You Are More Than Your Numbers

In an examination, your doctor probably concentrates on your “numbers”—your blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight—and whether or not you drink alcohol and smoke.

Just as your doctor might not say, “Namaste” as you exit his or her office, he or she will not ask you about your activities, what drives you, how engaged with the world you are, or what you like to do.

Questions about your sense of purpose, however, might just be the best guide to the state of your health.

I want to open your mind to the newest preventive medicine on the planet. It requires no machines, no sharp tools, nothing to force air in and out of lungs.

As a doctor, I no longer wanted to just “fix” people and then wait for them to come back in for another “fix.” I wanted to heal, in the truest sense. And that healing comes from within the human body and soul.

In the midst of rigorous medical training, I began to look deeply at what drove my own life—those I loved, my work, career, and passions and my feelings for my community, country, and planet. I read mega-studies that took years of data and simply looked at the findings through a different lens: attitude and longevity; community and health; purpose and mortality rate, disease and isolation—the list goes on.

After sorting through reams of information and shifting theories– medical texts, clinical training, colleagues, seminars, cutting-edge testing and treatment protocols—a light went on, so to speak.

On my television show, I was interviewing a stage full of survivors—those who had cancer or severe diabetes, heart attack victims, severe depressives—and it hit me.

All the reading and thinking and questioning boiled down to this stage filled with remarkable souls. They lived because it became their sense of purpose, their reason to be. They stood up and said, “I am my own Health Hero and I want to live my best life.” They gathered the expertise and support they needed. And they refused to give up.

They fought with their minds, a life saving medicine available to everyone.

While I, as a physician, could repair a bleeding ulcer, was I really enhancing someone’s life for the short term or the long? Had I identified the cause or just sent another patient back to run on the hamster wheel of poor nutrition, triage medicine, decreased energy, depressed mood, and a compromised life?

Many doctors—fine people who truly want to heal—strive to free themselves and their patients from the matrix of ineffective health care.

The Nandi Plan

My plan is one of preventive medicine, using what God gave you—your mind—to steer the ship. I don’t want you to need my services. Instead, I want you to be healthy and free of disease and to be able to do the things you love.

The plan has five areas of focus, all low-tech and all present within your own body.

I want you to stay out of doctors’ waiting rooms. I want you playing with your kids and grandkids. I want you to advocate for those less fortunate than you. I want you teaching the next generations how to live and continue to contribute to our beautiful planet.

Your mind sets the tone: A positive mind-set increases your lifespan. Mind also makes all the executive decisions about your life course.

The first step is knowing your purpose.

Seeking and understanding your purpose will perhaps challenge you at first. It requires intense listening to your own feelings as to when you are spiritually full and when you are empty.

Unfortunately, a soul doesn’t rumble like a hungry stomach or this would all be easier. But there are signs, some mysterious, some head-splitting, that will bring you to your soul’s purpose.

Be the architect of your own health and happiness.

Spending the time to have crucial conversations and doing some soul-searching can lead to startling conclusions and simple solutions to benefit your health and wellness.

You can extend this to include your family and friends as well. My wife and children have formulated a core group of ideas to help create our purpose-filled life. This helps my teenage daughter thrive during a very trying time in her life, where she is working on formulating her ideas amid the confusion of the twenty-first century.

A family united in purpose and meaning can be a powerful weapon in the fight for excellent physical AND mental well-being. With substance abuse, bullying, self-image difficulties, Internet abuse, global conflict, and community violence discussed endlessly on every news channel, children and their families have rarely faced a time when they felt more challenged.

It all starts with an individual—that’s you—understanding this concept and putting it into action. Purpose informs your life, but it also helps define who you are as a human being and what you will leave behind on this planet—your legacy, so to speak. This legacy doesn’t need to be built with dollars; it can be built with the heart.

Namaste

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Dr. Partha Nandi’s book, Ask Dr. Nandi: 5 Steps To Being Your Own #HealthHero For Longevity, Wellness & A Joyful Life is your health blueprint. A board-certified, full-time practicing internist and gastroenterologist for the last 20 years, Dr. Nandi’s TV show, Ask Dr. Nandi, reaches 95 million people in the US and health-conscious people in 90 countries across the planet. He has helped thousands of patients make amazing health transformations. By following any one of the five simple steps in his plan, you can turn off disease and turn on your anti-aging DNA. Join the more than 1 million people who follow Dr. Nandi.

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