The #1 Overlooked Factor for a Longer, Healthier Life (It’s NOT Diet or Exercise)

Hey everyone, I am Dr. Josh Axe. Welcome to the show. Today we are going to be talking about how to not waste your life.

If you're a person saying, I want to get to the end of my life and I want to know that I gave it all I had, that I lived the best life I possibly could, and maybe you're a person right now and you're struggling with, you don't, you feel like your life lacks meaning or significance, or you don't have this big purpose in life, or maybe you have this sense of, uh, there's more. Yeah.

You're called to do more. You're called to be more and have a bigger impact. Do something significant. Well, I'm gonna talk about that on today's show. Also, how to overcome anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, that feeling that you're meant to do more with your life.

I'm gonna get into all of those things today, dive into the research, the biblical principles, and practical tips of how you can overcome stress. You can overcome depression, anxiety, and even build stronger immunity and longevity. Via the power of purpose and not feeling like you're wasting your life.

And today there are so many people I talk to who feel like part of their life is being wasted, that they're not using it all. And I'm going to dive into exactly why that is today and how to overcome those issues.

Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the channel and sign up for my weekly wellness newsletter at the link in the show notes if you want to get the best of the best content regarding to healing and health and body mind, and spirit. And I do wanna mention that when it comes to your physical health, most people overlook the biggest, the most impactful part of that.

And it's not diet, it's not nutrition, it's not exercise, it's not supplementation, it's not red light therapy. It has to do with your spiritual and mental health. And this is most tightly, most closely connected to your relationship, your connection to God and other people. If you don't feel like you have strong social connections, It leads to depression.

In fact, a medical study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that older adults who engage in meaningful volunteer work have up to a 44% lower risk of mortality.

And every study to date that's looked at what promotes longevity and health in somebody, one of the number one factors, if not the number one factor, is having close friendships, meaningful family and meaningful friendships.

In fact, there is a 90-year Harvard study and they found the single greatest factor for longevity, that's you living a long time with great health, the single, the single biggest factor is your social connections. And so one question I would ask for you is, do you feel like you have at least 5 really, really close friends?

People you can count on, people you have a great time with, people that you share a common purpose with. Do you feel like you have 5 people in your life that are very, very close, meaningful friends? And then the next question is, now do you have 10?

And so for most people, the answer is, No, I don't have that many friends that I can count on that wouldn't turn on me or that are there for me whenever I need them and that make me a better person. That's the other thing. They're there when you need them and they're iron sharpens iron for you, helping you grow and achieve your full potential in life.

And you have to have that if you are going to live your best life possible. And the other thing that we'll get into is how to live your best life is you also have to have this tied into a purpose that you are uniquely designed for. I truly believe that God created everybody with unique gifts.

Skill sets, character traits to where they can have a meaningful and a big impact on the world in some way. I also wanna mention that there are studies around this, of this feeling of where you're serving others and you're connecting deeply with others.

And there's something called functional MRI scans, and they show that the acts of contribution, so, you know, sharpening other people, adding value to other people, this activates the brain's reward centers in the same way that exercise does, flooding the body with feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine, Serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin.

And I wanna walk you through quickly so you can fully understand this. One of the greatest stories of all time. It's very short here, but incredibly powerful. And it's called The Four Philanthropists. And it's a story about a village taken over by enemy forces where all of the warriors are imprisoned. And among the villagers are 4 philanthropists who respond differently to their imprisonment.

So here's what happens in the story. The first 3 Philanthropists use their wealth to alleviate the suffering of the other imprisoned warriors. The first provides clean water, the second provides bedding, and the third provides food. And while their actions are charitable and make the prisoners' conditions more bearable, they don't address the underlying injustice of the imprisonment itself.

And so what the fourth philanthropist does is they take a different approach. Rather than simply addressing the symptoms of the problem, He goes directly to the root and frees the prisoners, addressing the actual injustice. And, you know, I see this in the life of Jesus, which is so interesting.

I think for most people, when you look at the life of Jesus, he did some incredible things, healing miracles, getting to the root of the problems of so many people. But when you look at the Sermon on the Mount, one of the things he does is he says, you know, blessed are Uh, the oppressed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those when, when people do wrong against you.

And, and, and I can see where somebody would be sitting there thinking, well, how could I be blessed in that? But in God's kingdom, you are. There are rewards for enduring hardship. There are rewards for sacrifice and giving things up to others. And so I think this is a very same principle that we see Jesus doing is, is that he is going to the actual root of the problem. In setting people free.

Now, this is something that I've really tried to take to heart in my medical career of not addressing issues with medications or with surgery. Instead saying, okay, why are you sick right now? And not just looking at diet, by the way. Now, diet is a huge factor, consuming too many sugars and consuming too many sugars and seed oils and artificial ingredients in foods.

However, oftentimes it's not just a dietary issue, it's an issue related to somebody's Mindset, their relationships, the health of their mind and their spirit, which is why I dive into these topics on the show, is they're equally important to your physical health.

Listen, there are people in Europe that are eating out every meal, and maybe some of their foods aren't as healthy as somebody might be eating here. I mean, I, I'll tell you, I have a lot of patients who, they're eating salads, they're eating organic food, they're eating very healthy, and yet they have medical issues.

Yet there might be people in Europe or other areas of the world who have, are not eating as healthy and have actually what looks like great health. And part of the issue there is due to their stress level, their mental health, their spiritual health, and the amount of emotional stress they're experiencing.

And I truly believe that emotional and spiritual and mental stress is far harder on the body than a poor diet. Now, you wanna really optimize both, but the reality is, is that our mindset and our spiritual health are critically important to our physical health.

And if you're a person and you're struggling with Hormone imbalance, gut and digestive issues, immune issues, neurodegenerative illness, chronic infections, weight gain. One of the single most important things you can do to heal is focus on growing yourself, serving others, and building strong connections with other people.

You know, when I think about my life and some of the things that have allowed me to experience the greatest amount of flourishing both financially, but also spiritually, and even my physical health. I think back to things like going on mission trips. You know, I went on a mission trip to Jamaica. I've been on a mission trip to China.

I've been on a mission trip to Africa, the inner cities of Dayton, different areas throughout the country and the world. And every time I've gone on a mission trip, I've come back and I see the bigger picture. I prioritize my life better. I build deeper, meaningful relationships. I grow closer to God. All of those things happen when I do some form of a mission trip.

You know, I think back to any sort of great and thoughtful gift I've ever given anybody, and I've never regretted it, giving somebody a really great gift that I spent time— I put time into because of the way it impacts that person. You know, I think about other things like some of the deep friendships I have built. I've never regretted putting time into those things.

And even giving and tithing biblically, you know, Chelsea and I are very adamant about giving at least 10% of what we bring in. Via our, our, our, our business and giving those to charities and the local church and to people in need. And these are things that when I look back at, I've never regretted.

And, and when I look at the things that have been the most meaningful in my life, these are some of those things. And so what I want you to think about is if you want to heal, here's what all the studies show. You need to give more of yourself and stop focusing on yourself as much. Okay? And there are studies I'm gonna get into that prove this. In fact, listen to this.

A recent study examined 2 ways of trying to increase one's self-worth in a sample of adults with both depression and anxiety. Okay, so, so self-worth is your self-values, your self-confidence. And if you're a person right now and you feel like you don't have a really high level of self-confidence, self-worth, self-esteem, well, then listen to this.

In this study, self-image goals which were focused on obtaining status or approval of others, having other people like you and pleasing others, or even avoiding vulnerability during social interactions. These things were shown to— were as part of the study in one group. And examples also included getting others to notice your positive qualities and avoiding showing your own weaknesses.

In contrast, another group in the study, they had compassionate goals, which were about striving to help others and avoiding selfish behavior. For example, making a positive difference in the life of someone else. The researchers measured how much each participant focused on these goals and also assessed their depression and anxiety symptoms and their degree of conflict with other people.

Here's what the study showed: that a greater focus on self-image, your own self-esteem, growing your own self-confidence, those goals, was linked to more relationship conflict and a worsening of symptoms during the 6-week period— depression, and anxiety got worse. In contrast, people that had more compassionate goals were associated with lower levels of symptoms and less relationship conflict.

They had deeper, more intimate relationships. Their depression, anxiety started to go away. And so you would think, and, and here's what most people do, they think, okay, I, you know, I have depression, I have anxiety, and part of the way I wanna go about that is I wanna build my own self-confidence. And so I'm gonna tell people how great I am, or I'm gonna go and try and please people.

And I'm going to, you know, focus on self-growth in that way. And it leads to more depression and anxiety versus the people who took the focus off of themselves and said, you know what, I'm not gonna worry about myself in that way. I'm gonna focus on just adding value to others, not to be liked, but just because it's the right thing to do. Just because that's what Jesus did.

I wanna give myself, I wanna get them a nice gift. I wanna pay for a meal. I want to give them an encouraging word. I wanna— You know, support them with their, maybe babysit their kids, whatever it is for you. Okay. And that showed much, much greater levels of self-fulfillment and overcoming the medical conditions of depression and anxiety.

And the very same thing holds true if you're dealing with an autoimmune issue, if you're dealing with diabetes, if you're dealing with dementia, if you're dealing with almost any condition you can imagine.

The best thing you can do, one of the greatest things you can do to heal your physical body is to say, I want to get in a practice of just adding value to others and seeing how I can serve and love them. Now, I do want to mention this. There are some people who do a lot of giving and serving to others, but here's something I've noticed over the years.

That person, well, that woman, that mom in particular with hypothyroidism or chronic fatigue, or just that's not doing well, They're constantly doing things and they're giving and serving and nourishing others, but they're doing it because they feel like they have to, or they're doing it because they, they're a people pleaser and want people to— deep down they have this thing that happened when they were a kid and they want people to like them because at some point they were rejected.

In doing it for that reason and that reason alone can actually make people more sick. Versus saying, you know what, I know I'm called to be like Jesus. I'm gonna do this just because I love seeing the joy it brings somebody else. Even if they don't say thank you, even if it's, I know this is gonna make someone's life better.

There's just a simple mind shift that needs to take place of why you're serving and loving others. And if you're doing it still for only your own benefit, it can be hard on your body. And I do wanna mention for you, the person out there that, that is exhausted. And overwhelmed in dealing with a medical condition.

You need to go and nourish and serve others, but then you also need to nourish and take care of yourself. Okay? So you need to be eating nourishing foods. You need to be going for walks outside in the sunshine. You need to read a book that really encourages you and lifts you up. You need to spend time connecting with people that are encouraging you and loving you and making you better, right?

So, so it is this balance for some of you in particular where you need to be getting nourished and then nourishing others. Okay? And, and what's happening is, for a lot of you, if you are trying to pour into others, it's like you've never been poured into.

So you're giving something you don't even have in the first place, or you're taking from your reserves to where you're making yourself emotionally, mentally bankrupt. And so it is important that we're going about serving and loving others the right way. But if you do it, it's one of the most healing things you can ever do.

Now I want to go back and talking about this 4th Philanthropist, and they tackled the root cause of suffering, right? So, so these people were in a camp, they were in prison. And this philanthropist, the first 3 said, okay, you're in prison, I'm going to give you water, I'm going to give you clothes, I'm going to give you food.

Where the 4th, the philanthropist said, no, I'm going to set you free from the prison. And modern medicine today, this is where it's failing people. It's taking care of the symptom, one of these symptoms that people have that's causing some discomfort, but it's not truly setting them free. And if you want to be set free, it's not about taking medication.

It's about getting to the source and the root of why you are sick. And for so many people, there is trauma that happened when you were younger and you've never taken care of it, or you've never taken time to truly find your purpose or to focus on what your unique gifts and skills are and using that for the, for, for, for the kingdom of God, right?

So if you are just simply trying to eat better and exercise more and say, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and build your own self-esteem, that will never fully get to the issue with a lot of you. It's about finding your purpose, finding your true identity, finding your gifts and talents, and using that to benefit the world. When you do that, It is so healing. And I wanna mention this as well.

For thousands of years, philosophers and thinkers have pondered the meaning of life and the best ways to use our limited time on the planet. By the way, this is incredibly healing, using your time wisely. In fact, there are studies that show that when you are using your unique gifts and skills and serving others with those skills, it's one of the greatest things that brings fulfillment. In life.

Another one is growing. If you feel like you're growing spiritually, if you feel like you're improving physically, if you feel like you're growing mentally, if you are growing and advancing in life in some way, that is one of the greatest alleviators of depression and one of the greatest things that can boost your physical health.

And for many of you, maybe you feel like you've been in the same place for 10 years, or you feel like maybe physically you've had this roadblock and you just haven't moved for 10 years. And what that does physically is it— when you feel that way mentally and spiritually, it actually causes that to happen within your own body physically. Do you hear what I said? This is key.

If you feel like you're stuck in life, in your business, in your relationships, in a bad marriage, something like that, whatever you feel there, that starts to impact your physical body in that same way. And this is according to thousands of years of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.

And I see— I think we see Some of these same principles in the Bible of what make people sick when it comes to living with despair and hopelessness and and and ruminating in these negative emotions. You know, one of the things God is always doing to help people is is casting a vision for them and saying, "Hey, you know, like like that like the Abraham Abraham look at the stars in the sky.

Look at the sand on the seashore. That's how numerous your descendants will be." You know, God is the God of hope, giving, you know, God says in Jeremiah 29:11, I've given you a hope and a future, right? So, so it's important that we are able to break free of these negative emotions, and you don't do it by focusing on yourself more. That's the key. I mean, think about the Bible.

It never says, go and just focus on yourself more. That's gonna help. No, it says, fix your eyes on Jesus. Hey, fix your eyes on this calling and this purpose I've called you to in life. Fix your eyes on the kingdom of God and making earth a more heavenly place and on serving and loving others and loving your neighbor. That's the secret.

And so it's important to know that if you're not focusing on improving your life in this way, you're not going to maximize your physical health potential, your spiritual potential, or any potential in life. And one of the biggest things you want to focus on, as we've been talking about, is contribution. How can you contribute to something bigger than yourself?

You know, you're, you're, we're small and, and that leads to small results. When you're focused on something big, doing something big that God has called you to do, well, this truly can transform your health and your mind and your entire body. So what contribution does is it connects us something to larger than ourselves.

And humans have an intrinsic need for purpose, and a contribution provides a sense of both purpose and direction in your life. And when you feel like you're actions are leading to positive change. It provides a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. You know, according to Chinese medicine, purpose is tied to something called chi in Chinese medicine.

And this is what gives your adrenal glands energy. It's what also feeds your— what's called your mitochondria, giving your body cellular energy. So when you have a purpose that you're striving towards, it actually— imagine it like a spark plug or a battery.

It's all of a sudden purpose is lifting up and increasing your body's battery, giving all of the cells and tissues and organs in your very mitochondria more energy to heal and regenerate. Have you ever, you know, woken up just with a sense of, man, I've got something I'm excited about today, and it gives your entire body energy? If you don't have your purpose, that's not happening.

According to studies, only 25% of people are clear on their purpose. That leaves 75% of people who don't feel like they know their purpose in life, and so they're not getting that Mitochondrial ATP, that adrenal energy that's gonna feed and energize their entire body and promote healing. Now I wanna talk about the science of contribution and making a big impact.

Again, if you're a person saying, I wanna have a big impact, here's the science behind it. Number one is, what are the talents you have and the strengths you have that could benefit others where you can add value to others? That's one thing to think about. Now I do wanna go through the science. There are studies that show that giving and using your gifts for others helps you heal.

According to studies published in the Psychosomatic Medicine Journal, they found that purpose-driven individuals had lower levels of inflammation, meaning they were less prone to chronic disease.

Another study published in the Neuroscience Journal found that generosity and purpose stimulate the release of dopamine and oxytocin, creating something called a helper's high, which also helps you heal and do more with your life. There's another study on longevity published in The Lancet that found that people with a strong sense of purpose were 30% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

And the Blue Zones research found that people in Japan practice something called ikigai, which when they practice it is a greater predictor of lifespan. And that's when they are tied to and know their purpose in life.

Another study published in the Psychology Journal, in fact, this research was done by Martin Seligman, and they found that those people who discovered their strength and used it to serve others better overcame depression and anxiety. And so we see this over and over again.

What scientists are finding, what the Bible is proving, is that you need to discover your gifts and use your gifts to serve others. Now, listen, if you don't know your gifts, then just serve others. You know, take the opportunity in front of you. And I love what Albert Einstein says. He says this. Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

And he also says in a similar quote, only a life lived in service to others is a meaningful life. And so here's the thing to know. Purpose is not a nice-to-have thing that just a few people find in their life. Everyone is meant to know their purpose. And you really have 2 types of purpose in life.

You have our global purpose that you share with everybody, and then you have your individual unique purpose in how you serve that more global purpose. So I believe that Our overall purpose in life and some of the things the Bible teaches us are to love and connect deeply with God, love others, like love our neighbor as ourself, make disciples, which is part of loving your neighbor.

So mentoring and adding value to others, helping them grow in their gifts and skills and making earth a more heavenly place, right? Bringing heaven to earth, restoring the Garden of Eden. These are things we are called to do right now globally. And then you need to think about what is your unique way that you can love others, for instance? What is that way, that skill you have?

You know, one of the things that I try and think about is, okay, well, God has given me a passion for and an affinity for understanding, um, natural medicine. And so what I do on a regular basis is I try and find people that I am going to create a nutrition plan for, that I'm going to send supplements to, that I'm going to give them a medical consult for, for no charge.

Okay, so there are people, you know, I re— and I have this every week, at least one person a week. I have a person right now who has stage 3 breast cancer, and I'm doing a call with her this week. Last week I had somebody who had a glioblastoma brain cancer. There's a lot of cancer patients recently. I have somebody else with Hashimoto's right now I'm caring for.

So there are people that I focus on, um, giving without getting anything in return because God has given me A gift and a skill to be able to help people navigate their health issues and do it in a natural way. And so this is something I'm passionate about in giving in that way. And so think about it for yourself is what is something that you can do in adding value and serving others in some way?

Now, the other thing I, I mentioned before is we should be giving. The other big thing we, we're designed for is human connection. We are inherently social creatures. And through contribution, whether it's our time, our resources, our skills, we can foster connection and strengthen bonds with other people, which enhance our sense of belonging and community.

You know, I'm in a men's group right now, and I have just an unbelievable group of men that are iron sharpens iron with me. I'm in a group with a guy, Isaac Meek, who runs Five Daughters Bakery. I mean, he's an amazing dad. I mean, you know what, one of the things I love about Isaac, he's got 5 daughters. He brings all of his daughters on a date night every single month.

Brings his wife on a date night. You know, they surprise their kid with great trips. They bring 'em on mission trips. They teach them to serve. I mean, amazing dad. And so I'm in a group with this guy and I get value from him every week and just seeing how he fathers and his daughters. It's unbelievable. I have another guy, Dan Sullivan.

He's got 3 daughters and seeing what he does as a husband and as a business leader, um, and how he's always encouraging me and lifting me up is so valuable. Got Colt Morton in there. He is the president of H&Nutrition. He's an amazing entrepreneur, amazing leadership expert. He played professional baseball. So his leadership advice and what he offers every week is amazing.

Andrew East is in there with me. He is, uh, an amazing entrepreneur, an amazing leader. Seeing how he fathers parents, it just creates experiences for his family. I sit back and look at these experiences he creates. He's really focused on creating amazing memories and traditions and having a great family culture. And I learned so much from him. And Dr. Christopher Motley's in there too.

He's an amazing medical expert, and the things I learned from him in terms of just natural medicine and healing. So I'm in a group of— with a group of men on a regular basis. We connect formally once a month, but then another time once a month we go to dinner and connect. And this is a group of guys that I have grown so, so closely to.

But I want to mention what one reason why this group of men is so close. It has to do with we all have our unique gifts and skills, and we use that to pour into each other constantly. So in the group, we say, hey, what, you know, you know, how's your marriage? You know, how's your relationship with your kids? How's your business practice? How's your life in general? Okay.

You know, and we share vulnerably what we're dealing with, what we're struggling with, and then we look to benefit and add value to each other, whether it be through prayer or making, you know, connections relationally or giving each other an encouraging word. We're there to do that. And so that's something I want to encourage you to consider as well.

I think finding a growth group of people you can connect with via church is probably the best place to find it. If not, this is a group you can put together. So I put together this group because I said, what are the group of guys that I want to spend time with that are iron sharpens iron, the same people I want to vacation with, with.

I want to be purpose-driven with in life, and I want to spend more time with these people formally. And we started this group, and I did this because Michael Hyatt, a friend of mine, started a similar group. Dave Ramsey started a similar group, and it's been one of the most meaningful things of my life.

And part of it, again, is just me setting up time with other virtuous people where we connect on a regular basis. So I believe for myself, some of the most important habits I have— one is date night with my spouse, my wife Chelsea. The other is my, you know, my men's group.

So my date night, my men's group, my connection, you know, my brunches with my family, my family meals— these are habits of connecting with my wife, my family, my daughters, my friends on a regular basis. And so I would schedule those things, you know. You know, we've all heard the Aristotelian quote, which by the way.

He didn't say specifically, but basically it was summing him up, is, you know, we are what we repeatedly do, right? Our habits. We become our habits. And one of the greatest habits you can get into doing is connecting with people on a regular basis.

And again, the way that I've done this is date night with a spouse, connecting with a growth group, whether you're signing for one up at church or, or, or you're starting one yourself, something like that on a regular basis. Connecting with your kids in some way where you're doing something with them regularly. Family dinners, like we do family brunch on Saturdays and Sundays and we love it. Okay?

We either do it at home or go places or do it with family. So that's been a great form of connection. But scheduling those things and then going to things like church, you know? So these are things that are going to help you grow.

And then at church, there's just a natural place to sign up for adding value to others, whether it be helping out in the parking lot or with with, with watching kids or, you know, whatever's going on in the community. Doing these things adds more value. The thing is, you're, you're giving a lot away, but you get even more in return. That's the amazing paradoxical biblical principle.

The more you give, the more you get. If you've been doing everything right, eating clean, exercising, but somehow you're still not feeling your best, your energy's dragging, your memory is slipping, and it's frustrating because you know there's more to your potential. Well, what if the issue isn't just in your routine, but it's deep down inside your cells?

You know, you're investing in the best supplements, working out regularly, and sticking to a clean diet. But if your cells are stuck in what's called cell danger response, all the hard work might not be paying off as it should. Think of your cells like a house under renovation.

You can bring in the highest quality materials like the best supplements and clean foods, but if the workers inside the house are on lockdown because of a storm, nothing gets done. The materials just pile up unused. That's what happens when your cells are in CDR. They can't fully use the good stuff you're giving them.

Getting out of CDR The cell danger response is the key to unlocking your body's full potential. When your cells are no longer in protective mode, they can finally use the nutrients, hormones, and energy you're working so hard to provide. That's when everything starts to click. Your energy improves, your workouts become more efficient, and you start to feel like yourself again.

Go to beyondbloodwork.com to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. And here's the other thing I think that's so impactful, and this is really what the Bible teaches, is that most of us want to have a lasting impact that lasts beyond our, beyond our time here on Earth.

There's a famous quote, and I believe it's by Confucius, and he says this: when you plant a walnut tree, Where you'll never sit under its shade and you'll never eat its fruit, then you know the meaning of life.

When you do something that you'll never get the benefit of, you know, you'll never, you'll never sit in its shade, you'll never eat its fruit, but you do that because you know it's the right thing to do and it's gonna add value to your, to other people, whether it's your family or others.

And what really sums this up is, is the Bible verse in Matthew that says, you know, do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves can break in and steal. Instead, store for yourself treasures in heaven, right? It's this sort of idea.

So just adding value to others on a regular basis, and it will fill you with so much life and so much health and so much energy that it'll help you heal physically. It'll help you live your best life. And I do want to mention this, you know, this— there's a whole world today of self-help and personal growth. And it's incredibly toxic in a lot of cases.

Now, there is some good self-help out there or some good personal growth ideas, but if you are reading a book that's self-help and it's all about focusing on you and making your life better and making your life perfect and all, and that's the basis of the book, it's not a good book. It'll actually lead you to a bad place.

It makes you feel good temporarily, but then long term it leads you into a place you don't want to be. More depression, more anxiety, more self— it makes you selfish.

Versus if you're reading a book on personal growth that's all about how you can use your gifts and skills to benefit humanity, to benefit others, to contribute, to grow, or, or, or a book by someone like John Maxwell on how you can grow in your character and more Christlike, well, that's a great book. That's a great book on personal growth.

But most personal growth and self-help books are absolute garbage. It's like, make yourself feel good and wonderful. That's gonna lead you to actually feeling worse about yourself. So the whole self-help, I would say 90% of it today, that, that, that whole, that, that whole realm is, is absolute garbage and it'll actually lead to more depression and anxiety.

You know, part of the problem today of why we have created this sort of culture around self-help, think about it, helping yourself, it, it, it's so selfish the more you think about it. And so much of it comes from our modern individualistic society. You know, we call it the modern identity.

People are focused on themselves constantly, where throughout history people were focused on benefiting not just themselves, but their family and their community. And when you lack a real true sense of purpose, we default to survival mode, okay? Rather than thriving as a group together, you're just surviving yourself, and it leads to loneliness, isolation.

And you may accumulate some material success, a social media following, but overall it's not going to lead to true happiness and fulfillment. And by instead focusing on serving your family and your community and others, well, this leads to true healing and a life that you can be proud of and excited about.

And when we look at the ancient Greek philosophers, which had so much wisdom, when you look at Aristotle and Plato and Socrates, and by the way, they, they definitely said some things I don't agree with. That are wrong, but they also had an incredible amount of wisdom. And there was this term that was used by them called the summum bonum. And this interpreted today means the greatest good.

And part of your success in life is determined by this, the questions you ask. Okay? And so part of the summum bonum is what is the highest good, the supreme good, the greatest good? Well, if we move this over into Judeo-Christian thought, it's God, it's Jesus, right? That's the greatest good. Okay.

And so we should be thinking to ourselves all the time in this situation, what is the greatest good I can do? What is the most loving thing I can do for this person in front of me right now? I mean, most of the time, and I found this in medicine and in, in business and in health, most people ask, what can I get away with? Let me give you an example.

Your anniversary's coming up, you forgot about it, okay? And you think about, okay, what can I do? What's the, what's the minimum amount I can do to where my wife is gonna not get mad at me or realize I forgot something coming up? Okay? So, so it's like, okay, I'm gonna go and grab flowers really quickly in this box of chocolates in here and try and make reservations last second. Okay?

Versus really thinking about, you know what, my wife is the most important person in my life. And I wanna do everything I can to really let her know that she is treasured, she is loved, and that our marriage was just incredibly important. So I'm gonna be thoughtful about what I do in creating just an amazing day for her.

I'm gonna get her— yeah, by the way, this is my, my thoughts, so you might be like, this is not what I would do. But I'm like, okay, Chelsea loves reflexology, so get her to a, you know, a foot massage, you know, spa. And, and, and she loves to do that together, so we go there together. And what's her favorite meal?

Oh, she loves this place in Nashville called Yulan where we do this Italian food and we drink wine and we just hang out and have a great time. Maybe I even do a trip. What's a place Chelsea loves to go?

And let me call her mom ahead of time to watch the kids and really set something up special for her and get her the— so it's taking time to think about what is the most loving thing I can do for this person right now. You know, let's say you have a friend going through a divorce Or, or that lost a loved one or even lost their dog.

You know, we had this happen recently where we had a friend and they lost their dog and we knew how much their dog meant to them. And so we, we, we ordered them on DoorDash a meal. We then also dropped off a meal. We called, we text them to check up on them.

We made sure that next weekend that we went and spent time with them and, and just did everything we could to Really care for them and love them. And so be thinking about in every situation, not what can I get away with, what is the most— what is the suum bonum? What is the greatest love? What is the thing Jesus would do? What is the most loving thing I can do for this person right now?

And if you walk around with that mindset and that spiritual demeanor all day long, you are filled with such joy. It just, it just overflows out of you. And so just ask— I'm telling you this right now, this one question will radically change your life. What is the most loving thing I can do for this person right now? What is the thing? What is something really radically loving I can do?

And try and do radical loving things all day, every day. And if you can do that, you're loving others, you're hitting the mark. And that's what you want to— that's part of the idea of what you want to focus on. Here's how Thomas Aquinas puts it. Thomas Aquinas is one of the wisest, most profound saints of all time, and he calls it willing the good of the other.

And Aquinas' concept sees love as a choice to act for the genuine good and well-being of others. It emphasizes selflessness, self-sacrifice, concern, true concern for the well-being of someone else to where you'll sacrifice yourself in order for their well-being. You know, there's a scene in my favorite movie probably of all time, and that's Lord of the Rings.

And at the end of Return of the King, and Frodo cannot get any further up the mountain, he has no energy left, nothing left in him, and Samwise Gamgee literally picks him up on his shoulders and runs him to the top of, of the mountain in this, in, in, in the, the Return of the King and Lord of the Rings. And, and it's that, it's you're doing that for someone else. They can't do it.

You are doing everything, taking everything you can to help someone else in that instance. And that is the greatest good. You're doing the greatest good in the world when you sacrifice yourself in order to give to others.

And you're sacri— and listen, it, it is a form of a sacrifice to take your time and really think through and put together something special for somebody, whether it's your anniversary or a date night for a spouse or a, a, you know, a date night with your daughter or going to a football game with your son, whatever it is. These things, they're a form of sacrifice that lead to the greatest good.

And I do wanna mention, this is very different than the mindset of some of the greatest villains of all time and people like Bill Gates who focus on the greater good, not the greatest good. It's the greater good. And we see this in a movie like The Avengers with Thanos, right?

He believes that the greater good is getting rid of a certain number of people, you know, getting rid of half the population so then the people that are left have more. Okay, he believes that's, that's the greater good. Bill Gates does this by, by testing out vaccines on kids in Africa, right?

And so he believes that, hey, it's going to hurt some and we're going to sacrifice some of these people, but it's good for everybody. Or Bill Gates again, who's flying his jet around and using all of this, you know, carbon emission, and he's like, well, you know, um, it's towards the greater good. I can do it, but I don't want other people to do it. Listen, here's the reality.

Bill Gates wants to make a significant impact on a global scale. However, his lack of truly understanding the biblical principles or even the Greek principles of the suum bonum, of the greatest good, lead him to actually doing much more harm than good.

The greater good emphasizes maximizing the overall benefit or well-being of a large number of individuals While sacrificing a certain number of individuals. And it tends to be the wealthy are benefited and the, those that are poor are the ones that are harmed. And this places an emphasis on doing good morally first and foremost, irrespective of the number of people involved.

But the reality is, is that it actually leads to more harm. And, and it, and it's the most hypocritical way you could go through life. And so this is sort of what we see here, that, that, and this is what the, the way that a lot of people focus is, well, it's not good for those people, but it's, it is good for the larger group.

And so that's the, that's the, that's the way we're gonna move forward with this. And that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches if it's truly good, it's good for everyone. And so ask yourself this question, are you focused more on the greater good, helping just, you know, just your community only while sacrificing another community or person?

Or are you focused on, no, I wanna do what's good for everybody and I'll sacrifice myself in order to see the good of everybody? And again, I wanna point this out there for moms and dads out there especially, or the person out there who you're constantly giving yourself and you have nothing left, so you've hurt your own health.

That's not good either because do you know how many kids would rather have their mom or dad and spend time with them? Then they would have a certain level of wealth. I see this all the time as an example. I see moms more so working a full-time job and trying to be also a mom and a wife and a number of things.

And so, and they're trying to make a lot of money, but now they have less time with their little kids, right? And so that might seem like a virtuous good thing, but I think that's only that's done more so today because the world applauds that and says, that's what you're supposed to do. Versus, versus doing what's actually the best for everyone around you.

That, that's just another, that's a, that's a modern-day example of something that happens where society tells you, you're called, this is what success is, versus the Bible saying, no, success is loving your family, being there for your family. And, and it's the same for, Listen, it's the same for women and men.

The man that's going on a business trip every single week and gone constantly versus getting a job that pays a little bit less but being with his family all the time, it's a really big difference there, right? And so, it's a very similar thing. Now, I want to talk about charity and giving. There's one of the greatest, the wisest rabbis of all time.

His name is Rabbi Moses Maimonides, and he created something called the charity ladder and said there's different levels of generosity. And we We wanna be as generous as possible. So here's what he says. Giving reluctantly or with regret after being asked, that's the lowest level of charity. It is charity, by the way, and it's better than not giving.

So if you're giving 10% away every month and you're reluctant about it versus somebody is giving nothing, well, you're still giving. And so that is a form of charity. However, there are many levels of charity above giving reluctantly or with regret. One step up is giving willingly and cheerfully, but not to the level that you could. Okay?

Or not giving to that level above of what the Bible calls of 10%. I know that's— there's theological debate about 10% or just whatever you feel like, but I do believe that 10% number is significant. Here, here's a step up from that. Proactively giving to someone in need without them asking. Okay? Somebody asks for something. Okay, you give.

But what about just Giving because you know that person, or you're seeking out trying to give more. Okay, this is the greatest level. And here's another big one. The highest level is seeking out giving to someone in need and not telling them it came from you. This is a biblical principle as well.

Okay, because if you give to be recognized or recognized, the Bible says that you will get more rewards in heaven based on giving without trying to be recognized for your contributions. Now, listen, no matter who you are or what you're doing, giving to a good cause is wise. And I do want to say, be mindful of who and why you're giving to.

Just like we want to be focused on root cause medicine of getting to the root of the issue, sometimes giving to certain organizations that aren't focusing on the root cause aren't truly helping the person. So this is why I think, you know, Maimonides is famous for saying, Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

And he says that is the number one form of charity, is teaching people, not just giving somebody money, but teaching them how to make money themselves or teaching them how to be good themselves in that way. And so think about that for yourself.

What is something you can do or something, some group you can give to where they're not only going to give somebody money, But teach them how to make money. You know, one of the charities Chelsea and I love to give to, there's actually 2. One's called Mully Children's Family Home in Kenya, and another one is Iris Global in Mozambique. And both of these groups do regenerative farming.

And so what they do is they bring in kids, like in Mully's Children's Family Home, these are kids that have some, some of them were thrown in a dumpster. They were rescued out of there. They're adopted. They are then raised up in a school, in a Christian school.

And then once they graduate, they're able to get jobs if they want in farming and eventually owning lands for themselves where they're then creating these regenerative farming. You know, Jordan Rubin and I were consulting IRIS on growing more moringa trees and things like that for regenerative farming.

And so look out for charities and things where you can actually not only give them money, but actually support them in becoming more themselves. Something really powerful in that way. And so if you Think about this principle like this, is that you're, you know, somebody's in a ditch.

Imagine it like when you're giving to somebody, they're in a ditch, and you can give them money, give them food, and, and they stay in the ditch, and you just keep giving them there. Or you can put your hand down in the ditch, pull them out, teach them how to pull other people out of ditches, right? And they become more self-reliant. This is the most powerful form of charity.

So if they're And this is why I love discipleship. If you can disciple and mentor other people, start a growth group, volunteer at church. You know, I did this when I was in college. I taught high school, and when I was in grad school, I taught college kids, and I discipled and led, you know, growth groups and men's group over the years.

And for me, it's been maybe the single most fulfilling thing I've ever done is discipling other people. And so if you're wondering, hey, what can you do? What's a way you can give? The single greatest place you can give is by mentoring someone else or discipling somebody, whether it's via through a church or through a business group or via something else.

But that's the most— that is the greatest form of giving there is, is using your time and your talents and your character to pour into somebody who needs mentorship and discipleship. You know, one of the things that I believe I've seen today from when I was a kid to today is I think there's less mentorship and discipleship.

When I was growing up as a kid, we always went to Sunday school and I was always in a growth group. And there's a lot less of that today for kids. I don't think there's, there's rarely ever Sunday school where kids go and learn more in-depth stuff in, in, in, in those ways. And so I do think that that's something that's missing. And I look at a lot of churches today.

I mean, I have people constantly coming up to And they say, Dr. Axe, I'm looking for a mentor. I'm looking to be discipled. So if you can step up and take some of your time to disciple and mentor someone else, it's the greatest form of charity you can give. I truly believe that. Look at Jesus' model. What did he spend most of his time doing? Did Jesus give away a lot of money?

You know, I'm sure he gave some away, but when you read the Bible, what did he spend a lot of time doing? Discipling other people, right? Discipling people, demonstrating how to live their lives practically. And it's because it's the greatest form of charity there is.

And along with discipling and mentoring others, I would say the greatest thing you can do to serve other people is discover what your unique gifts and skills and talents are and use those to impact society positively. Psychologist Emily Smith says this: the key to purpose is using your strengths to serve others. That's easy, right? The key to your purpose is using your strengths to serve others.

And so spending time discovering your unique gifts and skills, and the Bible talks about this, I believe, in the parable of the talents. There's a story of Jesus in the New Testament where Jesus says that there was a master and he gave his 3 servants. One he gave 5 talents, another 2, another 1. The person with 5 and 10 doubled their talents. The person with 1 buried it in the ground.

And when God came back, he said to the 2, well done, good and faithful servants, I'm going to double what I've given you. And to the one who just buried it, he said, you wicked servant. There's going to be eternal punishment. And so think about that.

I mean, in the Bible, one of the most powerful parables of all time is about using your talents or your money, these things that God has given you, and multiplying them for the good of the world versus if you're just wasting them. And so we're called to be good stewards, and this leads to true fulfillment in life. If you can focus on what your strengths are.

You know, John Maxwell says this, by the way, I think this is important to recognize. He says, focusing on weaknesses instead of strengths is like having a handful of coins, a few made of pure gold and the rest of tarnished copper, and setting aside the gold coins to spend all your time cleaning and shining the copper ones in hopes of making them look more valuable.

I mean, if you want to truly do the most with your life, you need to discover what are the unique gifts God has given you and using those to impact others. And, and, and here's some ways you can start to discover this. I would say, ask yourself this question. Write down, what are your greatest strengths?

Then go and ask people you trust and who know you well what they believe your greatest strengths are and what you're good at. And then think for yourself and ask those same people, what are some ways that you can use your gifts and skills to bless others and to make an impact in the world? And that it's that simple to explore and find your unique gifts and skills.

And also think about, you know, what are some activities maybe you've done in the past that feel— that make you feel the most fulfilled and the most proud when time just seemed to fly by? And there are StrengthsFinder tests you can do, StrengthsFinder 2.0, uh, DISC assessments. These sort of things also can be helpful in you finding your gifts and strengths.

But I truly believe finding your gifts and strengths, using those to bless others is so beneficial for your physical health, your mindset, and being as healthy as possible.

There's a 2020 review that was published in the Frontiers of Psychology journal, and they found that if you want to feel like you are experiencing great meaning in life, there are 2 things you have to do: build strong social bonds and add value to others. So ideally, if you want to, if you want to grow the most, I think about some of the best times in my life.

It's when I had close friends of mine that we were doing good things together. So think about how can you couple those 2 things together? You know, you can, you can serve others and you can grow closer to a group at the same time. Okay? And this can naturally happen again in a place like your church or your synagogue where you're really serving in that way.

And so you wanna think about that as much as possible. I love what Ralph Waldo Emerson says. He says this, to leave the world a bit better Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded.

And adding value to others and building strong friendships and connections leads to the most meaningful life, and it leads to better health. And I would encourage you just to take some time after this podcast and write down What are your greatest strengths? What is the community you're going to go after in terms of building strong relationships? Are you going to get involved at church?

Are you going to go and build— you start a growth group yourself? But really, I would say fostering stronger social bonds, adding more value to others, and finding your strengths. Focus on those 3 things to help you live the most powerful life possible. And again, this is more important than diet. It's more important than supplementation. Even for your physical health.

If you can build purpose, remember what I said via these studies. It builds your mitochondrial health, it builds your adrenals, it builds up your cell health, and it actually feeds energy to your organs. But more than that, it's gonna have an eternal purpose and significance. And I wanna say this as well. Oftentimes I think you feel like you've gotta do something really big.

It's not about doing something big. Here's what Mother Teresa says about this. If you wanna change the world, go home and love your family. So if you don't know where to start right now, then just start by being a better spouse if you're married and being a better parent if you have kids. And if you have neither of those, then being a better friend, okay, to the people around you.

And if you can do just that— so think about, okay, how can I— what is the most loving thing and the best thing I can do to make my wife's life amazing or my husband's life amazing? What, what can I do to help my kids To become more virtuous, okay? To grow more like Christ. And then to say, how can I be an amazing friend for this person?

If you can just do that, just go home and love your family, that'll truly radically change the world. Think about what Jesus did. He focused on 12 people in 3, even more specifically, even greater time. And so think about who are those 3 people that you can really pour into?

And if you can do that, it's gonna help you experience that breakthrough you've been waiting for mentally, Physically and spiritually.

And I know on this show we talk a lot about physical health, we talk a lot about natural medicine, but again, I believe that this is the most powerful natural medicine of all, of becoming more like Jesus and pouring your heart and soul into doing things that have an eternal impact. And so I hope you've enjoyed this episode.

And there are millions of people today that don't know the truth about how to truly experience joy, fulfillment, purpose in their life, how to overcome anxiety and depression. And so I wanna encourage you, hey, share this episode More people need to know the truth about how to use mindset as medicine and your spiritual thinking as medicine.

And also, thank you to all of you that are subscribed here to the podcast. We've got so many more amazing shows coming out here soon. I've got Lisa Bevere coming on the podcast soon. We have, uh, and it was just so many, so many people, so many amazing people coming up where we're going to be talking about more medicine physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I want to say thanks so much for watching. I'll see you on the next episode.