Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - #100 - One Hundred Episodes On - What I’ve Learned From Podcasting with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Episode Date: March 4, 2020

Spinach or kale? Jeans or tracksuit bottoms? Running or swimming? They’re not the usual questions my podcast guests have to ponder. But this week’s episode is a special (and occasionally silly) one – it’s our centenary so it’s me in the hot seat. I thought I’d take a break from interviewing and invite my good friend Dr Ayan Panja back on the show to ask the questions and have some fun. Of course, it’s not all banter. Among the many topics we cover, Ayan and I talk about the milestone of reaching 100 episodes and how the podcast has evolved in that time. We discuss what I get out of the podcasting process as host – it has taught me mindfulness, trust, self-belief and expanded the role of ‘doctor’ in ways I never expected. We also discuss our favourite episodes and what it is that makes some conversations just flow. And Ayan asks me that all-important question: what’s next? Whether you’re new to this podcast or you’ve been with me from the start, I’d like to say a huge thank you for being part of the Feel Better Live More community. If you have any ideas for how you’d like to see it develop, I’m all ears.  Show notes available at drchatterjee.com/100 Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee/ Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee/ Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am constantly being reminded of what's important in life. In fact, life will always remind you what's important if you pay attention to the signals. What does success mean? I think success means many different things depending on what aspects of my life you're talking about. But in a nutshell, it's, you know, am I successful enough to prioritize my own health, to make sure I've got enough time for me, and I've got enough time for my friends, my wife and my children. Hi, my name is Rangan Chastji, GP, television presenter and author of the best-selling books The Stress Solution and The Four Pillar Plan. I believe that all of us have the ability to feel better than we currently do, but getting healthy has become far too complicated.

With this podcast, I aim to simplify it. I'm going to be having conversations with some of the most interesting and exciting people both within as well as outside the health space to hopefully inspire you as well as empower you with simple tips that you can put into practice immediately to transform the way that you feel. I believe that when we are healthier, we are happier, because when we feel better, we live more. Hello and welcome back to the Feel Better Live More podcast. My name is Ron Ganchatterjee. I'm your host and today, Feel Better Live More has reached a significant milestone this is episode 100 and so to celebrate

this week's conversation is a little bit different i invite my good friend dr ayhan panjit back onto this show to ask me some questions and have a little bit of fun spinach or kale jeans or tracksuit bottoms running or swimming they're not the usual questions that I ask my podcast guests, but on this week's episode, these are some of the questions that Ayan decides to ask me. Of course, it's not all banter. Among the many topics we cover, Ayan and I talk about the milestone of reaching 100 episodes and how the podcast has evolved in that time. of reaching 100 episodes and how the podcast has evolved in that time. We chat through what I get out of the process, discuss our favourite episodes and what it is that makes some conversations just flow. And of course, Ian asks me that all-important question, what comes next? Two years ago when I

launched this podcast, I could not have imagined it would become the chart-topping global success it has. I also never imagined it would involve this much work. But for all the hours, effort, and expense that it takes to put out weekly Wednesday at 1pm episodes, it has to be one of the most rewarding things that I do, both personally and professionally. My mission is to help 100 million people around the world to transform the way that they feel and to be the architects of their own health. And I really hope that this podcast is little by little getting me closer to that mission. In fact, I have heard from hundreds of doctors around the globe who are prescribing my podcasts to their patients. Whether you're new to this podcast or you've been with me from the start, I would like to say a huge thank you for being part of the Feel Better Live More community. If you've got

any ideas for how you'd like to see this podcast develop over the next 100 episodes, please do let me know. I am all ears. Now, before we get started, I do need to give a quick shout out to some of the sponsors of today's episode who are essential in order for me to put out weekly episodes like this one. As you will know, Vivo Barefoot continue to support my podcast. They are a minimalist footwear company and I am a huge fan. I've been wearing Viva Barefoot shoes exclusively now for almost seven years as of my entire family. They make really, really comfortable minimalist shoes that you can live your entire life in. So many of you I know have already taken advantage of the special offer that they give to my podcast listeners and have fed

back to me that you are really pleased and often surprised with how amazingly comfortable these shoes actually feel. I have found them for myself but also for many of my patients that they can be really beneficial for back pain, hip pain, knee pain as well as general mobility and I've been recommending them for many years, long before they started supporting this podcast. They make shoes for all occasions, work, play, walking, going to the gym and so much more. And they also make shoes for children as well as adults. For listeners of my show, they continue to offer their fantastic discounts. If you go to vivobarefoot.com forward slash live more, they are giving 20% off as a one-time code for all of my podcast listeners in the UK, USA and Australia.

And importantly, they offer a 100-day trial for brand new customers. So if you're not happy, you can simply send them back for a full refund. You can get your 20% off code by going to vivobarefoot.com forward slash live more. Now, on to today's celebratory conversation. So here we are again. It wasn't that long ago that we had a chat about your latest book, which is great.

But this is your 100th podcast episode. And I'm going to start by asking you something you probably don't get asked enough because you're always on the road, you're always promoting stuff, you know, you work so hard, but how are you? It's a tricky one to answer that because generally I'm pretty good, but I've had a challenging few days for sure. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to know how much to go into, but, you know, I've had to take my son to A&E a couple of times over the past 10 days, which was a little bit worrying and stressful at times. And the son had just gone, I, you know, that's the second time I took him. I was in A&E for four or five hours. And then as soon as I came out with him, I got a text saying my mum had fallen

and that she was waiting in an ambulance to come into hospital to the same A&E. And as you know, you know, my mum lives very nearby. Me and my brother, we try our best to sort of pop around regularly, normally daily to see how she is, check she's doing all right. But she ended up getting admitted. She wasn't so well and she has managed to to come out I got her out on Monday night um but I've spent the last two nights sort of sleeping on her floor in a house just to check she's okay and she's got her mobility back so I didn't actually know if I was going to be able to come down today um so how am I um I'm

okay but I'm pretty tired and pretty frazzled at the moment, if I'm honest. Yeah, I bet. Yeah, lots going on, lots of stress. Yeah. And well, it's good news about your mum being all right. And, you know, that's the most important thing, I guess. But you, you know, in terms of your 100th episode, focusing on the fact that you are here, and we're here to sort of, in a way, celebrate that. What are your kind of reflections on the fact that you are here and we're we're here to sort of in a way celebrate that what are your kind of reflections on the fact that you know 100 100 is a big number when you think about a footballer having 100 caps that means they've been putting it out consistently it's it's not something that's easy to reach 100 podcast episodes is a bit of a milestone, isn't it? Yeah, it's funny to actually think it's 100, because it's now become such a regular and consistent part of my life. I mean, you know,

one of the things I do now is release a weekly Wednesday podcast. But, you know, just over two years ago, I didn't. So it's remarkable to think that from two years ago, just starting this off as a bit of a whim, bit of an idea really, I really at that time didn't have any plans beyond six episodes. I thought, put six out there, see what happens. I didn't really think beyond that. I didn't really think about putting it out for 100 episodes or 50. I just thought, let's put six out and see what happens. And, you know, I had no idea the amount of work it entails to do that. But yeah, I don't know, thinking back now for where it started to where it is now, 100 episodes, yeah, I'm really proud of it because that's a lot of episodes and that's real consistency week upon week. And, you know, often I've been up super late on a Tuesday night, later, well, that's late for me, right? I go to

bed early, trying to record intros and outros so we can hit our Wednesday 1pm slot, which is what we try and do. And it's probably one of the funnest things I do, this podcast. I love it. I love the impact it's having. I love the messages I get every single day when people are telling me that this podcast has changed their life. It's making them think more broadly about health. I've had all kinds of just lovely messages I don't really share. People have reversed their anxiety anxiety sorted out their depression

um you know lost significant amounts of weight getting sleeping better than they have done for years improving their relationships you know understanding their choices better i do a lot of these kind of emotional podcasts where we talk about thoughts and how our beliefs can impact our health so um but i feel a bit emotional as well thinking about it there's 100 episodes um you know it feels good and i guess we had this idea didn't we about trying to celebrate that by having you interview me um but you know as i said to you before if i'm honest last night i didn't know whether this would happen i didn't know if i'd be coming down to london today uh but i feel happy that i've managed to get everything in place yeah at and with my mum. So I feel, yeah, I can come

down and do it. That's great. And talking about the podcast, because it does give the viewer, the listener, a lot, I think, you know, and I love it and I really enjoy listening to it myself as a consumer, as a listener. But what do you get out of it? Yeah, what do I get out of it? Quite a lot, actually. Quite a lot. I think the biggest thing I get out of recording this podcast is, you know, real mindful time. What I mean by that is, I've realized that these conversations for me are a bit like therapy in some ways, because we've spoken about this on the podcast before, but we're living in an era of information overload where we are constantly being distracted.

All of us, you know, we've been distracted by devices, you know, where it's very hard for us to be present with the people that we love because our phones are just sort of there, just there in your eyes view and, you know, just pulling you away to check your email or check your Instagram. And, you know, you're married as am I, you know, that feeling I'm sure when either you or your wife and someone, one of you is distracted when you're trying to have a conversation with each other and it's i think it's incredibly toxic on many levels and i think it's become the norm in society but coming back to what you're asking me about the podcast it's you know i get to have these amazing long-form conversations now with people and you know the conversations are

much longer than they used to be. And I've really enjoyed these longer conversations, but I get to sit across the table, maybe one to two foot away from someone, basically look them in the eyes for almost two hours, not looking at phones, not being distracted, being completely present with that other human being. So it's a practice of mindfulness for me. It teaches me being. So it's a practice of mindfulness to me. It teaches me how to be present. It teaches me how to stay focused for a prolonged period of time, which I think helps me in other aspects of my life. So I think that's one thing it really gives me. I think the other thing it teaches me about, I think the other thing it teaches me is about trust. And what I mean by that is, as you've already alluded to, I'm super busy, as are most people these days. I wouldn't like to make the case that I'm busier than anyone else. I think we all feel busy in our lives. I think

that's actually a massive problem on one level, that we're all feeling overwhelmed and burdened. But sometimes I've got a podcast interview lined up. You've got to remember, I still see patients every week. I'm writing a book a year at the moment. Trying to put out this weekly podcast, as well as spend time with my wife, as well as spend time with my kids. I help to look after my elderly mum. You know, it's not easy. And I am committed to doing it. And I love doing it. And I very much try and live the advice that I talk about. I'm not perfect, but generally speaking, I think I managed to. But often I'll have a podcast interview in the diary that was maybe scheduled three weeks

ago. And, you know, I haven't researched properly. I haven't managed to read the book that the author has coming on to talk about. And it used to stress me out. I'd be trying to cram it in and try and look at all this information. And then the penny dropped one day and I thought, wrong and look, these podcasts are conversations, right? You know how to converse with someone, right? You've been conversing with people all your life. As a doctor, right? What are we doing as GPs? We're conversing, we're having conversations with our patients. So for me, in some ways I've been podcasting my entire life because all I'm doing is having a conversation. And why I said it's taught me about trust is because I just have to trust myself.

Like if I haven't had time to research the guest properly, right, yes, I could cancel it. I could get stressed out, but I don't particularly like those two options. So I figure out I'll sit here and I'll just be present and I'll ask them questions that I'm interested in and they'll respond. And if I think carefully and if I listen carefully, I have to trust myself that I will know

what the right thing to say next is. And it's not something you do right at the start. I didn't do it at the start. You know, I would have a list of questions at the start. Now, often I'd ignore them and just follow the conversation. But now I often show up to these podcasts with no questions there. And you've got to trust yourself to do that. you've got to trust yourself that if you get stuck or if your mind wanders and you know what it does wander sometimes that's the truth I've got to have enough trust in myself and self-belief that I will know what to say and I've got to say I think those are probably the biggest two things i get from the podcast apart from you know meeting incredible people uh you know being able to pick their brain

about stuff that i'm interested in i think those two things being mindful and learning to trust myself are probably the two biggest things that my podcast gives me it's it's a great thing to to watch as well because i think you know because you you're a doctor and doctor in in ancient greek and in lots of other languages means teacher doesn't it and what i love about the podcast personally is that this this kind of cyclical learning teaching thing that goes on between you and the guest but it's not an obvious it's not like a lecture is it it is a conversation and there's some there's there is something magical going on in a lot of it it's a conversation and i don't think if you'd ask me that that question or if you'd ask me about my podcast two years ago just after it started right i would have thought i would have said to

you that my podcast is a way of delivering information to people, trying to educate people, right? And I'm not saying it's not now. It's sort of not, but it is. Yeah, exactly. It's not about information delivery anymore. It's about connection, right? It's about connection. So the podcast is a conversation. And I think the quality of the podcast and the impact it has isn't necessarily to do with the information that's imparted. I think it's to do with the authenticity and the connection I have with the guests and I think if you connect well with that guest, I think information delivery comes as a pleasant side effect of that and it is quite profound for me that and I don't think I

got that at the start of the podcast, but I've reflected on why it appears to be so popular, why so many people seem to be listening and sharing them with their friends, and I figured out that this is about human connection, and that's actually one of the reasons why I very, very rarely do Skype calls. You can do Skype interviews, and I did a couple right at the start, but I haven't done one in a long time. I insist that they're done face-to-face because I think there's a certain magic about being face-to-face, about being two foot away from that person, but also look into their eyes and see their facial expressions. I think that lends itself

to a certain quality of conversation. It doesn't mean I will never do a skype interview i'm if i get a guest who i you know simply can't get in any other way yes i would be interested um and a lot of people suggest really amazing podcast guests for me um i bet you get that every day yeah you know it's i'll tell you what i i meet people who want to be on your podcast and i'm like join the queue buddy it's look i'm a very but um i'm very i mean look i'm really flattered that people want I meet people who want to be on your podcast and I'm like, join the queue, buddy. Look, I'm a very, I'm very, I mean, I'm really flattered that that many people want to come on. And I think at the start that would have been fine. But now we actually need a way of figuring out who should come on because there's too many people who want to come on. And, you know, as I've spoken about before, I am a recovering people pleaser. So, you know, it's not something that comes easy to me saying no, or it's not about saying no for me, right? What it's about, I'll tell you how I choose a guest, right? So, for me,

the number one criteria for me when I'm choosing a guest is am I interested in that person and that topic yeah I mean that's what it's about for me because if I'm not interested I think the audience is gonna pick that up I don't think they're gonna get bored and and you just before I forget because it's in my mind that I totally get that completely but the doctor thing you know because you you know you and I are medics aren't we we went to med school do you still feel that this is part of that the podcast yeah I think that's a great question um and it's something I thought a lot about I thought a lot about this recently I think it absolutely is so I guess it's the question really for me is what does it mean to be a doctor? You know, what is that definition of doctor? What do we think a doctor

should be? Well, a doctor is fundamentally someone who helps people, right? You know, you know, by one definition, it's about helping people who are in need of help. People who are not feeling so well, they come and see us wanting advice on how they can feel better. Or it might be someone who's worried about something they've read online or their friends had something or their mum's had something. They want to come and get a bit of reassurance, right? So, my job as a doctor is about making and helping people to feel better with whatever tools I have available to me. Typically, those tools have been medicine, you know, certainly in the West. And I guess we can making and helping people to feel better with whatever tools I have available to me.

Typically, those tools have been medicine, you know, certainly in the West. And I guess we can talk about what that medicine should be. One definition of medicine that I've read is that it's a drug or other preparation that is used to treat disease or prevent illness, which I think is, you know, a pretty good definition of what we regard medicine to be. And so I feel through this podcast, but through the other things that I do as well, that I am treating people. I am helping people. I'm helping them to prevent illness. I'm helping them to feel better. I'm hopefully helping them to reduce symptoms. Sometimes I'm helping them to prevent illness. I'm helping them to feel better. I'm hopefully helping them to reduce symptoms. Sometimes I'm helping them reverse their illness. And, you know, who says that has to be done in the consultation room? You know, I love seeing patients in the consultation room. I've been doing that for almost 20 years now, but I love it. I don't particularly want to stop doing that

because I really enjoy it. But as people may have heard me say before, 80% of what we see as doctors today is in some way related to our collective modern lifestyles. Now, I'm not putting blame on people. I get it that life is difficult. Life is stressful. People are juggling multiple things. You know. Everyone I meet wants to feel better than they currently do. They want to make changes, but they don't feel they've got the time, right? So I get that. But here's the question for me then. If 80% of what I see as a daughter is in some way related to our collective modern lifestyles, then is the best way for me to help people one-on-one in clinic? Or could it potentially be through podcasts and through books and through TV shows or documentaries,

where you can empower people with information, inspire them through storytelling to really connect with them and actually make them feel afterwards that, hey, look, I can do this, I can do that. So, whilst I still do see patients, I think my role as a podcast host and as an author is absolutely consistent with that of a doctor. Now, is it the role I thought I would be in when I went to medical school? That's a very different question and absolutely not yeah i thought i'm gonna go to med school to learn the tools that i needed to help my patients get better and i thought that would be in a consultation room or in a hospital so you know i think things have developed a lot but i think i think all of this stuff is absolutely consistent with what I think adults face.

I mean, what do you think? Yeah, I think you're right. It has changed. And a lot of it is to do with cultural stereotyping. So, you know, Peppa Pig's a good example. You know, Dr. Brown Bear in Peppa Pig. He comes on a home visit at the drop of a hat and he always gives out this pink medicine and this idea of the doctor treating something. But then i watched something the other day which i haven't seen since

i was a kid i'm sure you might remember it it's this thing on sesame street called who are the people in your neighborhood do you remember that song who are the people in your neighborhood that one anyway so they they have sort of the grocer and the the doctor and actually the doctor's one was the the doctor worked hard all day long to keep you feeling healthy and strong which i thought was this from the 70s and actually that's kind of what you do isn't it that you know that's sort of the preventive element of medicine which used to get ignored yes what i'm talking about is prevention but it's not just prevention i think this is a really common misunderstanding about the role of lifestyle, the role of nutrition and health, right? Whenever you talk about it, people say, oh yeah, prevention is better than

cure, right? And I get that. I understand that on one level. Of course it is. But we think lifestyle is only relevant for prevention. And it's simply not true. Lifestyle can also be used as the treatment. It may not be enough in itself, but often it is. And so, I don't think I'm just offering people prevention. I'm also offering people, I hope, practical tips and tools in the books, in the podcasts, and through social media accounts, that they can actually think, hey, you know what, I might try that and see what happens. And look, I mean, this is fresh in my mind because the new book's only been out a couple of months now, but I'm getting messages from people now that it's been out for

two months. People got a message this week saying, Dr. Sachi, love it. I could not believe that these three five-minute health snacks a day have helped me lose a stone and a half in weight in the last two months, right? Someone else told me her anxiety symptoms have almost disappeared from doing the Feel Better in Five plan. Someone told me her anxiety symptoms have almost disappeared from doing the feel better in five plan. Um, someone told me her blood sugars have come down significantly since starting to feel better in five plan. And so for me, it's kind of like, well, wait a minute, that's not prevention. These are people who've got symptoms, uh, you know, anxiety, excess weights, um, you know, whatever it is. And that's when I'm passionate to get across to people, you know, whatever it is. And that's when I'm passionate to get across to people,

not to lecture them. I really hope that I don't lecture people. I don't think I do. I mean, for me, it's about giving people information. I love talking to people on the podcast who've got interesting stories because you know why? We learn through stories, you know, information because sometimes we just too dry hearing as just as black and white facts. Sure, that can be helpful, but hearing a good narrative around it where someone who's maybe lived through something, I think that has power. So, yeah, I would like to think I'm broadening out people's view on what medicine should be and what medicine can be. And, you know, I think I'm also moving lives, you know, along with many other people, I might say, moving the conversation on from just being, you know,

diet and movement to so much more. And that's the feedback that I get a lot, either on, you know, the podcast apps or on my social media accounts people say oh you're you're making me think about all the other factors that are relevant for my health you know there's a moment when you know the course we do together and i kind of set the scene and open the day and then you come on and there is this moment because the room's full of gps generally where you start talking about glute four receptors or the microbiome and all this kind of technical stuff and you sort of see because actually i think the thing with you

is you're so good at communicating these concepts simply that people forget there's a lot of science behind it and there's this moment where the whole room thinks wow he really knows this stuff do you know what i mean yeah i'm sure you've noticed that yourself you know i mean as in as in you know the way it's talked about in you know in terms of you know you know feel better advice a really good example the interventions are really simple and it's very easy to think that well hang on there's what's what's new here but actually they're so clever aren't they because it's based on on that complex science yeah this is something i've really had to wrestle with and if i'm honest i've really had to wrestle with this because i remember when i sat down to write my first book the four pillar plan i remember first time i've

ever written a book i was sitting there writing and you know like a lot of doctors um and i was a lot of doctors who you know either writing books or putting them at putting themselves out there in the media and there's a bit of a fear you know how are you going to be perceived you don't want to offend anyone you know because the culture we grew up in as medics means we don't want to do any of that we want to you know keep everyone happy play it safe that kind of stuff we're also very very keen to um be accepted by our colleagues and i remember when i first started to sit down and write that book that I was thinking, right, you know, I really want doctors to like this, you know, and I'd put in loads and loads of science and loads of research studies. And I was reflecting and

looking at it thinking, wait a minute, why are you writing this book? Right. I'm writing this book not to show off how much I know but to help people change their lives and i thought if that's your goal rongan then make it understandable make it simple and understandable so that the people you want to impact can easily digest the information and easily put it into practice but the weird thing that happened was by doing that, doctors seem to love it as well. And I think, you know, there's literally thousands of doctors now in the UK who are prescribing the four-pill plant to their patients and using it to learn as well, which is really incredible. And you know, one thing I've learned, yes, through the podcast, but also through writing books,

and I think you draw a good analogy for Feel Better in 5 because I really learned it in that book is you know these books and these podcasts are not about showing off how much I know they're about action they're about helping people and I've realized that the way you communicate is everything right how do you communicate that health messaging I don't want to just give people information. I say on the outros, the most podcasts, I don't want you just to be inspired by this podcast and then go back to living your everyday life as per normal. No, I want people to take action from that inspiration. And I think simplicity is key. And yeah, I've had to wrestle with my own ego issues over that because I know some people

will probably think, oh God, it's a bit simple. He doesn't know much more than that. But that's an ego thing in my head because actually there is complex science behind them. I just try my best to keep it simple. And yeah, you're right. It is nice for me to run that course. And we've had over a thousand doctors go through it now learning from us. And yes, on one level, it's nice that they know that I do understand the complexity of all these receptors and what's actually going on. And that's, I guess, what I love about my career at the moment is that I can teach doctors and specialists on our course. So I can make it high level. I can communicate on the podcast. And often that's,

sometimes can be really in-depth conversations with really world-leading scientists. But then I can also convert all of that, I hope, into really practical information for people through the book. So I feel I get to do it all really by having all these multiple streams. But it's interesting you picked up on that actually. I'm i'm gonna it's probably a bit of an unfair question but which episode out of the hundred that you've done so far sticks in your mind the most i mean how do you choose between it's like well i wouldn't say it's like asking to choose between your kids it won't quite go that far but that is hard uh out the hundred episodes there's been some crackers what was the question was it one yeah yeah you can't have more than one that'd be unfair a lot of people want to know the answer what's in your head like you know

i mean there's two that come into my mind at the moment i'm just going to really try and as I sit here today, right now, which episode has had the most impact? I think, if I have to choose one, which I do, I'd have to say it was the episode I did with Gabor Mate. I thought you were going to say that. Did you? Yeah. Because you can hear in your voice the kind of emotion by the end of it. You'd gone on this sort of

spectacular journey this during this conversation and it kind of opened loads i just loved it that's my favorite one as well yeah i mean i can't remember the episode now i think it was something like 39 37 so you know relatives are episode 100 in the early days yeah um but i think that one has probably had the most impact on me. I'd followed Gabbo's work for a while. And I think for me to sit across the table with him and him to also get what I'm doing, and we really connected, we really got on. It was just great on so many levels. Professionally, it was great. Personally, it was great. And I think seeing the impact, because for me, that was taking a bit of a risk, right? I like to take risks on the podcast. I don't like to play it safe. I don't want to give people the same information each week. I want to talk to a wide variety of different people

about all kinds of different things. And of course, not everyone's going to love every week, but that's okay. You know, I hope the variety is what's going to keep people interested. love every week. That's okay. You know, I hope the variety is what's going to keep people interested. And the impact from that episode, that was, I think the first, I put that on YouTube. That was the first YouTube video I had that went viral. Like it just connected with people and they wanted to share it. And I think the reason it's had so much impact on me personally as well is because it really helps us understand both myself and I hope a lot of the listeners that what happens to us in our childhood, how we're treated, how we respond to certain situations can have implications for the rest of our life

unless we look into it and start to tackle it and start to go, okay, wait a minute, unless we look into it and start to tackle it and start to go, okay, wait a minute, this behavior served me as a child, but I'm not sure it's serving me anymore as an adult. And I think Gabor Maté's work, as well as many other people, has really influenced me and my own journey through that process. Particularly, I'd say now know it's almost seven years since my dad died I think that's when that journey started for me really just as you touched on your dad who obviously I remember very well I mean in terms of and I'm moving it on a little bit but you know he's a big influence in your life would you say he you know in terms of big influences in your life it's hardly unfair to ask who the biggest would have been but your dad i would guess is he who

is he who would say has had the biggest influence on you yeah i mean who's had the biggest impact on my life i mean yeah that i mean i mean that's really hard to say, isn't it? Who's had the biggest? I mean, there's clearly lots of people who've had impact. You know, when I think about a question like that, I think about my parents, of course. I mean, I think, you know, they are the ones who bring you up and who instill their values in you and you learn from, you know, good or bad, you tend to learn from the way they do things and start to, that becomes the way you do things as well because that's what you've seen i certainly think my mom and dad have been huge influences on my life no question um you know dad's yeah i mean it's it's it's interesting like last week i was on say say for people who don't know, my dad was unwell for 15 years.

He retired, he had to medically retire. He was a consultant physician at the Manchester Ward Infirmary. I don't think he'd ever taken a day off sick in his life. And at the age of 57, 58, he got unwell. And he suddenly got lupus, and then he got kidney failure. So he had this autoimmune disease, he had kidney failure, and basically was on dialysis for 15 years, three times a week. Everything in our lives changed. All the decisions I've made as an adult, because that happened when I was at medical school,

probably about 20 years old. Everything changed. And that's one of the reasons I live in the northwest of England, I moved back to help look after my dad, which I did for 15 years until dad died. And that has been so, you know, it's so funny, you're saying who's had the biggest influence. I can't answer that necessarily, but my dad, my dad's illness and actually being a carer for 15 years, which you could say indirectly is from my dad's, that has had a profound influence on me as a person, as a doctor. You know, being on the other side, seeing what a chronically ill patient suffers with, the stress that puts on the whole family, seeing how amazingly my mother cared for him for that period of time and just seeing what amazing dedicated care can do. To think that that hasn't influenced me as a person or the way I treat

patients, I think it would be unrealistic. You know, I don't know what sort of doctor I would have been without that. So, I'd like to think I'd be a compassionate doctor, but I don't think I would have the insights that that's given me. So, I think my parents through them, you know, bringing me up through my whole life, but also through my dad's illness, absolutely massive influence. And, you know, I sort of feel that I process a lot of that and I feel pretty okay with things now because I do feel my dad had lived this life he really wasn't well the last little while it was pretty it's pretty hellish really the last few months for all of us um so I think it's for dad I think it's it's best for him that he's not around if

I'm honest um I mean you see your mum almost every day don't you i mean most days and when you're at home and she's obviously seen your journey through books tv podcasts you know all the sort of success in inverted commas that you're enjoying it's obviously sad that your dad's not around to see that but do you think he would what do you think he would say in terms of would he get this this whole prevention thing you know i thought about so many times um because my dad was a you know he went to medical school in calcutta in india he came over to the uk very much like your dad's um to you know to try and set up a new life and give his family a really good quality of living that he didn't perceive he could do in india for us And, you know, I think,

I don't know what dad would think. I think he'd be very proud. And on what I used to be gutted, that the things that my dad would have been proudest of the most, because I know how my dad's brain used to work. Like, you know, his son, you know, this is an Indian immigrant to this country, right?

So dad's an Indian immigrant here, comes here with hardly any money and i think 1962 and literally makes everything from scratch himself puts up with all kinds of stuff i mean don't know how deep you want to go you know racism uh within and outside the nhs which is very very well established what used to happen and we can argue about whether it still happens or not uh but um you know dad comes here and you know they they would hold the bbc in such esteem right so to have his own son have his own bbc one show um you know i i think i think i could just imagine my dad's face um and then to have you know three Sunday Times bestsellers each year you know for the last three years I think my dad would be so so proud but

it doesn't it doesn't uh upset me anymore like I feel my dad is here in everything that I do like if dad was still around today I wouldn't be doing any of this. That's the irony, right? If my dad was still alive, being a carer takes so much out of you physically, mentally, emotionally, I wouldn't have energy for anything. I bet they had enough energy to spend time with my own family. That's how much caring took out of us. And so, and that's why I think I found the last few days so, And that's why I think I found the last few days so hard at times because it reminds me that being in A&E for hours, I think my mum was there for about 10 hours, 10 hours. Like, I'm not able to go with anyone. I get it. Everyone's, you know, the staff were incredible.

They were trying to do their best right and then waiting for aiders to be transferred to another ward and mum's getting more confused because she's out of her own environment and it's dark and it's you know it just brought back all those memories of what life used to be like every single week for 15 years yeah um so and actually last week i i got a i i remember i got a taxi to media city in Manchester to go on um Radio 5 Live for an appearance and the taxi driver who picked me up I was chatting for the first 20 minutes I was I was in a super chatty mood that day doesn't surprise you I'm sure and uh and then he said you know towards once we were getting there he said oh you really remind me of your dad you know i said i sort of said him he goes oh you know i picked you up before you know i i used to take your dad to dialysis for the first three years i remembered and he was one of the he used

to work for a taxi firm that had the renal contract at windishaw hospital so he would take my dad's three times a week to dialysis there and back and I said okay cool you know what what is it about me that reminds you of my dad and he said it's just everything the way you talk your mannerisms the way you finish sentences I could literally be here with your dad and you know I was really emotional thinking about that so it's like oh my god this guy used to take dad all the time and dad was super chatty as well. So it was interesting. It was nice when stuff like that happens. Going back to Gamal Mate,

I genuinely think, like most parents, my parents did the best that they could for me with their understanding, with their resources, you know, both financial and mental and whatever. I think they did the best for me. And I've only recently been able to look at that now with a slight detached, with less emotion. I think Gabor Mate and my conversation with him, I think that's one of the reasons it's so impactful for me is that I was on that journey anyway before I spoke to Gabor,

but looking back at my childhood now with detachment and going, you know what? This stuff was great, but that stuff probably wasn't so great. And that's not me having a go at my parents. No. Right?

That's me with the utmost love saying, guys, you did a great job i you did the best you could um but actually these things possibly weren't so great and these are things that probably impacted me in my life and they're things that i have um really worked hard on changing over the last few years and And it has really helped me. It's helped me feel calmer. It's helped me feel more secure in myself. And so why that episode? And the other episode I was thinking of was the Peter Crone episode, which is, I think, something like 82 or 83. The reason why I think those types of episodes have the

most impact on me, because they almost mirror what I'm doing in my own life, which is really understanding how our emotions, how our thoughts, how our childhood programming determines so much of how we feel, you know, years later. And I know I've had the biggest impact on my health and the way I feel about myself by, you know, really working on those bits. It's so fascinating, isn't it? And it's just that moment of realization when you, when you realize that actually there is a link. And I think, I think for me, it happened once when I remember doing something that was exactly the same as my dad would do.

And I thought, turning into my dad, you know, it's an odd thing, isn't it? It's an odd feeling. I'm going to have a bit of fun now, if that's all right. So I think, I think, you know it's an odd thing isn't it it's an odd feeling i'm gonna have a bit of fun now if that's all right so i think i think you know there are i've got a list of things i want to ask you and it's quick fire i don't want to think about them too much this is really sort of really for you know people who follow you to give give them a bit more sort of it's a bit of fun but just a bit more about what you think should i be worried at all not that worried not that worried just taking a quick break in today's conversation to give a shout out to the sponsors of today's show athletic greens continue their support of my podcast to be really clear i absolutely prefer that people get all of their nutrition from foods.

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So you just have to pick one of the two choices in terms of what you prefer. So running or swimming? Running. Kale or spinach? Kale. Thai or Chinese food? Thai. 100% Thai. did you say kale instead of spinach yeah i'm shocked we'll come back to that um city or countryside countryside liverpool or man united

oh my god liverpool times or telegraph telegraph good save um ketchup they have serialized my first three books i know i was just thinking that ketchup or brown sauce i don't really have either now but ketchup if i had to choose jeans or tracksuit bottoms tracky bottoms plane or train train mac or pc mac beats or boasts boasts oh mate no honestly we can argue about that later. Dispatch bag or rucksack? I don't know what a dispatch bag is, so I'm going to go rucksack.

Like a record bag, but kind of like, rectangle. You've got all these fancy terms here down south. No, that's good, that's good. And, do you,

I mean, you know, that's a bit of fun, but I mean, I think that's useful because, you know, and you said tracksuit bottoms instead of jeans yeah yeah that's interesting but do you what do you do what do you prefer jeans or tracksuit jeans yeah i don't know i just i've got one pair of tracksuit bottoms and i just find them really kind of itchy yeah i don't find them comfy you know like hoodies are really if they're rich you maybe should get a different material

where are those questions i want to ask you them back now no no i i write them um but you know um you you we mentioned earlier on you've when we were talking about your dad you know that you've you've written these best-selling books you've done tv work you've got like a wide palette of activity but your sort of purpose is quite singular in a way it's pretty obvious they all tie in don't they do you plan on doing any more tv work are you i mean what are your what are you working on at the moment you know is there anything in the pipeline yeah i mean there's there's lots in the pipeline as always but i think there's quite a few elements to that question for me. And one of them is, you know, what is that mission, right?

And the mission that I have is over the course of my career, I would like to help 100 million people around the world transform the way that they feel, right? It's pretty simple. You know, I want to help inspire 100 million people to know that they can be the architects of their own health right so that's the mission and again i didn't know this stuff i couldn't articulate that even i'm gonna guess four years ago or three years ago i mean this is stuff that i've worked on as part of that emotional process which i was talking to you about yeah it's not just about my childhood and my upbringing it's about everything that I do and who am I as a person and what is it that gets me

out of bed every morning and what is it that drives me to work hard and you know do all the things that I do and it was a very hard process to come up with that as a mission um but I feel very comfortable with it it is scary for for me. You know, people say, well, how will you know if you get 100 million people? Well, I don't. And in some ways it doesn't matter. It's just a way for me to make decisions about my work and is this going to impact the lives

of a lot of people or not? And so tying that in with TV shows right i have recently turned down to you know tv series on uh you know i can't really say who or what they are sure but i have turned down to of my own series on uh mainstream british tv channels in a way that i possibly wouldn't have done four or five years ago because they will not help me get to that 100 million mark right so they're not the sort of shows i think are going to help me inspire and empower people with information to improve their their lives right so therefore for me it makes it easy to make decisions because i've done tv shows

before right but they have been consistent with that. As soon as I feel that something is not, I'm not interested because I'm not doing this to be on telly, right? If I'm not on telly again, that's fine, right? That's not what drives me. TV is a medium to get to a lot of people, right? So, you know, my first two series in Doctor Who House were watched by about 5 million people in the UK each week, right? That's gone to 70 countries around the world. I don't know how many people have now seen it, but it will be, you know, probably close to 10 million.

Yeah, it's a lot of reach, isn't it? It's a lot of reach. So if 1% of people who have watched that show made some change in their lifestyle to improve the way that they feel, you know, if you just go on the 5 million number, what's that? That is, I'm tired.

So I might get this wrong, 50,000, right? If it's 10% of people, that's half a million. Whereas suddenly now you're like, hold on a minute. So media and television and podcasts and books all tied with what you asked me before, which is what does it mean to be a doctor now? Are you still being a doctor? Yeah, because everything I try and do is to help give people that information

that's going to improve the way that they feel. And so many people have contacted me and said, hey, look, I've now got on top of my health conditions. I don't need to see my doctor anymore. And that excites me because, you know, the National Health Service is under strain, right? We are struggling to cope with the demand on it. And I think there's many reasons for that.

But if I and other people, it's not just me, there's loads of people doing this, right? There's loads of people who are trying to empower their audience with this kind of information, which is i think the more voices in this that the better really but but but what happens is that by doing that um i think people are improving their lives that often don't need to go and see their doctor now for stuff that they might have done so in some ways this is yes helping them but in some ways it might also be taking some of the strain off the nhs i know so many doctors prescribe this podcast to their patients they go hey look you know i think

this is going to help you listen to episode 73 yeah i'll see you in three weeks to discuss uh you know what you thought and what you can take from it and that excites me so i absolutely feel that this stuff is helping people with their health and i just think it's time to redefine what that role of a doctor really is yeah and you're definitely doing that in my eyes i mean for sure and a lot of my patients listen to your podcast but i i want to bring something up that's a bit possibly a bit controversial you what you were just talking about i'm going to bring up influencers because there's a lot of people out there on social media in that sort of health space you know i'm not massively active on social media for lots of reasons one is i don't have a lot of time it's very time consuming

and secondly i feel that you know like you who's got very very firm purpose and and i do too but you know what your post has got to be kind of worthwhile and there's a lot of toxicity out there and a lot of do you know what i mean do i ever yeah what's your view on that it's very confusing for you know someone a member of the public to know you know who's reliable who's to trust so and so slagging off so and so and suddenly there's you know the kind of knives come out and you know and i hate that stuff yeah but i think it's a great i think you've really touched on i think one of the most important topics that exists at the moment is where do we get our information from and i mean there are so many strands of that question and i've got a lot of thoughts on this which i'm very happy to share um i think it's really important really important i think so

where do people get their information i think it's tricky because i i'm an optimist right and i i generally believe in the good of people and i believe that people are whoever they are are trying to share information that's going to help people. I really think by and large, most people are trying to do that. Now, I don't subscribe to the view that you should only be sharing health information if you are a qualified healthcare professional. I don't at all. I know that's not the prevailing narrative. I think, I couldn't think, I couldn't disagree with that more because I think we've all got something to share. And, you know, you can have a qualified healthcare professional who's done a certain degree. And even within that, people will disagree on the right thing to do. So I don't think that necessarily means you've got a badge of,

you know, like quality assurance. Sure, I think it can help, but I don't necessarily think, I think that will surprise people. Like, I just think everyone should be allowed to share the information that they want to share. I fundamentally believe that. Now, what does that mean for the audience, right? Well, for the audience, I think, yes, I think seeing a qualified healthcare professional and actually following them might be a good start. But again, look, if you just take diet, for example, right? You could follow a qualified doctor, you could follow a qualified doctor you could follow you could follow 10 qualified medical doctors and they could all be preaching 10 different things one could say it's all about being vegan one could say it's about being a car on a carnivore diet one could say

it's about being low carb one could say the whole lot of that is a load of nonsense so we should all be eating whatever we want and just count our calories etc etc you could get the same with nutritionists so So even if someone's got a tick after their name saying I'm a healthcare professional, you can still have this kind of complete confusion, which does exist. Now, one thing I am super passionate about is the way we behave online. And frankly, the thing that concerns me more than anything within my profession is the inability or reluctance of some doctors who disagree with others to behave in a respectful and polite manner. And one thing I very much hope I've always done is behave with respect and compassion on social

media, even if someone disagrees with me, right? I don't mind disagreement. I don't mind. But if you respectfully disagree, I'll engage with you and have a conversation. If you're rude or you troll me, I ain't engaging. But my strategy is just to stay out of it and focus on positive, meaningful content as much as possible. I don't engage i have carefully curated my feeds so that when i go on them generally it's full of positive information now that doesn't mean i live in an echo chamber ian no no i get it i follow people with differing views to me 100 but i'll follow them when they put them across in a kind and compassionate manner. Because here's the thing, a lot of what our brain picks up is subconscious, right?

So if we're following toxic people on social media and we're spending 20, 30 minutes, an hour a day on it, what do you think our brain's picking up? Our brain's picking up on that negativity and that toxicity. I just don't follow people, right? I block, I don't block many people, but if I find someone really toxic, I'll block them. So I feel if I'm not going to control my digital borders and what I see when I'm online, well, no one else is going to do it for me. And I say to everyone, and in fact, everyone listens to this, I say, look, think about your own feed. Are you getting annoyed, but you're feeling low or anxious a lot of time? Does going on social media sometimes make you feel bad? Well, if it does, I would say,

think about which those channels are that make you feel bad and block them or mute them or unfollow. It's such a simple thing thing but curate your own digital world so it's what you want to see um so i was going to say i mean look you know we've talked we've covered loads of stuff haven't we you've i think you are from where i'm sitting redefining the way that medicine's delivered definitely and in a way this is going to sound a bit weird and i not in a you know and i don't mean to sort of demean anyone that works in research or public health but what you're doing is kind of like modern public health in some ways isn't it do you know what i mean you're reaching lots of people and and what i'd like to know is if and when we're sat here for the 200th episode

what what's in store for the next hundred do you know do you have an inkling do you know wow another 100 episodes that's a lot of work yeah um i think it really depends and i'll tell you what i mean by that i had no idea before I started a podcast how much work it is. You know, putting out a weekly in-depth conversation that is often now 90 minutes to two hours, getting it edited, getting it out, recording intros and outros, being able to finance it and the time and the travel, you know, paying for videographers, editing time, finding time to cut social media edits, you know, it's a full-time job. I don't think I realized because I did it, I just sort of fit it in around the rest of my life. And it's actually Rich Roll who was on the podcast recently, who's got one of the biggest

podcasts globally, which is a fantastic one called the Rich Roll Podcast. Rich the podcast recently who's got one of the biggest podcasts globally which is a fantastic one called the Rich Roll podcast Rich said to me when I was on his show recently he said I don't quite get how you're doing this because all I do is my podcast that's my full time job and you're

also writing books also seeing patients also going around the country speaking like and I think since then it really dawned on me, yeah, this is quite a lot of work, actually. I don't, this is like, I didn't quite realize. And someone from the BBC said to me the other week, he says, Ron, you're putting out content each week. We, if this is a weekly radio show,

we have two separate teams. One team is working one week ahead on the next episode. And I'm thinking, oh, no wonder we're all feeling a little bit overwhelmed at the moment. So I think structurally things have to change a little bit. Because I just, like with everything I've done so far, whether it's TV, books or podcasts, I've gone on passion. I've gone with passion first. And I figured out how to do it somewhere down the line,

which is what I'd always encourage people to do is don't wait till everything is fixed before you start, just start. Just do it. And figure it out as you go. But what I tell you, what do I hope? Assuming I've got time and resource to do this,

I'd love to plan a bit more. I want to talk to as many different voices about as many different things as I possibly can to really, you know, widen people's view of what health is. I guess for me, that's the aim, you know, try and get exciting guests, more different guests, just, I don't know, keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully can keep inspiring people each week with these conversations. I think the other thing I want to do is, actually, this is huge, actually. What's happened with the podcast is that this is this big, sprawling digital community, right?

So people are in their lives somewhere, in their car, going out for a run, you know, sitting on their commutes, listening through their earphones, these conversations. But I think that real life human connection is so important. And I would love to start doing live events with the podcast, start bringing people together so you can meet other like-minded individuals. That's already happening. So, I've got a private Facebook group, which anyone can join. It's called, I think it's called Dr. Chastity Four Pillar Tribe on Facebook. And I don't know, I think it's about,

I don't know, something like 10,000 000 people in there now it's such a warm supportive group where people ask for advice they ask for help and people all go say oh have you tried this have you tried that i mean i'm not on there that much if i'm honest but it's some it's it's got a life of its own yeah it's a community that i put together a lot of people ask me where can we connect with other podcast listeners yeah and the group is amazing. And someone called Amelia actually on that group, I'm sure other people had the idea as well, came up with the idea of having meetups. So I think there are now 40 or 50 meetups in the UK alone, weekly or two weekly, feel better, live more meetups where people who love the podcast, love my books are getting

together in their local environment, going for walks, going out in nature, and talking about some of the themes and talking about some of these ideas. And that is something that really, really excites me because what started as a little idea to put out six podcasts has now turned into like a juggernaut each Wednesday at 1pm that takes a lot of my mental energy each week. But now people are using it to meet up and I'm thinking about, you know, live events, potentially where, you know, I feel better live more life, live podcasts, like, you know, whatever. People listening to this or watching it, you know, feel free to fire through ideas. Can I ask you something else on that? Because, you know, what you've done with the podcast and the books and

everything you do is is amazing i mean astonishing and at the rate that you've done it at and and you are having this amazing impact i think on people but how do you gauge and how do you sort of measure your own success people must come up to you all the time going oh you're so successful but what does that word mean to you yeah it's it's um it's something i've actually thought about quite a lot um you know when you're sat by yourself at home in those quiet moments when no one's around you know whether you've sold hundreds of thousands of books or hundreds of thousands of people listening to your show each week you know what none of that matters it really doesn't in those quiet moments you find it actually are you satisfied with who you are are you happy and who

you are so for me success has changed over the You know, I think that people pleaser side of me, which I'm working hard to move away from, that side of me that, you know, really sought validation from other people as a huge way in how I got my self-worth. Oh, people say it's, you know, yeah, it makes me feel good. I've really moved away from using external validation as yeah, it makes me feel good. I've really moved away from using external

validation as a way of making me feel good. Like it doesn't really affect me that much anymore. It's about how I feel in myself. I think many of us are chasing the wrong things. I think I used to chase the wrong things. And I've realized that success for me is, you know, am I, do I feel happy with who I am? Would I be doing all the things I'm doing even if no one was watching? Even if no one was reading my books, would I still be wanting to put out that information? Yeah. Even if nobody was listening to these podcasts, would I still relish having these conversations each week with people? And would I be doing it anyway? Yeah, I'd like to think so um but also how I define success is not through my work even though I'm proud of my work and even though my mission is

to help so many people and I'm glad to see the impacts it's having really for me it's all about family it's about friends it's about um you know for me success is can i do all this or can i cut back on some of this so i've actually got dedicated undistracted time with my wife and kids each week because if i don't what's the point and i figured out for me and it takes a while because you've got to go through these things i don't think anyone's you know born out of the womb suddenly knowing all this stuff you have to go through stuff and learn and go oh you know what that actually hasn't made me that happy you know it's actually that stuff that makes me happy in those quiet moments if the last few days of you know high stress to do with my mum's health and her fall. And if that has reminded me of

anything, it's reminded me of what's important in life and rushing around and doing this and doing that. It's all very well, but you know what? I'm glad I was able to be there for my mum this week and go and sleep on a floor for two nights and make sure she's all set up and everything's all right and get a double bed in for her downstairs. She doesn't have to go upstairs at the moment while she's feeling a bit frail. You know, I'm glad I've got time for that. I'm glad I cancelled other stuff because that stuff's important. And I realised actually, you know what, am I spending enough time with my mum? You know, because you mentioned before I pop around regularly, I do, but you know what, I pop rounds. I don't really, often I'm doing stuff. I'm changing the light bulb or I'm, you know, taking the bin out for her or, you know,

rushing. And, you know, maybe I could spend a bit more time when I go around and go, you know what, forget all that stuff. Why don't I just make a cup of tea and sit there for 20 minutes and have a chat with her? You know? So I am constantly being reminded of what's important in life. In fact, life will always remind you what's important if life. In fact, life will always remind you of what's important if you pay attention to the signals. So that's important to me personally. And I am going to try and make some changes in that department. But the other thing I've figured out is really important for me professionally.

And I've only really figured that out since Feel Better in 5 came out. I absolutely believe in the philosophy of that book for all of us, but particularly for schools. I think that the program in the book, five minutes a day on your mind, five minutes a day on your body, and five minutes a day on your heart, I think is the perfect children's well-being program. You know, teachers always say the two things that are obstacles for us are time and money. I've taken them off the table. Everything only takes five minutes and everything's free, right? So it's very accessible for everyone. Now I've given some talks at schools recently and I'm getting so many emails back from the schools saying this is

resonating, the kids are loving it, the parents are loving it. So many teachers have been in touch saying, we're using this, we're using breath counting with the kids, they love it. Can we use this? And so I actually, I've got a few people on my team and we're recruiting for someone with experience in the teacher profession to help convert it with my help into a really actionable free plan for schools. And one of my big professional aims this year, and I'm not, I don't know if I can pull it off, right? I don't know. I don't know, but it won't stop me trying is, can I get this out there into as many schools as possible? If I can do that, that would make me professionally very, very happy. Because if you can teach kids the importance of looking after themselves, well, fast forward 5, 10, 15, 20 years, hopefully a lot of those guys will have it sorted

and won't have to be unlearning a lot of the stuff that we're having to unlearn. Do you know what I mean? So what does success mean? I think success means many different things, depending on what aspects of my life you're talking about. in a nutshell it's you know am i successful enough to prioritize my own health to make sure i've got enough time for me and i've got enough time for my friends my wife and my children i think you're doing a pretty good job mate to be honest it's a lot isn't it and actually a lot apart from your inner circle no one really sees just how busy you are at times i mean some of your weeks have been pretty insane i mean when you were promoting the book i mean

you've done that three years on the trot that month is rammed isn't it it is and look i've got to be you know i think i want to make clear that you know i talk about the importance of downtime the importance of rest the importance of looking after yourself. And me being busy and working hard doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not prioritizing those things. You know, I can be very disciplined and very productive because I have got a few practices. Like I genuinely do follow the principles in Field Breakman 5. That's how I stay healthy when I'm so busy. You know, farm it stay on my mind farm it stay on my body farm it stay on my heart if i've got time i do more but those are my base they're the foundation for my life so i know i'm paying attention to my physical health my mental health and my emotional health every single day

am i perfect no i miss the odd time but generally speaking i do that right so that's what i do but i'm also aware i don't kid myself like i know january's a busy month right you know it's a time of year when people are interested in health it's time of year when my books typically come out so yes i'm on the road i'm doing live events i'm giving interview after interview um my friend gareth who's you know he's the videographer for these podcasts you know he came and followed me this year for a week in London and to try and, you know, get some footage. I remember I was there for a bit of it. And he thought he knew what it was like and he just could not believe it.

He said, this is insane. You're literally on giving interviews from about 7.30 in the morning till about 10.30 at night, every day for five days your brain really hurts almost it does really hurt you know you get to the end of that and you suddenly you i describe it as you have you don't have like mental gymnastics you can't move from one part of your brain to another it just feels slow and sluggish yeah but the point is is that i I'm aware that January is a busy month. I'm going into February. So I plan for more downtime and less travel in February and March in general. You know, so I've learned what I need to do. Yes.

And I think that has take-homes for everyone. You never get to that state of perfect work-life balance. I don't think it exists. It's constantly moving. It's constantly shifting. But it's about self-awareness. It goes back to what we were perfect work-life balance. I don't think it exists. It's constantly moving. It's constantly shifting, but it's about self-awareness. It goes back to what we were talking about, emotional health and Gabble Matty and Peter Cronin. It's about understanding yourself and understanding that actually, yeah, fine. This is a busy time. People might be listening and yeah, I've got busy time at work. You know, if you're an accountant, I'm guessing

that, you know, the two or three weeks in January leading up to the tax deadline are probably hellish for you, right? In terms of busyness. Fine. But that's probably not going to change year on year. That's probably going to be their busy month. So, I hope some of them go, you know, in February and March, I want to make sure it's a bit lighter to recap so I can bring my body, my life back into balance, back into equilibrium. So equilibrium so i like everyone else i'm learning right i don't i don't have it perfect i don't know perfect exists i'm constantly trying to figure out um what it is i'm how it is i can better look after myself make the impacts i want to make professionally but also have the time that i want personally no it's great and i just thinking about

what you're what you're trying to do with this podcast. And I suddenly thought, you know, you're kind of searching for the perfect conversation. Would you sort of agree with that? Yeah, it's a nice way of putting it. It's a really nice way of putting it. I guess I am. I'm searching for that. You know how I know a good conversation? You know what I'm sure at the end? Because I'm like oh was that good were people like that or not but when I know it's gone well is when the time has flown by when you suddenly look at the recording go what we've been talking for two hours what happened there yeah you know that was like the John McAvoy conversation that I released on New Year's Day that was one of those I was like what two hours and 40 minutes

what happened there yeah um that was a really good one actually that was one of those i was like what 2014 is what happened there yeah um that was a really good one actually that was my second favorite yeah but you maybe choose one which is harsh but the point is is that it's kind of what i write about a lot is the flow state right it's when you're in that state of mind where you're being stimulated you're being challenged but it's not so challenging that you actually switch off you're in that sort of perfect zone where time stands still and it's energizing yeah and i guess yeah it's looking it's it's that constant search for the perfect conversation even though as i've just said perfect doesn't exist and i wish you listen the best of luck with the next 100 episodes it's been a pleasure to talk to you as always. And congratulations on reaching the big 100.

Hats off. Well, thanks, Zane. Thanks for coming in. And always a pleasure chatting. That concludes today's episode of the Feel Better Live More podcast. I really hope you enjoyed the slightly different formats of this celebratory episode. If you are a regular listener, you will know that at the end of each week's conversation, I suggest that you try and choose one thing that you heard and connected with that you can start applying into your own life immediately. Of course, there may have already been some things that you heard in my conversation with Ayan that you think that you can apply into your life but as it was a slightly different style of conversation I thought

I would share with you some of my own reflections. Here are three things that I applied over the last 100 episodes of this podcast that I think are just as applicable to you in your everyday life. Tip number one, just start. There is never a perfect time to get going with anything that we want to achieve in life. I wasn't ready for this podcast. I didn't like the logo. I wasn't sure about the format. So much more.

But I decided to just start and I figured it out as I went along. Far too many people are waiting for everything to line up perfectly before they start making changes in their life and I find that often that waits for perfection leads to paralysis. Tip number two, be consistent. Consistency is super important for anything in life. It's important for a podcast but it's also important when making changes to your own health. That is why I am such a fan of making small changes and doing them consistently. Many of you will know that my last book, Feel Best in 5, is full of five-minute interventions that you can use to help your physical, mental, and emotional health. And I've designed them so

that you can do them every single day. They don't take long, they're super easy to do and remember it is consistency that leads to results in any aspect of your life. Small things done regularly do add up. And the final tip, tip number three is try and enjoy what you do. One of my main criteria when I'm picking podcast guests is that I have to be genuinely curious about what they are going to be talking about. That's going to make it more enjoyable for me, enjoyable for you, and importantly, it's going to mean that these conversations are sustainable for me in the long term. The same principle applies for lifestyle change. If you choose things that you enjoy, it is much more likely that you will continue doing them in the long term i hope those three

tips are relevant to you i hope at least one of them has resonated as always do let me know what you thought of today's show and those tips on social media also i would love to hear your suggestions for the next 100 episodes. Which guests would you like me to invite back on the show? Which new guests would you like me to have conversations with? And if you can remember, please do use the hashtag FBLM so that I can easily find your comments. One favor that I would really love to ask each and every single one of you is to check out my YouTube channel. About six months ago, I started to film each podcast episode so that more people could access the content in these conversations. Many of you I know share my YouTube conversations with

friends and family who don't listen to audio podcasts. Occasionally, what I do is I make some exclusive videos for the YouTube channel. So last week, for example, the guest was Patrick McKeown. We made three videos together that you can only see on YouTube. If you've not seen them yet, please do head over, check them out. And the favor I have to ask you is to press subscribe and like one or two of my videos. This will really help raise visibility of my YouTube channel so that I can get these conversations out to more people. The added bonus, if you subscribe to my YouTube channel, is that my team put short clips from each week's podcast on that channel. So you can

easily revisit some of your favorite episodes without having to listen to the entire thing. It's these short, best-of clips all sit there on YouTube. The easiest way to find my channel is to type in drchatterjee.com forward slash YouTube. If you want to support this podcast, please do consider leaving a review on your podcast platform. Please also do share with your friends and family.

And if you want to know more about my philosophy and ideas around health, please do consider picking up one of my first three books, which are available in paperback, ebook, and as audiobooks, which I am awaiting. A big thank you to Vedanta Chastity for producing this week's podcast. That's a Richard Hughes for audio engineering. That is it for today. I hope you have a fabulous week. Make sure you have pressed subscribe and I'll be back in one week's time with my latest conversation, episode 101. Remember, you are the architects of

your own health. Making lifestyle changes always worth it because when you feel better, you live more. I'll see you next time. Thank you.