Be Quiet, Have a Purpose, and Make Friends

In her book Mind Over Medicine, Lissa Rankin makes the case that your physical health is much less dependent than you think on diet, exercise, or genetics. Rather, she argues, your health reflects a few fundamental pillars that support everything else in your life.

In this post, I'm presenting my own version of the core of her concept. I've taken some liberties, but she absolutely inspired this article and I encourage you to check out her book for a richer perspective.

The Quiet You: What is left when you strip away all your insecurities, self-defenses, and superficial features? What does that person want, and how much of your efforts are in line with these wishes?

Understanding this requires you to take the time to be quiet.

You might choose to meditate, hike in the woods, pray, or simply close your eyes under a hot shower. What's important is that you recognize the yearnings deep inside you and build a life that is coherent with these yearnings. (Translation: don't bury them.)

Think of it this way... The Quiet You is the person you'd still be if you were born in a different time or place, or in vastly different circumstances. It's easy for your conscious mind to completely forget The Quiet You, but this doesn't mean that your fundamental qualities disappear. They remain persistent and can end up in conflict with the way you are leading your life.

These conflicts often have physical symptoms: ulcers, shortness of breath, anxiety, or worse.

Everything in your life is external, except for The Quiet You. This may be why it is so hard to find the time to meditate and be mindful; at any moment, 10,000 external distractions are competing for attention against one quiet internal voice. But this doesn't mean that everything else is more important. To the contrary...

Nothing is more important than listening to The Quiet You.

Work/Life Purpose: You don't have to be the billionaire founder of a famous startup. Plenty of people have lived happy lives into their nineties with the purpose of caring for their family and giving their children a better life.

But to be healthy, you need a purpose. 

If you lack a purpose, your doctor may one day explain that you have {insert disease} because {insert medical jargon}. In truth, you will be sick from a lack of purpose.

Relationships: Want to get healthier fast? Want to strengthen your career? Want to wake up eager to start your day? Build more strong relationships with other human beings. Nothing else can have as profound an impact on your life.

Unfortunately, our modern society makes this increasingly difficult. Most of us have more relationships than ever, but the vast bulk of these are superficial.

Make no mistake about it, your latest Twitter follower is not going to give up a Saturday to help you move.

No gimmicks necessary...

To vastly improve the quality of your life and career, you don't need cutting edge medical technology (except on rare occasions) or the latest app. You won't need 24/7 wireless access or a pile of cash. 

You simply need to...

Be quiet, have a purpose, and make friends.

Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for a diverse range of interesting and accomplished professionals.