their body temperature is low, okay?
Mm-hmm.
smoothies are cooling, salads are cooling, vitamin C is cooling, like doing a lot of those things, we wanna raise the body temperature.
We wanna really support the adrenals because most people that have a thyroid issue, it's never coming from the thyroid.
The thyroid is always sort of like the innocent bystander, your hormones being off.
Really?
Yeah, it's always, if it's autoimmune, there's typically, there's a microbiome component
And generally, thyroid issues are always started with adrenal issues and cortisol.
Or let's say somebody has normal TSH levels in T4 and their T3 is off.
Well, that's a liver issue or, again, a gut microbiome issue to where it's not converting properly.
And then I'll say this, too.
There's a study that came out that said women who take contraceptive drugs long-term, birth control, have a nearly 300% increase in hypothyroidism.
Wow.
And the reason is, is birth control depletes the body of numerous B vitamins, selenium, zinc.
These are nutrients your body needs for what's called methylation.
Yeah.
And so if you're depleted in those, you can't produce the right amount of thyroid hormones.
And also it's going to harm conversion and a number of other things.
The study I'm referencing is birth control pills.
Okay.
But that's not to say copper IUDs aren't going to cause an issue because it's going to imbalance zinc in the body when you have that much copper, and that's going to cause a whole other problem.
Yeah, yeah.
And by the way, I've struggled with the same thing myself.
You know, like when I was in my first two years of functional medicine practice in Nashville, I was working 60 to 80 hours a week, going really hard at it.
And then I started having digestive issues.
like loose stool, skin rashes, all kinds of problems.
And I thought, well, I'm eating like perfectly, so what's going on here?
And then I met an acupuncturist and started getting really turned on to Chinese medicine.
And I started learning about other ways of evaluating the body, not just doing blood work,
but also feeling the pulse, looking at the tongue, looking at some different symptoms that might correlate with other things and realizing, okay, my issue is not a nutrient deficiency, it's a rest deficiency.
Like I'm just doing too much all day long and it's burning up my body.
You know, adrenal fatigue, I would say, in terms of diagnosis, it's an interesting diagnosis.
I think generally, though, the way that we would look at, we would test to see what's off is really looking at cortisol.
People can do what's called a four-point hormone test where they're looking at saliva levels, and that's going to tell you where your cortisol is at at different times of the day.
But I would say if you're having a major cortisol imbalance, that tends to be kind of what I'm, more along the lines of what I'm referencing.
And one thing people don't realize is cortisol is kind of your body's master hormone.
Cortisol is the hormone that is most impacted by stress or living an unhealthy lifestyle.
When cortisol goes up too high or too low at the wrong time of day, that's gonna cause insulin to go high.
When insulin gets high, then that's gonna impact everything.
estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, thyroid hormones, everything's going to be off.
So oftentimes people are chasing all of these other hormones like testosterone or estrogen when the reality is if you can start to fix cortisol, which tends to be, it's all lifestyle.
I mean, that's one of the things I like about your podcast is it's about habits.
Getting in good habits is so important to healing.
I'll hit on the most common, but then generally, if you're not well, I mean, I truly believe that stress is the number one thing that makes people sick.
It's not food.
That's big.
That's number two.
But stress and the emotions you experience consistently... Mm-hmm.
That is the single biggest thing that drives your stress.
There's one study that said that 80% of doctors' visits have a major stress component.
And I remember one of the things that surprised me, because they don't teach you this in school, but when I first had my few years of running my clinic, I would have people come in with inflammatory bowel disease or IBS.
And they would come in, and if they would eat something that was just really off the diet, I'd put them on a pizza or ice cream, conventional ice cream.
they would have just major, major gut reaction.
But you know what?
I would have people come in with IBD, similar thing, and they would be eating perfectly.
And they would have a reaction like that.
And I'd say, well, you're still on your diet.
What's going on?
I'm going through a divorce.
I lost a loved one.
just a lot of stress at work.
It's just there was some sort of stress.
I mean, stress can impact your body in an even greater way or an equal way to diet.
So I do think that that's something that a lot of people are not fully conscious of today.
I mean, here's another big one.
A lot of us have the emotions we experienced based on our childhood.
It could be childhood trauma.
It could be toxic parents.
It could be being undernourished.
There's a number of things.
And most people have never dealt with childhood trauma.
And
And a lot of people have never sort of learned how to build virtue and positive emotions as well in order to regulate their emotional state.
And it's known that different emotions cause disease in different organ systems.
Fear, we know this one, that affects the adrenals, right?
And then your body starts putting out more cortisol.
So we know fear affects the adrenals and the kidneys and reproductive organs.
But then worry affects the digestive system.
Grief or not letting go of things of the past, that affects the immune system.
Anger, impatience, resentment, frustration, that impacts the detoxification system, so your liver and lymphatics.
And then lastly is your heart.
If you're nervous or anxious, anxiety, that really impacts heart, right?
Blood pressure will start to go up.
So I think for a lot of people, one of the greatest things they can do is focus on spiritual growth,
growing in character, those types of things.
I mean, these things are way bigger for people's physical health than most people realize.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they have the best community.
You have the best relationships.
And so that's what, you know, I learned a lot of this when my mom was dealing with cancer her second time.
Like I was just about to open up my practice.
And when my mom got her cancer diagnosis, I wanted to do everything we could to heal.
So it wasn't just...
Hey, we're going to follow Gershon therapy and juice vegetables and do wild salmon and like have a really strict diet and then also supplements.
We did all that, but it was like, okay, we want to do everything we possibly can, especially on the spiritual side.
We were praying for healing.
My mom, I asked my mom, I said, what is the thing you love to do most in the world when you were a kid?
She's like, well, I used to have a horse.
So we went, and she started doing horseback riding lessons again.
My family loved the water, so her and my dad started doing a lot more boating and that sort of thing.
So we kind of went after it, looking at all these different things.
But another thing I discovered was my mom had a lot of worry and anxiousness.
My mom was really like, if somebody would say something negative to her, it would just crush her.
you know like i mean just the opinions of others and so we really worked with her spiritually on valuing god's perspective on her more than a work a co-worker or maybe somebody who said something years ago so really sort of working on that childhood healing of letting go of the anxiety and the fear and that was that was a huge part of healing as well i think that's what again i know i just said this but
I think, and even more with certain conditions like cancer, I think that addressing the emotional root causes of things, if you don't address those things, you're only, let's say you radically change your diet, that's great, you improve 50%, but there's another half of the whole equation over here of healing you haven't even looked at if you're not dealing with some of these things.
I think what tends to happen is, and I think other people that are in the nutrition space will appreciate this, I got into nutrition early because my mom, the first time she was diagnosed with cancer when I was much younger, she's had it twice.
First time breast cancer, second time lung cancer.
Well, yeah.
So the way this works is most people that die of cancer, I believe this is true, and I should look this up again.
This has been years since I looked at the study.
But most people that die of cancer die of secondary the second time they get cancer.
Really?
Yeah.
So what happens is whether it's breast cancer or prostate cancer or something else, people will go and do chemo and radiation.
Well, chemo and radiation not only damage and kill the cancer cells, you've now just damaged the mitochondria and harmed every cell in your entire body.
So now your cells aren't as apt and good at fighting cancer.
So, yeah.
So, I mean, it's a real...
it's something almost no one ever talks about, but it's a major issue.
So yeah, with my mom, we really went and looked at, okay, you know, like, so going back, so that really turned me on to natural health more than anything.
And then I started learning from people that were more in the fitness industry.
So it's like, you know, and you're real familiar with this.
It's like, so I started doing a lot of weightlifting and exercising and eating five to six meals a day, you know, chicken breast, broccoli, sweet potato, brown rice, you know, the whole thing.
And I'm grateful for that because I learned a lot.
But then I went to chiropractic school.
And I started learning about, I got a nutrition certification, got my doctor of natural medicine as well.
And during that time, I started looking more into what is the root of cancer?
So one, the bodybuilding, the exercise diet, hey, that was good for understanding a certain level of supporting metabolic health.
But it didn't give me all the answers of, why did my mom get cancer?
Or why did this child have autism?
Or why does this patient have Hashimoto's thyroiditis?
And that really led me into more functional medicine.
And they had some answers there.
But I actually started then learning more and more about Chinese medicine.
And to a degree, Ayurveda.
And then also looking at biblical medicine.
This was another really, really huge thing for me.
And really understanding the framework.
Because if you think about it like this, our modern medical system, for the most part, is about 100%.
years old, okay?
I mean, especially when Rockefeller came in and what he sort of initiated, it's about 100 years old.
Someone could argue 150 or 180, but it's not that old.
Chinese medicine has been around for over 3,000 years.
So has Ayurveda.
And to me, it's the most effective form of
medicine when you're talking about the system that is the system that they use.
Japan today has 95,000 centurions.
Think about that.
That's small country Japan.
Almost 100,000 people that are over 100 years old.
And their type of medicine that they use there is really a blend of more of an integrative medicine combined with Chinese medicine they call Kampo.
And that's what they do, and it's very, very effective.
And so, yeah, to me, Chinese medicine, what they do is they look at not only, hey, what's your lab work, and
and what are the nutrients you're deficient in.
They look much more, it's very personalized.
It's okay, you're very unique.
What are the foods that are ideal for you?
What are the herbal teas that are ideal for you?
What are the lifestyle things we need to change?
What are the emotions you're experiencing we need to go and work on?
It's very comprehensive.
And then the other thing I think that's so powerful that I use with patients is biblical medicine.
I write about that in the Biblio Diet.
Yeah.
Yeah, but there I really get into the power of prayer, the power of fasting, the power of using these biblical medicine principles.
So when my mom fought cancer, it was really a blend of something called Gershon therapy, where you're doing a lot of vegetable juicing.
We did a lot of liver and salmon as kind of the protein sources.
And then we did a lot of biblical medicine there too.
We also did something called the Budwig protocol, which is to repair her cell membranes.
That's a combination of this fermented dairy with flax.
But all of this, like my mom's cancer diagnosis, really led me to studying deeper and deeper and deeper.
Because when you have a family member's life on the line and it's your own mom, you really want to do everything you can.
And the thing I see a lot of people doing today, it's like, oh, I've got a health problem.
I'm going to try and take one supplement to fix it.
Or even some fad diet.
And the reality is, is everybody is different.
Like your diet versus my diet probably should be pretty different.
In Chinese medicine, hypothyroidism is called a qi and yang deficiency.
To translate that into Western medicine, that is a mitochondrial deficiency.
Okay.
Combined with lack of being anabolic and being able to regenerate your tissues.
And so what that looks like is certain foods are really going to help that.
So rather than smoothies and salads, you should be doing soups and teas.
I mean,
and vegetable soup.
Things are warming and hearty.
Pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato, lots of cinnamon, loads of ginger, really warming up your system.
Again, warm teas between meals.
I mean, I've had so many women who have come to me on Synthroid, Levothyroxine, hypothyroid medications, and they're totally off them now, even though they thought they would have to be.
Many of them came on thinking they would have to be on the drugs the rest of their life, and they're off them.
Because when you can really help address the exact root of why somebody's sick in the first place, people heal.
Yeah, I think it's all because of trends.
I mean, the reality is this.
Do we see this with diets, right?
You had, you know, the vegan diet was very popular.
Not with me.
And then you had the paleo diet was very popular.
Then you had the keto diet, which was very popular.
And so, yeah, people start to jump on these wagons.
But Chinese medicine has never changed, neither has Ayurveda.
Right.
You should be eating based on your unique composition, what's going on in your body, and eat a diet based on that.
And for a lot of people today, women especially, they need to really warm their internal system.
No?
I've actually always kind of—here's the reality.
I am for whatever is best for the individual, that individual in front of me.
And in the paleo diet, I've really never been a paleo person.
Oh, I thought that's what—maybe I just thought that it made— No, in fact, one of the things we talk about in the paleo diet is we sort of cover what's the difference between a biblical diet versus a paleo.
Paleo is based on evolution.
I'm not an evolutionist.
That's why I thought so.
And so I'm much more of a creationist in terms of my belief system.
And so it's never really lined up for me.
The other thing is there's always been this sort of confusion in the paleo community of what a paleo diet is.
For instance, I remember when I first got introduced to paleo diet, it was like, eat a lot of raw nuts.
And they're like, but then on the other side, they're like, well, don't eat grains because the phytic acid.
And I'm like,
you're telling me that raw nuts don't have loads of phytic acid?
It just was so incoherent.
Yeah, well, and the other thing is, and by the way, can somebody eat a paleodent for some people?
They thrive on it.
Yeah, like I'll give you an example.
Like Mark Sisson.
Is a friend of mine.
Me too.
He moved to Nashville recently, and so I just saw him in the gym last week.
You know, I was telling someone the other day, I said, Mark's in his 70s.
I don't know another person in their 70s who's as healthy as Mark.
Oh, listen, there's an element of genetics.
There always is.
But again, he's the healthiest person in their 70s, I know.
In his 70s, he's playing running, playing Frisbee.
I mean, he's, you know, and I know some other people that are in their 60s, 70s, Gilles LaMarche.
I mean, my dad's 75, water skis every day.
Weight lifts, very fit.
So there are other people out there, but Mark to me is... So my point there is he thrives on doing more of this primal diet that is really inspired by more of the paleo.
It works for him.
Yeah, and he does great with it.
But I think that the other thing is, okay, you're on a paleo diet.
You're telling me that cavemen were running around like milking cows and drinking dairy.
So if somebody's on a true paleo diet and they're doing a lot of raw nuts...
I mean, it's one thing you have a walnut fall from a tree.
You have a couple.
But baking, like using almond flour and dairy.
Exactly.
That's not, you know, the meat and fruit primarily diet.
Okay.
You know, I get that.
So I would say, one, the only people I know that follow the kosher diet is a very small group of people, and it's people that are Jewish.
Yes, I'm Jewish.
And amazing.
And I've talked to you, Jordan Rubin, my best friend, business partner, he's Jewish as well, and he co-authored the book with me.
And so, you know, a kosher—here's what I would say is a kosher diet, it kind of—you know, we're reading with both the Old Testament and the New Testament in mind.
We're writing this book with those things in mind.
And so—but there will be a fair amount of overlap.
But I would also say we go a little bit further in that.
Like, I've got another really close friend of mine who's an Orthodox Jew.
in working on becoming a rabbi right now.
And he eats things that are kosher, but he doesn't care if they're organic, doesn't care if they are ultra-processed.
I mean, none of that matters.
yeah so so and let me say this the one thing that i think they're totally correct in is this from an animal standpoint i think that biblical kosher slaughter methods do matter to the health of the animal yeah you know i i think that matters a lot you know there i i think that there's evidence on the way you slaughter the animal and the amount of stress hormones that are released that are then going to go into the meat tissue i mean i think that's a real problem
But I would say it's different, again, in the light of the New Testament there as well, in terms of, like, as a Christian, for me, and in authoring the BiblioDiet, I don't believe that eating pork and shellfish is a sin in the same way that it was during the Old Testament period.
I do believe, though, that God—
didn't just say, just for the heck of it, don't eat pork and shellfish.
And modern science proves this today.
I mean, when you look at pork, it is the greatest carrier of parasites of all animals.
I mean, so more people get parasitic infections, I think, from eating pork than probably any other food.
People are like, well, what if it's really, really well cooked?
Like, I had a cousin who killed a wild boar
froze the meat, made it into sausage, cooked it really well, and ended up getting like a terrible parasite infection from that meat.
And I know this with a lot of people.
So the reality is, is that pork is the dirtiest land animal.
I mean, listen, they eat, it's documented, like they eat their own crap.
Their scavengers don't eat anything.
Their digestive systems, they have a monochamber similar to humans.
And they store toxins, their bodies, versus cows.
I mean, they take some 24 hours to digest.
They have a mono chamber digestive system.
They are much better at cleansing toxins out of their tissues.
So ruminant animals like cows,
Cows, lamb, goats, much, much healthier for us than pork.
And then, I mean, people can look this up.
What is the dirtiest food in the sea?
It's shrimp.
I mean, go and just do a Google search or chat GTP.
It'll tell you the level of dioxin.
So it's even documented today that pork and shellfish are...
are very, very toxic meat products.
So the Bible is completely right in that.
And so again, I think that there's definitely some overlap, but I think the Biblio diet goes a step beyond kosher in terms of, is it organic?
Is it pasture raised?
Looking at all those fine details, because one, we're called to be good stewards over the animals.
They should have lots of sunlight.
They should be drinking spring water.
They should be grass fed year round.
and they should be slaughtered biblically.
I mean, I believe all those things are important to stewardship and the health of us.
You know, one of the things we wrote about in the book was, you know, there's this principle, you are what you eat.
But really, it's you are what you eat what they ate, and not just ate, their entire lifestyle.
Like I was writing, one of the things that we discovered was, and you already know this probably, but if a cow eats grass, they have more omega-3s in their diet, right?
In their tissue.
So that's why you want to do grass-fed meat.
But they also have more amino acids per calorie.
They also have different amino acid ratios.
They have more carnosine.
They have more creatine.
They have more taurine.
They have more vitamin E. So, I mean, it's a really big deal.
And even the sun matters, how much sun they get.
So there is a lot of evidence that,
that eating animals the right way is, you know, is pretty darn important.
So anyways, the Bibliodata would say there's some overlap with kosher, but it really goes a step beyond of making sure that foods are also in alignment with God's design.
It's an impossible question for me to answer because... If you had to pick one?
You know, I would probably say, to me, I'm going to bet more on grass-fed than organic.
because of that reason of... Because the percentage in which I think that when I'm shopping at a local farmer's market and it doesn't use the term organic, but knowing those farmers probably use less pesticides on their feed or no pesticides at all, it's just a gamble I'm taking.
It's not a good answer.
And also thinking about, okay, what's my bigger problem?
Am I overburdened with toxins?
Is that a bigger issue for me?
Or am I more inflamed and I have more of an issue of certain nutritional deficiencies?
So it's a toxicity deficiency sort of decision.
I'm guessing because it tastes good.
No, I haven't eaten it for 20 years.
I think the last time I had it, I was probably 19.
I'm 44, 25 years.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So there are several.
I would say, well, let me head on the ones that fly in the face of sort of modern culture today.
Bread.
Bread.
Yes.
Red meat, salt, and raw dairy.
So bread in particular, now let me say this.
Would I call it a superfood?
You know, that's not one we really labeled a superfood in the book, but it's one that we said most people can tolerate well if it's done right.
Let me just say this.
Most people, bread has got a bad rap because most diets today, or almost all bread today is just bad bread.
Mm-hmm.
It's from hybridized grain.
It's then been stripped of the bran, so there's no fiber.
You're not absorbing nutrients.
It's been fortified with synthetic vitamins that are probably not even good for you.
And so there's all these issues with it.
If you think about the way that Jesus, or when we read about any of these sort of ancient people that were eating bread, the way that it was likely done via, and I've read this in terms of the historians and what they're saying, the way the bread was done, they would have harvested it.
They would have then soaked it and laid it out to dry in the sun.
It's a process called sprouting.
They would have then taken it and grounded up, stone ground it, and then they would have fermented it and made it into bread.
And this is not...
Wheat bread with caramel color or white bread or anything else, this was ancient grains, typically wheat, barley, and rye.
And the ancient grain, maybe it would have been einkorn.
There's a lot of other ancient wheats, by the way, as well.
And this would have been turned into a sourdough bread.
And when you soak it like that or ferment it, you're killing off all the phytic acid, which is known as a mineral binder.
This is why when you're eating regular bread today, you're absorbing almost no nutrients.
Yeah.
Because even the nutrients that are there, even though they're deficient, they're bound in a mineral binder, phytic acid.
So you're like getting 10% of it.
When you sprout or ferment, unlock all the nutrients, and now you're absorbing all of it.
So some of these grains, like rye and barley in particular, I mean, they have good nutritional value, especially when they're fermented.
So we know when they're talking about bread in the Bible, it was pretty much all sourdough bread for the most part, or a good majority of it, or it was sprouted.
And so that was a pretty good food at the time.
What I'm saying is, by the way, I'm not endorsing bread.
No, I...
Just so you know, I am saying that bread is not a villain, and if you're going to eat bread, eat sourdough from ancient grains.
Well, you don't live in the South.
So if you lived in Nashville, and some people would struggle with this, but there are, like my wife's been making sourdough for about three, four years now, a friend of Carrie Underwood, she started making it and Chelsea was talking to her.
And so she ended up making that.
There are a lot of homesteaders
in the South.
And if, listen, if you're on this podcast or YouTube or social media listening to this and you make it stand, you know, I'd like to hear from you here, but there are so many, I mean, you'd be shocked at how many women now are making sourdough bread at home.
You'd be shocked.
So let me just say, it's actually more prevalent than you probably realize, but you could go to Air One or Whole Foods Market.
I said Air One, nobody's going to Air One hardly, but you can go to Sprouts
You can go to Public, potentially.
There's a brand called Rudy's that has sourdough spelt.
There are a lot of local bakeries.
I mean, all over Tennessee.
You don't have to be in Nashville.
You could be in Memphis or Knoxville or, you know, all kinds of places and buy it at local bakeries.
So you can find it today probably more easily than you think.
Well, it's like anything.
It's incredibly difficult the first time.
And then after that, it's incredibly easy.
I would say the only food that there's a bigger difference of today versus in the past than bread is milk.
I mean, historically, if you think about the way that milk is probably consumed, it was raw, completely organic, and in many, many cases, fermented.
And so, and the genetics of the cows were actually different.
So today with Holstein cows, they have a type of casein, which is similar protein to gluten.
It's in milk that tends to be more inflammatory to people.
And it's called A1 casein.
Sheep and goats, and human milk actually too, it's all A2 casein predominantly, and this sort of protein is easier to digest, doesn't cause the same levels of inflammation.
Sometimes when we were doing genetic modification, or I would call breeding, there was a genetic variant.
You know how a lot of people today have MTHFR?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, imagine something like that happened, but in the proteins that were created, a gene variant in Holstein cows.
And then that was passed on to jerseys and certain other, of a lot of our modern day Western cows today.
And that protein is very inflammatory to people like gluten is.
And this is why if you buy, some people have noticed, oh, when I eat goat's milk or sheep's milk, I don't have allergies versus cow's milk, I do.
It's typically not the fact that it's cow's milk.
It's typically the fact that that protein
type of cow has A1 casein, which is almost all cow's milk today.
So people can buy today A2 dairy, which has the right genetic components in terms of the protein.
So that's important.
That's a big one.
The other one is if milk is pasteurized, you're heating it up, you're killing all the enzymes and all the bacteria.
The bacteria are 99.9999999% of the time good bacteria that you need for digestion.
And the enzymes you have to have, like lactulose, to even break down, or lactase to break down lactose.
So all that being said, that's really important too, to not have it pasteurized.
And then homogenization is a whole nother thing where you are destabilizing and denaturing the fats, causing issues there.
So that's very unhealthy.
So, you know, Jordan Rubin, I mentioned him before.
He cured himself of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
And almost the only thing he ate for 40 days was raw goat's milk kefir.
And people would say, oh, if you have a digestive issue, don't drink milk or don't have dairy.
It was almost the only thing he ate.
And he cured himself from inflammatory bowel disease.
So now he did a few other things too.
Yeah, yeah, I'll share, yeah.
And this is all part of what we cover in the book, the Biblio diet.
So the number one food he consumed was fermented dairy.
He consumed carrot juice.
He consumed some fruit, like blueberries and figs, and he did a little bit of red meat.
It was raw, though.
It was raw beef carpaccio and then salmon.
And that's predominantly what he ate.
For 40 days?
Mm-hmm.
And he spent every day and night praying for healing, and he ended up 40 days reversing his ulcer of cloudus and Crohn's.
1999-ish.
Oh, wow.
Oh, a long time ago.
Oh, wow.
It never came back?
No, no, no.
I mean, he wrote a book called The Maker's Diet, and then he founded Garden of Life with all of this.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
This happened—he was a—actually, a little bit about Jordan.
Jordan was at Florida State University.
He was a male cheerleader.
He was?
Yeah.
And so, male cheerleaders, somebody might feel like that.
You've got to be pretty big and strong to be a male cheerleader.
So, I mean, he was a big, strong guy, and he ended up losing, I want to say it was like, I mean, he was over 200 pounds, lost like 80 pounds.
I mean, you should see, he looked like a skeleton.
I mean, literally like he was, I mean, almost died, was very, very sick.
And so, here's what happened.
This is crazy.
So,
He had a man call him, and this is after he'd gone to Germany and Switzerland.
I mean, he was going everywhere trying to find a way to heal.
Went conventional medicine, got put on antibiotics, all kinds of things.
And he had a man hear about him, called his father.
His father was a chiropractor.
This other guy was a chiropractor and a naturopathic physician.
And he called Jordan's dad and he said, listen, I know a way to help your son heal.
He said, if he follows a diet based on the Bible, he will heal.
And Jordan was living in West Palm Beach at the time.
This man lived in San Diego, California.
And he said, have him come out and live with me.
And I'll show him exactly how to eat, how to do it, and what to do to heal.
Jordan ran in an RV, went out, moved to California, just lived in an RV, followed this protocol.
and completely cured his Crohn's and colitis.
And that's then what inspired him in natural health.
He started working at a health food store, learned about supplements when he was working as a clerk and just answering questions in a health food store.
Then he started with one product because he did these probiotics that helped him heal.
And anyway, so I could keep going.
But overall, he started Garden of Life.
Yeah.
The reason is that Crohn's and colitis are tied to grief.
Something has happened in the past that still bothers you today.
So think about it.
I mean, I don't need to tell you this as somebody who's Jewish.
I mean, think about your past.
Think about the Holocaust.
Think about all of the injustice that's done to your people.
I mean, so the colon and the lower digestive tract, and this is, now I'm talking about Chinese medicine, their view, or even German medicine believes a similar thing, but it's that when you've had something happen in the past, and it's still living with you today in the form of you're seeing it as a
as it being something that's harming you or you're a victim in that way, it absolutely destroys your lower digestive system.
Well, listen, I think there's an epigenetic component, so I think that can be passed down.
But listen, the parent's disposition will directly impact the child's disposition.
So, I mean, if your parent is very negative, one of two things happen.
More often, that child stays negative.
Or they decide to use it for good and they go completely in the other direction.
So here's what happened.
So Jordan Rubin, this was about 15 years ago.
Yeah, 14 or 15 years ago, was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
And he went into me, and this is the crazy part, was this is in the middle of when he was growing Garden of Life.
So nobody knew this this whole time.
And the doctor told him, Jordan, I know who you are.
If you don't do chemotherapy like I'm recommending, you will die in three months.
Like, it's a death sentence.
You are 100% dead.
Told him that.
Jordan got on his hands and knees and quoted Job.
when he left the room.
And he said, naked I came into this world, naked I will leave.
The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
And so this is a verse in the book of Job.
And Jordan said, I knew that God was calling me to
follow a biblio diet, a plan of healing in the same way.
So Jordan then started doing, his diet was similar.
It was basically raw dairy, avocado, raw coconut cream.
It was mostly fat.
It was pretty ketogenic.
A lot of salmon cervece, green vegetable juices.
That was pretty much his whole diet.
And daily praying, he had people placing their hands on him, praying for him for healing, anointing his head with essential oils.
I mean, this whole on protocol for 40 days, and he healed completely.
Now, let me mention why he got testicular cancer, though.
He had a distended testicle, and it was actually not like you couldn't see his testicle.
It was in the wrong place in his body.
And so the doctors, when he was...
an infant said, we may want to do surgery here.
And his dad said, I don't want to do that surgery.
And so he didn't.
But like, if you don't have that surgery, your chance of getting cancer goes up like over, it's like a thousand percent.
So like his chance of getting cancer was incredibly high due to...
Or as he would say, or I would say, God healed him.
And I think there's a distinction there in terms of following God's guidance and influence, right?
In terms of praying daily for healing.
I mean, we believe that something supernatural happens with prayer.
I think prayer...
is effective.
It matters.
With my mom, we followed a whole protocol, but we were praying daily.
She was meditating on Bible verses daily.
So I personally believe that while we have free will, God is intervening in our lives constantly, especially if we ask him to.
Girls in high school and college.
Earlier now.
I mean, it's so early.
Earlier now.
Can I talk about this regularly?
When I first opened my functional medicine practice, the most...
the fastest growing conditions were childhood obesity, childhood diabetes, again, hypothyroidism, testosterone levels being a problem, all those things.
Today, over the last five to seven years, mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, that's definitely the, identity issues, the fastest growing problems.
I think it's all those things.
So let me head on three ideas around that.
One is it's a misdiagnosis in terms of ADHD.
So I was the child who was prescribed Adderall, like Ritalin when I was younger than Adderall in college.
Took it for three days.
I felt like a zombie.
I'm like, something's not right here.
I'm not going to stay on this.
And here's the thing.
Like, are we supposed to take boys and just shove them in a classroom for eight hours and say, just sit there and don't move?
This craziness.
I mean, it's crazy.
I mean, it's documented so many people that you would say like Einstein, like, oh, he has ADHD.
Yeah, it's just, so overall, I mean, it's what we're doing in terms of just prescribing drugs for things they never fix.
That's something I don't think people fully have grasped yet.
A drug cannot heal you.
A drug has never reversed hypothyroidism.
It's never reversed autoimmune disease.
It's never reversed heart disease.
Yes, your numbers change, but the root of what's actually happening has never fully fixed.
So I do think that there is a problem of, one, we're treating it completely wrong.
I do think some of it's not even real to the point, at least the way we think it is.
And then the other thing I would say is, I think that if somebody feels sad, that's normal.
Sometimes you should feel sad.
Sometimes you should be down.
So sometimes we're drugging things that are minor, that are just part of life that we should never.
And then, but to then continue with this, because we've become less religious, right?
we have more identity issues.
We have less purpose in life.
I mean, think about like, I'll just share this for myself.
As a Christian, I believe that I am called to love people, love God, make earth a heavenly place.
Like I believe that I'm called to take the Garden of Eden and make the entire world a Garden of Eden.
Like I have so a sense of like, when I have kids, like I have kids right now, like my five-year-old and my two-year-old daughter,
Like for me, I have so much purpose of knowing I'm called to help them live for eternity.
I want to find their greatest character qualities and make them more like Christ and grow in character.
I want to take their skills.
Like my daughter just came from swim lessons.
Like my wife was sending me videos and I'm like, okay, she's really good at swimming.
Okay, let's help her do everything she can to get better at that.
Like I have such a sense of purpose and identity of knowing I'm a child of God and I'm going to live for eternity.
So like that just fuels me.
Now, take someone else who doesn't believe there's a God.
There's no eternity.
There's all this is.
There's a level of nihilism there.
God, I'm depressed now thinking about it.
So when people especially are outside of the Judeo-Christian worldview, there is a lack of purpose and identity there, or if somebody is non-religious, and we are living—I mean, the United States specifically is far less—
religious and spiritual, and even the Eastern spirituality that people talk about today.
Like, here's what meditation is in Eastern world religion.
Empty yourself, you know, just think of nothing.
Like, that's the whole thing.
No, the Judeo-Christian view is, no, fill yourself with the Spirit of God.
Meditate and chew on what is love, what is kindness, how can I—like, you're actually filling yourself with something.
I mean, the Buddha did that, so that's part of where it's coming from.
Yeah, like on the flight here, I was reading the book of Joshua, you know, and very early on— That's easy reading for the plane.
Well, yeah, I mean, I like to read my Bible.
So I was reading, and I was reading, and basically God is telling Joshua, like, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged.
And one of the things he tells him is, he said, meditate on my word day and night.
Then you will be prosperous and successful.
He's telling you, I want you to meditate.
Mm-hmm.
But what do we want to meditate on?
My word.
On the Psalms, on the Proverbs, on the, you know, on the, well, then it would have been more the Torah, right?
But like Genesis, like meditate on my words day and night.
So it's not meditating on nothing.
It's definitely meditating on something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, number one thing people need to do is find identity and purpose, right?
It's the single biggest thing people are missing today.
And so I would say find your... And the way you build identity is you do it by attaching yourself to something or someone and finding your role, okay?
So, you know, people do this a lot of times.
If they don't have a religion, they'll do it with politics or some social movement or something like that.
But you want to find the most...
Yeah, so you want to find your identity and purpose.
The other thing I would say you want to do is you want to just live by God's design.
When the sun goes down, start getting ready for bed.
When it comes up, start getting outside.
Spend more time outside.
Vitamin D is good.
Move.
If you're not moving, it's going to affect your neurotransmitters.
So overall, have really good daily habits, walking outside, exercising outside.
We're meant to be social creatures.
I mean, we are meant to—
love one another, connect with one another.
Like today, what most people do for their meals, I'm going to shovel down breakfast.
Then lunch, I'm going to be working while I'm eating lunch.
I'm getting home at night.
Maybe I'm eating at 9 p.m.
or there's soccer practice or whatever.
So, you know, sitting down and having deep, intimate conversations with people in front of you, your family, your friends, those sort of things, that's incredibly important.
Cassie, sharing your
stressors with other people that you can trust.
The Bible says, cast your cares on him because he cares for you.
Spending time in prayer, knowing that God hears it and waiting for that still small voice, that consciousness that you can hear speak back to you.
So I think these are the biggest needle movers.
Now, in terms of diet, lower carb, higher fat.
I mean, it's pretty important.
Higher protein, higher fat.
I mean, you know, lots of omega-3s.
That's been shown in studies.
So that's salmon, walnuts, chia seeds.
You know, those sort of foods are going to be really good.
So more of the fatty fish.
Taking an omega-3 supplement.
Herbs tend to be pretty good.
Saffron, probably the best of all, or one of the best.
Agreed.
Totally agree.
Saffron's amazing.
Though I promise it is so expensive.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I mean, I would say if you're going to buy it, buy it in bulk and buy it in powder form because that's going to get you the biggest bang for your buck on saffron.
Yeah.
So the one study, and I want to say it was 88.5 milligrams.
I know that because I was formulating a supplement for it based on the clinical study.
So it's around 88.5 milligrams.
And basically, it was a double-blind study shown to improve mood.
By how much, though?
Yeah.
I don't have the percentage memorized on saffron in terms of how much it improved mood, but I do know they did have a placebo group.
There's also studies on if you're growing in life, it actually gives you a great level of satisfaction and happiness.
versus if you're not.
So if you feel stuck in life, like you're not moving forward, that's another thing.
And that's where it's like, commit yourself to learning something.
Even if it's not going to pay off tomorrow, something you can really learn and grow towards.
Yeah, you know, here's what I'll say.
I've done a sort of a mix of essential oils based on their historical use and then even some of the modern science today.
I think essential oils are great and have a lot of benefits.
Again, just with all supplements, including those, unless you're really deficient in something, I don't think they're a miracle or a cure in a lot of cases, but I do think they're a really great part of our daily lives.
I think that there are studies on lavender oil for sleep
It's really good for that.
I tend to put it more to where it's going to get more in my sinuses, so rub it a little bit more in my neck or even under my nose.
Oh, okay.
So that's where I tend to put it.
So if you're going to use it topically, a 60-milligram dose, which is what is in a lot of the studies, that's about one drop of an essential oil.
Holy basil, that's a good one.
That was known as Tulsi as well.
That's great for stress relief.
It's a natural adaptogen.
There was a study at Vanderbilt University on doing citrus oils like orange oil, and that actually calming patients coming out of surgery and going into surgery, including the nurses.
So there was a good study there.
A limonene oil and citrus oils, they're not distilled.
They are pressed.
And they've been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years for supporting fat digestion and moving lymphatic, for lymphatic stagnation.
It's citrus peel oil.
But anytime you see lemon oil or orange oil or grapefruit oil, those are actually citrus peel oils.
So all of those, because of D-limonene and some of the other compounds, those would all fall into that category.
So I mean, there are a lot.
I mean, I think topically, helichrysum is amazing to prevent scarring.
I think sandalwood and frankincense are good as part of a blend for skin cancers.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
I think generally, the oil itself is most studied for maybe its immune properties.
The powder, which we call boswellia or boswellic acid, is most studied for its anti-inflammatory properties.
We pair that a lot with turmeric.
for those benefits.
So yeah, so in the Bible, it talks a lot about these different essential oils and their uses.
There's actually an ancient blend called the holy anointing oil, and we read about this both in the Old Testament, like when King David is being anointed and Solomon is king, and it was a mixture of olive oil, and I'm going to get most of these always correct, cassia, cinnamon, calamus, and I want to say myrrh?
But they would anoint kings' heads with it.
But also in the book of James, it says, if you're sick, go to the elders of the church, have them lay their hands on you and pray for healing, have them anoint your head with oil, and you will be made well.
So this is probably one of the most clear things in the entire Bible in terms of if you're sick, this is what you should do to heal.
Yeah, I'm a huge fan of coconut oil internally and as a carrier oil.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
Yeah, I think coconut oil is great because it's saturated.
And I think that's more in line with what our skin is.
This is another reason why I actually think beef tallow is another great one.
For skin.
Yeah, I like it a lot because it's probably the most similar to the oils we actually have on our own skin because it comes from an animal.
Well, do I think it's trendy?
Yeah.
Yes, but I think what's old is new.
And let me say this.
I think it depends upon the person.
There are some people out there that are saying you should never have a seed oil and you should –
And beef tallow is the best healthy thing for everyone.
I don't think that.
I think that there are certain types of seed oils if they're cold-pressed.
Flaxseed oil is a seed oil.
Ayurvedic used cold-pressed sesame oil as their number one oil they consumed in India for Ayurvedic medicine.
So I try not to put blanket statements on there like, never have seed oils.
There definitely are some seed oils that are fine and healthy as part of a balanced diet.
And there's some people that might do better, especially with those raw ones I'm talking about, than doing a lot of butter or tallow.
But I also believe there are people that do really well with these high saturated fats like butter and tallow.
And they can benefit from consuming that.
I'll show you like my body type.
I do coconut oil I thrive with.
I do real well with extra virgin olive oil as well.
Those are the two oils I thrive on.
If I do too much butter or beef tallow, I don't feel well.
But my wife's different.
My wife can eat beef tallow all day.
Really?
And they do great with it.
So I just think some of it depends on what we talked about earlier.
Every single person...
should have a diet that's specific to their body type.
And like, if I have a patient with cancer versus inflammatory bowel disease, those are very different diets.
Inflammatory bowel disease is like soup, soup, and more soup, like all cooked meat, really well-cooked vegetables, maybe even some rice congee and, you know, things like that.
And then some of the cancer, I'll probably do a lot of juice vegetables, a lot of raw, those sort of things.
Because I think with cancer, so in Chinese medicine, that's known as, basically it's stagnation.
One of the biggest causes of cancer is things are stuck and they're not moving.
So you wanna really move the body a lot and you wanna address nutritional deficiencies and toxicity.
Max Gershon, who developed Gershon therapy, believed that one of the best ways to do that is to flood the body with nutrients.
What's the best way of doing that with whole food nutrition?
Juicing vegetables.
You know what else he juiced?
This is going to sound gross and crazy to people.
Raw beef liver.
He took raw calf liver from young calves and juiced it.
And so the Gershon diet, now originally that's what they did.
Then some other people took over and they're like,
oh, that can't be good because it's an animal product.
And then now I think they do maybe recommend desiccated liver as tablets.
But overall, that's what he did because beef liver is probably the most nutrient-dense food there is.
So Gershon therapy, and if you're combining that with the Chinese medicine ideals as well, you're doing lots of organ meats, you're doing lots of vegetables and berries and those things where you're really flooding the body with nutrients.
And then you're really supporting the body's detoxification protocol.
That's why he also recommended some coffee enemas, things to really help release bile and flush toxins out of your system.
And so anyways, with cancer, you also want to go very high enzymes.
And there's some studies on doing a lot of proteolytic enzymes, and enzymes are very good for breaking down what we call senescent cells in the body and cancer cells.
But enzymes are also very reactive.
They're moving.
They help things happen within the body.
So...
So overall, when somebody has cancer, you really want to move things.
Turmeric and ginger together are also very good to do for that.
It's the number one food we're missing in our society today.
Major.
Yeah, organ meats.
So you know there's this whole craze over peptides today.
Do I know?
So, yeah, I've done a lot of studying on peptides and a lot of research.
And I am a big fan of peptides for the most part.
I will say this.
The number one place you find peptides in nature is in organs.
I mean, so like Chinese medicine, if you were to go in, or even a lot of these biblical physicians like Maimonides probably and others, they would have prescribed and recommended, if you're sick, herbs, mushrooms, and glanulars or organs that you would take as a supplement essentially.
And so like BPC-157, that body protective compound, that's found in your gastric juices and your stomach and your duodenum.
you know, thymus and alpha-1 or thymulin, these peptides today that people take as well, like that TB500, you know, that's found in the thymus gland.
You know, that's a big part of your immune system.
So actually people for thousands of years have taken thymus gland to fight cancer or immune issues.
And so peptides are natural compounds found in our organs and glands.
And if we were eating more liver and
kidney and heart and things like our ancestors did, then we wouldn't be as deficient as we are today.
So I think people can take peptides, get a lot of benefits from them if they're taking them correctly, whether it's subcutaneous or some are absorbed well orally.
But I think there's lots of benefits of peptides.
My point there is organ meats are where you're getting those.
The principle is called like heals like.
If you have a heart issue, eat heart.
If you have a liver issue, eat liver.
If you have a thyroid issue, what should you take for your thyroid?
Thyroid.
Gland.
You should take that as a supplement.
In fact, you know the number one natural thyroid medication, Armour, or NP Thyroid, or Naturethroid, those are from beef and pig.
Thyroid glands.
They just take the thyroid gland and they... Really?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's what Armour is.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, but let me say this.
Listen, my palate is not adapted to the bitterness.
I mean, listen, I like chicken liver fine.
I will sauté it with garlic and onions.
I like ketchup with it.
I sauté it in coconut oil or olive oil, and I like liver fine.
I like liver pate too.
So that's all fine with me.
And heart actually does not taste bad either.
But the way that I get it, like I buy a brand, it's called Forces of Nature, and it's beef, heart, and liver in there.
And then I take organ, a multi-organ supplement regularly too.
You do?
It's the most nutrient-dense food there is.
Yeah, yeah, people can take capsules and tablets today.
Easy, super easy.
Well, I think for most people, if you are deficient in a nutrient that it's high in or a peptide it's high in, then you're going to notice a difference.
Well, yeah.
Well, I mean, iron and the other things you need to build blood like B12 and folate, I mean, those are found in very high levels in heart and liver.
Coenzyme Q10 as well, carnosine, taurine.
I mean, all those are in the heart as well.
So, yeah, I mean, I think women could really benefit from liver and heart specifically, also ovary and uterus.
I mean, those are good for, I think, women going through menopause, all women, really, of all ages.
And then if you have a thyroid issue, thyroid and adrenal would be great as well.
But I would say the nutrients that they're the highest in are B vitamins, iron.
I want to say thyroid has some selenium.
So, but they're pretty high in, I mean...
They're more nutrient-dense than vegetables.
I mean, people take today superfood greens powder.
What do you notice there?
Well, the organ glandular supplements are going to be probably just as potent or more.
I mean, do we have another hour?
I mean, I'll try and do this in one minute.
But I mean, listen, I mean, you can't, the margins are not near as good.
I mean, you got to understand with these drugs, the drugs they make for pennies.
They make, it's virtually no cost.
And then you get to mark up something a hundred times.
I mean, so.
Forever.
Forever.
So, I mean, that's why, I mean, listen, here's something, and I will debate anybody on this.
If you send me almost anybody, send me anybody with, you know, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and I'll fix it.
Give me almost anybody with type 2 diabetes.
And if they follow the plan I lay out, they will reverse their type 2 diabetes and very quickly.
Yeah, type 2 diabetes, high protein, high fiber, and moderate fat and lower carb.
And so, you know, it's mostly meat and vegetables.
There you go.
I mean, that's, you know,
So you eat that, and then I'm going to have you do berberine, 500 milligrams per meal.
I'm going to have you do chromium picolinate, 200 micrograms per meal.
I'm going to have you do vitamin D and magnesium.
I'll have you do an herbal tea blend of cinnamon, fenugreek, and gymnosia every single day.
And I'm going to have you exercise, ideally a combination of weight training, just walking outside to reduce stress.
And someone will reverse their type 2 diabetes incredibly fast.
I've helped so many people reverse their type 2 diabetes.
And that one's easy.
I mean, there are others that are maybe more— That's an easy one.
But the same thing is true for hypothyroidism, for low testosterone, for PCOS.
PCOS is an insulin issue, too, by the way.
But with a lot of these—and I'm not trying to be overconfident here.
I just have experienced this with patients.
And so today, the problem is that there's several problems.
One is—
If you give somebody the option of a pill, and then their doctor tells them, you're healthy now, you're normal, and they think they are.
Well, of course, who's not going to choose taking a pill over exercising if they don't like exercising?
Now, you and I like it.
Like, I wouldn't feel normal.
Like, not exercising, I would just feel so bad.
But some people can live with that.
But it's...
Yeah.
Well, in GLP-1, people are losing—I mean, one study found 40% of the mass they're losing is muscle mass.
That's exactly right.
Yeah.
I'll be honest.
I haven't—
Do I think that the entire world would be, especially the Western world, be much healthier if we eliminated all GLP-1?
Yeah, people would be healthier, I think.
Now, let me say this.
You know, there are probably some statistics to where certain diseases decrease with taking GLP-1.
But do I think it increases overall longevity and decreases mortality?
No.
Here's another one.
Do I think we would be better off getting rid of 90 plus percent of all medications and all of 90 percent of all mainstream medicine?
Yes, we would be healthier for it.
I mean, if we keep emergency medicine, true emergency medicine, I want to keep that.
We're the best in the world at that.
But healthcare, I mean, if you're comparing us to Japan or a number of these other countries, we're not even close.
No, we're not even close.
We rank like one of them.
It's either life expectancy or quality of life.
It's number 70.
I mean, here's what would fix most problems.
And one, let me say this too, though.
I believe that going to see a functional medicine doctor will save you more money, not to mention save your life.
But we'll save you more money in the long term.
Well, one, you'll pay less on insurance premiums.
Yeah, but what you're paying, because listen, insurance gets expensive when you have a pre-existing condition.
So my point is you're paying more on your insurance.
I mean, that really adds up over time.
But the reality is, I mean— Do you still see patients?
You actually— Well, so the way that I work today is I have a team of practitioners.
I run a telemedicine, a virtual practice called the Health Institute.
And so we have people come in regularly, but I have a group of practitioners that work on my team.
So I don't see people one-on-one, but I do group calls once a week and I'll troubleshoot with like the patient.
Everyone can attend, ask me questions live, go through that with everybody.
The hard cases I go through, I work with the practitioners on the cases.
So I'm not doing one-on-one calls with people right now, but I do run a virtual practice and work with cases every day.
Yeah, and listen, the amount they'll save long-term, my point is that you will pay a lot for insurance if you maintain the same condition and the poor health that you have.
Versus if you can reverse the condition and pay less for insurance, much less, that will save you some money.
But overall, I mean, the reality is...
Functional medicine or what I do, I'd probably call it more personalized cellular medicine, but more of that personalization there, which I think is a little different.
It's a form of functional medicine, but I think it goes kind of a step further.
But the thing that people have to think about is like, what's your life worth and your quality of health, right?
I mean, there's an investment there.
There's no doubt about it.
But I will say, if we changed our entire healthcare system to where doctors, rather than prescribing drugs, the only thing they did was prescribe...
Diets, supplements, and lifestyle changes like exercise, that's not expensive.
That doesn't have to be expensive.
Yeah, at least 70%.
Yeah.
Because the side effects are less.
I mean, I don't know.
I mean, that's the only reason.
Listen, I guess the way that it probably works is...
people that have these major cravings, it takes the edge off towards not totally fixing the problem.
It's kind of like this.
It's like some people, it's like, hey, you've got low energy.
Let me give you 500 milligrams of caffeine.
Let me give you so much every hour that you're just... Versus...
But they're saying now— Hey, here's some ribose or here's some green tea, just one cup a day.
I mean, so the microdosing is around one-eighth of the dose to one-tenth of the dose probably.
So it's going to be—it's quite a bit less.
And if somebody—it's not going to do near the harm, not even close to where the full doses of GLP-1 was.
And finally, I don't even know if I have a problem with microdosing myself.
I don't think it's the right fix.
I think I would rather have somebody just eat more protein and fiber because they're going to get—
This is good or better results.
I don't think there's enough research on it.
Or understanding...
how it works physiologically for us to make a lot of big conclusions right now.
But do I think a microdosing is harmful to people?
I'll say this.
I don't think it's probably that bad.
Listen, I'm against this ultradosing of GLP-1.
I am as against it as anybody else, more than anybody I can think of.
But the microdosing I don't think is probably that bad.
But would I ever recommend it?
I don't recommend it.
I think people should just change your lifestyle and
I'd rather you take that.
So berberine is a compound from the bayberry leaf, similar to like curcuminoids or compound found in turmeric.
And they are probably found to be the most powerful blood sugar regulator.
So they help with insulin resistance.
So again, for diabetics or prediabetes, which by the way, like one out of every three Americans now have prediabetes.
One out of every three.
It's incredibly high.
So berberine is probably the most effective compound.
herbal compound for blood sugar.
And then after that, it's probably, you know, just as a whole, you know, cinnamon, fenugreek, and gymnosia are probably the next.
And mulberry leaf is good too.
People love... Yeah.
We love pomegranates.
Well, pomegranates have a lot of benefits.
One, they're incredibly high in fiber, and they're incredibly high in antioxidants.
So they're lower glycemic, similar to berries.
Yep.
But pomegranates have a unique compound called allergic acid.
It's also found in raspberries and to a degree in walnuts and pecans, but higher levels in pomegranates and raspberries.
And this is a compound that about half of people can convert very well to something called urolithin A. And urolithin A is something people are buying today.
But here's the cool thing about elegic acid from pomegranates.
It not only turns into urolithin A, it turns into urolithin B, C, D, E. There are many, many more of these phytonutrients of urolithins that have many, many benefits.
And so these are things that people maybe haven't even heard of before.
But that's why pomegranate, it's a whole food source.
You're going to get a much, much wider range of benefits than taking just a plain old urolithin A supplement.
And this is really important for what we call mitochondrial biogenesis.
It's great for recycling your mitochondria, for taking those damaged parts of damaged cells, recreating mitochondria.
Our mitochondria are the engines or power plants of our cells that give us energy, that gives our cells and all of our organs energy.
So a lot of conditions today are tied to mitochondrial dysfunction.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is probably the most prevalent.
But also hypothyroidism, like I mentioned earlier, anything with low energy.
Cancer is connected to mitochondrial dysfunction.
There's a lot of conditions there.
Chronic infections, if people have long COVID and they're not healing still, mitochondrial dysfunction.
So yeah, pomegranates to me are probably my favorite fruit for healing.
Heart benefits too.
We remember all the old pomegranate juice, but there were some studies in on just even the juice.
But yeah, pomegranates would be my number one fruit for healing.
And then after that, they're probably...
Just berries as a whole are good to get.
There are berries that people don't even think about as berries like currants and aneronia.
And of course, goji is amazing.
But yeah, that'd be up there.
I think this is one that is very, very based on somebody's bio-individuality.
I think if some people, it can really be a strengthener of immunity.
I think for some people, it just won't do anything, or maybe their body's even too sensitive to be able to deal with that sort of stimulation that can occur with colostrum.
So I think, my guess is this, and by the way, I don't think anyone knows this, but my guess is that people that do well
with fermented dairy will likely do well with colostrum.
But I think this is where, some people have lost the art of just listening to your body.
Your body will tell you so much.
If you eat something and you keep getting gas and bloating, don't keep eating that.
Now, sometimes there's like, okay, let me give you one example though.
When you're increasing your protein intake,
You will get some gas and bloating because your body has to start to get used to creating enough of certain enzymes to break down the protein.
And then even then later, if you have too much, well, then you'll still get gas and bloating.
But so sometimes it's an adaptation issue.
But I would say if this is months long and you're still having problems when you eat a food, listen to your body.
It's just not agreeing with you.
You know, like I had a, I have a patient I'm working with right now and he has IBSD and, um, and I gave him a diet that was like all cooked food, you know?
And I, and so rather than a smoothie, what I have a lot of people do is I have them do a pumpkin smoothie for breakfast, have them do a 30 can of pumpkin and I have them do vanilla, like a bone broth, like a protein powder that's made of bone broth, maybe another vanilla plant protein.
And then I have them do pumpkin pie spice with a lot of ginger cinnamon and do that as a smoothie.
And, um,
And he ate that, and along with the diet I put him on, and he went from having 11 bowel movements a day down to just two.
This is after just one week.
And then I saw him again the next week, and he's like, oh, man, I had like, you know, I'm up to like seven or nine bowel movements again today because I just haven't, you know, just major problems there.
And I said, well, what do you do differently?
He's like, man, I'm still eating healthy.
You know, he's like, this morning I went and I had yogurt and I had melon, and then I did, and I'm like...
Rob, like, okay, I know melon sounds incredibly healthy, and I know yogurt sounds incredibly healthy, but you've got IBSD, and your constitution right now is so cold, and digestive system's so weak, you can't, like, it's going to wreck your system.
You can't do it.
And then we get him back on it.
He has a lot of ginger turmeric tea, too.
I love that.
And then he just fixes it again.
But they're just things like that.
Like, people, there are so many people that are suffering with health issues, and they think, oh, salads are healthier, smoothies are healthier, whatever.
And if they just...
not even eat things that they would think of as healthier.
Sometimes it might be worse for them or they would think it would be, but it will actually completely fix and heal whatever their issue is.
Yeah.
The number one test is looking at your tongue.
Exactly.
Yeah, yours is actually one of the, it's healthier than most.
No, it's healthier than most, because I've done this before.
There are a couple things.
You get a little bit of heat, but it's not too bad.
Well, it is very hot in here.
But I'll give you an example.
One thing I see in people is, so some people have ridges, like bite marks on the side of their tongue.
Yeah.
That's called a splinting deficiency or it's a digestive deficiency.
That means your digestive system's weak.
So we got to really warm it up and help do some things to strengthen digestive system.
The other thing would be if somebody's tongue is pale, that is a type of anemia.
We call it a blood deficiency.
So we need to do a lot more red meat and beets and steamed greens and blood building foods.
Coating on your tongue, now we call that candida.
We'll call it dampness as well.
So your tongue will tell me the exact herbs you need to, it'll tell me a lot.
So the only thing that you have is a little coating that's almost an orange-yellow color on the back of your tongue, but it's very subtle.
That just shows me that really the only thing I'm seeing is you've got a little bit of heat in your large intestine.
It means that there's a little bit of inflammation in your large intestine.
It's mild, but you want to do things like spearmint tea, something like that.
That'll start cooling it.
And just do some more – in fact, you actually are the opposite of some people.
You would probably do well with like a coconut yogurt or a goat's milk yogurt or something like that.
You probably want to stay away from things that are – like some things that are very spicy might bother your system possibly or make that slightly worse.
But really, again, you have one of the healthier – almost every time when I – if I ever bring that up or somehow it comes up, most people have major –
Deficiencies and problems.
You have one of the healthier, seems like your system moves pretty well based on what I see there.
But the other thing is there are blood tests I like.
We do a test at the Health Institute where it's called a true health test.
And we look at micronutrients and organic acids.
We also do vitamin D. So we do a number of tests.
What we really focus on is vitamins and minerals and amino acids and looking at essential fatty acids, like where are those major deficiencies?
That's my favorite test.
I also like doing a hormone panel.
And then another favorite is a GI map.
Those are probably the three tests I run the most.
And I can tell that along with looking at somebody's tongue.
And of course, their symptoms.
I mean, I usually have everything I need to know.
I mean, there's other tests sometimes I'll do on occasion.
Food sensitivities.
I mean, there's others.
But those three I just mentioned are probably the... There's a test also I really like.
It's called an organ age test.
And so I'm able to look at the age of basically all the different organs in the body based on different biomarkers, and that's pretty powerful as well for some people.
Yeah, yeah, I'll send them to you.
Well, one of the things, again, when you have- You can pay me later.
Yeah, well, when, you know, like, again, for me, it was so much like when my mom was sick, it was like, I got to figure out everything I can.
And the other thing is, I think I realized, too, is that, one, I just, I enjoy this.
Like, I like learning.
I'm like, if I do like, you know, some sort of, you know, personality profile, learner's always number one.
But I enjoy learning.
But, you know, I think I found that there are probably quite a few people, and this isn't to knock anybody, but, you know, I think a lot of people, maybe even early on in the career, they learn a lot of studies or stats and they can spit those off.
But I never...
I don't know.
I always wanted to understand philosophically and scientifically, how does the body work?
Why is that happening?
And I always started asking, I don't know if you've heard of this, the five whys.
Why?
Well, why is that?
Well, why is that?
And understanding.
And so, and I think that helps me as a practitioner be able to understand that a little bit more, kind of that general sort of philosophy.
And by the way, the thing I like about the blood test too is, is that we do, these are, it's a blood spot.
So like you can do it at home on a little piece of cardboard.
We have, you know, people that become patients do that just right on the, and then you just ship it in.
It's so easy.
I mean, it's, you know, it's going to be so amazing in the future.
Eventually we'll have like, this is an Oura ring I wear, like we'll be able to have, or very similar to like those continuous glucose monitors.
We'll probably be able to have those on in 20 years and pull up our phone and it'll tell you what you're deficient, everything you're deficient in that day and the exact meal you need.
And you can probably have it delivered to your home.
I see that with some people for sure.
Here's what I found.
it was helpful for me to do for two weeks.
Yes.
And then I didn't need it again because I just knew, like, I was surprised.
I found for fruit with myself, I can do one serving and I'm good.
But if I ate two, like, big servings of fruit, like, whoa, my blood sugar really jumped.
I also found if I eat fruit around exercise, I'm fine too.
But it was like, so one serving or around exercise, good to go.
Two servings without exercise, my body does not like that.
I also found, like, potatoes.
I'm like, oh, I ate all these potatoes.
My blood sugar is going to, it didn't, you know.
Again, again, I think they're meant to be done one serving.
Yeah.
And not, and not more.
One apple, three-fourths a cup probably of blueberries.
I mean, something like that.
No, that's true.
But let me say, so on your tongue, back of the tongue, orange yellow, that's damp heat in your large intestine.
That's the cause of eczema.
So when somebody has eczema, again, this is a Chinese medicine powder, but it's damp heat.
So there's yeast, there's bacterial or yeast overgrowth that's happening in the colon, and then there's also heat and inflammation there.
So in that case, there are certain herbs that are really good for expelling damp heat.
One really good one for you is probably, it's one most people probably haven't heard of yet.
It's called sarsaparilla.
Sometimes it goes by Smilax.
If it's affecting the liver too, chrysanthemum, like people with rosacea, chrysanthemum is by far the best herb they could ever take probably for most of them.
but it's really more bitters.
Getting some more bitter greens in your diet, things like that, that helps flush some of that damp heat.
And that typically is what you do.
But like exercise wise, if you're to the point where you're getting red in the face.
Or where you're creating a lot of heat,
it could make it worse.
Or of course, if cortisol gets too high from over-exercise, that definitely will bother it too.
Well, I mean, life stress is really, in a way... Everything.
It's going to exacerbate everything in Chinese medicine.
That would typically be what we would call depleting your qi.
Or in Western medicine, depleting your mitochondria, right?
Too much stress.
It's like your body's battery's getting too low.
So really, if your battery's low, that's affecting every single organ, every single cell in your entire body.
Yeah, of course.
I do.
I see them in a group format, and I have practitioners.
My practitioners are amazing.
They are really, really good practitioners.
See, we had about 18 or 20.
I mean, so... Wow, that's a lot.
Yeah.
Yeah, about 18 or 20, yeah.
Well, you know what?
Here's...
I think that salt, this all comes down to the individual as well.
I think that you should sprinkle a little salt on your food, but also not go overboard.
Like, you shouldn't be doing buckets of salt on your food.
And some of this also depends on how much potassium you're getting, which you're going to get predominantly from fruit and to a degree from things like vegetables and potatoes.
So...
Again, I know people always want me to give a straight answer, and I can sometimes, but it's so hard because, again, my mindset's always, I need to create something customized for you.
Where do you live?
You're going to sweat more in Florida than California.
Are you exercising?
Let me give you an example.
The most popular electrolyte beverage today, I don't like at all for most people.
It's synthetic.
It's a 5 to 1 ratio.
1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 of potassium.
For most people I work with, it should probably be closer to a 1 to 1 ratio.
You can make your own.
Of an electrolyte drink.
Exactly.
Coconut water, throw sea salt in there.
There you go.
There's your electrolyte drink.
Or watermelon juice with...
With electrolytes, so yeah.
Yeah, well, yeah, I didn't.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They do.
They do.
I mean, it's great.
I mean, like I have some people like they're giving themselves health problems.
Actually, it'll increase the water retention, increase some of the dampness.
It'll make them work.
Now, you know, if you're sweating buckets or let's say you're a CrossFitter and you're sweating a lot.
Yeah.
That brand, even though I don't like it because it's synthetic and all the other things in it, it's probably the right ratio for those people.
If people are marathon runners, those sort of things, it's meant for them.
But the average day person that just sweats a little bit when they're exercising, the ratio is way off.
Number one, have a spiritual growth practice.
Start focusing more on building community.
Like this could be, you know, lunch with your best friends.
Just start a weekly brunch, something to where you are building deeper relationships where you're looking at serving and helping other people, but just better relationships.
At the very least, change your breakfast.
Focus on more protein, more fiber, more nutrients.
It might look like what I talked about, the pumpkin smoothie, or blueberries are fine at room temperature with some coconut milk, some collagen or bone broth protein, some plant protein, but something like that for breakfast.
I want to mention exercise here, but here's what I'll say for exercise.
Do the type of exercise you're going to be consistent with.
I mean, I love weight training.
By the way, the longevity studies show that probably the best exercise is racket sports like tennis and pickleball and badminton.
So I love that.
I love swimming.
I love cycling.
But I would say generally, you know, just spend more time moving.
And the last one, number five, just spend way more time outside.
Hiking, getting sun, all that.
And especially if you've got hills.
I mean, it's even better.
Totally agree.
Well, thanks so much for having me.
This was fun.
It was a great question.
I mean, some of the questions are ones I don't answer often.
And those are my favorite interviews.
I love being able to answer the questions that are kind of less common.
Saunas are great for our health.
A lot of people call me Josh.
Some people call me Dr. Axe.
Some people call me other things.
I'm trying to think.
My five-year-old daughter calls me, you know, Dad or makes up other names.
Yeah.
That's great.
I'm great with anything.
Yeah, soon.
Very soon.
The best person to listen to and the best person to create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
The best person to listen to and the best person to create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
The best person to listen to and the best person to create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
Well, thanks for having me on. And when you were on my show, it was an incredibly popular episode. So thanks again for coming on. I love talking. We talked obviously a lot about mindset on there, which was such a powerful conversation.
Well, thanks for having me on. And when you were on my show, it was an incredibly popular episode. So thanks again for coming on. I love talking. We talked obviously a lot about mindset on there, which was such a powerful conversation.
Well, thanks for having me on. And when you were on my show, it was an incredibly popular episode. So thanks again for coming on. I love talking. We talked obviously a lot about mindset on there, which was such a powerful conversation.
Well, it had a profound impact. They say you become like the people you surround yourself with the most. And of course, our parents, our grandparents, our pastors, teachers, coaches. I mean, these people in the early stages of our life have a massive impact. In fact, I'm working as a functional medicine practitioner and somebody also that focuses a lot on spiritual health and wellness.
Well, it had a profound impact. They say you become like the people you surround yourself with the most. And of course, our parents, our grandparents, our pastors, teachers, coaches. I mean, these people in the early stages of our life have a massive impact. In fact, I'm working as a functional medicine practitioner and somebody also that focuses a lot on spiritual health and wellness.
Well, it had a profound impact. They say you become like the people you surround yourself with the most. And of course, our parents, our grandparents, our pastors, teachers, coaches. I mean, these people in the early stages of our life have a massive impact. In fact, I'm working as a functional medicine practitioner and somebody also that focuses a lot on spiritual health and wellness.
One of the things that I've discovered is that it's even my patients that dealt with medical health issues are a lot of those issues actually affect their health later on in life. It could be their mental health. It could be their physical health due to worry, anxiety, fear. But a lot of that happens early on in life.
One of the things that I've discovered is that it's even my patients that dealt with medical health issues are a lot of those issues actually affect their health later on in life. It could be their mental health. It could be their physical health due to worry, anxiety, fear. But a lot of that happens early on in life.
One of the things that I've discovered is that it's even my patients that dealt with medical health issues are a lot of those issues actually affect their health later on in life. It could be their mental health. It could be their physical health due to worry, anxiety, fear. But a lot of that happens early on in life.
And I can remember my grandfather told me very early on that life is about this, right? So I don't know for a lot of people that, somebody tells them, this is what life is about. So my grandfather told me very early on, listen, life is about becoming a certain type of person. Life is about adding value to others. Life is not just about plays that I want you to play.
And I can remember my grandfather told me very early on that life is about this, right? So I don't know for a lot of people that, somebody tells them, this is what life is about. So my grandfather told me very early on, listen, life is about becoming a certain type of person. Life is about adding value to others. Life is not just about plays that I want you to play.
And I can remember my grandfather told me very early on that life is about this, right? So I don't know for a lot of people that, somebody tells them, this is what life is about. So my grandfather told me very early on, listen, life is about becoming a certain type of person. Life is about adding value to others. Life is not just about plays that I want you to play.
You want to have fun, but life is about relationship. Life is about advancing the kingdom of God, building a relationship with God and serving other people, making their lives better. And so having him instill that in me, that message early on, was so powerful and transformative.
You want to have fun, but life is about relationship. Life is about advancing the kingdom of God, building a relationship with God and serving other people, making their lives better. And so having him instill that in me, that message early on, was so powerful and transformative.
You want to have fun, but life is about relationship. Life is about advancing the kingdom of God, building a relationship with God and serving other people, making their lives better. And so having him instill that in me, that message early on, was so powerful and transformative.
And even though I don't know that I fully understood at the time, as he continued to repeat it over time, it became part of who I was. And so, yeah, and I was really blessed to have both parents and including my dad and my grandfather that really sewed into me. And one of the things that I found for a lot of people is they haven't had those people.
And even though I don't know that I fully understood at the time, as he continued to repeat it over time, it became part of who I was. And so, yeah, and I was really blessed to have both parents and including my dad and my grandfather that really sewed into me. And one of the things that I found for a lot of people is they haven't had those people.
And even though I don't know that I fully understood at the time, as he continued to repeat it over time, it became part of who I was. And so, yeah, and I was really blessed to have both parents and including my dad and my grandfather that really sewed into me. And one of the things that I found for a lot of people is they haven't had those people.
Somebody might have grown up without a dad or they had a dad that wasn't a virtuous, disciplined person that was sewing into them, or maybe they never had a grandfather. who is that sort of person in their life. And so it's really important that people go out and find those mentors then that play that grandfather and that fatherlike role that can help them develop and grow.
Somebody might have grown up without a dad or they had a dad that wasn't a virtuous, disciplined person that was sewing into them, or maybe they never had a grandfather. who is that sort of person in their life. And so it's really important that people go out and find those mentors then that play that grandfather and that fatherlike role that can help them develop and grow.
Somebody might have grown up without a dad or they had a dad that wasn't a virtuous, disciplined person that was sewing into them, or maybe they never had a grandfather. who is that sort of person in their life. And so it's really important that people go out and find those mentors then that play that grandfather and that fatherlike role that can help them develop and grow.
Because the way that we most grow in our lives is through modeling. It's discipleship, it's mentorship. And I hear from people all the time when I'm teaching lectures and workshops, people come up to me and say, Dr. Axe, I want to find a mentor.
Because the way that we most grow in our lives is through modeling. It's discipleship, it's mentorship. And I hear from people all the time when I'm teaching lectures and workshops, people come up to me and say, Dr. Axe, I want to find a mentor.
Because the way that we most grow in our lives is through modeling. It's discipleship, it's mentorship. And I hear from people all the time when I'm teaching lectures and workshops, people come up to me and say, Dr. Axe, I want to find a mentor.
I don't have one because it's something I recommend often because I'll tell people that one of the greatest things that have transformed my life and helped me personally grow is having mentors and people that sewed into me. And I'm always looking to do that to others.
I don't have one because it's something I recommend often because I'll tell people that one of the greatest things that have transformed my life and helped me personally grow is having mentors and people that sewed into me. And I'm always looking to do that to others.
I don't have one because it's something I recommend often because I'll tell people that one of the greatest things that have transformed my life and helped me personally grow is having mentors and people that sewed into me. And I'm always looking to do that to others.
And of course we can do it at a distance by John, listening to your podcast and my podcast or reading John Maxwell or other spiritual or leadership and personal growth leaders, but But it's also really powerful to have those people in our lives in person.
And of course we can do it at a distance by John, listening to your podcast and my podcast or reading John Maxwell or other spiritual or leadership and personal growth leaders, but But it's also really powerful to have those people in our lives in person.
And of course we can do it at a distance by John, listening to your podcast and my podcast or reading John Maxwell or other spiritual or leadership and personal growth leaders, but But it's also really powerful to have those people in our lives in person.
And I want to mention this real quick because I think it's so interesting. So because I had my dad who was an old military guy and he taught me a lot of discipline, lifting weights, constantly challenged me. And it was more of that sort of masculine like growth.
And I want to mention this real quick because I think it's so interesting. So because I had my dad who was an old military guy and he taught me a lot of discipline, lifting weights, constantly challenged me. And it was more of that sort of masculine like growth.
And I want to mention this real quick because I think it's so interesting. So because I had my dad who was an old military guy and he taught me a lot of discipline, lifting weights, constantly challenged me. And it was more of that sort of masculine like growth.
And then my grandfather did it in such a, as you mentioned, it was like a softer, more gentle, patient way with a certain level of wisdom. And I think it was just part of it was maturity. Some of it was personality, but it was beneficial getting sort of those virtues, different virtues from different people.
And then my grandfather did it in such a, as you mentioned, it was like a softer, more gentle, patient way with a certain level of wisdom. And I think it was just part of it was maturity. Some of it was personality, but it was beneficial getting sort of those virtues, different virtues from different people.
And then my grandfather did it in such a, as you mentioned, it was like a softer, more gentle, patient way with a certain level of wisdom. And I think it was just part of it was maturity. Some of it was personality, but it was beneficial getting sort of those virtues, different virtues from different people.
I mean, this was like it was for you. It was a life-altering moment. And everybody has had this moment. I want you to think about what was your moment where you've had something like this happen?
I mean, this was like it was for you. It was a life-altering moment. And everybody has had this moment. I want you to think about what was your moment where you've had something like this happen?
I mean, this was like it was for you. It was a life-altering moment. And everybody has had this moment. I want you to think about what was your moment where you've had something like this happen?
have you ever recovered from it so i was in freshman english class freshman high school and a teacher asked me to stay after name was miss noble i stayed after class she says josh what do you want to do after high school and i said i want to be a doctor and the reason i said that john was the year before my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer she went through chemotherapy she lost all of her hair she almost died and so seeing my mom suffer like that it just really pierced my heart and i said to myself
have you ever recovered from it so i was in freshman english class freshman high school and a teacher asked me to stay after name was miss noble i stayed after class she says josh what do you want to do after high school and i said i want to be a doctor and the reason i said that john was the year before my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer she went through chemotherapy she lost all of her hair she almost died and so seeing my mom suffer like that it just really pierced my heart and i said to myself
have you ever recovered from it so i was in freshman english class freshman high school and a teacher asked me to stay after name was miss noble i stayed after class she says josh what do you want to do after high school and i said i want to be a doctor and the reason i said that john was the year before my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer she went through chemotherapy she lost all of her hair she almost died and so seeing my mom suffer like that it just really pierced my heart and i said to myself
I want to help people like my mom. And I want to find a better way to help people heal. And so I decided I want to be a doctor at that moment. Well, the English teacher, I said, I want to be a doctor. And she literally laughed out loud. And she said, Josh, listen, with your GPA, you'll never get into med school. She says, my own daughter has a three-point GPA. She barely got into med school.
I want to help people like my mom. And I want to find a better way to help people heal. And so I decided I want to be a doctor at that moment. Well, the English teacher, I said, I want to be a doctor. And she literally laughed out loud. And she said, Josh, listen, with your GPA, you'll never get into med school. She says, my own daughter has a three-point GPA. She barely got into med school.
I want to help people like my mom. And I want to find a better way to help people heal. And so I decided I want to be a doctor at that moment. Well, the English teacher, I said, I want to be a doctor. And she literally laughed out loud. And she said, Josh, listen, with your GPA, you'll never get into med school. She says, my own daughter has a three-point GPA. She barely got into med school.
And she said, You just failed this paper. That's why I wanted you to stay after. And you're getting a D minus in this class. You'll be lucky to pass. You said you need to try harder. And I walked out of there, John, feeling like, okay, well, maybe I can't be a doctor.
And she said, You just failed this paper. That's why I wanted you to stay after. And you're getting a D minus in this class. You'll be lucky to pass. You said you need to try harder. And I walked out of there, John, feeling like, okay, well, maybe I can't be a doctor.
And she said, You just failed this paper. That's why I wanted you to stay after. And you're getting a D minus in this class. You'll be lucky to pass. You said you need to try harder. And I walked out of there, John, feeling like, okay, well, maybe I can't be a doctor.
Well, then my mom brought me to see a medical doctor two weeks later who diagnosed me with ADHD and talked about me like I wasn't in the room. I still remember his words today where he said, your son has a learning disability. And I thought, well, gosh, not only... Am I not smart? I'm like medically not smart. There's something wrong with me. So then I just stopped trying in high school.
Well, then my mom brought me to see a medical doctor two weeks later who diagnosed me with ADHD and talked about me like I wasn't in the room. I still remember his words today where he said, your son has a learning disability. And I thought, well, gosh, not only... Am I not smart? I'm like medically not smart. There's something wrong with me. So then I just stopped trying in high school.
Well, then my mom brought me to see a medical doctor two weeks later who diagnosed me with ADHD and talked about me like I wasn't in the room. I still remember his words today where he said, your son has a learning disability. And I thought, well, gosh, not only... Am I not smart? I'm like medically not smart. There's something wrong with me. So then I just stopped trying in high school.
I barely graduated high school. I had like just above a 2.0 GPA, applied to colleges, got denied by almost all of them. And then I applied to one and they said, we've got a new program where if you come and take summer school and you average above a 3.0, we'll let you in. It was the University of Kentucky. I grew up in Ohio. And I said, okay, well, I don't want to be the kid that just stays back.
I barely graduated high school. I had like just above a 2.0 GPA, applied to colleges, got denied by almost all of them. And then I applied to one and they said, we've got a new program where if you come and take summer school and you average above a 3.0, we'll let you in. It was the University of Kentucky. I grew up in Ohio. And I said, okay, well, I don't want to be the kid that just stays back.
I barely graduated high school. I had like just above a 2.0 GPA, applied to colleges, got denied by almost all of them. And then I applied to one and they said, we've got a new program where if you come and take summer school and you average above a 3.0, we'll let you in. It was the University of Kentucky. I grew up in Ohio. And I said, okay, well, I don't want to be the kid that just stays back.
I want to go and try. So I went. And the first class I had to take was English 101 in freshman year college. So I went, I took the class. First big assignment was a paper, turned it in, felt pretty good. But then three days later, the teacher name was Ms. Williams. She says, Josh, can you stay after class? my heart sunk because it felt like deja vu. I thought, oh no.
I want to go and try. So I went. And the first class I had to take was English 101 in freshman year college. So I went, I took the class. First big assignment was a paper, turned it in, felt pretty good. But then three days later, the teacher name was Ms. Williams. She says, Josh, can you stay after class? my heart sunk because it felt like deja vu. I thought, oh no.
I want to go and try. So I went. And the first class I had to take was English 101 in freshman year college. So I went, I took the class. First big assignment was a paper, turned it in, felt pretty good. But then three days later, the teacher name was Ms. Williams. She says, Josh, can you stay after class? my heart sunk because it felt like deja vu. I thought, oh no.
She said, Josh, what's your major? And I said, well, Ms. Williams, I haven't chosen a major yet. And she said, well, I really think you should consider being a English or journalism major because she said, I think you're a really great writer. Of the 40 some kids in this class, you got the highest grade, great job. And for me, John, I'll call it like a memory or a mindset transplant.
She said, Josh, what's your major? And I said, well, Ms. Williams, I haven't chosen a major yet. And she said, well, I really think you should consider being a English or journalism major because she said, I think you're a really great writer. Of the 40 some kids in this class, you got the highest grade, great job. And for me, John, I'll call it like a memory or a mindset transplant.
She said, Josh, what's your major? And I said, well, Ms. Williams, I haven't chosen a major yet. And she said, well, I really think you should consider being a English or journalism major because she said, I think you're a really great writer. Of the 40 some kids in this class, you got the highest grade, great job. And for me, John, I'll call it like a memory or a mindset transplant.
I went from feeling like I was dumb. I wasn't good at school. These narratives running through my head. And finally, I had one person tell me, that I was smart or that I could do this or I was good at something. And I completely embraced it and had a transplant there. And I said, you know what? I can do this. Later on, I switched to pre-med and then I went on to get my doctorate.
I went from feeling like I was dumb. I wasn't good at school. These narratives running through my head. And finally, I had one person tell me, that I was smart or that I could do this or I was good at something. And I completely embraced it and had a transplant there. And I said, you know what? I can do this. Later on, I switched to pre-med and then I went on to get my doctorate.
I went from feeling like I was dumb. I wasn't good at school. These narratives running through my head. And finally, I had one person tell me, that I was smart or that I could do this or I was good at something. And I completely embraced it and had a transplant there. And I said, you know what? I can do this. Later on, I switched to pre-med and then I went on to get my doctorate.
I then went on later to John Hopkins University, graduated from John Hopkins with nearly a 4.0 GPA. And I share none of that to boast, but just to say this, I went from being the kid in high school that barely graduated to eventually graduating John Hopkins and getting later on or earlier on a doctorate.
I then went on later to John Hopkins University, graduated from John Hopkins with nearly a 4.0 GPA. And I share none of that to boast, but just to say this, I went from being the kid in high school that barely graduated to eventually graduating John Hopkins and getting later on or earlier on a doctorate.
I then went on later to John Hopkins University, graduated from John Hopkins with nearly a 4.0 GPA. And I share none of that to boast, but just to say this, I went from being the kid in high school that barely graduated to eventually graduating John Hopkins and getting later on or earlier on a doctorate.
And there's a lot of people out there today, John, that they had someone say something to them, a parent, a teacher, a coach. And they're still living with that today. They haven't had that belief transplant that's allowed them to thrive and experience the breakthrough in the relationship, in their career, in their spiritual life.
And there's a lot of people out there today, John, that they had someone say something to them, a parent, a teacher, a coach. And they're still living with that today. They haven't had that belief transplant that's allowed them to thrive and experience the breakthrough in the relationship, in their career, in their spiritual life.
And there's a lot of people out there today, John, that they had someone say something to them, a parent, a teacher, a coach. And they're still living with that today. They haven't had that belief transplant that's allowed them to thrive and experience the breakthrough in the relationship, in their career, in their spiritual life.
And so for me, one of the things I've really committed to doing myself and helping others do is making sure that I don't have any limiting beliefs that are holding me back and then going and replacing those limiting beliefs with empowering beliefs that And I found for so many people doing that singular exercise of writing down what their limiting beliefs are, when they started.
And so for me, one of the things I've really committed to doing myself and helping others do is making sure that I don't have any limiting beliefs that are holding me back and then going and replacing those limiting beliefs with empowering beliefs that And I found for so many people doing that singular exercise of writing down what their limiting beliefs are, when they started.
And so for me, one of the things I've really committed to doing myself and helping others do is making sure that I don't have any limiting beliefs that are holding me back and then going and replacing those limiting beliefs with empowering beliefs that And I found for so many people doing that singular exercise of writing down what their limiting beliefs are, when they started.
There's actually a method. It's called the ABCDE method. It goes like this. One, activate the memory of when this belief started. Number two is B. which is what's the exact belief? C is what are the consequences if you continue to believe the lie? D is dispute it, why it's not true. And E, exchange it for the thing you need to believe in order to experience the greatest outcome in your life.
There's actually a method. It's called the ABCDE method. It goes like this. One, activate the memory of when this belief started. Number two is B. which is what's the exact belief? C is what are the consequences if you continue to believe the lie? D is dispute it, why it's not true. And E, exchange it for the thing you need to believe in order to experience the greatest outcome in your life.
There's actually a method. It's called the ABCDE method. It goes like this. One, activate the memory of when this belief started. Number two is B. which is what's the exact belief? C is what are the consequences if you continue to believe the lie? D is dispute it, why it's not true. And E, exchange it for the thing you need to believe in order to experience the greatest outcome in your life.
And if people can do that and start to write down the limiting beliefs about themselves, about God, about the world, about others, that's where most people start to experience, I think, some of their biggest breakthroughs in life.
And if people can do that and start to write down the limiting beliefs about themselves, about God, about the world, about others, that's where most people start to experience, I think, some of their biggest breakthroughs in life.
And if people can do that and start to write down the limiting beliefs about themselves, about God, about the world, about others, that's where most people start to experience, I think, some of their biggest breakthroughs in life.
Yeah, the way that I think about it is when I use the term mindset, I think our mindset, our ways of thinking about things tend to be held up by multiple beliefs that we have about something. So for instance, there's a friend of mine who is a fairly successful entrepreneur, but he could be so much more successful if he overcame this mindset that was a scarcity mindset.
Yeah, the way that I think about it is when I use the term mindset, I think our mindset, our ways of thinking about things tend to be held up by multiple beliefs that we have about something. So for instance, there's a friend of mine who is a fairly successful entrepreneur, but he could be so much more successful if he overcame this mindset that was a scarcity mindset.
Yeah, the way that I think about it is when I use the term mindset, I think our mindset, our ways of thinking about things tend to be held up by multiple beliefs that we have about something. So for instance, there's a friend of mine who is a fairly successful entrepreneur, but he could be so much more successful if he overcame this mindset that was a scarcity mindset.
And so, and I've asked him questions about this. And again, he's a really close friend of mine, but he's told me things in life like, Well, my dad used to tell me that money doesn't grow on trees and you got to fight for every last thing you get. And he was one of 10 kids. And so he's developed this mindset over time to where he affords money and he doesn't want to invest.
And so, and I've asked him questions about this. And again, he's a really close friend of mine, but he's told me things in life like, Well, my dad used to tell me that money doesn't grow on trees and you got to fight for every last thing you get. And he was one of 10 kids. And so he's developed this mindset over time to where he affords money and he doesn't want to invest.
And so, and I've asked him questions about this. And again, he's a really close friend of mine, but he's told me things in life like, Well, my dad used to tell me that money doesn't grow on trees and you got to fight for every last thing you get. And he was one of 10 kids. And so he's developed this mindset over time to where he affords money and he doesn't want to invest.
He's not generous because of it, or he doesn't take risks. And so his mindset, this scarcity mindset is made up of multiple beliefs. There's only so much money. You've got to fight people for money. You want to save rather than invest. and these multiple issues. And you think about it as a table. And if you have weak legs of this table, everything collapses.
He's not generous because of it, or he doesn't take risks. And so his mindset, this scarcity mindset is made up of multiple beliefs. There's only so much money. You've got to fight people for money. You want to save rather than invest. and these multiple issues. And you think about it as a table. And if you have weak legs of this table, everything collapses.
He's not generous because of it, or he doesn't take risks. And so his mindset, this scarcity mindset is made up of multiple beliefs. There's only so much money. You've got to fight people for money. You want to save rather than invest. and these multiple issues. And you think about it as a table. And if you have weak legs of this table, everything collapses.
And so it's really important for people that you go. And this is another discussion, John, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. One of the things that's so important for people to do when you look at the most important mindset people have, one of the most important mindsets is what is success? What does it mean to truly be successful?
And so it's really important for people that you go. And this is another discussion, John, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. One of the things that's so important for people to do when you look at the most important mindset people have, one of the most important mindsets is what is success? What does it mean to truly be successful?
And so it's really important for people that you go. And this is another discussion, John, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. One of the things that's so important for people to do when you look at the most important mindset people have, one of the most important mindsets is what is success? What does it mean to truly be successful?
Because the world today tells us it's fame, it's fortune, right? So it's a big social media following or it's a certain size house or driving a Lamborghini or so much money. That's what the world says success is. But if you look at the Bible or you look at the people that you and I, John, are probably like, we want to be like these people, right?
Because the world today tells us it's fame, it's fortune, right? So it's a big social media following or it's a certain size house or driving a Lamborghini or so much money. That's what the world says success is. But if you look at the Bible or you look at the people that you and I, John, are probably like, we want to be like these people, right?
Because the world today tells us it's fame, it's fortune, right? So it's a big social media following or it's a certain size house or driving a Lamborghini or so much money. That's what the world says success is. But if you look at the Bible or you look at the people that you and I, John, are probably like, we want to be like these people, right?
Probably like their Mother Teresa's, the John Maxwell's, the people that have done so much good in their life. Martin Luther King Jr. 's, it's like, well, what was their, they had a big impact for good. And so my definition of success, which is one of the most important mindsets, needs to be made up of these beliefs.
Probably like their Mother Teresa's, the John Maxwell's, the people that have done so much good in their life. Martin Luther King Jr. 's, it's like, well, what was their, they had a big impact for good. And so my definition of success, which is one of the most important mindsets, needs to be made up of these beliefs.
Probably like their Mother Teresa's, the John Maxwell's, the people that have done so much good in their life. Martin Luther King Jr. 's, it's like, well, what was their, they had a big impact for good. And so my definition of success, which is one of the most important mindsets, needs to be made up of these beliefs.
So if my beliefs are, well, success is, okay, I have a big house and I've got a million dollars in the bank and I've got a million followers on Instagram or whatever it is, that's going to cause me to live a certain type of life versus if my definition of success is, Loving God, loving people, making earth a heavenly place, adding value to others is my entire goal of blessing other people's lives.
So if my beliefs are, well, success is, okay, I have a big house and I've got a million dollars in the bank and I've got a million followers on Instagram or whatever it is, that's going to cause me to live a certain type of life versus if my definition of success is, Loving God, loving people, making earth a heavenly place, adding value to others is my entire goal of blessing other people's lives.
So if my beliefs are, well, success is, okay, I have a big house and I've got a million dollars in the bank and I've got a million followers on Instagram or whatever it is, that's going to cause me to live a certain type of life versus if my definition of success is, Loving God, loving people, making earth a heavenly place, adding value to others is my entire goal of blessing other people's lives.
Well, that's going to be a very, like my wins become very different. And so people really need to pick through their life and look at their mindset about a certain thing. And then what do I believe specifically? And what beliefs do I need to start to exchange in order to live a more meaningful and significant life?
Well, that's going to be a very, like my wins become very different. And so people really need to pick through their life and look at their mindset about a certain thing. And then what do I believe specifically? And what beliefs do I need to start to exchange in order to live a more meaningful and significant life?
Well, that's going to be a very, like my wins become very different. And so people really need to pick through their life and look at their mindset about a certain thing. And then what do I believe specifically? And what beliefs do I need to start to exchange in order to live a more meaningful and significant life?
That's so powerful. One of the things that I realized was I don't, the best thing to believe is the thing that the most successful people believe in terms of real success, right? And again, my definition of real success is more of a biblical narrative around making earth a heavenly place. So if there's trash on the ground, we pick it up, right?
That's so powerful. One of the things that I realized was I don't, the best thing to believe is the thing that the most successful people believe in terms of real success, right? And again, my definition of real success is more of a biblical narrative around making earth a heavenly place. So if there's trash on the ground, we pick it up, right?
That's so powerful. One of the things that I realized was I don't, the best thing to believe is the thing that the most successful people believe in terms of real success, right? And again, my definition of real success is more of a biblical narrative around making earth a heavenly place. So if there's trash on the ground, we pick it up, right?
If a area is dirt, let's turn it into regenerative rainforest in terms of, and then relationships, I think, not just with the earth, but with people and God is even more important than that. And so for me, that's my definition of success is doing that, not just now, but also with an eternal mindset.
If a area is dirt, let's turn it into regenerative rainforest in terms of, and then relationships, I think, not just with the earth, but with people and God is even more important than that. And so for me, that's my definition of success is doing that, not just now, but also with an eternal mindset.
If a area is dirt, let's turn it into regenerative rainforest in terms of, and then relationships, I think, not just with the earth, but with people and God is even more important than that. And so for me, that's my definition of success is doing that, not just now, but also with an eternal mindset.
And so what I try and do in different areas of my life is not focus on what I believe, but focus on what is the most successful people in their field believe that it's also virtuous. So for instance, I might have my own ideas right now about finances, but I want to go and say, how does Warren Buffett and Elon Musk, how do they think about wealth and how do they think about growing wealth?
And so what I try and do in different areas of my life is not focus on what I believe, but focus on what is the most successful people in their field believe that it's also virtuous. So for instance, I might have my own ideas right now about finances, but I want to go and say, how does Warren Buffett and Elon Musk, how do they think about wealth and how do they think about growing wealth?
And so what I try and do in different areas of my life is not focus on what I believe, but focus on what is the most successful people in their field believe that it's also virtuous. So for instance, I might have my own ideas right now about finances, but I want to go and say, how does Warren Buffett and Elon Musk, how do they think about wealth and how do they think about growing wealth?
And I want to study and adopt, maybe I pick them and a few others and
And I want to study and adopt, maybe I pick them and a few others and
And I want to study and adopt, maybe I pick them and a few others and
what do they believe about investing and finances and everything else and i want to then go and adopt those same mindsets and beliefs for myself and in discovering the truth same thing how do i know what's true spiritually right and i need to look at because there's a lot of different religions out there there's within christianity right we've got protestantism and catholicism and orthodoxy within judaism you've got different you've got more of the reformed and orthodox there and then there's
what do they believe about investing and finances and everything else and i want to then go and adopt those same mindsets and beliefs for myself and in discovering the truth same thing how do i know what's true spiritually right and i need to look at because there's a lot of different religions out there there's within christianity right we've got protestantism and catholicism and orthodoxy within judaism you've got different you've got more of the reformed and orthodox there and then there's
what do they believe about investing and finances and everything else and i want to then go and adopt those same mindsets and beliefs for myself and in discovering the truth same thing how do i know what's true spiritually right and i need to look at because there's a lot of different religions out there there's within christianity right we've got protestantism and catholicism and orthodoxy within judaism you've got different you've got more of the reformed and orthodox there and then there's
Buddhism and there's Islam and all these other things. And for me, there's a Bible verse and it reminds me of this. Jesus says, you'll recognize them by the fruit in their lives. By their fruit, you'll recognize them. If somebody has good, beautiful fruit, like a Mother Teresa or a Martin Luther King Jr. or a William Wilberforce or these people that changed the world for good,
Buddhism and there's Islam and all these other things. And for me, there's a Bible verse and it reminds me of this. Jesus says, you'll recognize them by the fruit in their lives. By their fruit, you'll recognize them. If somebody has good, beautiful fruit, like a Mother Teresa or a Martin Luther King Jr. or a William Wilberforce or these people that changed the world for good,
Buddhism and there's Islam and all these other things. And for me, there's a Bible verse and it reminds me of this. Jesus says, you'll recognize them by the fruit in their lives. By their fruit, you'll recognize them. If somebody has good, beautiful fruit, like a Mother Teresa or a Martin Luther King Jr. or a William Wilberforce or these people that changed the world for good,
What is it that they believe? What was their religion? What was their spiritual belief? Okay. The people that have the best fruit in their lives, I'm going to follow them. John, there's a lot of marriage coaches and counselors out there. And I remember one of them and they'd been divorced five times. Now, sometimes we can learn things from a divorce, right?
What is it that they believe? What was their religion? What was their spiritual belief? Okay. The people that have the best fruit in their lives, I'm going to follow them. John, there's a lot of marriage coaches and counselors out there. And I remember one of them and they'd been divorced five times. Now, sometimes we can learn things from a divorce, right?
What is it that they believe? What was their religion? What was their spiritual belief? Okay. The people that have the best fruit in their lives, I'm going to follow them. John, there's a lot of marriage coaches and counselors out there. And I remember one of them and they'd been divorced five times. Now, sometimes we can learn things from a divorce, right?
And some there's great counselors that have been remarried and now have a great marriage and they learn from the first time, but somebody that's been through five and still struggling in the middle and then giving someone else relationship advice. It's a similar thing with health.
And some there's great counselors that have been remarried and now have a great marriage and they learn from the first time, but somebody that's been through five and still struggling in the middle and then giving someone else relationship advice. It's a similar thing with health.
And some there's great counselors that have been remarried and now have a great marriage and they learn from the first time, but somebody that's been through five and still struggling in the middle and then giving someone else relationship advice. It's a similar thing with health.
Have you ever seen the pictures of some of the people running the health of the United States and then some of the other countries who are running the Department of Health versus you look at someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his 70s, ripped and shredded and very healthy, very mentally sharp. And it's like, okay, who am I going to listen to? The best person to listen to and the best person to
Have you ever seen the pictures of some of the people running the health of the United States and then some of the other countries who are running the Department of Health versus you look at someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his 70s, ripped and shredded and very healthy, very mentally sharp. And it's like, okay, who am I going to listen to? The best person to listen to and the best person to
Have you ever seen the pictures of some of the people running the health of the United States and then some of the other countries who are running the Department of Health versus you look at someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his 70s, ripped and shredded and very healthy, very mentally sharp. And it's like, okay, who am I going to listen to? The best person to listen to and the best person to
create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. Same thing. It's if you and I are learning how to do better shows, like to educate and help inspire people, it's like, are we going to be spending time studying again?
create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. Same thing. It's if you and I are learning how to do better shows, like to educate and help inspire people, it's like, are we going to be spending time studying again?
create your beliefs around are the people that have the greatest fruit in their life in this specific area that we're looking to model. Same thing. It's if you and I are learning how to do better shows, like to educate and help inspire people, it's like, are we going to be spending time studying again?
It's probably going to be Joe Rogan and I don't know, Jordan Peterson and other people that have good shows versus somebody who's never done it before. So I think it's important. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. Like I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
It's probably going to be Joe Rogan and I don't know, Jordan Peterson and other people that have good shows versus somebody who's never done it before. So I think it's important. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. Like I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
It's probably going to be Joe Rogan and I don't know, Jordan Peterson and other people that have good shows versus somebody who's never done it before. So I think it's important. And a lot of this goes back to modeling. Like I have learned the most in my life from humbly modeling other people that are ahead of where I currently am.
Well, I'd say there's two things. If somebody is listening to this and they're saying, you know what? I want to live the greatest life possible. I want to get to the end of my life. And I know that I left it all in the field. I have no regrets. If you want to do that and grow to your maximum, there's two things you need.
Well, I'd say there's two things. If somebody is listening to this and they're saying, you know what? I want to live the greatest life possible. I want to get to the end of my life. And I know that I left it all in the field. I have no regrets. If you want to do that and grow to your maximum, there's two things you need.
Well, I'd say there's two things. If somebody is listening to this and they're saying, you know what? I want to live the greatest life possible. I want to get to the end of my life. And I know that I left it all in the field. I have no regrets. If you want to do that and grow to your maximum, there's two things you need.
You need to grow in character and you need to grow in your unique skills that God gifted you in. And that's what we see with Michelangelo is that he had such unique gifting as an artist, as a sculptor, as a painter. And he took that to the highest level possible. Reminds me of in the Bible, there's a parable of the talents, right? And so God gives somebody one talent, another two and another five.
You need to grow in character and you need to grow in your unique skills that God gifted you in. And that's what we see with Michelangelo is that he had such unique gifting as an artist, as a sculptor, as a painter. And he took that to the highest level possible. Reminds me of in the Bible, there's a parable of the talents, right? And so God gives somebody one talent, another two and another five.
You need to grow in character and you need to grow in your unique skills that God gifted you in. And that's what we see with Michelangelo is that he had such unique gifting as an artist, as a sculptor, as a painter. And he took that to the highest level possible. Reminds me of in the Bible, there's a parable of the talents, right? And so God gives somebody one talent, another two and another five.
And the person with one buries their talent. Now that's fine. That's actually money, but it also could be seen as your God-given talent. Maybe it's education or coaching or customer service, but one person buries it. The second person goes and doubles it. And the person with five goes and doubles his. Well, later on, that master comes back, which is God in the story.
And the person with one buries their talent. Now that's fine. That's actually money, but it also could be seen as your God-given talent. Maybe it's education or coaching or customer service, but one person buries it. The second person goes and doubles it. And the person with five goes and doubles his. Well, later on, that master comes back, which is God in the story.
And the person with one buries their talent. Now that's fine. That's actually money, but it also could be seen as your God-given talent. Maybe it's education or coaching or customer service, but one person buries it. The second person goes and doubles it. And the person with five goes and doubles his. Well, later on, that master comes back, which is God in the story.
And the one that buries in, he says, you're evil and wicked for doing so, for wasting your talent. And the other two, he says, now I'm going to double what you even have and give you even more beyond that. And so I think about Michelangelo in the very same way. Michelangelo had a talent and he also had a certain level of character and amazing work ethic.
And the one that buries in, he says, you're evil and wicked for doing so, for wasting your talent. And the other two, he says, now I'm going to double what you even have and give you even more beyond that. And so I think about Michelangelo in the very same way. Michelangelo had a talent and he also had a certain level of character and amazing work ethic.
And the one that buries in, he says, you're evil and wicked for doing so, for wasting your talent. And the other two, he says, now I'm going to double what you even have and give you even more beyond that. And so I think about Michelangelo in the very same way. Michelangelo had a talent and he also had a certain level of character and amazing work ethic.
and wanting to do something that was inspirational and that would honor God. And so he went and created, I mean, I want to say it took him like seven to 10 years because of, they said he went partly blind while he was painting the Sistine Chapel. I mean, here's the other inspiring thing about this.
and wanting to do something that was inspirational and that would honor God. And so he went and created, I mean, I want to say it took him like seven to 10 years because of, they said he went partly blind while he was painting the Sistine Chapel. I mean, here's the other inspiring thing about this.
and wanting to do something that was inspirational and that would honor God. And so he went and created, I mean, I want to say it took him like seven to 10 years because of, they said he went partly blind while he was painting the Sistine Chapel. I mean, here's the other inspiring thing about this.
When I was recently in Italy, I was doing a, I took a tour on Michelangelo because I just love his work so much. And they had said he lived to be 88 years old. which during that time, the average lifespan, I wanted to say was like upper 40s. So he almost doubled the lifespan of a lot of people. And part of it, I believe, was because he had so much purpose.
When I was recently in Italy, I was doing a, I took a tour on Michelangelo because I just love his work so much. And they had said he lived to be 88 years old. which during that time, the average lifespan, I wanted to say was like upper 40s. So he almost doubled the lifespan of a lot of people. And part of it, I believe, was because he had so much purpose.
When I was recently in Italy, I was doing a, I took a tour on Michelangelo because I just love his work so much. And they had said he lived to be 88 years old. which during that time, the average lifespan, I wanted to say was like upper 40s. So he almost doubled the lifespan of a lot of people. And part of it, I believe, was because he had so much purpose.
He was doing something really meaningful, really significant because it was divinely inspired. And so to sum up, I want to say the life of Michelangelo, there is a story of him after he had just finished painting the Sistine Chapel. And he's showing somebody his work
He was doing something really meaningful, really significant because it was divinely inspired. And so to sum up, I want to say the life of Michelangelo, there is a story of him after he had just finished painting the Sistine Chapel. And he's showing somebody his work
He was doing something really meaningful, really significant because it was divinely inspired. And so to sum up, I want to say the life of Michelangelo, there is a story of him after he had just finished painting the Sistine Chapel. And he's showing somebody his work
And before they revealed it to the public and he's showing somebody and somebody said, Michelangelo, why did you spend so much time painting this little corner that literally nobody's going to see? And his answer was because God will see. And to me, that was so moving of thinking about our lives in that way that, you know what, somebody might not see it, but God will see it.
And before they revealed it to the public and he's showing somebody and somebody said, Michelangelo, why did you spend so much time painting this little corner that literally nobody's going to see? And his answer was because God will see. And to me, that was so moving of thinking about our lives in that way that, you know what, somebody might not see it, but God will see it.
And before they revealed it to the public and he's showing somebody and somebody said, Michelangelo, why did you spend so much time painting this little corner that literally nobody's going to see? And his answer was because God will see. And to me, that was so moving of thinking about our lives in that way that, you know what, somebody might not see it, but God will see it.
And that's a very eternal mindset. If somebody wants to be successful, we see this in the psychology research that the longer somebody thinks out, okay, the more successful they are. So if somebody is living for today only, they tend to not be very successful versus somebody has a 10 year plan and is working towards 10 years or their lifetime, they tend to be much more successful.
And that's a very eternal mindset. If somebody wants to be successful, we see this in the psychology research that the longer somebody thinks out, okay, the more successful they are. So if somebody is living for today only, they tend to not be very successful versus somebody has a 10 year plan and is working towards 10 years or their lifetime, they tend to be much more successful.
And that's a very eternal mindset. If somebody wants to be successful, we see this in the psychology research that the longer somebody thinks out, okay, the more successful they are. So if somebody is living for today only, they tend to not be very successful versus somebody has a 10 year plan and is working towards 10 years or their lifetime, they tend to be much more successful.
Well, Michelangelo goes beyond that as he was thinking eternally, and he was even more successful. It reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote, and he says, the people that do the most in this life are the very people that think most about the next life. And so Michelangelo was able to do that via taking his skill to the highest level possible and taking his character.
Well, Michelangelo goes beyond that as he was thinking eternally, and he was even more successful. It reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote, and he says, the people that do the most in this life are the very people that think most about the next life. And so Michelangelo was able to do that via taking his skill to the highest level possible and taking his character.
Well, Michelangelo goes beyond that as he was thinking eternally, and he was even more successful. It reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote, and he says, the people that do the most in this life are the very people that think most about the next life. And so Michelangelo was able to do that via taking his skill to the highest level possible and taking his character.
And what a lot of people do today, John, is they try and become jacks of all trades of maybe doing a thing here or there rather than going very deep in one topic. And I think the best thing somebody can do is say, I want to grow in this one single area. Maybe it's a character quality, maybe it's a skill, but spending hours upon hours and just getting better at that one thing.
And what a lot of people do today, John, is they try and become jacks of all trades of maybe doing a thing here or there rather than going very deep in one topic. And I think the best thing somebody can do is say, I want to grow in this one single area. Maybe it's a character quality, maybe it's a skill, but spending hours upon hours and just getting better at that one thing.
And what a lot of people do today, John, is they try and become jacks of all trades of maybe doing a thing here or there rather than going very deep in one topic. And I think the best thing somebody can do is say, I want to grow in this one single area. Maybe it's a character quality, maybe it's a skill, but spending hours upon hours and just getting better at that one thing.
And that's how people tend to experience the greatest success in their life is going very deep. And we're living in a world today, it's just so superficial. It's okay, I've got a thousand friends on Instagram, but how many of them are really friends? I'd rather have one true friend I go incredibly deep with that I can trust and build a deep
And that's how people tend to experience the greatest success in their life is going very deep. And we're living in a world today, it's just so superficial. It's okay, I've got a thousand friends on Instagram, but how many of them are really friends? I'd rather have one true friend I go incredibly deep with that I can trust and build a deep
And that's how people tend to experience the greatest success in their life is going very deep. And we're living in a world today, it's just so superficial. It's okay, I've got a thousand friends on Instagram, but how many of them are really friends? I'd rather have one true friend I go incredibly deep with that I can trust and build a deep
meaningful lifelong relationship than a thousand friends on social media. So I think the same thing goes for our work and our life is the more we can grow this, you know, decide on that one area where God has gifted us and take that to the max, the bigger impact we'll have.
meaningful lifelong relationship than a thousand friends on social media. So I think the same thing goes for our work and our life is the more we can grow this, you know, decide on that one area where God has gifted us and take that to the max, the bigger impact we'll have.
meaningful lifelong relationship than a thousand friends on social media. So I think the same thing goes for our work and our life is the more we can grow this, you know, decide on that one area where God has gifted us and take that to the max, the bigger impact we'll have.
Well, one of the things, John, I just want to say to you, I mean, this is one of the things I love about your podcast is you're constantly now inspiring people in really having a great impact on the world.
Well, one of the things, John, I just want to say to you, I mean, this is one of the things I love about your podcast is you're constantly now inspiring people in really having a great impact on the world.
Well, one of the things, John, I just want to say to you, I mean, this is one of the things I love about your podcast is you're constantly now inspiring people in really having a great impact on the world.
And so I've been so impressed by just saying, I mean, first off, your podcast is one of the fastest growing podcasts, one of the most successful podcasts and helping inspire people in growth and leadership. And so inspiring. It's the work you're doing now is so impactful.
And so I've been so impressed by just saying, I mean, first off, your podcast is one of the fastest growing podcasts, one of the most successful podcasts and helping inspire people in growth and leadership. And so inspiring. It's the work you're doing now is so impactful.
And so I've been so impressed by just saying, I mean, first off, your podcast is one of the fastest growing podcasts, one of the most successful podcasts and helping inspire people in growth and leadership. And so inspiring. It's the work you're doing now is so impactful.
And to your point, one of the things that I think I realized when I ran my functional medicine clinic full time, now I have a virtual practice and we have people that I advise on healing a number of issues. But I can tell you from working with tens of thousands of patients, almost every single person is really struggling with something in their life. It could be low self-esteem.
And to your point, one of the things that I think I realized when I ran my functional medicine clinic full time, now I have a virtual practice and we have people that I advise on healing a number of issues. But I can tell you from working with tens of thousands of patients, almost every single person is really struggling with something in their life. It could be low self-esteem.
And to your point, one of the things that I think I realized when I ran my functional medicine clinic full time, now I have a virtual practice and we have people that I advise on healing a number of issues. But I can tell you from working with tens of thousands of patients, almost every single person is really struggling with something in their life. It could be low self-esteem.
It could be going through a divorce, losing a loved one, workplace issues. But most people have some level of emotional turmoil. And for a lot of people, they may have gone years without somebody saying something truly nice and meaningful to them that's uplifting. Like when I had Mrs. Williams tell me and she said, Josh, you could be a great writer.
It could be going through a divorce, losing a loved one, workplace issues. But most people have some level of emotional turmoil. And for a lot of people, they may have gone years without somebody saying something truly nice and meaningful to them that's uplifting. Like when I had Mrs. Williams tell me and she said, Josh, you could be a great writer.
It could be going through a divorce, losing a loved one, workplace issues. But most people have some level of emotional turmoil. And for a lot of people, they may have gone years without somebody saying something truly nice and meaningful to them that's uplifting. Like when I had Mrs. Williams tell me and she said, Josh, you could be a great writer.
Like for me, I don't think I'd somebody say something like that to me in months. And so for some people, they've never had anyone say that to them. So I really, one thing, I lead a men's group now. And one of the things I'll do every year in the men's group is I'll put my hand on the guy's shoulders, individuals. And I do this because my grandfather did this to me.
Like for me, I don't think I'd somebody say something like that to me in months. And so for some people, they've never had anyone say that to them. So I really, one thing, I lead a men's group now. And one of the things I'll do every year in the men's group is I'll put my hand on the guy's shoulders, individuals. And I do this because my grandfather did this to me.
Like for me, I don't think I'd somebody say something like that to me in months. And so for some people, they've never had anyone say that to them. So I really, one thing, I lead a men's group now. And one of the things I'll do every year in the men's group is I'll put my hand on the guy's shoulders, individuals. And I do this because my grandfather did this to me.
And I'll look them in the eyes and I'll say, God has gifted you to do this. I believe you have this calling. You have this gifting. You can have this impact and help cast a vision for them in their life and speak life into them in terms of what I see their giftings are, their character are. their character is as well.
And I'll look them in the eyes and I'll say, God has gifted you to do this. I believe you have this calling. You have this gifting. You can have this impact and help cast a vision for them in their life and speak life into them in terms of what I see their giftings are, their character are. their character is as well.
And I'll look them in the eyes and I'll say, God has gifted you to do this. I believe you have this calling. You have this gifting. You can have this impact and help cast a vision for them in their life and speak life into them in terms of what I see their giftings are, their character are. their character is as well.
And so I would encourage everybody who's listening here is to you be that person to somebody else. Put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eyes and tell them what in them, the goodness in them, the impact they can have. challenge them to grow because it might just save someone's life. It could transform someone's life, help set them on a new trajectory.
And so I would encourage everybody who's listening here is to you be that person to somebody else. Put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eyes and tell them what in them, the goodness in them, the impact they can have. challenge them to grow because it might just save someone's life. It could transform someone's life, help set them on a new trajectory.
And so I would encourage everybody who's listening here is to you be that person to somebody else. Put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eyes and tell them what in them, the goodness in them, the impact they can have. challenge them to grow because it might just save someone's life. It could transform someone's life, help set them on a new trajectory.
And those I can think through a few times, not just miss Williams. I can think of my grandfather doing that to me. I can think about a mentor, a Ben who was a doctor who did that to me in my life. And a friend of mine, Jordan Rubin, it, those are, were the, somebody doing that for me was the, those created the single biggest turning points in my entire life.
And those I can think through a few times, not just miss Williams. I can think of my grandfather doing that to me. I can think about a mentor, a Ben who was a doctor who did that to me in my life. And a friend of mine, Jordan Rubin, it, those are, were the, somebody doing that for me was the, those created the single biggest turning points in my entire life.
And those I can think through a few times, not just miss Williams. I can think of my grandfather doing that to me. I can think about a mentor, a Ben who was a doctor who did that to me in my life. And a friend of mine, Jordan Rubin, it, those are, were the, somebody doing that for me was the, those created the single biggest turning points in my entire life.
Well, I think you're spot on. I think you're exactly right. And I think there are two ways to do this, but number one is what you just shared. And that is, just show up somewhere at a church, at a synagogue, at the local soup kitchen, but just start showing up and saying, you know what?
Well, I think you're spot on. I think you're exactly right. And I think there are two ways to do this, but number one is what you just shared. And that is, just show up somewhere at a church, at a synagogue, at the local soup kitchen, but just start showing up and saying, you know what?
Well, I think you're spot on. I think you're exactly right. And I think there are two ways to do this, but number one is what you just shared. And that is, just show up somewhere at a church, at a synagogue, at the local soup kitchen, but just start showing up and saying, you know what?
I'm going to devote one hour a week, two hours a week to just doing something where I don't get anything returned. I just get to serve someone who's in need. And over time, you probably, they probably will see some gifts and skills that you have, and you'll be able to utilize those gifts and skills within that community you're serving. And so again, a place I like to do that is church.
I'm going to devote one hour a week, two hours a week to just doing something where I don't get anything returned. I just get to serve someone who's in need. And over time, you probably, they probably will see some gifts and skills that you have, and you'll be able to utilize those gifts and skills within that community you're serving. And so again, a place I like to do that is church.
I'm going to devote one hour a week, two hours a week to just doing something where I don't get anything returned. I just get to serve someone who's in need. And over time, you probably, they probably will see some gifts and skills that you have, and you'll be able to utilize those gifts and skills within that community you're serving. And so again, a place I like to do that is church.
And so it could be, and I'll give you an example. I've got a friend of mine, And what he has his daughters do is they go to church, but they also, I think once a month go and maybe more than this, they're high schoolers and they go and spend time with the four and five-year-olds, like just serving in that way. And other people go and help in the parking lot or one might lead a growth group.
And so it could be, and I'll give you an example. I've got a friend of mine, And what he has his daughters do is they go to church, but they also, I think once a month go and maybe more than this, they're high schoolers and they go and spend time with the four and five-year-olds, like just serving in that way. And other people go and help in the parking lot or one might lead a growth group.
And so it could be, and I'll give you an example. I've got a friend of mine, And what he has his daughters do is they go to church, but they also, I think once a month go and maybe more than this, they're high schoolers and they go and spend time with the four and five-year-olds, like just serving in that way. And other people go and help in the parking lot or one might lead a growth group.
I mean, there's a lot of ways, or they go and do soup kitchens or help with handing out clothes to the homeless or gathering food. I mean, there are a lot of different things that can happen. So that's number one to your point is finding a group you can just show up at and just plug in with everybody else.
I mean, there's a lot of ways, or they go and do soup kitchens or help with handing out clothes to the homeless or gathering food. I mean, there are a lot of different things that can happen. So that's number one to your point is finding a group you can just show up at and just plug in with everybody else.
I mean, there's a lot of ways, or they go and do soup kitchens or help with handing out clothes to the homeless or gathering food. I mean, there are a lot of different things that can happen. So that's number one to your point is finding a group you can just show up at and just plug in with everybody else.
And over time, maybe you do have a new gifting where you can serve in a more unique way outside of that. And the other thing is you might think about also in your, and again, I think there's so much value in just showing up in serving in a specific community, whether it be religious or non-religious in some way. And then the other thing is do think about your talent.
And over time, maybe you do have a new gifting where you can serve in a more unique way outside of that. And the other thing is you might think about also in your, and again, I think there's so much value in just showing up in serving in a specific community, whether it be religious or non-religious in some way. And then the other thing is do think about your talent.
And over time, maybe you do have a new gifting where you can serve in a more unique way outside of that. And the other thing is you might think about also in your, and again, I think there's so much value in just showing up in serving in a specific community, whether it be religious or non-religious in some way. And then the other thing is do think about your talent.
I'll give you an example of something I've done for years, John, is I do see patients via the practitioner. I have a group of practitioners and a virtual practice. It's called the Health Institute.
I'll give you an example of something I've done for years, John, is I do see patients via the practitioner. I have a group of practitioners and a virtual practice. It's called the Health Institute.
I'll give you an example of something I've done for years, John, is I do see patients via the practitioner. I have a group of practitioners and a virtual practice. It's called the Health Institute.
And so we take care of a lot of people with hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, diabetes, infertility, and we put together programs and supplement packages and help people heal and reverse their chronic illness. Now, I get paid to do that and the practitioners do. But sometimes I just probably at least once a week, I go and create a health plan for somebody for absolutely free. Right.
And so we take care of a lot of people with hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, diabetes, infertility, and we put together programs and supplement packages and help people heal and reverse their chronic illness. Now, I get paid to do that and the practitioners do. But sometimes I just probably at least once a week, I go and create a health plan for somebody for absolutely free. Right.
And so we take care of a lot of people with hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, diabetes, infertility, and we put together programs and supplement packages and help people heal and reverse their chronic illness. Now, I get paid to do that and the practitioners do. But sometimes I just probably at least once a week, I go and create a health plan for somebody for absolutely free. Right.
And so I will go and figure out, for instance, now I will share with you, John, a lot of them are referrals from my mom or a lot of different people I know over time. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. She'll have a woman, let's say, who maybe has breast cancer. My mom will say, hey, can you talk with them? I'll do more than talk with them.
And so I will go and figure out, for instance, now I will share with you, John, a lot of them are referrals from my mom or a lot of different people I know over time. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. She'll have a woman, let's say, who maybe has breast cancer. My mom will say, hey, can you talk with them? I'll do more than talk with them.
And so I will go and figure out, for instance, now I will share with you, John, a lot of them are referrals from my mom or a lot of different people I know over time. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. She'll have a woman, let's say, who maybe has breast cancer. My mom will say, hey, can you talk with them? I'll do more than talk with them.
I'll go and write down an exact eating plan, a supplement plan, maybe even send them products for free and do everything I can to help serve them. I'll spend time, I'll pray with them on the phone. I do that without getting paid because I know that God gave me a gift in his son and I want to be able to give gifts in return, asking nothing in return.
I'll go and write down an exact eating plan, a supplement plan, maybe even send them products for free and do everything I can to help serve them. I'll spend time, I'll pray with them on the phone. I do that without getting paid because I know that God gave me a gift in his son and I want to be able to give gifts in return, asking nothing in return.
I'll go and write down an exact eating plan, a supplement plan, maybe even send them products for free and do everything I can to help serve them. I'll spend time, I'll pray with them on the phone. I do that without getting paid because I know that God gave me a gift in his son and I want to be able to give gifts in return, asking nothing in return.
So I think the primary way is what you just shared is being able to plug into a community in some way, but also think about what your unique gifts are and try and do some of those sorts of things on a regular basis. Here's one other thing I mentioned earlier. Very few people have had a word of encouragement an entire week. Okay. that are adults primarily, but also a lot of kids.
So I think the primary way is what you just shared is being able to plug into a community in some way, but also think about what your unique gifts are and try and do some of those sorts of things on a regular basis. Here's one other thing I mentioned earlier. Very few people have had a word of encouragement an entire week. Okay. that are adults primarily, but also a lot of kids.
So I think the primary way is what you just shared is being able to plug into a community in some way, but also think about what your unique gifts are and try and do some of those sorts of things on a regular basis. Here's one other thing I mentioned earlier. Very few people have had a word of encouragement an entire week. Okay. that are adults primarily, but also a lot of kids.
Maybe once a week you have a time plugged in for 30 minutes where you just send positive messages to people in your life. Could be a text message, could be a handwritten note. I had a friend of mine I met in high school. I went to visit him in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Maybe once a week you have a time plugged in for 30 minutes where you just send positive messages to people in your life. Could be a text message, could be a handwritten note. I had a friend of mine I met in high school. I went to visit him in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Maybe once a week you have a time plugged in for 30 minutes where you just send positive messages to people in your life. Could be a text message, could be a handwritten note. I had a friend of mine I met in high school. I went to visit him in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I was speaking at Kellogg's in front of their headquarters demanding they get the dyes and the chemicals out of our cereal and food supply. But while I was up there, I saw a friend from high school I hadn't seen since his wedding 18 years ago. And after seeing him, he wrote me a handwritten note of how much my friendship meant to him, even after we hadn't seen each other that long.
I was speaking at Kellogg's in front of their headquarters demanding they get the dyes and the chemicals out of our cereal and food supply. But while I was up there, I saw a friend from high school I hadn't seen since his wedding 18 years ago. And after seeing him, he wrote me a handwritten note of how much my friendship meant to him, even after we hadn't seen each other that long.
I was speaking at Kellogg's in front of their headquarters demanding they get the dyes and the chemicals out of our cereal and food supply. But while I was up there, I saw a friend from high school I hadn't seen since his wedding 18 years ago. And after seeing him, he wrote me a handwritten note of how much my friendship meant to him, even after we hadn't seen each other that long.
And it was so meaningful because handwritten notes are so rare today. I mean, like, I'm going to keep it because it was just that meaningful. And so just things like that, that you could just schedule once a week for even 30 minutes can radically improve the lives of others.
And it was so meaningful because handwritten notes are so rare today. I mean, like, I'm going to keep it because it was just that meaningful. And so just things like that, that you could just schedule once a week for even 30 minutes can radically improve the lives of others.
And it was so meaningful because handwritten notes are so rare today. I mean, like, I'm going to keep it because it was just that meaningful. And so just things like that, that you could just schedule once a week for even 30 minutes can radically improve the lives of others.
Yeah, it makes me think of two things. I want to talk about self-awareness and then something actually very different. But I think they're both to your point. The other one is loneliness. Now, we live in a culture where a lot of people talk about goal setting.
Yeah, it makes me think of two things. I want to talk about self-awareness and then something actually very different. But I think they're both to your point. The other one is loneliness. Now, we live in a culture where a lot of people talk about goal setting.
Yeah, it makes me think of two things. I want to talk about self-awareness and then something actually very different. But I think they're both to your point. The other one is loneliness. Now, we live in a culture where a lot of people talk about goal setting.
And I'm a big goal setter, and I know you are too, like casting a vision for your life, setting a goal, creating a strategic plan that's powerful. But when you look at the ancient spiritual texts, the Tanakh or the Torah or the Bible, or you look at a lot of the Buddhist or Taoist philosophy and monks, they don't talk about goal setting almost ever. They talk primarily about self-awareness.
And I'm a big goal setter, and I know you are too, like casting a vision for your life, setting a goal, creating a strategic plan that's powerful. But when you look at the ancient spiritual texts, the Tanakh or the Torah or the Bible, or you look at a lot of the Buddhist or Taoist philosophy and monks, they don't talk about goal setting almost ever. They talk primarily about self-awareness.
And I'm a big goal setter, and I know you are too, like casting a vision for your life, setting a goal, creating a strategic plan that's powerful. But when you look at the ancient spiritual texts, the Tanakh or the Torah or the Bible, or you look at a lot of the Buddhist or Taoist philosophy and monks, they don't talk about goal setting almost ever. They talk primarily about self-awareness.
Goal setting is where you want to go. Awareness is where are you right now? And you can't truly get to where you want to go unless you know where you are now. So think about if you're driving in a map, you're saying, Hey, I want to go to, I want to go up. I want to go down to the Maya, the Florida keys, wherever it is. Okay. Well, What if you don't know where you currently are?
Goal setting is where you want to go. Awareness is where are you right now? And you can't truly get to where you want to go unless you know where you are now. So think about if you're driving in a map, you're saying, Hey, I want to go to, I want to go up. I want to go down to the Maya, the Florida keys, wherever it is. Okay. Well, What if you don't know where you currently are?
Goal setting is where you want to go. Awareness is where are you right now? And you can't truly get to where you want to go unless you know where you are now. So think about if you're driving in a map, you're saying, Hey, I want to go to, I want to go up. I want to go down to the Maya, the Florida keys, wherever it is. Okay. Well, What if you don't know where you currently are?
How do you know whether to go east, west, north, south? It's pretty hard to know. So self-awareness is the epitome of wisdom, okay? And it's one of the most important. It's a cardinal virtue that we need to develop if we're going to grow to our highest level possible. By the way, there's some great research that shows that people that are the happiest do two things.
How do you know whether to go east, west, north, south? It's pretty hard to know. So self-awareness is the epitome of wisdom, okay? And it's one of the most important. It's a cardinal virtue that we need to develop if we're going to grow to our highest level possible. By the way, there's some great research that shows that people that are the happiest do two things.
How do you know whether to go east, west, north, south? It's pretty hard to know. So self-awareness is the epitome of wisdom, okay? And it's one of the most important. It's a cardinal virtue that we need to develop if we're going to grow to our highest level possible. By the way, there's some great research that shows that people that are the happiest do two things.
They're the people that serve others the most and the people that are experiencing the most growth in their life. and their character and skill. So if you wanna be happy, it's essential you do that, but it's really hard to grow unless you have a level of self-awareness. And I think that you develop self-awareness by thinking unbiasedly about where you are now.
They're the people that serve others the most and the people that are experiencing the most growth in their life. and their character and skill. So if you wanna be happy, it's essential you do that, but it's really hard to grow unless you have a level of self-awareness. And I think that you develop self-awareness by thinking unbiasedly about where you are now.
They're the people that serve others the most and the people that are experiencing the most growth in their life. and their character and skill. So if you wanna be happy, it's essential you do that, but it's really hard to grow unless you have a level of self-awareness. And I think that you develop self-awareness by thinking unbiasedly about where you are now.
And for most people, that's going to lead them to a great level of humility, of realizing that, you know what, we are finite beings in a vast, endless world. And we don't necessarily have to have a lot of meaning. And that's very humbling. But then there's a level of confidence that's built knowing that We're children of God created for eternal life.
And for most people, that's going to lead them to a great level of humility, of realizing that, you know what, we are finite beings in a vast, endless world. And we don't necessarily have to have a lot of meaning. And that's very humbling. But then there's a level of confidence that's built knowing that We're children of God created for eternal life.
And for most people, that's going to lead them to a great level of humility, of realizing that, you know what, we are finite beings in a vast, endless world. And we don't necessarily have to have a lot of meaning. And that's very humbling. But then there's a level of confidence that's built knowing that We're children of God created for eternal life.
And to know that we can literally alter the life of someone else, as we've talked about, we could say something mean and hurtful to somebody, which could cause them to take their own life or have a negative experience or whatever. Or we could say something to somebody that could save their life or cause them to go on to do great, meaningful things with their life.
And to know that we can literally alter the life of someone else, as we've talked about, we could say something mean and hurtful to somebody, which could cause them to take their own life or have a negative experience or whatever. Or we could say something to somebody that could save their life or cause them to go on to do great, meaningful things with their life.
And to know that we can literally alter the life of someone else, as we've talked about, we could say something mean and hurtful to somebody, which could cause them to take their own life or have a negative experience or whatever. Or we could say something to somebody that could save their life or cause them to go on to do great, meaningful things with their life.
So I think there's a level there of understanding at the simultaneously level We're almost nothing. We're dirt and we're mud. We're also eternal divine beings. You want to hold both things in your hand at the same time and be aware of yourself in that way. And some of the people that I respect the most, John, it's probably similar with yourself. they are the most spiritually and self-aware.
So I think there's a level there of understanding at the simultaneously level We're almost nothing. We're dirt and we're mud. We're also eternal divine beings. You want to hold both things in your hand at the same time and be aware of yourself in that way. And some of the people that I respect the most, John, it's probably similar with yourself. they are the most spiritually and self-aware.
So I think there's a level there of understanding at the simultaneously level We're almost nothing. We're dirt and we're mud. We're also eternal divine beings. You want to hold both things in your hand at the same time and be aware of yourself in that way. And some of the people that I respect the most, John, it's probably similar with yourself. they are the most spiritually and self-aware.
Like I'm thinking about pastors, rabbis, priests, monks. There's some of them where it's very hard to rattle them. It's almost like they're sitting there, they have a calm sense of spirit that's calming towards others. They ask, they see into your soul in a way, some of them even, that are really very aware. And so you could say something negative to them or hurtful,
Like I'm thinking about pastors, rabbis, priests, monks. There's some of them where it's very hard to rattle them. It's almost like they're sitting there, they have a calm sense of spirit that's calming towards others. They ask, they see into your soul in a way, some of them even, that are really very aware. And so you could say something negative to them or hurtful,
Like I'm thinking about pastors, rabbis, priests, monks. There's some of them where it's very hard to rattle them. It's almost like they're sitting there, they have a calm sense of spirit that's calming towards others. They ask, they see into your soul in a way, some of them even, that are really very aware. And so you could say something negative to them or hurtful,
And they're going to sit there without any expression change, or maybe the thing that will pop up on their face is a smile and say, they're going to be thinking more about hurt people say hurtful things. They're going to sit there and look at you and think, there's hurt in your life. How can I bless you? How can I love you and to help you heal?
And they're going to sit there without any expression change, or maybe the thing that will pop up on their face is a smile and say, they're going to be thinking more about hurt people say hurtful things. They're going to sit there and look at you and think, there's hurt in your life. How can I bless you? How can I love you and to help you heal?
And they're going to sit there without any expression change, or maybe the thing that will pop up on their face is a smile and say, they're going to be thinking more about hurt people say hurtful things. They're going to sit there and look at you and think, there's hurt in your life. How can I bless you? How can I love you and to help you heal?
Versus a person that's not self-aware, if somebody says something hurtful to them, they're going to respond with something hurtful back. They get punched, they're going to punch back. Versus it's like Taekwondo, I believe it's the martial arts where somebody punches you, you take their own force and you use it to move them or against them in that way.
Versus a person that's not self-aware, if somebody says something hurtful to them, they're going to respond with something hurtful back. They get punched, they're going to punch back. Versus it's like Taekwondo, I believe it's the martial arts where somebody punches you, you take their own force and you use it to move them or against them in that way.
Versus a person that's not self-aware, if somebody says something hurtful to them, they're going to respond with something hurtful back. They get punched, they're going to punch back. Versus it's like Taekwondo, I believe it's the martial arts where somebody punches you, you take their own force and you use it to move them or against them in that way.
It's more of that sort of, that self-awareness, that spiritual awareness or growth is having that sort of ability to,
It's more of that sort of, that self-awareness, that spiritual awareness or growth is having that sort of ability to,
It's more of that sort of, that self-awareness, that spiritual awareness or growth is having that sort of ability to,
and so being aware of your strengths and your weaknesses and being aware of where you need to grow and also being aware of maybe what others are thinking and feeling so you can support and bless their life so i do think that being connected to yourself and as the bible talks about the holy spirit or god for even that level of a higher consciousness working through you that is so incredibly powerful and the people i say see doing
and so being aware of your strengths and your weaknesses and being aware of where you need to grow and also being aware of maybe what others are thinking and feeling so you can support and bless their life so i do think that being connected to yourself and as the bible talks about the holy spirit or god for even that level of a higher consciousness working through you that is so incredibly powerful and the people i say see doing
and so being aware of your strengths and your weaknesses and being aware of where you need to grow and also being aware of maybe what others are thinking and feeling so you can support and bless their life so i do think that being connected to yourself and as the bible talks about the holy spirit or god for even that level of a higher consciousness working through you that is so incredibly powerful and the people i say see doing
not just the most with their life, but the most good with their life. Because there's people doing a lot with their life, but maybe it's working towards evil. Bill Gates does a lot with his life, but I think it's a net negative, right? And so there are other people that are doing it towards the good. And the other point there is with loneliness, and I'm not sure which question you were wanting.
not just the most with their life, but the most good with their life. Because there's people doing a lot with their life, but maybe it's working towards evil. Bill Gates does a lot with his life, but I think it's a net negative, right? And so there are other people that are doing it towards the good. And the other point there is with loneliness, and I'm not sure which question you were wanting.
not just the most with their life, but the most good with their life. Because there's people doing a lot with their life, but maybe it's working towards evil. Bill Gates does a lot with his life, but I think it's a net negative, right? And so there are other people that are doing it towards the good. And the other point there is with loneliness, and I'm not sure which question you were wanting.
I think it's the self-awareness, but not being connected only to yourself and the divine, but not being connected to the others. is one of the most physiological, destructive things in the world. In fact, there was a study, and I published this in my book.
I think it's the self-awareness, but not being connected only to yourself and the divine, but not being connected to the others. is one of the most physiological, destructive things in the world. In fact, there was a study, and I published this in my book.
I think it's the self-awareness, but not being connected only to yourself and the divine, but not being connected to the others. is one of the most physiological, destructive things in the world. In fact, there was a study, and I published this in my book.
There was a researcher, and they found that when it comes to decreasing lifespan, experiencing extreme loneliness for a day is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes.
There was a researcher, and they found that when it comes to decreasing lifespan, experiencing extreme loneliness for a day is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes.
There was a researcher, and they found that when it comes to decreasing lifespan, experiencing extreme loneliness for a day is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes.
You might be right. That's right. It might be 21 cigarettes a day, or it might be two different studies. But overall, you think about how damaging that is. It's incredibly destructive. And so I think that going into foster, I mean, my mindset, John, rather than having relationships that just fall into my lap, which I'm generally open to, but more so, I go and really, I'm very conscious about
You might be right. That's right. It might be 21 cigarettes a day, or it might be two different studies. But overall, you think about how damaging that is. It's incredibly destructive. And so I think that going into foster, I mean, my mindset, John, rather than having relationships that just fall into my lap, which I'm generally open to, but more so, I go and really, I'm very conscious about
You might be right. That's right. It might be 21 cigarettes a day, or it might be two different studies. But overall, you think about how damaging that is. It's incredibly destructive. And so I think that going into foster, I mean, my mindset, John, rather than having relationships that just fall into my lap, which I'm generally open to, but more so, I go and really, I'm very conscious about
Who are the five people I spend the most time with in making sure that I'm doing everything I can to love them and be a great friend and add value to them and that they can do the same reciprocal to me to be a sort of iron sharpens iron for each other. But I do think we're in an epidemic of loneliness right now with people today.
Who are the five people I spend the most time with in making sure that I'm doing everything I can to love them and be a great friend and add value to them and that they can do the same reciprocal to me to be a sort of iron sharpens iron for each other. But I do think we're in an epidemic of loneliness right now with people today.
Who are the five people I spend the most time with in making sure that I'm doing everything I can to love them and be a great friend and add value to them and that they can do the same reciprocal to me to be a sort of iron sharpens iron for each other. But I do think we're in an epidemic of loneliness right now with people today.
And I think that's another reason why, you know, when I first got into practice, the top issues that were growing were cancer, heart disease, diabetes, childhood obesity. Today, by far, the number one issue is mental health issues. depression, anxiety, and loneliness and identity disorders.
And I think that's another reason why, you know, when I first got into practice, the top issues that were growing were cancer, heart disease, diabetes, childhood obesity. Today, by far, the number one issue is mental health issues. depression, anxiety, and loneliness and identity disorders.
And I think that's another reason why, you know, when I first got into practice, the top issues that were growing were cancer, heart disease, diabetes, childhood obesity. Today, by far, the number one issue is mental health issues. depression, anxiety, and loneliness and identity disorders.
Exactly. I do think that's the epitome of identity issues is that it's that low self-worth. My life doesn't matter. And people need to understand that it does. It has eternal significance. And to your point, I do think that's the core of the issue.
Exactly. I do think that's the epitome of identity issues is that it's that low self-worth. My life doesn't matter. And people need to understand that it does. It has eternal significance. And to your point, I do think that's the core of the issue.
Exactly. I do think that's the epitome of identity issues is that it's that low self-worth. My life doesn't matter. And people need to understand that it does. It has eternal significance. And to your point, I do think that's the core of the issue.
Well, John, we have. In fact, I did a podcast not long ago and really talked about some of the negative impacts of alcoholism, how to overcome addiction with nutrition and mindset. And what I think, so I'm trying to think of who gave this quote, and I want to say it's Carl Jung, the famed psychologist. But he says something like this, when we don't have
Well, John, we have. In fact, I did a podcast not long ago and really talked about some of the negative impacts of alcoholism, how to overcome addiction with nutrition and mindset. And what I think, so I'm trying to think of who gave this quote, and I want to say it's Carl Jung, the famed psychologist. But he says something like this, when we don't have
Well, John, we have. In fact, I did a podcast not long ago and really talked about some of the negative impacts of alcoholism, how to overcome addiction with nutrition and mindset. And what I think, so I'm trying to think of who gave this quote, and I want to say it's Carl Jung, the famed psychologist. But he says something like this, when we don't have
a certain level of significance and meaning in our life, we go and we numb out with idle pleasures. But basically, people are looking for meaning. If you don't have meaning and significance in your life, it's painful. It's lonely. It also affects your sense of value.
a certain level of significance and meaning in our life, we go and we numb out with idle pleasures. But basically, people are looking for meaning. If you don't have meaning and significance in your life, it's painful. It's lonely. It also affects your sense of value.
a certain level of significance and meaning in our life, we go and we numb out with idle pleasures. But basically, people are looking for meaning. If you don't have meaning and significance in your life, it's painful. It's lonely. It also affects your sense of value.
And I think about right now, like anytime in my life that maybe I've had a sense of lacking value, there's some sort of a deep-seated emotional, spiritual pain that sort of is there.
And I think about right now, like anytime in my life that maybe I've had a sense of lacking value, there's some sort of a deep-seated emotional, spiritual pain that sort of is there.
And I think about right now, like anytime in my life that maybe I've had a sense of lacking value, there's some sort of a deep-seated emotional, spiritual pain that sort of is there.
And so I think that a lot of people who maybe don't know their purpose in life and don't know their unique gifts and skills and aren't using that for good, I think anytime we live out of alignment with the way God designed us, it's painful or it leads to pain in the long run. And so a lot of people will use alcohol to numb out. It's numbing in a way, right? And it's not just alcohol though.
And so I think that a lot of people who maybe don't know their purpose in life and don't know their unique gifts and skills and aren't using that for good, I think anytime we live out of alignment with the way God designed us, it's painful or it leads to pain in the long run. And so a lot of people will use alcohol to numb out. It's numbing in a way, right? And it's not just alcohol though.
And so I think that a lot of people who maybe don't know their purpose in life and don't know their unique gifts and skills and aren't using that for good, I think anytime we live out of alignment with the way God designed us, it's painful or it leads to pain in the long run. And so a lot of people will use alcohol to numb out. It's numbing in a way, right? And it's not just alcohol though.
I think it's almost anything that we can become addicted to. It could be Netflix and constantly just watching things. It could be scrolling constantly on TikTok or Instagram on social media. It could be shopping. It could be drugs. I mean, there's numerous things that we use to numb ourselves out.
I think it's almost anything that we can become addicted to. It could be Netflix and constantly just watching things. It could be scrolling constantly on TikTok or Instagram on social media. It could be shopping. It could be drugs. I mean, there's numerous things that we use to numb ourselves out.
I think it's almost anything that we can become addicted to. It could be Netflix and constantly just watching things. It could be scrolling constantly on TikTok or Instagram on social media. It could be shopping. It could be drugs. I mean, there's numerous things that we use to numb ourselves out.
But in those times, it's when we're typically the least self-aware as well when you're numbing yourself. And so with someone like you, I think that now maybe you're at a point in your life now where you probably have, from what I perceive, maybe more purpose and meaning than you've ever had. Again, you're having such a great impact on so many lives and so many people.
But in those times, it's when we're typically the least self-aware as well when you're numbing yourself. And so with someone like you, I think that now maybe you're at a point in your life now where you probably have, from what I perceive, maybe more purpose and meaning than you've ever had. Again, you're having such a great impact on so many lives and so many people.
But in those times, it's when we're typically the least self-aware as well when you're numbing yourself. And so with someone like you, I think that now maybe you're at a point in your life now where you probably have, from what I perceive, maybe more purpose and meaning than you've ever had. Again, you're having such a great impact on so many lives and so many people.
And you've heard this before, because you've probably read some Tony Robbins, too. He talks about this. Now, this goes way back to the Bible. I think it talks about this generally in the Old Testament. But We make decisions for two reasons, pain and pleasure, right? If we can get enough pleasure from something good in our life, then that's the best way to go.
And you've heard this before, because you've probably read some Tony Robbins, too. He talks about this. Now, this goes way back to the Bible. I think it talks about this generally in the Old Testament. But We make decisions for two reasons, pain and pleasure, right? If we can get enough pleasure from something good in our life, then that's the best way to go.
And you've heard this before, because you've probably read some Tony Robbins, too. He talks about this. Now, this goes way back to the Bible. I think it talks about this generally in the Old Testament. But We make decisions for two reasons, pain and pleasure, right? If we can get enough pleasure from something good in our life, then that's the best way to go.
But sometimes we make decisions to avoid pain. And so I think certain things could be drinking other things. Maybe we're doing that to avoid certain types of pain. But when it comes to connection, obviously the more you are clear of mind, right? Probably the deeper you can connect with somebody or have a real connection to. So I think there's a lot.
But sometimes we make decisions to avoid pain. And so I think certain things could be drinking other things. Maybe we're doing that to avoid certain types of pain. But when it comes to connection, obviously the more you are clear of mind, right? Probably the deeper you can connect with somebody or have a real connection to. So I think there's a lot.
But sometimes we make decisions to avoid pain. And so I think certain things could be drinking other things. Maybe we're doing that to avoid certain types of pain. But when it comes to connection, obviously the more you are clear of mind, right? Probably the deeper you can connect with somebody or have a real connection to. So I think there's a lot.
I think there's a lot to that conversation, a lot to that idea. And by the way, culturally, we're seeing this a lot with Gen Zers as well. There are more people now giving up things like alcohol than I think maybe what was happening 10, 20 years ago.
I think there's a lot to that conversation, a lot to that idea. And by the way, culturally, we're seeing this a lot with Gen Zers as well. There are more people now giving up things like alcohol than I think maybe what was happening 10, 20 years ago.
I think there's a lot to that conversation, a lot to that idea. And by the way, culturally, we're seeing this a lot with Gen Zers as well. There are more people now giving up things like alcohol than I think maybe what was happening 10, 20 years ago.
John, it's so powerful. I'm thinking back. So when I was in college, okay, I drank a pretty good amount with the guys there. I was in a fraternity, which going back, I never would have joined. But again, you learn. So I did it my first couple of years. I drank fairly heavily my freshman and sophomore year. And then I got to a point where I just felt really empty.
John, it's so powerful. I'm thinking back. So when I was in college, okay, I drank a pretty good amount with the guys there. I was in a fraternity, which going back, I never would have joined. But again, you learn. So I did it my first couple of years. I drank fairly heavily my freshman and sophomore year. And then I got to a point where I just felt really empty.
John, it's so powerful. I'm thinking back. So when I was in college, okay, I drank a pretty good amount with the guys there. I was in a fraternity, which going back, I never would have joined. But again, you learn. So I did it my first couple of years. I drank fairly heavily my freshman and sophomore year. And then I got to a point where I just felt really empty.
I thought none of my relationships were meaningful. I felt like I did have really meaningful relationships in high school. And I just prayed to God and said, God, I need you. And I ended up starting to really pursue God in my life, find my unique gifts and talents, my purpose. All of that in my life seemed to be more full. However, I did have some of the same friend group.
I thought none of my relationships were meaningful. I felt like I did have really meaningful relationships in high school. And I just prayed to God and said, God, I need you. And I ended up starting to really pursue God in my life, find my unique gifts and talents, my purpose. All of that in my life seemed to be more full. However, I did have some of the same friend group.
I thought none of my relationships were meaningful. I felt like I did have really meaningful relationships in high school. And I just prayed to God and said, God, I need you. And I ended up starting to really pursue God in my life, find my unique gifts and talents, my purpose. All of that in my life seemed to be more full. However, I did have some of the same friend group.
And every time, every social gathering was alcohol. That was at the center. And I'd find myself drinking and then not feeling good the next day or not being as productive or still not having those meaningful relationships. And I realized I needed to find a completely different social group.
And every time, every social gathering was alcohol. That was at the center. And I'd find myself drinking and then not feeling good the next day or not being as productive or still not having those meaningful relationships. And I realized I needed to find a completely different social group.
And every time, every social gathering was alcohol. That was at the center. And I'd find myself drinking and then not feeling good the next day or not being as productive or still not having those meaningful relationships. And I realized I needed to find a completely different social group.
It was almost like I had to fire or break up with my friend group and go find a completely different friend group because I felt like when I was hanging out with them, because I would try not to drink and I felt, okay, everyone else is drinking. I'm the one not drinking anymore, at least only drinking one.
It was almost like I had to fire or break up with my friend group and go find a completely different friend group because I felt like when I was hanging out with them, because I would try not to drink and I felt, okay, everyone else is drinking. I'm the one not drinking anymore, at least only drinking one.
It was almost like I had to fire or break up with my friend group and go find a completely different friend group because I felt like when I was hanging out with them, because I would try not to drink and I felt, okay, everyone else is drinking. I'm the one not drinking anymore, at least only drinking one.
And so I felt lonely, like I was the black sheep of the entire group for a while until I went and found a completely different group of friends. I think that's hard for a lot of people because a lot of us have relationships. We might feel guilty about maybe leaving a friend group behind.
And so I felt lonely, like I was the black sheep of the entire group for a while until I went and found a completely different group of friends. I think that's hard for a lot of people because a lot of us have relationships. We might feel guilty about maybe leaving a friend group behind.
And so I felt lonely, like I was the black sheep of the entire group for a while until I went and found a completely different group of friends. I think that's hard for a lot of people because a lot of us have relationships. We might feel guilty about maybe leaving a friend group behind.
But I think if you don't have, I think about it like this, a psychologist said this, he said, if you wouldn't recommend your own child hang out with them and you wouldn't like love that your kids are hanging out with them, you shouldn't hang out with them as well as one of your close friends.
But I think if you don't have, I think about it like this, a psychologist said this, he said, if you wouldn't recommend your own child hang out with them and you wouldn't like love that your kids are hanging out with them, you shouldn't hang out with them as well as one of your close friends.
But I think if you don't have, I think about it like this, a psychologist said this, he said, if you wouldn't recommend your own child hang out with them and you wouldn't like love that your kids are hanging out with them, you shouldn't hang out with them as well as one of your close friends.
Doesn't mean you can't minister to their life and you can't support them on occasion, but actually having a deep friendship with them or trying to pursue that sort of thing with them. If you wouldn't want your own child to have a deep relationship with them, then that's not the right fit for you either.
Doesn't mean you can't minister to their life and you can't support them on occasion, but actually having a deep friendship with them or trying to pursue that sort of thing with them. If you wouldn't want your own child to have a deep relationship with them, then that's not the right fit for you either.
Doesn't mean you can't minister to their life and you can't support them on occasion, but actually having a deep friendship with them or trying to pursue that sort of thing with them. If you wouldn't want your own child to have a deep relationship with them, then that's not the right fit for you either.
Yes, the blood suckers. Yes, that's a good, it's so true.
Yes, the blood suckers. Yes, that's a good, it's so true.
Yes, the blood suckers. Yes, that's a good, it's so true.
Well, I'd love that, John. And as I told you, I got family in Florida. I'll come down sometime from Nashville and would love to be on your show. Let's do an in-person. And I actually would love to have you to Nashville and interview you here as well. And if people do want to learn, I obviously talk a lot about health on my podcast. Like men, how do you boost your testosterone?
Well, I'd love that, John. And as I told you, I got family in Florida. I'll come down sometime from Nashville and would love to be on your show. Let's do an in-person. And I actually would love to have you to Nashville and interview you here as well. And if people do want to learn, I obviously talk a lot about health on my podcast. Like men, how do you boost your testosterone?
Well, I'd love that, John. And as I told you, I got family in Florida. I'll come down sometime from Nashville and would love to be on your show. Let's do an in-person. And I actually would love to have you to Nashville and interview you here as well. And if people do want to learn, I obviously talk a lot about health on my podcast. Like men, how do you boost your testosterone?
Women, how do you naturally bounce your hormones, gut health? immunity and a whole lot more and a lot of mindset and growth stuff. So people could check out the Dr. Josh Axe show too. But yeah, I would love to have you on. And this is an honor. Again, I know that you've got such an incredible base of listeners that are inspiring people and want to do big things with their lives.
Women, how do you naturally bounce your hormones, gut health? immunity and a whole lot more and a lot of mindset and growth stuff. So people could check out the Dr. Josh Axe show too. But yeah, I would love to have you on. And this is an honor. Again, I know that you've got such an incredible base of listeners that are inspiring people and want to do big things with their lives.
Women, how do you naturally bounce your hormones, gut health? immunity and a whole lot more and a lot of mindset and growth stuff. So people could check out the Dr. Josh Axe show too. But yeah, I would love to have you on. And this is an honor. Again, I know that you've got such an incredible base of listeners that are inspiring people and want to do big things with their lives.
So again, I just want to say thanks so much for having me on today.
So again, I just want to say thanks so much for having me on today.
So again, I just want to say thanks so much for having me on today.
Awesome. Well, thank you, John. God bless everybody. Thanks so much, John, again.
Awesome. Well, thank you, John. God bless everybody. Thanks so much, John, again.
Awesome. Well, thank you, John. God bless everybody. Thanks so much, John, again.