It Starts With Attraction
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It Starts With Attraction
The Secret To Mindset Transformation
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Discover the power of mindset transformation in this inspiring interview with Dr. Josh Axe. After facing a life-altering health crisis, Dr. Axe shares how changing his mindset played a critical role in his recovery and personal growth. From practical strategies like the A, B, C, D, E method for overcoming limiting beliefs to the importance of faith, hope, and gratitude, this conversation is packed with actionable insights to help you transform your life.
Learn how your thoughts impact your health, relationships, and overall well-being, and why spiritual and emotional health are just as vital as physical health. Whether you’re looking to overcome obstacles, heal from past wounds, or achieve your goals, this episode will show you how to shift your mindset and create a vision for a better future.
📚 Check out Dr. Axe’s new book, Think This, Not That: [https://bit.ly/40NpcQx]
🎧 Listen to more on the Dr. Josh Axe Show: [https://bit.ly/40CSbq0]
If you’re ready to take control of your thoughts and unlock the best version of yourself, this episode is a must-listen
Your Host: Kimberly Beam Holmes, Expert in Self-Improvement and Relationships
Kimberly Beam Holmes has applied her master's degree in psychology for over ten years, acting as the CEO of Marriage Helper & CEO and Creator of PIES University, being a wife and mother herself, and researching how attraction affects relationships. Her videos, podcasts, and following reach over 500,000 people a month who are making changes and becoming the best they can be.
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What would you do if you were told that, because of an accident that happens to you, that you may never walk again and in fact you may die? Most of us would hear that and think my life is over. We would lose all hope. But that is not what happened to my guest that I'm interviewing today. In fact, my guest is going to be sharing not just about his own personal experience, but about how the research and the thousands of people that he has worked with as a physician have ended up seeing major changes in their lives, not because of something they've eaten or a magic pill they've taken or a medicine that they've been on. It's because they changed their mindset. And today we're going to tell you how you can do the same thing.
Speaker 1:I'm interviewing Dr Josh Axe. Many of you probably have heard of Dr Axe. He's been around for quite a while and a leader in the health and wellness space. He has a company called Ancient Nutrition that has supplements, that has protein powders, which you know I love those and Ancient Nutrition has some great bone broth-based protein powders. Actually, we don't talk about that in the interview, but we'll link to it in the show notes if you want to try it. But Dr Axe is an amazing physician. He's been in the functional medicine space, he's written several books and today we're covering his newest book Think this, not that. Let's dive in to today's episode. Dr Axe, as a doctor, a very well-known doctor who's focused a lot on nutrition, on health, on creating a protein company with ancient nutrition, what led you to write a book about mindset? Why did you choose that topic?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, originally one of the things that I had discovered in practice when I had a functional medicine practice was one of the biggest things holding my patients back, holding myself back, holding most of you I knew back wasn't necessarily diet. Now I do think diet is very important, but I found that the way that we think about things and our belief about things has a big impact on our health. It also has to do with the Bible. When I go back and look at the Bible, of course we have the food laws around that Moses gives. We know that Paul says we need to honor God with our bodies. So I do believe that there are some nutritional principles and things that we need to be aware of and, in fact, the way that they ate in the Bible a lot of real food, a lot of sourdough, bread and wild caught fish and beef and fruit, pomegranate, figs, olives are talked about plenty in the Bible. But I also know when Jesus is talking about healing, he almost always says your faith or your belief that's what heals you. And so I've always been very, very aware of the healing power of prayer, the healing power of our mindset and our beliefs, and so when I was writing this book. I've always loved nutrition, but more than even nutrition, I've really loved spiritual growth. I've loved leadership. I've loved being able to grow and character myself and have a bigger impact on the people around me, and so I wanted to write a book that really helped my patients and helped other people experience breakthroughs in their life and that could be for their health and it could be for other things.
Speaker 2:And when I started off writing this, we decided I wanted to write this book. I actually I started going through my own health crisis, and when I mean a health crisis, I mean I I almost died. I uh, I had to be flown from. I was living in Puerto Rico, between Puerto Rico and Nashville, tennessee at the time had to take a medical flight from Puerto Rico to Florida because I went in for a simple medical procedure. Um, it was a natural procedure using my own stem cells in my back, and during the procedure, my disc got infected in my spine and that spread into my bone and then to my spinal cord area with an abscess in my spinal canal and I had to be flown. Medically, I was on a gurney. I couldn't move. I wasn't moving for a month when I got flown there and the doctor told me there the infectious disease specialist. He said I want to give you your most likely outcome here You're most likely going to be permanently disabled.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:And he said you could even die. He said best case scenario you're going to have chronic pain the rest of your life and and you know, Kimberly for 24 hours. Now listen, I'm a medical expert in my own field, Right and and getting that diagnosis for me for about 24 hours I just had it was like a spiritual and mental battle. I had felt for a little bit like my life was over. I mean, just months before I was throwing my two-year-old daughter in the air, I was squatting, deadlifting, cycling, swimming, playing pickleball, doing all the things that I love to do, and then have a doctor tell me you are likely to be permanently disabled from. This was, of course, very hard to heal here and I, after about 24 hours of feeling like a victim and sorry for myself and just regretting getting that procedure done in the first place, I decided you know what my God is bigger than my diagnosis. I don't need to be focusing on the worst case scenario and what likely occurs. I need to fix my eyes on Jesus and I need to focus on what's the best that can occur.
Speaker 2:And I had studied myself. You know how to get the best results, and a lot of it has to do with the placebo effect. I mean there is something called the placebo and another one called the nocebo effect and the placebo effect it goes all the way back to World War II, where there are soldiers that were fallen and injured and they ran out of morphine and this doctor said okay, well, we have to give them something. So he said, just inject sugar into them and tell them it's morphine. And they did this. And the crazy part was, Kimberly, that around 40% of those soldiers had the same pain relief as if they were being given morphine. Now, if you know what, morphine is one of the strongest drugs on the planet. I mean, it's the fact that our own brains and bodies can create those sort of chemicals that could numb pain or cause healing to happen that strongly. It really is amazing.
Speaker 2:And so I realized that if I was going to heal, I needed to embrace the power of prayer, have faith, believe and really change my mindset, Having a mindset of I'm a victim. They messed up in this procedure, blaming anybody. I decided I'm not going to live there. I'm instead going to fix my eyes on God. I'm going to believe that I will be healed. And I also came across something really interesting in a study and it said this you can amplify the placebo effect, and you do that by one having a very specific vision, being able to visualize exactly what you want in the future, because that helps your nervous system, your neurological system, move towards that reality, If you can actually picture it. A lot of times our mind and subconscious mind works via pictures and images. So I pictured myself throwing my two-year-old daughter in the air, going out, cycling, going, running, doing all those things. And then it said in the study that you can also amplify the placebo effect by visualizing that thing you want in the future and experiencing those emotions right now, and so feeling that joy, feeling that excitement, feeling that state of gratitude, and so being in that state. And the third thing was sometimes your nervous system doesn't believe you. Unless you prove to it, it can happen, and so creating a plan. So this is how I will do this. Okay, and there's one other common part about this it's also reading stories about people that have overcome the impossible and maybe seen a similar healing result that you've seen.
Speaker 2:And, by the way, when I went on the internet, I had a hard time finding anybody that fully recovered well from a spinal infection, but I did run into somebody whose daughter had it and they said it took her three years, but she got back to normal this is their daughter when she was in college and I thought you know what I'm going to follow, that I'm going to follow that plan, I'm going to do that. And so I did everything I could. On my end, I got in a hyperbaric chamber for months. I started taking certain vitamins, supplements, doing pool therapy all the things I knew to do and over the course of a year I got better and better and better. I didn't walk for an entire year, Kimberly, like, did not walk, I couldn't even sit because the pain was so bad, putting any gravity on my spine, and so I just had to lay in bed for a year and I could crawl out and get into a pool. After a few months started doing that and after one year I was able to get on a walker, started getting on a walker for a bit, got off a walker, and that's only been about like, I just got off the walker probably about a year and four months ago now. So it wasn't.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is fairly recent in my life and now I'm back to probably, I'd say about 90 percent and I should be 100% by the end of this year. I'm back cycling, I'm swimming, I can carry my daughter, I'm lifting weights. I have almost fully recovered my health and a big credit to God and a big credit to the power of mindset really saying I want this, I'm going to go after something, and so when I wrote this book by the way, the book was supposed to be a little bit something different. It really turned into how do you experience a breakthrough in your health, how do you experience a breakthrough in your life? And that's how I came up with a book called Think this. Not that it was. This is exactly what you need to think, the mindset you need to have in order to heal, in order to experience a breakthrough. And here are the things you need to in order to experience a breakthrough, and here are the things you need to avoid.
Speaker 1:What would you say to the person who's listening to you and thinking that's all fine and good for you, but I've been working hard at this thing, trying for this, believing for this, praying for this, and it just hasn't happened for me, therefore, it's not going to work. Like changing my mindset is not going to do anything, but give me false hope and make me even more mad at the end of it. What would you say to that person?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So first off I'll say you know, I've taken care of tens of thousands of patients, care of tens of thousands of patients, and the ones that show the greatest level of hope and faith that they will be restored or healed or redeemed in some way have the best outcomes. I've seen that clinically in practice. By the way, the medical literature proves the very same thing that people that live in a state of gratitude and have a high level of hope that they can and will be healed, they get the best outcomes. And the Bible says that as well. So I mean, if somebody decides they're going to live in a state of doubt, they're going against modern science, they're going against the Bible and they're going against clinical experience of a lot of practitioners. And so you know, and I thought about this, like here's the thing that I thought is what should I think? I'm not going to decide what to think right now. What should I think that will most likely restore my health? What is is my best chance? Saying you know what? I don't want to get my hopes up and I'm going to kind of live in doubt and try a few things, but not every like, like living in that state, versus saying you know what? I will be healed. I'm going to go full forward with the plan, doing everything in my power to heal and pray and ask God for his help in this. So so, statistically, if you're a smart person you're absolutely. I'm just saying statistically your chances of getting well with a positive mindset are far greater and you can pull it there. I mean, I've read this in psychology journals, medical journals, numerous journals that prove this very same thing. So one I'd encourage people to be wise. Give yourself the best shot. Why would you give yourself the worst shot? Give yourself the best shot and and it's going to be with this mindset we're talking about.
Speaker 2:The other thing is, when you read the bible and when you read about the stories that most inspire us, typically those healings didn't happen immediately. That's a boring story. Sometimes it took so many people 40 years, sometimes it took them four months. But I would just say that, like here's something that I did when I was going through this process. Sometimes it took so many people 40 years, sometimes it took them four months. But I would just say that here's something that I did when I was going through this process. I said, god, would you refine me and help me grow mentally and spiritually through this process, and even physically.
Speaker 2:Here's the thing, by the way, that crept into my mind Kimberly, even though I was very hopeful of regaining part of my health, I had this sort of voice that sometimes crept in here and there and it said well, you can improve, but you'll never get back to 100%. Maybe 70, maybe you can see some improvements, but never a full restoration. And I had to kind of take that thought captive and say that's not true, I will get back to 100% and do everything I can. Now. I'm 90% now and I think I'm going to get back to 100%. But I will say this even if I got back to 98%, okay, but if I didn't have this mindset, I might've only got back to 70% and I wouldn't be where I am now. So if you want to stack the cards in your favor and get your best outcome, you want to operate with an attitude of gratitude and a mindset of hope. That's just what you know, religion and science and everything else proves.
Speaker 1:And there has to be an aspect of this as well. Maybe there's some other areas of your life that you've had situations happen or believing for something to happen 100%, but maybe there are other situations where it has only happened to the 50%, and I'm thinking about the times in Scripture where there are people Jesus didn't heal right, like he passed by them in order to go to some of the others. Or there are people like Paul, who always had a thorn in his side that God never took away, but there was a reason for it, right Like it ended up, even though at the beginning those people would have said God, I want complete healing here or I want this to go away For whatever reason. God didn't. And so what are the lessons that you think could be for that kind of situation?
Speaker 2:Yeah and always be on the lookout for that, and I was very aware of that going through this process. I think the thing that allowed me to be aware even in this situation was the reason I got in the natural medicine field in the first place was my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in junior high and I remember her losing her hair and going bald. I remember her looking like she'd aged 20 years in two weeks and just thinking there's got to be a better way, and I want to help people like my mom and listen. At that time I never would have thought and my mom would have never said I'm grateful I had cancer. But my mom, who's in her seventies now, will tell you I'm grateful I had cancer. Actually, I was surprised she said I was watching her talk to somebody and she said that once and I thought, wow. She said you know what? I'm more grateful for my life because I went through that. She said it taught me to number my days. I am so much more aware and better at prioritizing and doing the things that matter and and so I think that seeing my mom go through that and the fact that that actually situation blessed our life and our family now now allowed me that.
Speaker 2:When I went through this myself being able to say you know what? I'm going to use this for good. God uses all things for good, and so I'm going to learn about longevity medicine, I'm going to kind of evaluate my life and maybe reprioritize things, and so I absolutely see the good out of this. In fact, I've studied a lot of regenerative and longevity medicine through this and I'm going to write another book in the future on that, and I have my own podcast now, the Dr Josh Axe Show, where I talk a lot about mindset and a lot about healing with longevity medicine, and so there have been so many good things that have come about through this and listen. It's hard when you're in the moment, but you want to do your best to be grateful, praise God and think about how you can use this for good in the future, tell a story with this in order to help others via your experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Are there areas with your mindset that you still struggle Like any of the 12 that you talk about in your book? Are there some that you're like 100% this has gotten super easy for me, and other ones where you're saying this one's still a daily struggle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll say that, even if I struggle with some, I definitely have gotten better at all of them. But here's one, here's one. So I I've had to kind of rediscover my purpose. I think I went from being very certain of teaching people how to use food as medicine the early part of my career, and that was like the biggest focus to, I think, now, I think, being more aware of how important our spiritual health is and how that impacts our physical health and also being aware of mindset and sort of self-development and looking at those things and also kind of right now, redefining and looking at okay, I don't just want to help people grow and improve physically, I want to help them grow spiritually as well. And so I don't know if that's being not as good at. I just think it's something I am having to redefine myself right now and think about how do I communicate and do those things and reach more people in that way. So that's something I think I'm very conscious with and maybe that's a little bit if I'm thinking about a personal struggle right now or something I'm working through and still defining.
Speaker 2:You know that's, that's definitely on the list, I mean there's. You know that's, that's definitely on the list. I mean there's, you know there, there are there, there are there. There are numerous ones, but that's, I think that's the biggest right now.
Speaker 1:When you were going through the, the recovering from the injury, I can imagine that your wife was probably having her own beliefs that she maybe have been had, were struggling with during that time, like is he going to get better? What does this mean for our future? What does this mean for our family? She probably took on a lot of stuff because she was the only one, like, capable of around the house. What did that, what did that look like for your marriage and for your relationship? And how, how did her limiting beliefs change and grow throughout that time?
Speaker 2:My, my wife surprised me going through this. I actually thought she would be a little bit more rattled than she was now. Maybe at times when I didn't see it, she had her moments. But she had told me, because I asked her, that once we were a few you know, we were months into this I said, how are you doing? And she had told me. She said you know what I prayed about this and God told me he's got you and that was kind of it.
Speaker 2:It was really like you know, uh, I'm a little moved even thinking about it because, like, my wife is very spiritually discerning and very, I mean I I really just admire and and and sort of just you know, sometimes in all just her amazing relationship with God. I mean she has such an intimate relationship and so, like that was incredibly encouraging to me having her just say I mean that was like a 10 second conversation, it was really short, but it was something that really, I think, touched me and made me give me a greater level of confidence in her hearing from God on that and having that confidence in that. And then we're also very blessed of amazing family. My father-in-law and my mother-in-law cared for me through a good part of this. My parents came down and lived with us for three months during this process, and so our parents were so incredible.
Speaker 2:And this is where, for people that don't have community one of the chapters in the book I really go through how to build an amazing community, a dream team, how to build an amazing family life, how to build a great life and community of friends around you and I was so blessed that time to have our parents, to have our siblings, to have some very close friends that were there for us in an incredible way, and people that don't have that.
Speaker 2:I almost don't know how they would do it. I mean, it would be a real struggle because I wasn't able to do anything. I wasn't able to prepare my own meals. So it was, you know, like we had this little ritual in the morning where, like my daughter she was two and a half at the time and she would like me a couple of supplements that Chelsea would have her put together for her, and it became kind of like a family affair to help me heal. But I'm sure Chelsea's faith was tested Absolutely. But I think that we sort of felt this sense of calm and just great faith in knowing that you know God is good.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's so powerful. You mentioned that you're. I don't know if you said your views have changed, but maybe it's like your focus is changing a bit more to where it's the spiritual health that's impacting the physical health. That's how you're, that's how you're seeing things. How does spiritual health impact physical, impacting the physical health? That's how you're, that's how you're seeing things. How does spiritual health impact physical?
Speaker 2:health. Yeah Well, I think that it's the single biggest factor that impacts our physical health. I think that our spiritual health is more impactful than our, than our diet or the amount of exercise we do. Um, when you know, um, when you look at how and I want to kind of tie in emotions here, because most of the time when somebody is lacking faith or virtue, what's happening is creeping in is these vices and that leads to negative emotions. Okay, and so different emotions really impact our physical health and that tends to be tied to a lack of spiritual health.
Speaker 2:So, for instance, we know via medical studies that if you're living in a state of fear that affects your adrenal glands, your adrenal glands start pumping out more adrenaline and cortisol. Your body gets in a fight or flight state. We know that ages you. It's connected to every single disease you can think of. So we know, by having too much fear, because maybe you don't have enough faith, that greatly impacts your health and that organ system of your reproductive organs and adrenals.
Speaker 2:Now, in a very similar way, worry impacts our health. Worry impacts our digestive system. I've had many patients and people I've known over the years. Their stomach will start to ache or get digestive issues if they overworry. I mean, I've had patients with inflammatory bowel disease and what will bother their stomach or their intestines just as much as eating gluten or ice cream is if they're going through relationship stress or worrying about something. So we know worry impacts that system. And we know God says listen, I take care of the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air. I'll take care of youlies of the fields and the birds of the air, I'll take care of you. So worry is a big one.
Speaker 2:Anger, resentment, envy, unforgiveness those all affect the liver and lymphatic system. Grief not being able to let go of your past and move forward with the future. Not forgiving others too. That impacts your immune system. And then we know this one anxiety, nervousness. What happens to your blood pressure starts to rise? That impacts your heart and cardiovascular system. So all of these emotional imbalances are tend to be caused from a lack of let's call it spiritual wellness. Now, that's not to say that it's not healthy and fine sometimes for us to experience some of those things for a short period of time, but when we live in this it's one thing okay, I'm a little fearful now. Okay, I'm checking with my faith. Okay, now I'm getting myself out of it. It's when you live in a state of fear or worry or anxiety or anger that it starts to create disease inside of your body. So spiritual health is even more important than nutrition when it comes to your physical health. I mean, it's absolutely true, and 80% of doctor's visits are stress-related, emotional stress. So it's yeah, it's apparent, I think.
Speaker 1:I am really into health and wellness and the longevity space and I follow several different people who I won't necessarily name, but one of the I have felt very strongly like one of the things lacking in a lot of the main voices out there in kind of in that space with, like diet and exercise, food, wellness, overall health and longevity is God.
Speaker 1:Like a lot of them don't have any faith, um at all, and, and so I feel like the information is really good and helpful up to a point, but everything that you're saying, like I believe that there comes a point where God steps in in ways that medicine never could or the things that we do with our health ever could, like the things that we eat, will only take us so far.
Speaker 1:How much we exercise and how high our VO2 max is and all of these things, like all of those are fine and good, but also if we're only training to have a super long life on this earth and not at all focusing on what's next, like that's a part of this too, right. So I love that you're in this space and you have a lot of this research and education and passion and background, but you can come in and bring to it, but really none of it matters if we don't have Jesus and if we don't know him and have a living and real relationship with him, and how that relationship impacts our faith and how that impacts our body and our relationships. I see that as such a need in the space, so I'm so glad that you're doing it.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks so much. Well, you know, this has been something that you know I've actually had sometimes struggled to find close relationships in the space because historically it has been, there's been such a strong influx of either non-spirituality or new age spirituality.
Speaker 2:And that's why I've got a few really good friends in this space, like Jordan Rubin, dr Will Cole and a few others that I just greatly admire, because it is kind of rare. And, to your point, I think there are some biblical views of this in terms of, like, you know, it's like what good is gaining the world, or even, I don't know, gaining your health and losing your soul. You know, I think that we always need to prioritize soul and spirit and, again, relationship with God, becoming more like Jesus. It should be at the very top and that's actually what gives our life purpose and meaning. Purpose and meaning, if your greatest purpose is just to feel good and be healthy, I mean, listen, that's better than nothing, but it's not near the epitome of what we're called to do in our life, and that's what you know. One thing I notice about some people, I think, in the space, is there's maybe a lack of joy or a sense of joy about them, and I think that, again, for me, there's a real sense of like, of a calling, of what I'm doing has eternal significance. What you do has eternal significance, and so, you know, I'm always very aware that you know, like you know, one thing I did in my practice is always prayed for patients. I mean constantly. And and you know I had somebody asked me this once. They said, hey, are you worried about losing patients or being less popular because you're so outspoken about your faith? And I just said no, like I don't, you know for me, if I am less popular because I share my faith, that's okay. Like I'm not, I'm not doing this to gain a billion followers. That's not my goal. My goal is to impact people as positively as possible, lead people to Christ and help people heal, use the gifts God's given me to help people get as healthy as possible.
Speaker 2:So I think so much of this is about our mindset or reframing what success is. Reframing what success is? I think a lot of us have been sort of polluted over time to believe that success is having a certain size house, making a certain amount of money, having a certain amount of followers, where the reality is no, like the Bible and I get in this in chapter two but the Bible never tells us success is achieving something. The Bible tells us success is becoming like someone. And so for me, one practice I have now is I don't just have a to-do list, I have a to-be list.
Speaker 2:If I get something done today but I berate a customer service rep or something while I'm doing it and make them feel bad about themselves, even though I might get it done, I absolutely failed. And so I think, having a becoming list and realizing I want to be more generous, I want to be more loving, I want to be more compassionate. Success is not what we accomplish, it's who we become, and I think the more that we can have that in our sights and be aware of that, the more of an impact we'll actually have. Because I think the more that you become a high character individual, the greater things that will flow from you. You'll have more accomplishments, because you in the right type of accomplishments that aren't for evil, that are for good when you become a certain type of person.
Speaker 1:How might someone go about starting a become list and how do you like track yourself on it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So so here, here's what I I would do, uh, or do. Um, I first think about who do I want to become like, okay, I've got Christ. And then who are other people that reflect certain natures of Christ or maybe also in alignment with the gifts that I have, an impact I want to have. So I think about my grandfather. I think about who's amazing Christian man died at 96 years old this is a few years ago. I mean, he was such an amazing person.
Speaker 2:I think about you know, I think about people, people that I really respect, like John Maxwell. I think about my business partner, Jordan Rubin. I think about my father-in-law, who passed away last year, Joel. I think about other people in the space that have a big maybe, you know. I think about, like I respect Bill Johnson a lot, Craig Groeschel a lot, certain other authors. So there are people and I think about those people and I think, okay, what is it that they have? That virtue that I want to identify with? And one of the things I noticed about my grandfather was he was so generous, I mean, he gave money away to where he had almost nothing, and I thought I want to be like that and I look at someone like my dad, who's incredibly disciplined, and I thought I want to be known to have that level of discipline. I look at John Maxwell and leadership, and I think I love that, and so I look at these different characteristics.
Speaker 2:I'll write down my top 10 that I want to be known for and then I'll think about okay, what are some I premeditate? Okay, what are some ways in which I can be more generous in the future? Okay, when I go out to eat with somebody, I'm going to always pay, Especially if it's somebody young and has less than me. If somebody is young and has less than me, I will always pay for their meal, and if anybody's ever been around me, they'll see that, because I just that is something. If I want to, I have to know how to do that in a practical way. So that's one way. Chelsea and I always committed to giving at least 10%. So as soon as our money comes in, before we do anything else, it goes right back to our church or ministry, and so I wanted to be generous, and so I wrote down practical things I can start to do, where I'm always looking how can I pay for this or cover for somebody that is less fortunate than I am in a situation.
Speaker 2:Leadership it's like, okay, well, how do I develop as a leader? Well, one of the things I've learned over the years leadership is really two things it's your ability to challenge others it's really in line with the masculine and your ability to nurture others with love it's more in line with the feminine. So how do I do both those things? I'm going to challenge people and call them to something higher, but also encourage them and nurture them and help them grow. And then, over time, I read books on that, I listen to podcasts on that and I implement doing that On our monthly calls. We have a segment where we recognize everybody who is standing out in the company showing great leadership qualities. But yeah, I think you just get practical with it. You write down what are the 10 things you want to be known for, highlight the top three at least, and then write down practical ways you can grow and actually live out those top three.
Speaker 1:I love that. I know that my audience loves the practical, like give me something to take away and do and to see some success and results with, and so this is a great one of our conversation so far and other things that we've talked about as well.
Speaker 2:And let me mention this too, kim, because I think you'll like this too. I read a John Maxwell book years ago called Today Matters, and in the book he tells you to create character. He doesn't tell you to do it. He said he did it himself. They're called character cards and I started doing this, where I would write down what are those character qualities I want to grow. And I took those top 10 and I would write down a couple of Bible verses, a question and an action or actions I was going to take in order to embody that. And I laminated these cards and I carry them around in my pocket. I still have them today. I made these back in 2005, like 20 years ago, and this is something I've implemented with the men's group I'm connected with as well.
Speaker 1:I love that. What is your favorite Bible verse or Bible story?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, you know I love 2 Corinthians, 10, 31,. Whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. You know, recently I memorized 2 Corinthians 13, and I don't remember the exact verse. But love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it doesn't rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. That's another one just recently.
Speaker 2:That's really sat with me and when I was going through my healing crisis, there was a Psalms I really meditated on quite frequently and actually I spent a lot of time in the Psalms and anyway, I could keep quoting Bible verses.
Speaker 2:But, all that being said, there are quite a few that I meditate on regularly and in terms of stories in the Bible, I mean part of this might have to do with that. I think I really resonate with Um, but my mom always, my mom would always tell me this and it was really meaningful to me. She said I named you a Joshua so you could be a Joshua and I and I love sort of the transition where Joshua sort of picks up where Moses starts off and God is saying to Joshua, I think it's like seven to 10 times, he's like you know, do not be fearful, be strong and courageous, for I'm with you wherever you go, whatever you do, you know. And so I think I mean I love, I love the story of Joshua, Um, I love the story of Abraham, Um, um, and yeah, I love, anyways, I love just stories of faith where people just had great faith in certain moments when it seemed like it just didn't make sense, Like Joshua on the wall of Jericho, like marching around it seven times that does not make any logical sense, but feeling God was leading him to do it.
Speaker 2:He did it and a miracle occurred. And so, yeah, those are a few.
Speaker 1:I love those. I'm interested to know. When you first became a doctor and it stemming from watching your mom go through breast cancer you wanted to do something to help people, so you went into this industry and it ended up like did you start in it thinking one day you'd write several books that you would have a protein based company with like? Was that the plan? And if not, how did it morph? How did you just leave? How did it? How did you get to where you are now?
Speaker 2:Well, let me first off saying I didn't even think I'd become a doctor. Like when I was a freshman in high school, I had a teacher ask me to stay after class. Her name was Ms Noble and I stood after her and she said Josh, what do you want to be when you grow up, or no? She said what do you want to do after high school? And I said I want to be a doctor. And the reason is the year before my mom went through breast cancer and I decided in my mind I wanted to be a doctor. She laughed out loud and she said Josh, listen, with your GPA you'd never get into med school. She said you just got an F on this paper. You're getting a D minus in my class. I'd pick a different career. And then two weeks later my mom brought me to see a medical doctor who diagnosed me with ADHD and I remember him saying your son has a learning disability. And then I thought to myself not only am I getting bad grades, actually there's something wrong with me, I have a disability in learning. And so I really stopped trying.
Speaker 2:In school I graduated with almost a 2.0 GPA really bad and I wasn't able to get into most colleges. But one college sent me a letter and they said we've got a new program, first time doing this. You're not in, but if you come and take summer school class and you average above a 3.0, we'll let you in. And I thought, okay. So I went to this school and it was University of Kentucky and I'm from Ohio, and I went there. I took summer school class and the first class I had to take was English 101. And the first big assignment was a paper and I really tried. I'm like I'm going to try, I'm going to do this paper. I turned it in and then the teacher her name was Ms Williams she said not kidding you. Three days later she said Josh, can you stay after class? And my heart sank. I thought, oh no. And she said Josh, what's your major? And I said I haven't chosen one yet. And she said well, I think you should consider being an English major, journalism major, because you got the highest grade in the class. I think you're a really gifted writer. Great job. And like my whole world changed. I went from having no self-esteem, thinking I couldn't do this, to having one teacher tell me you're a great writer, you can do this. And then I averaged above 3.0 in undergrad and throughout getting my chiropractic degree and my doctor of natural medicine degree. And then I went on to much later Actually this is just a few years ago went to Johns Hopkins and I averaged nearly a 4.0 there and, yeah, then became a doctor, started a supplement company.
Speaker 2:The reason I bring all that up is I thought I had a point in my life where I thought I wasn't going to do anything. I mean my parents were thinking he's probably not going to even graduate high school and all glory to God. One thing I just want people to take away from that is that, like, our words are so powerful. I mean there are people still today who have had a parent or a teacher or a pastor or a coach say something negative to them or a schoolmate in high school or elementary school, and they're still living with that today and they have not tried to go out and take that risk or do that thing in their life because somebody said something negative and they believe that over, maybe the voice of God or over, or maybe they haven't had anybody speak life into them. But I am very conscious of the power of my words and I'm always trying to put my arms on people's shoulder, look them in the eye and say you're good at this. I believe you can do this, because when somebody did that for me, it altered my entire destiny and trajectory of my life.
Speaker 2:And so, to answer your question, no, I didn't think I would write a New York Times bestselling book. No, I didn't think I would become a doctor or start a supplement company or do any of it. I think, over time is I decided to step out in faith, even though I thought, well, gosh, I don't know, I don't think I'm capable or can do this. I took a step of faith because I felt like I'm called to give it my all and use my gifts for good, and as I've continued to do that, I feel like God has continued to open up my vision and my eyes more and more and more over time. And so I would just encourage people to get around encouraging people, get around the right mentors and people. Pursue those relationships and listen to what God has put on your heart and go after it, and I think he'll continue to open up your vision for the future but also allow you to do more than maybe you thought you could. Yeah, so that's so, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's not as you were talking. I was just thinking it's not just about our limiting beliefs about ourselves, but our limiting beliefs about others that we may have and how we do that differently, like with our kids, or with our spouse, or with our coworkers or our friends. It's not just changing the way we're talking about and thinking of us, but even the way we're talking to and thinking about those around us that we love, which is so powerful.
Speaker 2:There are four types of limiting beliefs People have limiting beliefs about themselves, limiting beliefs about others. Limiting beliefs about the world, like oh, you know there's only so much. Like money doesn't grow on trees there's an example one. And then limiting beliefs about God, and the most destructive of all of them is limiting beliefs about God. If you believe God's an angry father, if you believe he doesn't intervene in your life, if you don't believe he heals your prayers, if you don't believe he cares, what that does to your identity because you're his child, and to have a parent that ignores their child and doesn't listen and doesn't intervene doesn't do anything. That is very harmful to your own sense of identity. And so if people truly want to change who they are, the fastest thing they need to do is change their belief and become into right understanding of who God is and who that means you are in relationship to him, and so that's something I think I really learned and became more aware of as I wrote the book of that. That is such a critical factor.
Speaker 2:I hit on this in one of the chapters on identity in the book. I think you know when I first got into my practice, kimberly, the biggest medical conditions I saw growing were cancer, hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, diabetes, obesity. Today it's mental health issues and identity issues. I mean it's gotten so bad. Some kids actually think they're cats. I mean it's a little joking here, but not joking, I'm serious Like it's gotten really bad. But that's just one example. I mean there's so many people today living with incredibly low self-value, worth and self-esteem. It's so low, and so being able to tap into understanding who your God is and who he created you to be is one of the most important beliefs that people can start to build.
Speaker 1:And you think that can help overcome the mental health crisis?
Speaker 2:Oh, I think it's the only thing that can help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I was when my husband and I were going through our adoption process with our kids. This was like seven years ago now, but I just remember my limiting belief about God at that point in our life. My life was he is not good, and so I was just overtaken with fear and anxiety during that whole two-year process of just like God's not going to do it, he's going to. It's going to be like Abraham with Isaac, where he like ends up asking him to just give it up and it's like a carrot. It felt like God was dangling a carrot in front of me that I that I was a hundred percent sure I was never going to get, and so it was.
Speaker 1:This terrible and like even just thinking of it now brings tears to my eyes because it was so like a great tactic for Satan to use is, for me, was I knew God was real. He couldn't get me with that, but he totally got me with. But he's not good. And man did God show up and show out and just like completely show that he was good and is good, and I feel like that's the one I always go back to is like a stacked stone in my life of like God is good and I have evidence that I look at every day with my kids of how he's good. But it's those things like how we think about God 100% impacts how we think about ourselves, how we think about the world around us, how we think about others, our fear, our anxiety, our anger, our grief, all those things you were talking about earlier. I think that's so powerful.
Speaker 2:You know, one of the hardest things for people, I think, is that we often tie our parents, that we often tie our parents, and even more so our father, to who God is, and I think that's the and for me. I was very blessed to have a grandfather and a father and a mom who were so incredible and not perfect, but really great, and I think that that makes it an easier bridge to understand who God is, and I think for those that don't have that it's a little harder, but it's definitely not impossible and you want to be able to go and recognize that God isn't like your dad was. He's infinitely better, and so I think that's important for people to recognize and go out and search for.
Speaker 2:There's a great book I read by Philip Yancey and it was called the Jesus I Never Knew. I think that was a book I read and I thought, wow, it was really impactful for me at the time and I want to say it was college, because when I read that book I thought, wow, that's just, it allowed me to better know the character of God and who he is, and I think the more we can read books about who God is, his character and in relation to us. Those are powerful. There's another book by Dale Mast called In David Perceived he Was King. That's a great book on identity, but those would be a couple I'd suggest people go and read.
Speaker 1:Hmm, great book on identity, but those would be a couple. I'd suggest people go and read this podcast. We talk a lot about the four different areas of working on yourself to become your best self. So we talk about physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual areas of our lives. Of those four, what would you say are some of the ways that you work on? We call it working on your pies. What are some of the ways that you are working on your pies that have served you well and helped you to feel and be the best that you can?
Speaker 2:You know, I think there's one word that I think becomes very important for all of those pies and that is awareness. You know, when I am living in the presence and I'm very aware God is with me he is with me right now and I'm maintaining a communal conversation there that awareness is key. When I look at people I most respect spiritually and emotionally, they're very hard to rattle and we'll all notice this. If you know certain pastors, priests, rabbis, monks that have a serenity to them and they can sit there and look into you and listen to you without judgment and what they're doing is they're operating with a high level of awareness. It's actually a form of emotional intelligence, of being aware of the spiritual, of the psychological, of the things going on. So there's an awareness that takes place.
Speaker 2:I think the same thing is true physically. The people that I think I see reach the highest level of health. They have the greatest awareness of truth around physical health. They have the greatest awareness of truth around physical health. Like I know, when I eat this, it'll affect my body. This way, I know that I need to back off now and take some time off and not overwork Like I need to have awareness around that. So I think awareness is a really key element that most people maybe need More. People need to cultivate, and it leads to more spiritual, mental, emotional and even, you know, just maturity across the board.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm thinking about all of the times maybe not all, probably all all of the times that I am not aware of my own body's cues, like especially around hunger. Those are the times where, if I like, if I'm hungry but I just don't eat, or I'm like craving something but it's really not good for me, like ice cream or something, and when I give into that, how much worse I feel because I wasn't aware, like maybe I just needed more electrolytes or just hydration in general, or maybe I needed to eat some protein and vegetables, right, Like. You probably see that a lot with people in the in the nutrition space of it, where they're just unaware of their own body's cues and what their bodies need.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what would be your final advice to our listeners of what they can do, one of the best things that they can begin doing right now, as soon as this podcast ends, to help to have a better mindset and a better future?
Speaker 2:I would say one thing I'd encourage people to do is write down what your top three limiting beliefs are. What are they? What are your limiting beliefs are? What are they? What are your limiting beliefs about yourself? What are your limiting beliefs about God, about others? So write those down. What those limiting? It could be one, it could be five, but write down at least three. And then I want you to do an exercise where you then go and say okay, when did it start? Was it a teacher? Was it when you were in fifth grade?
Speaker 2:When did this belief start that you know is limiting you? Okay, and then go and write down what exactly is it you believe? Okay, and that's actually called the ABCDE method. A is activate the memory. When did it start? B is write down exactly what you believe. C is write down.
Speaker 2:The consequences is if you continue to believe that Like, for instance, me saying I wasn't smart, that's what I thought when I was in high school If I continue to believe that I'm not even going to apply to John Hopkins, I'm not even going to write the. You know, I'm not going to do any of that. So what are the consequences? D is now dispute it. Why is that not true? Why is it a lie? And E is exchange it for what you need to believe instead, and then go and focus on reading and listening to and doing the things in order to overcome that belief. Now Take the actions in order to prove it wrong. Okay, so that's. The first thing is overcoming those limiting beliefs and the other thing is write down that becoming list. Who do you want to become? Who are the people you need to follow, listen to be discipled by or mentored from, whether it's at a distance or in person ideally a little bit of both in order to grow and experience that breakthrough. And I think if you can focus on those beliefs and becoming, you'll just be shocked and blown away by what can start to happen in your life. And I want to encourage people to get the book.
Speaker 2:The book I wrote on this is called Think this, not that, and I go into this in a lot more deep detail on it. It hit a New York Times bestseller list. You can buy it in bookstores nationwide. We've had such a good reception of people saying that it really is a. You know a lot of the books out there that are about growth and self-help. They don't have this Christian faith lens, and so I think there's a lot of self-help, becomes all about helping yourself, and that's not very significant or meaningful Um and so. So I think this book has a really good foundation for it, and so I think people really enjoy it. But yeah, kim, I appreciate you having me on. This is a joy. I love discussing these things because this is my biggest. You know the passion of my heart talking about these things. I talk about this sometimes along with a lot of health topics on my podcast, the Dr Josh Axe Show, which I'd love for people to check out here too in the future. But this was fun, great questions and thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you so much, Dr Axe. We're going to put the links to get your new book Think this, Not that, and it's one of several that you have, but people can find out more about you and all of the links that we'll put there, especially to your book and to your show, the Dr Axe Show.
Speaker 2:I appreciate you so much. Thank you for what you do.
Speaker 1:Thank you. There were so many great takeaways from this episode and at the end, of course, I asked Dr Axe what his top three were and, as a recap, he went through the ABCDE method. So really recalling the limiting belief that you have about yourself what is it, where did it come from? Activate that in your mind and then going through the process of disputing that belief, exchanging it with a new belief. I think that's a really powerful thing that you can do, as well as going through and creating that list of who do you want to become. One of my favorite parts of the episode and I wrote it down as a quote was the Bible doesn't tell us that success is achieving something, but it's about becoming someone, becoming more like Christ. What are the areas in your life that you want to become a better person, want to become more Christ-like? Think of the people I know. One of the first people I thought of was my mom. Oh, my mom is the best. How can I? What are the aspects of her that I just love and admire? Her hospitality for one, her just unconditional love.
Speaker 1:My mom and I got into a fight a couple of weeks ago and within 10 minutes she was at my door. I had told her not to come over. At the end of it I was like no, I just need some space right now. She came over anyway, but it wasn't to like continue or to try and get her way, or to try and get me to see things her way. She said I just want to sit with you. I was like mom, I'm in the middle of work. She said it's fine, I'm just going to sit here next to you and not say anything, because she knew I was overwhelmed, I was mad about other stuff. But she just came and sat with me. The ministry of presence was. I have never felt it like that. She just sat in the middle of me being angry, in the middle of me crying, in the middle of me being upset. She just sat there and was just present and at the end she just gave me a big hug, told me how much she loved me and then she left. She didn't try and guilt me or manipulate me. My mom is the absolute best.
Speaker 1:But it's moments like that where I think, man like I want to be more like that. When someone doesn't agree with me, how can I just go and sit with them so that they know how much I love them and how much I care about them, and not trying to change them Like that is what I want to be more of. What is it for you? Write down, that become list. You Write down, that become list. And then, finally, my third takeaway is the importance of hope and faith and how. Those are the things that give you the best outcomes.
Speaker 1:What should I think about that is most likely to restore my health, my marriage, my future, my mindset, my relationship with my kids, whatever that is, for you, likely. What you're currently thinking about is keeping you stuck. I know this because I emailed several clients at Marriage Helper yesterday and I said what is keeping you from doing this next thing, moving forward and saving your marriage? And the majority of responses that I personally received were people who said I just don't believe that change can happen. That's a mindset. How can you begin to change your mindset?
Speaker 1:What should you think about that is most likely to restore your marriage? It's not the excuses, it's the hope and the future. So then, how can you see a picture of the future? That's what hope is being able to see a vision of the future, experience the emotions of what it will be like when that happens, and then creating a plan to get there. Hope is a vision. With a plan, there is always, always hope, no matter what your circumstance or your situation is, but it takes believing that the future can be different and seeing the plan to get there. I love that part of it. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Share it with a friend. It's the best way to help the podcast grow. Also, I would love, love, love if you would leave a review. Just go to wherever you listen to podcasts, especially on Apple podcast. Follow the show. Hit five stars. If you think it's five star worthy, leave a review. It helps the show to grow as well. Until next week, stay strong.
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