The Joy Prescription: Embracing a Merry Heart for Health and Success

Have you ever considered joy to be a vital component of your health? Join me, Dr. Jason Littleton, as I reveal how a merry heart isn't just good for a laugh—it's essential for your well-being and the pursuit of your dreams.  This episode is a heartfelt exploration of the intersection between happiness and health, and through poignant patient stories and the wisdom gleaned from my medical career, we'll uncover just how much impact a positive mindset can have. Discover the strategy that has helped numerous individuals to quit smoking, combat depression, and lead a life of fulfillment. It's not just about setting goals; it's about connecting them to what brings you joy and letting that guide your health decisions and aspirations.

As I share my own life ambitions, you'll feel the excitement that comes with chasing dreams and achieving them with a spirit of joy. From expanding my medical practice to sharing the pillars of wellness with the world, my journey is a testament to the power of a merry heart. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to pass on this insight and invite you to keep the conversation going by connecting with me on social media. Together, we can continue to nurture our health and our happiness, one joyful step at a time. Tune in for an inspiring lesson in living well, with joy at the helm.

Visit Dr Jason Littleton's website: https://www.jasonmd.com/

Follow Dr Jason Littleton on Instagram and Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/therealdoctorjason/

Watch Dr Jason Littleton on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@therealdoctorjason3340


Disclaimer:
Access to the Information and materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk. The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and health care topics (the “Information”). Nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The Information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. The Information should not be considered complete and not exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor.

Chapters

• 0:01 How to Have a Merry Heart
• 11:06 Prioritizing Goals for Health and Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Concierge DAC podcast with your host, dr Jason Littleton. Today's episode how to have a Merry Heart. Hey, everyone, hello, hello. Welcome to podcast two of the Concierge DAC podcast. Very excited to have you. Welcome to the podcast. Listen, you know, today great topic. I'm very excited to share this topic.

Speaker 1: 0:30

I was talking with my coach and mentor, dr Stacia Pierce, and she was telling me that, you know, having a merry heart is so important to health and you know, I thought about my experiences, I thought about my patient consultations, really everything in my medical career, and I thought about how important it is to really feel good, to improve your health, really feel good to enjoy life, really feel good to just be excited about reaching your goals. And I was like you know what I want to dig deep and think about some of the core concepts of Littleton Concierge Medicine that I've shared with patients over the years. Now, before I get started, I need to say this for my compliance team Access to the information materials contained in this podcast is at your own risk. The information contained is presented for the purpose of educating the consumer on a variety of wellness and health care topics. Nothing contained is intended to be instructional for medical diagnosis or treatment. The information contained is compiled from a variety of sources. Information should be considered not complete and not exhaustive and should not be in place of a visit or consultation with your own primary care doctor. That's important because this is general information and I always say to my own patients every time that you know look, make an appointment with me, let's go over a plan specific for you. That's so important that you consult your doctor, okay.

Speaker 1: 2:14

So, moving on how to have a merry heart, and I'm very excited about this again because you know, one of the things that is so important you hear this everywhere you go is you have to have a why. Why are you doing what you're doing? When I meet with a client at the very, very, very beginning, you know, I like to ask them what are the five things you have to do Before you leave earth, before your last day? What do you feel like you have to do? What gets you out of bed? See, that's so important to knowing that because, no matter how you feel, no matter what state of health you're in, you're going to fight to get those five things done, and sometimes, when I talk with patients that are feeling down and out, I always like to refer them back to. What are those five things that you said you wanted to do? Was it sail around the world? Was it become a chef? Was it hit all seven continents? What was it? Was it lived to be 95 so you could be there for your great great grandchildren? You know these are the things that you feel so strong about that you're willing to do whatever it takes to get them done as part of having a merry heart. It's so important and you know that list is not exhaustive. It's five things, but I always tell people hey, you know, don't tell me right away when I ask you that question, think about it, get back with me in a week, think about it. You have to think through your life. When you take time to think through your life or meditate, you process what's really important to you. You start seeing opportunities you didn't see before and that's so important to having great health.

Speaker 1: 4:14

So I want to give you a couple of stories. They're fictional because there's. I don't want anyone to be able to think that they can identify themselves with, with my stories, and I wrote this in my book Energize Again. But I want to tell you a couple of stories. You know there's a farmer who came into the clinic and you know, smoker, diabetic, hypertension, and you know. Basically, I asked the farmer, how long do you want to live? And he said 95. And I looked him in that face and I said uh-uh, no see, he was a smoker too and I knew about some of his bad habits in terms of health habits and I said no, no, 85, I don't know about that. 75, I don't know about that 75, 65, yeah, I think we can get you to 65, he was 55 at the time and he said what gives, doc, what's going on? I said, look, if you keep the habit of smoking, if we don't change the numbers cholesterol, blood pressure I don't think you'll make it to 65. He was frustrated, he was upset, stumped out the clinic and came back three months later. Smile on his face. I'm like hey, what gives what gives? He said, when you said how long, or asked me how long I wanted to live, I went back and changed everything because I thought about I wanted to be there for my grandchildren, I wanted to go to be 95 for my grandchildren, for them, and that was just like a total aha moment for me. It was a game changer. Because this guy found what was important to him, or one of those five things, and realized look, that's big enough for me to change my life, that's big enough for me to change my numbers, okay.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Next story A lady who was so depressed. She said she couldn't get out of bed. And I knew the person had a two year old. And I said if your two year old fell into the pool, would you get out of bed? Then she just looked at me shocked and surprised. I even said that of course I would. Of course I would. I jumped out of the pool. I jumped out of the bed, dive into the pool and saved my child. Then I said okay, there is something that you're willing to get out of bed for. And I said to her I said, look, think about your life and the goals that are so immediate, so pressing to you, that you're willing to do just about anything like save your child, to get them done. That was life changing for her.

Speaker 1: 7:26

Last story I was talking to someone who was a smoker and I was trying to get them to quit and I said if someone said to you, if you were to smoke one more cigarette, you'd be in jail for life and that person was like well, I guess I'll just go to jail. But nine out of 10 people that I talked to you would stop right there and they just go through the shakes. They wouldn't touch that cigarette because it's not worth going to jail, it's not worth having that such powerful, immediate consequence that people would stop right there. So I told you some stories and again they're fictional so that we can realize and understand how important it is to have goals. But how important is the thing through your goals, goals that are so pressing, you willing to do just about anything to get them done. That's what we all need.

Speaker 1: 8:30

Proverbs 17.22 says A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. I love that verse. I love that verse. That's what we're talking about today. We're talking about having a merry heart, being excited about life, going out to dinner with your spouse doing that flag football game, taking that class sailing around the world, going out and having dinner with friends, doing those things that bring that excitement in your life.

Speaker 1: 9:06

Think about your goals, think through your life, because when you do this now, just like the farmer's story, you're willing to do things that change your numbers, whether it's cholesterol, blood sugar, a1c, whatever it. Is you willing to do things to stay healthy, to live long, to fulfill the five things that you want to do? And look, it doesn't have to just be five things. I like to say five things because it's not exhaustive, it doesn't overload someone, but you could have 10 things, 20 things, 101 things, whatever it is. You have things that are so important because you've thought through your life, you've meditated to cause you to move, to take action, to be merry, to be excited about life, and that's what is so important. See, sometimes we can get so down we feel like we can't accomplish anything. Go back to what is important Do whatever you have to do. Press, it is so important. Don't give up. Talk with your doctor. Talk with your friend, someone who's encouraging. I always recommend people talk with their doctor. Look, if you're a patient of mine, come talk with me, because I'm going to ask you what are your top five goals. It's so important that you know what motivates you.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Last thing I want to just say you know, for me personally I want to end on a personal note. I mean, for me, look, I love taking care of patients. I want to keep myself healthy, feeling good so I can do that as long as possible. And I have some personal goals. Everyone knows if you know me really well that I love to ski. So working out, keeping my body right so that I can ski as long as I can, is important to me. Being healthy, it motivates me to get in the gym. Even though skiing is only seasonal, it motivates me to keep my body right all throughout the year.

Speaker 1: 11:06

And you know, personally I have a lot of goals that I want to accomplish. I want to live long and I want to be here so that I can be with my family, so that I can grow my practice, so that I can extend kinds of medicine really all over the world, educate people, be there for them and be a great doctor for my patients. It's so, so important. So having a merry heart is so important to having great health, accomplishing your goals and living an exciting life. So I just want to just thank you again for being on my podcast. I want you to go to my handles on Facebook, instagram, youtube, subscribe on YouTube. Make sure you do that on Instagram and Facebook at the real doctor, jason Littleton. Check me out. I can't wait to see you. Thank you for joining me.