Dr. Kavin Mistry on Longevity, Primal Health, and the Power of Giving

In this episode of Hidden Foundations, Kendall Schoenrock sits down with Dr. Kavin Mistry, a board-certified neuroradiologist, to explore the hidden connection between childhood, longevity, health, and legacy. Dr. Kavin shares how growing up across India, Africa, and the United States shaped his view of resilience, adaptability, and human potential.

The conversation moves from AI in medicine and biological age to the Hadza tribe, primal health, focused attention, gut health, 80/20 nutrition, grounding, parenting, and the habits that may help us age better. Dr. Kavin also shares a powerful story from his father about giving without expecting anything in return, and why that lesson may matter more than performance, health, or success.

A special thank you to The Franklin on Rittenhouse for graciously allowing us to record these episodes inside their hotel. Their hospitality, atmosphere, and attention to detail gave us the perfect setting to host thoughtful conversations and bring Hidden Foundations to life in Philadelphia.
Check out their hotel here: https://www.thefranklinonrittenhouse.com/
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Hidden Foundations is a weekly podcast hosted by entrepreneur and investor Kendall Schoenrock, examining how family systems, early adversity, and childhood dynamics quietly shape high-performing adults. Each conversation uncovers the “invisible wiring” behind resilience, ambition, leadership, and grit — told through candid stories from entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and leaders.

Guided by the thesis that strength is forged early at home, the show uses a consistent framework to explore emotional environments, money narratives, family roles, conflict patterns, and early challenges. Every episode delivers at least one practical, repeatable insight for parents, leaders, and anyone seeking to understand how greatness is built long before it’s visible.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

The greatest gift you have is the ability to give. So we got biological age and chronological age, right? There we go.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Give me an example of that. So what's one thing that I can start to do today that'll help me live longer?

SPEAKER_02 0:15

I would see 70, 80-year-olds whose bodies and brains would actually look like that they were 40s and 50 year olds.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Drill into why you feel primal is so crucial.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

It's not like you have to, you know, go kill an animal to have your dinner, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

I think a lot of people think that this decade's going to be marked by AI. There's another part of me that thinks that this decade's gonna be marked by GLP1s. He is a board-certified neuroradiologist. What is that specifically? What what is what are you looking at?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

So I tell people I look at brains and spines all day. Um so neuroradiology is we were looking using uh CTs and X-rays and MRIs uh to look at uh all the disease processes. Um I'm subspecialized in neuroradiology, which is uh we focus on brain, spine, and ENT, all the ear, nose, throat, and all those structures.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

And of all the areas of medicine, how did you land specifically in that field?

SPEAKER_02 1:41

You know, Kendall, I was growing up, I was a very visual person. Yeah. And to me, I thought it's fascinating that we can use technology to look inside a person. And I was always fascinated with the structure of things. Um, my family comes from a lineage of uh woodworkers, and so always it was always about function, form, and function. And and so when I when I saw that radiologists, we could look at people's bodies and how they function internally. It was just fascinating to me. And to be able to dissect that and then come up with a diagnosis and help people, and so it was just a natural field where I thought it was just be so cool to do it.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

So is there uh a revolution now with AI that's helping or hindering what you're working on?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

I would say on on both ends, you know. Um back in, I guess, several years ago, there was this big fear that when AI becomes strong enough and recognizes images that all radiologists would be out of a job. You know, thank God that hasn't happened. AI is not that good at at, it's good at image recognition, but it's not as precise, you know, and the trust is not there from the public side. Nobody wants their mammogram read by uh AI computer because they want the human behind the film to be to be making the decisions. And so actually now AI is a great tool for us. We use it as a second read, we use it to automate a lot of like routine tasks like proofreading reports and things like that. Fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah, I think that's really interesting on where where it's going. So are you actively using AI to help in your analysis now, or is it you're just doing the reads alone, and if you have something that pops up, you send it through?

SPEAKER_02 3:40

So in certain areas we do use AI actively. Certain studies only because of AI can we do them. Like there's certain measurements we take for people with dementia, memory loss, and things like that. And the AI is able to calculate volumes and things like that that we could never do before. And now, because of that technology, we actually have those studies and we can offer them. So I would I would give AI sort of uh uh a kudos, you know, for from that aspect, you know, that there's certain studies there. But from a day-to-day function, we use it more as a tool and and it's an adjunct. Um, and so certain times, let's say somebody comes in with a neck uh uh for a hip fracture, right? There's AAI algorithm that will look and see if there's a fracture that's detected and it flags it for the ER doctor. So they get alerted. But now as a radiologist, I step in and verify that is it picking up artifact, is it the actual fracture that is picked up? But at least if it's a major fracture, it picks it up, alerts the ER, so the whole kind of uh ball gets rolling faster.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah. Very interesting. Thank you for that. Um walk me through your your history, uh kind of where you were born and raised, and how you ended up in this Philadelphia region doing uh medicine.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

So my background, I would say, is uh fairly non-traditional. You know, and uh I was born in India. My dad uh decided that you know he's going to be different and venture out and travel the world, and so he joined uh United Nations as an engineer, wanted to be more and be out there, and uh so uh his first project took him to Africa. And so at an early age, I was in uh I was in Africa, and and so he was part of the United Nations, and we lived all over the world. I've changed 22 houses in my lifetime. Um people talk about few houses, I've changed 22. And it's good and bad, it's not as uh not as uh not as exciting as it as it sounds, but uh with it came a lot of revelations, a lot of insights. Um and then finally we through all his travels and everything, we've ended up uh in the United States. Uh, and then um, you know, I uh wound up here in the fourth grade and then kind of grew up here. But being here, we also moved around a lot before we finally ended up uh now that I'm in uh Princeton, New Jersey. I'm I my claim to fame is I'm five minutes from Einstein's house. So it's great.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

So talk talk to me when you were moving so much. Was the stability uh with the the relationship with your parents? Because if you're basically rolling over into a new location frequently, friends change, location changes, but is that base layer your family?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

That's a great question, Kendall. And uh my parents, uh I was very became very close to my parents because ultimately they were my only source of familiarity moving to these new locations. And you know, I I wasn't making friends that quickly, you know. But I became very close to my parents and they became a source of uh comfort, familiarity. And you know, one thing I would say, they had never let me feel uh that I was um a stranger in uh anywhere, and and they just gave me that comfort, that support. Uh for me to go out there, acclimate, and and and and really they viewed this whole process of moving around as almost a strong life lesson because they said, you know what, uh, you know, they said, you look, other kids are not able to do this, you're able to do this, let's let's make it enjoyable for him, let's make it a life lesson for him, and that where he can experience new cultures, learn new things. And so they were always exposing me to very, very different, you know, climates, different adventures, different people. And so it was very enriching. And I would say without their support, I would have never seen those parts of my life as enriching because it would always be a struggle, you know, being in a new place and things like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah. Did that build a certain resiliency to adaptability for change because it was forced on you all the time that that you were you were rolling over into a new location, or basically nomadic?

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Absolutely. I mean, I think you just you develop resiliency because you just have to acclimate with new friends, acclimate to a new climate. And um at the uh but at the same time, it builds this quality of curiosity where you say, Oh, you know, um these people behave the same as those people. You know, I mean the people in Africa have the same needs and same uh behaviors, and you know, and and you start seeing a common thread amongst people, and and which is fascinating, you know, and so so I living in these different countries, interacting with these different cultures, you realize that at the core we're all the same, have the same needs. And to see that as a child and to make those connections, I think was invaluable.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Did your dad share with you the work with the UN and what he was working on as you were growing up, or was that sheltered from you? Or how how talk to me about the interactions that you your dad had with you on the the UN work? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Wonderful question because I I would say the greatest gift I got for my dad was that he included me uh totally in his work. And so when he would go out to a project site, you know, he would ask them, Hey, could my son come along? And so a lot of his work involved working out in like rural areas in Africa, where we got to interact with a lot of the indigenous tribes. And there are many different tribes in Africa. One of them that we spent a lot of time with is the Hadza tribe or Hadzabe, they are called. And they're they're one of the last few hunter-gatherer tribes on earth. And as they're doing the projects, he would let me hang out with them. I would hang out with the kids. And interestingly, I picked up the local language in Africa very quickly, because I was at that age where you can pick up languages.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

So it is a sponge, right?

SPEAKER_02 10:19

And so I picked up uh Swahili, which was the local language. And what was interesting is um the spoken language uh in the sort of like the cities there, in the schools, the Swahili, uh, the all-spoken, they also spoke Swahili. But what was interesting is the tribes, uh the people in the tribe, they could understand Swahili and could speak Swahili, even though they had their own sort of clique language. If you look at Hatzabe, uh, which is very, very unique and then very, very different. Um, but uh so I could speak Swahili and I could communicate with uh with the locals, I could communicate with the people in the tribe. And so it gave me this avenue to learn because I would go to these tribesmen and say uh in Swahili, and I would say, Oh, I I call this this, what do you call this, and and I'm learning. And so I became almost a medium. Actually, my parents used me to as a translator to communicate with, like, you know, the you know, that help we would have around the house or other people and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

It's amazing. That's really fascinating. So, how did that shape the trajectory for your book, for your career, for the way that you parent, bridge the gap for me on the time in Africa, the exposure to the different tribes, and how that leads into some of your current projects? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

I would say there are a lot of lessons that you learn innately just by being in that space. And you know, looking back, and what was very interesting is I I uh I had this experiences in Africa. We he his work brought us to the United States, grew up here, all that, and uh, like I said, I was a visual person, became a doctor, and then eventually ended up in the longevity space. What was it very interesting is um, and then how it all ties in, is I'm learning about longevity. I'm learning about all these things. And then they said, you know, there are certain tribes in Africa that have a very low incidence of chronic disease, no hypertension, no anxiety, very minimal mental disorders. And uh and I said, really? I said, Africa. So I started looking further, further, and they talk about this tribe, and they said that, oh, it's uh the Hadzabe tribe, you know, in Africa. And I at that time when I was there, I never gave it a uh a name. I didn't know that they were the Hadza. But the tribe that they were talking about in longevity research was the tribe I actually hung out with.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

And then so I put it on the map and they said, oh, they are located here. And I'll go, wait, so there is a there's a city called Arusha in in Tanzania. And then we would drive there to these uh you know campsites and whatnot. And uh they live out in their own kind of man-made uh kind of uh uh you know uh facilities. They had they build these little tents and things like that. And so it turned out that the the the the tribes that I hung out with was the Hadza tribe. Wow. And so I said, okay, you know, this is something that I need to need to really do a full circle on.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

And that's just a coincidence.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Coincidence, coincidence that I would, you know, get into the longevity field and the the the people and the cultures they were studying for longevity were the ones that I hung out with uh as a child, you know, and uh and so a lot of lessons. Um so I then you know at the time when I was a child, I wasn't studying these people per se, right? But I could look back and say, what was I experiencing? Like what was what was my my my you know innate uh thought process? What were the paradigms that I picked up? And then I could make those connections to write about it.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

I I think there's a difference there between what your your your actual biological age is and how you feel or or your longevity. Talk to me about that.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Sure. So we've got biological age and chronological age, right? There we go. So biological age is how old your body is in a in a very simplistic term. It's just not just your body, it's but also a lot of many other things, you know, kind of your metabolic age, how you know how your genome is aging and your how your how your genes are responding. But to put it very simply, okay, for most people, I would say, um, I would say if if you can you can use a proxy as like how old you are biologically is maybe your body age, right? Versus how old you are chronologically, your birthday candles that you celebrate, right? And what's interesting in radiology, when I first started in radiology, and and I remember the first week in radiology as a resident, and I and we we started looking at these films, right? And then looking at uh these uh um like cervical spines and lumbar spines on these patients. And these patients were like 20s and their 30s, and I'm looking at all this degenerative disease, and I go, wow, you know, in medical, in in the books, I was like, all these pretty looking spines, and I'm like, what happened to this guy? He looks like he's in his 50s and 60s. And what I started realizing that people's bodies were aging faster than their chronological age and their actual age. So even though they were 20 and 30, their body looked like that it was 40 and 50. And I said, wow, that's isn't that, you know, shouldn't we be concerned about this? Is it and I would raise this issue with my co-residents and other people. I said, how come this guy looks like this? They're like, you know what, just read the damn film, right? Don't ask these questions. And but the the that curiosity stayed with me. I'm saying, like, why are we not asking this? Is is anybody asking this question? And it got me on this path that I said, like, you know, what what if the the is this normal? And also one of the the other things that came across was that I would see 70, 80-year-olds whose bodies and brains would actually look like that they were 40s and and and 50 year olds, where their bodies and uh brain uh you know uh structures would actually look 15 to 20 years younger. And I said, What is this guy doing that's right? I said, if we why is this not the norm, right? Why why should the why should everybody be aging faster? Why is this not the norm where people are agently reversing their biological age? And so hence all that kind of curiosity led to a lot of research, a lot of kind of putting things in different buckets, and I came down to like seven areas where I thought that that could really impact people, and hence the book.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

And during that research, that's when you uncovered that there was also research on the tribes in in Africa. Correct. And and that's the overlap. And could that was the overlap where I said I said that's it.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

And you know, it was funny because um what what uh aha moment for me was that you know, and and a lot of kind of like popular health culture speaks about, you know, a lot of the health fixes, right? You know, you wake up, you know, have your green smoothie, and and and I'd say there is a element of uh benefit in all of these things, you know, doing the yoga and everything like that. But I learned that there were deeper levels in terms of um uh emotion uh mental, emotional, and to some degree a spiritual level, which nobody really talked about, which had a lot to do with health. And that's when I looked back at my childhood and I saw like how these cultures were living. Like what was, and I said that it wasn't necessarily the food. I guess they weren't shopping at Whole Foods for sure, right? Sure. You know, they they were they were hunting their food and they were they were connecting with the earth and whatnot. And so one was that deep connection with nature, but then a deeper level was this sense of tribe, of who we are, that there is that that it's not about us, it's about we, that, that it's it's not about just my self-interests and what's in it for me, but it's about us rising together and and protecting us and this sense of tribe, the sense of community. And and ultimately, they also were very cognizant of their mortality, which I think was the ultimate capstone for me, where you know, every day they're they're watching these animals get hunted. They are hunting animals, right? They're seeing death because they're gonna hunt animals, right? And and we're so separated from death, right? Because it's not like you have to, you know, go kill an animal to have the the the your dinner, right? But when you have to do that, right, you develop this awareness that you know this animal had to sacrifice his or her life for me to be fed, right? So there is this sense that you know there is there is this life and death. And then you realize, and they innately realize that maybe one day too, I will be that uh sacrifice, you know. But what is the benefit that I will be given? You know, what is the legacy I'm leaving behind? So they lived with this sense of mortality, which I think gave them this sense of urgency, the sense of legacy. And I I believe it that's what keep kept these guys vibrant, right? Because each day was important, right? Because they saw that life was finite, and then that you make each day count.

unknown 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

You know, I can say that that I was born and raised in Kansas and have a we spent a lot of time in Kansas City. Uh, we run cattle on on some of our ground, and that connection to nature, but also the full life cycle of animal husbandry is something that um I was raised in in that environment, and and there's a connection there where um you know you can look at the pasture, look at the field, and then look at the cattle and realize that that's gonna be a really delicious grass-fed steak, or that's right. And and so it kind of changes your whole perspective on that. We're not as insulated from just the supermarket when you see it, right? When you're able to go and and and touch it in the in the field, I think that connection's really fascinating. So you've talked about the word primal, and and we're starting to understand that foundation. The the foundation of uh primal from Africa and and primal from the thesis of this is the foundation for longevity, and and you have the the seven pillars that that you wrote about in your book. Drill into why you feel primal is so crucial.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

You know, moving even beyond the these seven connections. So these seven connections I talk about is connection with the earth, body, food, of our purpose, uh, of our tribe, and finally of our mortality. And I touched upon that very briefly. And what's interesting is that moving a step beyond that, what I find Was that these connections were leading to certain primal qualities in these in these tribes. And one of the first things I noticed was that they had this primal presence. And what I mean by that is this deep level of awareness, right? So here they are, they're I you know and I would I would be with these guys, you know, and with these kids, and sometimes they would take me on these little hunts, not hunting like major game, but like little little hunts, you know, maybe like uh some squirrels and things like that, you know, because I was I was like I was small and they weren't they weren't gonna put me in danger or anything like that. And what I saw was that one, they they were using um a lot of times they would use bows and arrows. So they would spend this time like making these tools, you know, and with precision, you know, and and there was so much l attention to detail and so much stillness in in their craft they were putting in because they're like, okay, we're gonna make these tools, and they would go out there, you know, and go out there in the forest. But what was interesting, here we are, and I would go with them, and they'll be like, okay, you know, no, let's let's just and they just say, just stay behind us and just watch, you know. And what was interesting is they would have this level of awareness where they're reading this environment, not from a visual sense, but in a sense of they're feeling this environment, they're feeling the air, they're feeling the sounds, and they could know that an animal is there, and I would see nothing. I'm like, there is nothing there, but they would know. And what I learned is that that awareness, that level of presence is something that is so rare these days, you know. And I teach residents, I teach my kids, and then I and I tell them one thing is that you gotta develop this sense of awareness. Because one thing is we live in such a reactive world, right? We we you know, something happens, uh, and you all said, Oh, I can't believe he said that to me. And you know, you just want to react. But if you have a high level of presence, high level of awareness, you can read that situation and say, How am I gonna react to this? And not not sorry, not react, but how am I gonna respond to this? Because then it creates this gap because you have that awareness to develop a proper response. And then that gap is, I think, what separates you from all those reactive personalities out there. And that was something, it was a very such a unique lesson, just watching people with tremendous amount of awareness and how I could carry that, you know, and and and and and develop that in my own life, you know. Would you label that intuition? I think it's part intuition, but part is uh it's it's interesting uh you asked that. And uh so uh what one of the things I'm working on is uh sort of a corporate program. And one of one of the uh questions in corporate is how what role does intuition and innovation play in all of this? Okay, and and what I found, and and this is from my sort of perspective, is that when you have a high level of awareness and mastery over your environment, right? And when you're able to read the room and you and you and you you you've mastered certain things, automatically, since you know this domain so well, now you can pay attention to all the subtle things that are out there, the subtle changes, you know, and it's sort of like, you know, I would say, you know, look at someone like Warren Buffett, you know, who understands the field at such a depth. Maybe you look at value investing, and he understands it at such a depth that he's kind of like developed this level of mastery, that from that level of mastery comes that intuition, right? Right? But but you can't learn the intuition without having the master, if that makes sense. Yeah, you know, and and so you know, you look at these tribesmen, right? They know these environments so well that that that's what gives them the awareness and the ability to read the subtle clues and subtle changes, you know.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Do you see that in the your high-performing coworkers, or do you see that when you're teaching that some students have that intuition? And when you couple that with experience and mastery, it really develops beautifully.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

And I and I see that, and and that's a wonderful question, and it's something that I've tried to teach my kids, and that they're learning in this. And what I tell them that is that pick one thing that you really like and you want to develop mastery in. And and I said that you know, it goes back to a lot of that research uh by uh by Ericsson and um, you know, Malcolm Gladpaul talked about the 10,000-hour rule, right? When you put in enough time, there are no such thing as experts, there are only people who put in enough time that you develop mastery or you become a master now, right? So there's now no chosen one, it's just somebody who's has dedication to the craft. And I tell my boys this that I said, when you pick one thing, but pick something you enjoy and that you could you could dedicate a certain level of time and and effort to. And I said, when you get to a certain level of depth, you're gonna see these opportunities, you're gonna see these subtleties, and then you can capitalize on them, you know. And what I see in residents is that once radiology residency is difficult because there's so many moving parts initially when you start, these residents are all over the place and things like that. But but what's interesting by like third or the by end of second year and third year, they have picked one area where they gravitate towards and then they start reading about it, they start, you know, develop more and more in mastery, they get really adept at it, and then you see this change where now they have enough mastery and they're able to see the subtle changes. So, like the basics everybody picks up. And as I tell my residents, I said 95% of the things you will you'll know in the first year. The 5% is what will take you the rest of the three years to figure out. That's the art, right? Right. But you cannot be, you cannot learn the 5% until you have mastery over the 95%, you know. Right. So so it's fascinating to see that. So in short, I say I would say it's the mastery that ultimately leads to innovation and intuition. Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

So what I also heard there is there's no shortcut. You gotta put in the time potentially for decades, right? In order to, and then once you have that base foundation, you can really stack with your intuition the mastery on top of that.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Yes, and I think a lot of times it naturally leads to it. Right. You know, once you know the field, I'm sure you've seen that in real estate from your background, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Well, even for my father, what's what I find really amazing is that he'll come in to a project that we're working on and he'll say, You're gonna have a problem right here. And nobody else sees it. And it's well, he's been doing it for five decades. And so he has this base of intuition plus the the experience. And we look in and say, You you're right, okay, we've got to make a change. Let's fix that, we're gonna have issues here. And I also see that also when you look at um really high-end consultants, they can come in and they've seen the pattern recognition from problem solving in all these different fields, and then they can apply that to your particular case, and and they may not know the exact answer, but they can say, We think your problem is right here. And then you go and you look at it and say, Okay, uh, well, we missed it. Right. That's it. Right. And then we have the solution, we can fix it, we just didn't know where to look. Yeah, so it's that's really, really interesting. So let's let's talk about how your changes or your your your education and and base of of youth impacts how you father now. You talked about your your two sons slightly, um, and and guiding them to to find something they have passion about so they can put in the time for the decades to gain the mastery. Um, in your rolling evolution as a as a child, how did your parents do that with you? And then how do you translate that to your sons?

SPEAKER_02 31:37

So I think they let me experience a lot of different things to find something that I could gravitate towards. And I think one of the things is that if you find a space where you're naturally curious about things that you naturally want to do, where you do that thing, or you and you feel the state of what I call as like flow, where you could do that for hours and on end. And it takes time of trying many different things to find that thing, and you're like, wow, I I I really enjoy doing this. And take for example, my wife is an artist, right? So since she was three, she just you put a pencil in her hand and she just disappears. It's just that she would just, you know, she loves that, she doodle, draw. I mean, it's it's she's in a different world. And I mean, she was blessed to find that space very early. I think for most people, it takes exposure to many different things where you find one area where you you're like, wow, you know, this is an area where I just go in and I feel so comfortable, it's so liberating where I can just get lost. And for me, it turned out that I enjoyed taking complex concepts and creating a framework for people. And that just it just felt right where I could I could learn all these studies and and then all this research. And the saddest part, you know, a lot of times is that there's all this wonderful research and all these breakthroughs out there, but it stays hidden in the in the research world because nobody has taken the time to craft it and and then to formulate it into a framework where somebody can apply it in their daily life. Right. And I said, I'm gonna change that. I'm gonna take because I enjoy doing it. I said, I'm gonna understand this research and I'm gonna craft it into rituals and daily habits and create a framework where people can apply it tomorrow. And because that's what's gonna change, it's not the research that's gonna change the person, it's the application of that research in your life that you're gonna do tomorrow morning or tomorrow night that's gonna change, that's gonna make the change.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

You know, give me an example of that. So, what's one thing that I can start to do today that'll help me live longer?

SPEAKER_02 34:16

So, the best example I can give you, okay, one of the things that we've seen with these primal cultures is uh there's such a low incidence of mental uh health disorders. They have very little anxiety or depression and things like that. And one of the things they look into it is what foot is what is why is it so? And one of the one of the uh qualities that they have is this state of stillness. And it is comes from, and you know, we were talking about earlier about you playing chess and how that how you feel that that's liberating to you, right? And you mentioned that, right? Yes. And what I would say is that what is it about chess that is liberating? And what what I and what I what I can tell you is what you probably are what is happening when you play chess is that most of the time our mind is so distracted. And we live in a digital, digitally distracted world, right? Everything, your your phone is pinging, you know, you got like 400 messages, you got all these apps open, you got these updates. I'm sure you know you get updates from all of 200 emails, this all this stuff going on. And you said, Where is the stillness, right? Where is this this the space where I can be in this one zone, right? So when you play chess, or when that primal um tribesman, when he's when he's making those those those bows and sharpening those arrows, he's in that space. There is this this this this level of flow, right? When you have that state of stillness and you find that level of flow, what we've found is that you you sit you switch from the sympathetic mode, sympathetic meaning that fight or flight mode where I'm gonna be reactive to everything, right? To this parasympathetic mode, which is rest and relaxation, where I now I can actually think, I can be aware, I can have that level of intuition, I can have those those insights and things like that, right? Because here I'm just distracted and in panicky mode, but here I can be in the space where I could actually listen to those thoughts, right? And so what I tell one thing practical from all these learning all this and looking at all the science and everything like that is that if people can spend a few minutes in the morning and ultimately you want to get to five minutes to ten minutes, ultimately to about 20 minutes, where you could sit in one spot and be in this flow state. Okay, I don't like to use the word meditation because it's so it's it's so open to interpretation, and you know, people people get scared of it, they're like, I can't meditate, I can't do this. So I said, you know, let's just have why don't give give it a name, call it focused attention, like you playing chess, like the tribesman making the bow. I said, do something where you can have focused attention on something, and it's not nothing to do with chess, nothing to do with making the arrows, it's not about the activity, it's that you've taken this attention which is all over the place, you focus it on this one spot, and now your body shifts from the sympathetic state to this parasympathetic state. And you develop it. And it's deliberate. Okay, and it's deliberate because you you've you've now for some people it's playing chess. For some people, it's in my for my wife, it's doodling, right? For a lot of people, what works well and what I teach is sit and just pay attention to your breath. Don't control it, just watch what we call as like breath watching and just just just appreciate and have reverence for this the your your body and then this breath, right? Which is keeping you alive and just watch it. And what happens is it's not about the breath, it's not about the chest, it's not about the tools, it's the focused attention on the breath that shifts you from the sympathetic mode to this parasympathetic mode, and all of a sudden they experience the space, and it's very liberating. You know, like you say, it's like you said earlier, right? When you play chess, it's liberated. The liberating part is that all this noise goes away, and now you're in the state of flow. And when you feel the state of flow, you realize, wow, there is this stillness here. And in this stillness, I can actually think, I can pay attention, I can have intuition. And so I would say the best thing people can do is start off their day with some level of a stillness practice.

SPEAKER_01 39:07

For children as well, do you recommend doing this with with your kids or encouraging your kids to do this? At what age does it make sense to introduce this?

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Very interesting. So I I I was um on another podcast and I taught this and I mentioned this, and and so um one of my friends he called me. He goes, you know, I love what you said about this this whole stillness thing. He goes, like, how can I do it, you know, teach it to my kids, you know? I said, Well, you know, um, I said he goes, Can you create something? Can you create a file um that I can that can play it for them? So I created this uh this uh this breath watching uh video. Like it's just uh something that you listen to, it's like a 10-minute video, and and uh and he's and so they played for their kids, and they do it usually before going to bed, where it just brings them down, helps them focus on their breath, and it's just simple instructions where I just guide people and and what it does is that it shifts them from that sympathetic to the parasympathetic day, and the level of sleep that people get when they're in that still mode is unbelievable. So it's the best way to start your day, and it's the best way to end your day, and it's something yes, can be taught to kids.

SPEAKER_01 40:27

And by doing that, there's evidence that you're gonna live longer.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Absolutely, absolutely, and the it is, and that is not why you do it, because I would say, why do you why would you meditate or have the stillness practice? And I say it's not for the 20 minutes, it's for the 23 hours and 40 minutes of the rest of your day, because the 20 minutes changes the quality of those 23 hours, right? You do it for that, because when you're still in the morning, the rest of your day, you are proactive, not reactive. But when you live proactively, when you're in the more of a parasympathetic state, you're less inflamed, you're less prone to anxiety. We know that people who are less anxious, actually their chromosomes, uh, or we talk about uh certain things on your chromosomes, um, improve. And where we talk about this telomere length, which is uh related to longevity. So when people are less anxious and you have a sort of uh more of a parasympathetic tone, not only does your body change, but you change at a genetic chromosomal level where you're gonna age slower as you go forward.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

So, how how does that impact technology and doom scrolling and access uh for for kids? And uh, I mean the the dopamine hits um that that the the kids are getting from social media, they're hooked. Absolutely. How do we stop that?

SPEAKER_02 42:11

And you know, I don't I don't fault these kids because all these digital distractions, it it it is very entertaining, right? Those dopamine hits. I mean, you know, I mean we are all prey to that too. You know, you open a YouTube video and like, wow, that this is exciting, you know. And and and so we are naturally curious and about uh we want variety and and and we crave that and it's a it's a big dopamine rush. At the same time, I think that the kids are not experiencing this state of flow and they've never tasted it. Because once you taste it, once you say that, wow, there is this space where it's not 400 channels, but it's one channel, and I'm liking it, right? And and and when they experience this this state of focused attention or flow, it's very addictive. It's it's the same as you chasing that distraction, it's except on this other side where now you're chasing the state of flow because you feel so good and you can actually think. So, one of my goals um as we develop these uh business programs and corporate programs, corporate training programs, and uh our our uh goal at in parallel, I'm working with youth groups to take that same. I said, you know, one of the things I I told uh the guys within corporate, I said that as much as I like what we're doing here, the need is in the youth. Okay. I said we got to translate this into youth programs that we can bring in school. One of my goals is to make the youth experience that stillness, that flow. And and and and and let that be as big of a wow as watching a YouTube channel or opening up non-du app or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

You know, I think one of the things that I try with my daughters is to at least make them aware of of what's going on. Uh but I hear things like the algorithms know that when a teenage girl takes a selfie and then doesn't post it, that she may feel bad about how she looks, and then they re-advertise makeup or cosmetics or and and there's a part of that that feels uh very, very harmful for mental health. Um and you know, I I just I I try with my daughters to to say, hey, look, we need to stay off of social media, right? We're not we're not gonna engage there because those systems are not designed for for kids. I mean, it's not a healthy, safe space. It's really hard. Yeah, very, very challenging. Because it's all around in society. And you see it at restaurants now where uh you know the the you the kids come in and immediately they're on an iPad, and if you go to take the iPad away, it's a tantrum.

SPEAKER_02 45:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

And it's like, you know, there's there's some art and beauty to um being able to sit down and have a conversation and and not be fully distracted on the technology. It's yeah, very, very fascinating. And then behind that, the longevity component or the anxiety and and that it's actually potentially changing our our chromosomes and our DNA to uh absolutely uh you know I mean to Kendall, um in terms of uh that area that you just opened up, one of the things is we've got to ask, what is driving these kids to to chase these distractions, right?

SPEAKER_02 45:58

Like what is what is it in that YouTube channel, or what is it, you know, and we were talking about this earlier, what is driving people's behavior? And and you look at that and you say that, you know, they're going for that dopamine hit, right? They're going for this, this, this, that, that, it's give them this sense of curiosity and something new. Um what I found is that all of us tend to have certain natural drivers, you know, um, some of us are creatives, some of us are are thinkers, some of us are uh people persons where we like to, we like to, you know, converse and uh you know and interact with people, and some of our more like kind of seekers and philosophical. And what I found with my boys is that um when when they when I when I see that there's a certain element in them, that certain kind of like prima quality in them that that I I picked up. Like, you know, for my for example, my older son is is an idea guy. He's like an innovative, he's just wants to build things. He wants to build cafties and build, you know, just just and so he's gonna seek things along those lines. He's gonna go after that type of content. But if you can find that quality and say that, you know, like your daughters, you can find that, you know, she what she's craving is this this quality, right? This this area, and then make it a sort of a apply towards something productive, right? And and so for him, like I remember that um I realized that because he wants to build, um, we we he he was great at Legos. And we he he you he could build like those basic Legos very, very, very quickly. And then he got to those really advanced Lego sets, and then he got to Lego sets where um you know he there's this Taj Mahal Lego set where he built, and he built that in like two days, you know, and and and it was really complex, like 5,000, 6,000 pieces, and then he built like these other Legos where you have to like you know build mortars and things like that, but it was productive where he could channel that all that kind of like building element to it. And so what I found is that if you discover that quality, one in you and then in your kids, and if you could channel it in a productive way, maybe towards a vocation, towards a field, they're gonna feel so liberated, and it then prevents them from chasing that quality in social media, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

Yeah, no, it it it it does, it does. Um, I I think when I played with Legos as a kid, we didn't have the full sets, and we were forced to to be a little bit potentially more creative because we just had the inputs. We didn't have the the step one, step two, step three. And so I remember making um large cities with my with my brother, um and they were all somewhat different, but there there was no major instruction book. It was just a a set of Legos. Do you think we're missing that creativity now that it's step-by-step instruction? Um, or is there an aspect of um just get good at following the instructions and and and put it together?

SPEAKER_02 49:24

I think both have benefits. One is that once you once you get really good at following instructions, you go, okay, I I I can do this. You know, so my son like started making these Legos and he would make the Lego, and then he goes, Okay, now what? Then he says, like, oh, what if I can break this down and make something else out of it? And it goes back to what we talked about, that mastery leading to innovation, right? Once you've like mastered something, now you naturally will want to innovate in that space, right? And so so I so the first part is important. It is important to be able to follow instructions and be able to make that Lego set. But when you do it a lot of times, you're like, okay, this is boring. I'm I'm following instructions, I'm making, and I know I can do this. You know, even if I got a 10,000 uh piece Lego set, I know I'll be able to make it. But what is what can I do different now? Can I break it down and make my own design, right? Naturally, when you become a master at it, you will seek the innovation.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

So talk to me a little bit more about how you're applying that to the business uh the the course and then the the application of that in the business world.

SPEAKER_02 50:35

So in corporate, what we're seeing is that people, one, that as sort of AI is coming in, and you know, there's a lot of fear, people feel sort of uh that they're gonna be replaced or they're gonna be irrelevant and you know, disempowered, and everything like that. And this is there's this sense uh that people have that, oh my God, what's gonna happen to my career? And and you know, these are also college graduates as well as like people in corporate who are realizing this. What I tell them is that can you find an area where you gravitate towards where you can sink your teeth into and develop some level of mastery in? Can you become a go-to guy for something? You know, and I'll say, I'm a go-to person for blank, fill that in. What would you put in there? And then they would say, Okay, well, I I I think I would like to be, if possible, be a go-to guy for for this. Let's say it's maximizing, let's say, search uh engine optimization. Um, you know. And then I said, well, then chase that and and see what all the dimensions of that field are. You know, go out and read the books, go out and practice it. What what are the softwares out there? And learn it to a depth where you become so comfortable with it that now people can say, hey, he's the go-to guy, he's the search engine guy. Um, let's consult him. Then I said, you will naturally, one, you'll be very, very valuable. Two, once you do that enough, you will see the opportunity within it. Because now you'll see what's missing, what could be done better. Okay. And so my advice to sort of people coming out now, when I tell this to even residents, is that show me, not that you're gonna, I expect you to be a master at anything, but I I want you to show me that you're on a path to mastery. Show me a some certain level of focus in one area where where we where people can say, oh, he's the go-to guy for this. Okay. And right now it's so much easier because with AI, you can actually use all these tools to help you become that. You can ask that question and say, hey, I want to learn to be the go-to guy for search engine optimization. Give me a plan. What's the books I can read? What are the softwares I need to master? It will craft a whole plan for you. Okay. And you know, you're looking at a lot of these tools like Notebook LM and things like that. It can teach you a whole field. And within a short amount of time, you could really be one of the top players in that field if you wanted to. But it's just that people don't see the value of putting in that time and doing that because people want to do 10 different things. And I think it's that level of hyper focus which will make you the go-to guy and which will make you you irreplaceable. Fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 53:44

Um kids are now spending more and more times indoors. And when I think about your story in your uh time in Africa and how it impacts longevity, what I've heard is time outside. How important is being in nature as it relates to the health of children, longevity, and setting up the foundations for mass.

SPEAKER_02 54:13

Absolutely. Um such a fantastic question. And, you know, I mean my book, the first three areas are connection with earth, body, and food. And one is I remember in Africa just being out. And I just like in the morning waking up in the days off, just being outside. And if we're if I was with my father, you know, at at one of those tribal sites that we would just be out with, you know, kids when we would just do random things, you know, find bugs and put bugs in like cans and like make make things out of the uh little bridges out of the earth, and you know, you go digging. And many years later, I find out that one, our connection with earth itself, one from a grounding effect, it has a very, very profound impact on your health. Because uh the earth serves as like a what we call as a negative ion sink. When you touch the earth, or your, you know, people talk about earthing or barefoot walking, when you actually touch the earth with your feet, we know from scientific studies and everything like that, it reduces inflammation in your body. Just that aspect, okay? Without the anti-inflammatory drugs and all that, right? Um, so just that just it reduces inflammation, you sleep better and all that. The second aspect is being exposed to dirt and being exposed to the microbiome of the earth and dirt. We know that kids who play outside in the dirt have lower incidence of autoimmune disease, lower incidence of uh allergies and all these, you know, the kids are facing all these cannibal allergy issues and people and they're taking claritin and all this zero tech and an allergy season. And and if you look back, it's it's the the kids who have been exposed to the outdoors, like myself, right? I never took clariton, you know, because I just, you know, it's just I was I was out there, I was out there in the elements, you know. And so a profound impact that these little things, just touching the earth with your feet, playing in the dirt has in on your body, not that we're finding out, you know. And so there's this whole movement now in this longevity space in terms of grounding and earthing, and you know, these are not new concepts. You know, this is like just primal things that people did, right? You you you dunk the uh the food you know you're out of with your hand, you contacted the earth. You know, it's just that now you go to a grocery store and open up a bag that was in the frozen area, you never touch that carrot in the sanitized.

SPEAKER_01 56:53

Yeah. Do you think that that um the reaction to like COVID-19 and hand sanitizers everywhere and all the chemicals that are introduced there impacts health and longevity?

SPEAKER_02 57:05

I think COVID-19 it did set us back in terms of like um, and and I I would say I was guilty of it too, because we didn't know really what was going on. And I remember bringing in these Clorox wipes, and then but I did, I you know, I just went back to my what I was teaching and I said that you know, this is silly. Like, you know, we um and what was interesting is that actually from people who over-sanitized, actually, if you look at the amount of the level of allergies and whatnot, um, actually increased because people oversanitized. You killed the natural bacteria in your hands, and you were avoiding all contacts uh with with the outside world and things like that. Um, so it did set us back, I would say. And and this, and this, and and and some of it is still remaining. Like, you know, I see um um you know, moms like all of a sudden the kids would touch something from the ground and they were like, oh no, let me let me bring it's actually the sanitizer that's worse for the kid than him touching the the dirt, you know. Uh and that's probably good for him because he's probably getting some microbes that he needs, you know. So, but I I think the this uh we are definitely oversanitized in this day and age, you know. And and I think that, but when you look at the data, when you look at the research, there's profound benefits in being grounded and and having contact with the earth.

SPEAKER_01 58:31

Wow. Yeah, I mean I think it really impacts uh the the gut microbiome and the brain relationship, and we're starting to really discover more in terms of uh the relationship between the the gut and the brain and the positive benefits of GLP ones and some of those aspects. It's just fascinating. I think a lot of people think that this decade's going to be marked by AI. Um there's another part of me that thinks that this decade's gonna be marked by GLP ones, and just in terms of the overall health and health benefits that you potentially get from some of these. Or there could be the hidden uh issues there that we're not fully aware of yet, but it's a very fascinating area of study.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

From my perspective, I see it as that uh, and I never say sort of any negative negativity towards any any particular drug, because I I now almost never say never because there's always exceptions to everything. I think there are people who need those types of medications, and even like things like statins and things like that. I you know, before I used to say, oh, nobody needs to take statins, but um there are certain certain uh parts of the population that can benefit from certain types of drugs. But I think with it all, I think from my perspective, if you don't have the basics right, all of the stuff is really peripheral, right? Um are you are you connected to kind of like the circadian rhythm? You know what I'm saying? When the sun is up, you know, saying you wake up and you should get uh some sunlight within the first like hour of the day, right? At least before 10 a.m., which sets your circadian rhythm, which determines how you sleep, which determines how your body gets uh you know uh behaves in terms of inflammation and whatnot. You talked about touching um uh dirt and microbiome, which determines uh your microbiome, all the all the somewhat certain neurotransmitters are all made here, and that determines how you feel, you know, and and have uh the level of joy and the level of happiness that's coming actually from a lot of these neurotransmitters, and you think of like all these mental health issues, maybe it has to do with just basic things in terms of terms of feeding our gut microbiome, you know. So I think that we need to return to a lot of this uh primal aspects. And first, are we behaving the way our body was designed?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:55

Do you think that the the diet that that um was prevalent in Africa? Obviously, it was probably more natural and void of uh highly processed uh food or high fructose corn syrup or some of those man-made additives or dyes. Do you think that's an aspect to their longevity as well?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:15

Very much so. And um well, obviously they they didn't have any packaged foods, right? Everything was um was either hunted or forged, or you know, and what was interesting is um uh most people think that uh these guys were probably eating a lot of meat. Right. Because they're hunting animals and whatnot. And actually, meat was a small component of their diet, and and surprisingly, a good percentage of their diet was tubers, uh or you know, tubers that kind of grow in on the earth, like yucca and things like that. And what is fascinating is these tubers have a high level of prebiotic fiber, which feeds the gut microbiome. And so when I was mentioning the longevity research, and they tried to study, and they're like, what is it about these guys that makes them live longer? And they said, Okay, well, uh, it's not necessarily the meat, because we eat meat too, and all these things like that, and then it every day they kind of eliminated all those things, and they finally found out that it was because of their high ingestion of tubers and prebiotic fiber, which gave them this microbiome, which was so diverse compared to the microbiome in the average American, that they were able to create that climate within them to fight off all these diseases, you know. So it was really the diet leading to, you know, of high tubers and prebiotic fibers, giving them the microbiome, which was fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:50

Make that real for me. So if I'm the dad of two daughters, how do I uh I don't know how to take that and apply it to my kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

Right. So the so the quote the the question you're asking is that what what how did how do we make that uh applicable to in this day and age, right? And so first I teach people, um, and and you know, I have like this 21-day reset program, an online program that I do with uh people. And I said, first understand what is pre prebiotic fiber, right? Where is it coming from? So one is like you can eat these tubers, okay, like uh the like sweet potatoes, and you could actually buy yucca and make it and you eat that. But if not, you can actually have you can buy prebiotic fibers and actually include that as part of your diet, right? So there are things like inulin and things like that that people can actually incorporate in their diet. So um things like uh uh artichokes, uh, onions, um and uh broccoli, uh all these things actually have some level of prebiotic fiber. And so when you understand that and you say, okay, what are what are things that I like that have a high level of prebiotic fiber that I can eat more of? And what you start, what's what starts happening is when you start changing your diet to include more of this, it's not overnight, but once your microbiome starts, you start revamping your microbiome and your level of inflammation comes down, your level of sleep improves, you just start feeling 10 times better, and you're like, wow, this is the way I should be eating, you know. And I've seen it, seen it in myself by incorporating all these things.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

I, you know, I str I struggle with the disconnect between the grab and go mentality of modern food and the friction or the effort that goes into or the thought that goes into okay, if I want to attempt to integrate that into my daily life, it takes so much more effort, right? Because it's not as convenient and we're sacrificing the the convenience for okay, I have to really w work here. And I I find as a parent that's very challenging because we're we're overwhelmed between you know the manufactured stress of sports and music and dance and gymnastics, and you know, I kind of joke with my wife that we run an Uber and we high-five in the driveway as we as we think.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

Totally, totally relate to that.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:22

And so it's like I have a desire to make sure that that uh my daughters are introduced and and healthy when it comes to some of these things, but the actual execution of that sometimes is very, very hard. Um what what habit could would you would you recommend that my family uh attempt to adopt?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:41

This is different for different people, but I think in a in a as a as a sort of a game plan or paradigm that I could I could uh I teach is you know in the perfect world, you would eat, you know, everything, uh all whole foods, all organisms. Organic, right? But we know that that's not happening, right? It's not it's not practical. So what I tell people is that I I use an 80-20 approach, and which is which I think works best for most people. And I said that when you look at your plate, um show me that at least 70 to 80% of your plate is sort of whole foods, meaning it's not coming from a package, right? So but then I'll let you decide what you like for that 80%, right? Um, you don't like broccoli, don't put broccoli. You like sweet potatoes, put sweet potatoes, right? Um, you know, do you do you like uh do you like beans? Do you like uh rice? You know, do you like what will you like? Just give me things that are not touched, uh, or not came from a package, you know, and make that 80%. For the 20%, pick something that you really like, you know, and like that that maybe could be packaged, you know. Um, if you want to eat pasta, make that that 20%. Okay, we know it came from a package, is pasta is not the best thing to eat, but hey, you know, it tastes great. I love pasta, right? I'm sure, like, you know, do you want to have a slice of pizza? Can you make that the 20%? But then make the 80%, you know, uh some greens or beans or rice or things like that, like that you can make. And so if you have this 80-20 mindset, it gives you the flexibility to have the play, but at so the 80% will compensate for the 20%, you know, and it will let you have enjoy the pizza, but not but also have the health benefits of that 80%, if if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:40

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

And so what I what I my my boys, uh, what I what I tell them, uh, we take inventory. I'm like, what are what are things you like? You know, and my my like older son, it like he likes rice, he likes beans, he likes, you know, all these things, and and then for um he likes tofu, you know, which is I guess processed and and things like that, but then he would so he would make for his 20%, he would make, he would have some type of like a tofu uh concoction and whatnot, and then and then circle it with like you know, rice, beans, veggies, and things like that that that he likes, you know, and that's kind of his his his uh approach. But when people understand that paradigm, that 8020 gives you flexibility, but at the same time, you're gonna live longer, right? And have all the health benefits.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:24

I love it. Thank you. Um what can parents teach uh early in life so their kids don't spend adulthood trying to fix it? Do you think the diet is the most important piece? Is it being mindful and being present? Is it uh to try to put down the the cell phones and the cell phone addiction? Where what do you think would have the biggest impact?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:50

So a couple of things we already touched upon that having that mastery mindset and whatnot. Um one of the one of the main lessons that I am trying to teach my kids now, and then that is that uh uh I guess I I'll give you a little bit of a backstory if that's okay with you. Um and um my dad, um, you know, like as you know, he was an engineer, traveled all over the world and whatnot, and uh super healthy all the way till like in his 80s and whatnot, and then he developed uh this incurable form of lymphoma, right? So he's in the hospital one day, and um, and I go to visit him, and I walk in and he shows me a picture of a sailor, right? Actually, uh a um and uh he goes, Do you know who this is? And I said, Um, no, I don't. And and he goes on to tell me, so he's the son of one of his distant cousins in India. And I said, I don't know why this man is showing me this, you know, at this stage of the game, you know, with this disease and everything like that. He goes, and he tells me the story that uh his distant cousin in India uh was born um uh with the with a disability, um, and her parents died early, and then the family that she was staying with wound up kicking her out and she became almost homeless. And she had reached out to my dad, you know, many, many years ago and said, Look, um, they've kicked me out. I'm more or less homeless. Is there anything you can do for me? And my dad being here, being an engineer, not making a lot of money or anything like that, he said, Look, for as long as I live, you'll never have to beg. Okay. And he never told us about it. He never, he never let us know. And then and and and so he's telling me the story in this last week before he passed away. And he goes, I never told you guys because he goes, I did not want you guys to think that I was taking money away from our family to support somebody, you know, on, but but I needed to do this. And so he paid for her education, and so she she was got got shelter, he paid for education, she got educated, she started working, she uh uh found found another handicapped person, got married, he paid for the marriage. Um, he had a child, he paid for the education, and then this child, this, this child, their son, become this this uh sailor and he starts working for the Indian Marines and then now he's an officer, and now they're like the family's doing like really well. And he's showing me this, and then he goes, he goes, this looks, he goes, Kaveen, you're you're a good doctor, um, and you're a good father, you know. And he goes, but he goes, the greatest gift you have is the ability to give. And he goes, because you have, because in order to give, you always will need, you have to have more to be able to give. But your greatest gift is the ability to give. And he goes, In your life, you'll come across situations where in people's lives everybody walks out of the room, but he goes, I want you to be the guy that walks in when everybody walks out. He goes, Can you be that person? And Kendall, I I I I heard that, and I'm like, I've been talking to talking to my dad, and I'm like, as he's telling me the story, I'm like sinking to the ground, and then by the time he finishes, I'm like sitting on the ground because I'm he just humbled me because you know it looked made me look at my life and say, Wow, you know what? Have I truly given? Did I ever give without ever expecting, you know, like but like my dad supporting this woman? He never wanted anything in return. He just wanted to do that, just wanted to give. And it made me really look at my life, and I said, that's got to be the greatest lesson you could, you um, greatest paradigm to live by, is that to be a type of person where you could give without expecting anything in return, and be the guy that walks in where everybody else walks out. Yeah, you know, and and so what I would say is that is what I try to teach my kids. I said, above all of this, above being a high performer, above being uh, you know, uh, you know, anti-aging and everything like that we talked about. I said, this element, unless you have this and that's at the core of who you are, because it will revolutionize the rest of your life, right? The the joy you get from being valuable, right? And then that value only you know. It's not like you're putting up a sign and saying, Hey, look at me, I'm such a great giver. No, I'm saying you do it because you at the core of your core feel so good, it'll it'll revolutionize your life.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:51

Wow, thank you for that. That was uh Yeah, I I I the the aspect of giving without reciprocity or without the expectation is so powerful. So powerful. Where can people find you online?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:09

So um I'm on LinkedIn, Kaveen Mystery MD, um, and you can search for me. I'm on Instagram, um, uh same same handle, um, and uh I'm on uh YouTube as well. Um and uh I I would say um if somebody enjoys this content and you want to experience this type of a primal reset, I have an online 21 session or a 21-day primal reset program where it's like one-on-one with me, just talking to you like I'm talking to you, guiding you through through these principles. Because I feel that in this day and age, people have such limited time. But I tell people if you give me 10 minutes, I'll give you some insights where you can apply it tonight and you start changing your life, right? Because these are lessons, these are not quick fixes. It's not like a pill you're gonna take, it's not like this magic drink you're gonna drink. It's just it's who you are. It's just I'm just helping you uncover who you are at your core. And and so I walk people through this uh primal reset program. So it's called the Primal Reset Program, and it's something that people can engage with and then uh empower themselves.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:26

I love it. And we'll link to your book in the show notes. Um thank you so much for spending time with us. Yeah, no, it's pleasure. Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:34

Pleasure and and and I I I I love that you're doing this. I love that I love the mission, first of all, that you have. And and I think that it's it's it's fresh because I think I think the way and I can just your demeanor and and like your story and who you've become and from your you know from your dad and and what you you know what you your your sort of self-interest uh your interest in creating a better next generation, I think that's where we relate, right? Because I'm I'm creating a next generation of doctors, I'm raising two boys, and I'm thinking, you know, what are what are the lessons we can pass on that can empower them? Right. And then you're doing that from your world. I'm doing that from my own world, but I think we're meeting in between, and so it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:20

I love it. Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. Absolutely.