Success Needs Stamina | Dr. Nestor Rodriguez | The Sean Trace Show

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Nestor Rodriguez, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and longevity expert, to talk about what real success looks like when health, wellness, and high performance all collide. 

We get into why so many driven people ignore their health while chasing money, career growth, and big goals, and why that mindset eventually catches up with them. Dr. Nestor shares how small daily habits, intentional choices, and the right support system can completely change the trajectory of your life, especially for entrepreneurs, executives, parents, and other high achievers under constant stress. We talk about longevity, preventive health, aging, fitness, mindset, hormones, burnout, and why too many people wait until something breaks before they finally take their health seriously. 

This conversation really comes down to one powerful idea: if you want to show up for your family, build something meaningful, reduce stress, and live a stronger life for the long haul, you have to stop treating your health like an afterthought and start seeing it as part of your success.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Yeah, no, and in two points to that. One is I love the analogy of cars because that's what I use with with our people, with people I work with, because it resonates, right? So I tell them there's certain things under the hood that any car needs, right? So it's oil, gas, tires, brakes. And someone recently, uh, smart ass was like, well, I have an electric. All right, well, take one of those things out. You still need brakes, you still need tires. And those are some fundamental components. So that's like eating healthy, that's working out, that's hormones, in my opinion. But then you you can go into a car lot and what kind of car do you want, right? And and that's based on capitalism, based on finances, where yeah, I I would love to have a Lamborghini drive it around, but can I? No. And so Mercedes is my thing, right? Whatever car you are. But as it relates to aging, we in health, these are the two things that like I think we need a fundamental change, just like you brought up. With aging, it's like saying, I can afford or I want to, or I live a life of a Ferrari, but but my car is a beat up car. I have it taped up. And it's okay because it's still going, right? Well, where if you're in that part of your life, fine, right? You have a car, you need a vehicle. Same with gas, right? The orange light comes on. That means you have 25 miles. But if you're a high-performing machine, they tell you don't keep it at 25. But somehow we allow that to happen in our health and in our lives. Partly is our mistake as healthcare providers, because we love to, you know, tell people that suboptimal is perfect. You're just aging. That's fine to be suboptimal because you're getting older.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

All right. Well, welcome everybody to the Sean Trey Show. I've got an awesome guest with me today. And uh I'd love for you to tell people who you are and a little bit about what you do. Yes, uh, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

So I'm Dr. Nestor Rodriguez, uh board-certified emergency medicine physician, still practicing. I like to make that that that known, uh, who's also a longevity expert. And with my wife 15 years ago, we co-started Carbon World Health, which is a one-stop shop for health, beauty, and fitness coming from the world of before wellness was a thing, right? It was leaving academics was a was a crazy, like, what are you doing? You, you know, you're at the top of your career. But we were seeing the the gap between how do we treat people of wealth, how do we treat people of elite access because of their title or money, and then downstream effects of like in the emergency department. And we had an issue with that. We're like, why don't we think differently both on how we look at our health and then make it cool, right? If I'm gonna make you healthier, fitter, then you might as well look better, my wife says. So we we put everything that you can think of under one roof, and it's been quite a ride. And now obviously, wellness is a big thing everywhere. I think we've been leaving leading that charge since since opening. So it's it's been quite a ride, but it's been awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

That's awesome, man. It's like one of the things that I think that that I know people take for granted is their health. You know, we we we we coast by and people will be like, you know, how you doing? I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm this or that. But like I noticed it, like I grew up very active from a family that was always out active and doing things. But I was working so hard after I'd started my company that suddenly I was feeling gassed, you know, when I was just doing this and that. And I was like, suddenly, and I I told myself that the other day I was talking about to someone, and there was this great thing that we were talking about dreams, values. But like, if you want to accomplish something, you gotta have your dreams, you gotta have stuff you want to accomplish, you gotta have your values, like what's important to you and why are you doing it? But you also have to have habits. And the habits are the most important thing because that's what builds it, you know? And my daughter went to Muay Thai class three times a week. And I was like, I went over to them and I studied martial arts for a long time. I'm a black belt and Japanese style jujitsu, which is kind of like judo. And I went to the gym, and my friend was the one who ran the gym, and I was like, hey, uh, can I work out in here while my daughter's doing her Muay Thai class? Like, sure. It's you know, it's a couple bucks and it was a really great price. And then I was able to do it at the same time as her, and I just felt great getting back in shape. But it was like those little choices, those little habits are so important because they compound, you know. You know, there was the something that the someone told me yesterday, like they're like, would you prefer to have a hundred thousand dollars now? Or would you prefer to have um get a hundred dollars? But every time you go work out, the amount of money doubles. And I was like, I had to do the math real quick because I was like, hang on, how long? I knew that that doubling was gonna beat out the$100,000. But I was like, but how long till it beats it out? And it was like$15,000. But like, that's the that's like working out, man. It's like if you're getting in there, this compounding effect gets goes everywhere. And it helps your health across the board. But you got to show up for your health. Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, no, one of the things that we tell our clients or when I speak, it's if we apply the principles we did for like your career, your relationships or finance, and really if we think about it, it's finance and career, right? Because if we have tons of relationship problems out in the world, right? But but if you look at career and finances, if we applied the same drive, the same habits, the same strategies, or sought it the same way, our health would be completely different, right? And and I lived it where I was, you know, coming from nowhere, like right, being a first-generation immigrant, single parent, first one to go to high school, college, you know, like the American dream. There was moments in my life where like health was like, hey, I'll I'll get to it when I get to it, when you make it, right? But but what does making it mean? Because it's always gonna be you're gonna be busy, busy. So we had to do an intentional, and more so the past year where I tore my bilateral triceps, where I literally couldn't do anything. So I went from doing a million things helping people to none where it really hit home where I'm like, this is crazy. Like the reason I'm able to recover was because I had my health, right? Or the reason I'm not 10 steps further back is because I've been thinking the way I've been thinking. And like, why isn't that the average person thinks that way? It's either out of fear, because man, I'm I'm too I'm too far gone, which which is not the case, right? We always think that, or we don't intentionally think about it, right? And when you do, you start realizing like our clients, everything they say, they're like, man, I wish I would have done it sooner. Or it's not that hard, right? Right. Because we think so extreme versus like those small little habits start building up, like you said. And then pretty soon you miss it, right? Pretty soon it's not like you're asking, what else can I do? versus you know, a year ago, you're like, I can't do anything, right? So you get kind of paralyzed and stuck in that, in that, in that realm, which for me is like education and then just showing them that people can do it. That's where you kind of move that needle.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Well, and this is something that I wanted to ask you about because it's like you do see, I mean, across the board, when you're young, it's a lot easier to get into the gym, it's a lot easier to do things because you don't have all of those pressures on you, you know? And I mean, like you work with a lot of high elite performers and and high achievers. Like these are people that are dealing with a lot of stress. Not that other people don't have stress, but you know, if you're a CEO of a major company, man, you've got a lot on your plate, you know. Uh, but what's the biggest health mistake that successful people make that nobody talks about?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Yeah, so one I think is so a couple of things I would say. One is like we talked about just ignoring it, right? Just saying, like, when I make it, I will start taking. But you know, as a driven person, you're never gonna make it. Because you're so like, right? Like when when they say, like, for me, for example, I don't I'll retire, but not really, because then I'll have some other ventures that that you'll keep doing, right? Uh, it's rarely the person that says, I'm truly retired. The other then is ignoring the fact that you have the ability and access to people like me, right? Or programs like like the ones we have, and you're ignoring. So that's where I always bring up the term insanity, right? We always look at insanity as doing the same thing, expecting different results. But insanity is also knowing what you should do and you don't do it, right? And that's where that those CEOs, they know they should do it. They know they have the money, they have the means. And truly, if you think about it, if if if you make if you prioritize a meeting for a new client or a meeting with staff or to expand, you made the time. It's just how are you gonna make it? So then it we we coach them of can you wake up 30 minutes earlier and you stay 30 minutes? No, oh no, I can't. Well, would you do it if I brought you a deal? Oh yeah, I'll do it. So then it's like, well, then it's your mindset, right, that's holding you back because from a time perspective, you can. And then it's it's it's just making them feel that way, just like you worked out. You you forget because you're not in that world. But once you experience it and you feel better, then they're like, oh yeah, let me let me get let me get somewhere else. What else can I do? How much time can can I do? And if you look at over the past year, if you look at social media, right, or you look at the high performers and you really concentrate on what they're doing, they're being like brutally intentional about their time, yeah, but not to make more money, brutally intentional about like incorporating health and fitness into it. And I think that's the I mean, that's that that golden ticket for them that they're already driven, right? It's just how does their body maintain to their drive so they could achieve even more?

SPEAKER_00 9:36

It's like uh a finely tuned car. You know, you're taking it down around the track, you know. If it's not like in top shape, it's gonna be not going good. I I watched this uh video. I love watching these videos of these, you know, 40-something, 50-year-old guys that are like, I'm gonna go 40 something. Normally it's 40 somethings that are like, you know, I'm gonna go run a track race with my buddies. And then, dude, there's someone always pulls a hammy, like like a hundred percent of the time. And then, like the other day, I also watched this video. I think it was Julianne Fraser uh from Jamaica. It was about a year ago this video came out, and she showed up at her son's uh her son's like family track meet. Like it was like a school function, and I guess I don't know what caused it, but she ran in the parent race and she just smoked everyone. Like everyone was just toast. What struck me is like, I mean, obviously she's an elite athlete, but people can be in better shape than they are, they can be in better health than they are. You know, it's like um I feel like we have a very, and I think it's starting to change, but this very wrong view of what aging aging is supposed to look like. You know, that aging needs to be. I I see I saw this one like classmate of mine, and I'm not gonna throw anybody into the bus, but like, dude looks like he's 70, you know, and I don't know what he went through or what's going on for him, but he looks so beat up and old. And then I have other classmates. Um, and I I think I look pretty good for 48, you know. I'm trying to take care of myself. I still work out Muay Thai three days a week. I'm in the gym. And I think that, you know, if you take care of things, they last. The body's one of them.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah, no, and in two points to that. One is I love the analogy of cars because that's what I use with with our people, with people I work with, because it resonates, right? So I tell them there's certain things under the hood that any car needs, right? So it's oil, gas, tires, brakes. And someone recently, uh, smart ass was like, well, I have an electric. All right, well, take one of those things out. You still need brakes, you still need tires. And those are some fundamental components. So that's like eating healthy, that's working out, that's hormones, in my opinion. But then you you you can go onto a car lot and what kind of car do you want, right? And and that's based on capitalism, based on finances, where yeah, I I would love to have a Lamborghini drive it around, but can I? No. And so Mercedes is my thing, right? Whatever car you are. But as it relates to aging, we in health, these are the two things that like I think we need a fundamental change, just like you brought up. With aging, it's like saying, I can afford or I want to, or I live a life of a Ferrari, but but my car is a beat-up car. I have it taped up. And it's okay because it's still going, right? Well, where if you're in that part of your life, fine, right? You have a car, you need a vehicle. Yeah. Same with gas, right? The orange light comes on. That means you have 25 miles. But if you're a high-performing machine, they tell you don't keep it at 25. But somehow we allow that to happen in our health and in our lives. Partly is our mistake as healthcare providers, because we love to, you know, tell people that suboptimal is perfect. You're just aging. That's fine to be sabotaged because you're getting older. But we don't do that financially. We don't do that career-wise. We're not saying, Sean, you're 48. You know, you should be broke right now. It's okay that your bank account's getting less. I'm like, it's okay that like your business sucks now because you're just getting older. Right? Then it makes no sense when you when you relate it to that. No way. And then the other, then it becomes this aging gracefully. Well, why why do we work so hard to retire? Is to to be able to experience things in life. And if you're not able to do that stuff, then what's the point, right? So I I think when we say no, aging, I just want to get old, it's almost an excuse that we give ourselves to allow us again to be suboptim. And that suboptimization and health is is is what I think is holding us back. I always relate that to think of supplements and medicines, right? When when they're both, you're taking something. It's not like a supplement, you're eating a plant, right? You you can sit here and argue and say, well, one's a FDA, the other one that isn't, or one's natural. And like nothing's natural if you're if you're not just eating it. Like you're it's still being manipulated into a capsule, still manipulated into a powder, into a medication. But we look at supplements as it's elevating my life, helping my life. We look at medications like I'm fixing a problem. Even though I tell my patients, like in the hospital and clients at carbon, it's don't think about it that way. Anything you're taking, if you're taking it to make you better, should be viewed as elevating. It shouldn't be viewed as this is negative and this is positive. Because if you do, by default, you already are negative connotation to this. You're not gonna want to do it. Right? So people will say, I'm I'll never take a medication, but do you take supplements? Oh, yeah, like 80 of them. Right? Where's the logic behind that? What do you what are you talking about? It's just the things that we've been drilled in our head and the way we view health that that we have to change the narrative. And and in the doctors too, like our our hospital system. I tell people, you know, everyone says it's broken. You hear that all the time. And to me, it's like, well, let's take that further. It's broken in the sense that cost analysis, in the sense that there's so many delays, in the sense that I can't spend good enough time with you, Sean. But it's not broken in that I'm phenomenal at picking up bad stuff, like our technology, our knowledge. The problem becomes our theory in medicine is if it's not broken, then I don't need to address it. Until it's broken. And and that's a problem because again, you don't do that anywhere else in life. You you you fix it so that it doesn't get worse. In healthcare, we do, and I talk diabetes as an example. You're pre-diabetic and the range is this big. Well, in a carbon, or from my understanding, if you're looking at longevity, anytime you get into that red mark, you you gotta do something about it. You can't wait till it's here. But doctors will say, Well, you're not that diabetic. So if you hear that three times, Sean, pretty soon you're gonna be like, well, then diabetes isn't that big of a deal because my doctor is telling you I'm not that bad. So you have it, right? And then once you have it, now we're like, you're the worst person ever. Oh my God, you gotta change. Oh my god, you gotta be medications. And I think both parties had a fault in that. One in not taking it seriously when I said you're pre, and the other one is the doctors allowing you not to take it seriously.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

I um had a family member that um a while ago went to the doctor and they said, Cholesterol's high, we've got some stuff going on, and you know, you need to make changes. And I looked at my wife and I said, This family member needs to make these changes. They you we gotta change up diet, we've got to get them exercising. Will they go walk in the park? Like, that's not that's not enough. They need to be doing more, they need to be really working with someone who can help them optimize what they're doing. And then that person slid back to the norm, slid back to the norm. And, you know, it's like, well, this is what we've been doing, and it's just it's okay. And then last night, um, had to send them to the ER. They had a blood pressure of 150 over 115. And I was like, this is not good. And I pulled up the tattoo degree from my wife, and I was like, I'm gonna explain this for you in so it's a language so that these people can understand, our family members can understand what's going on here. This is dangerous. You need to go and see someone. And all I kept thinking was two years ago, in that last appointment, where there were those recommendations for change, where there were these things that were said. And now that person is dealing with something that is more serious because they didn't make the changes at that earlier light on moment. Because again, the doctor, and this is the part that pissed me off. When they went to that doctor, he's like, Well, I can't find a problem. And yet, all of us knew that there was something going on, and this person was not going down the right path of wellness. And yet, because there wasn't something that was like, this is it, you know, there's just mildly uh, you know, high blood pressure and some higher cholesterol. But yet the person's like, they left with the wrong thing in their head. They're like, Well, he didn't say I was sick. Like, no, but he did say that you were headed the wrong direction. And that wrong direction, I think, is something that we gotta get people to buy into, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah, no, that that's exactly it. Like when when I speak to doctors or you know, colleagues, it it's the wordsmithing. Long are that we have to change how we think and we have to change how we make these pre- or prevention as serious as like you have a disease. But it's it's years of us just not. So we're phenom like I said, yeah, we're if you're not broken. That's the analogy of like hormones with the gas light, right? Like, you don't wait. Most of us in life, you'd learn that the orange light of gas, you don't wait till it's at the very end, right? We've all done it at some point, and I joked around, like I had it's crazy. Like as of two years ago, I I just didn't even see, and then we stopped. I had a buddy come and he gave me so much crap. He's like, You preach about this. I'm like, I know, I didn't even see the orange light, right? So it does happen in life, right? But the understanding is I'm not gonna let it there. And then what it is, I gotta get improved. Yeah. But we in health, it's still that like I have to wait till it till I'm in the injured zone and into the disease zone before I'm gonna do something. And and honestly, you know, we'll we'll blame insurance industry, we'll blame the healthcare system, but it's but we're part of it, right? So we are part of the problem as physicians, and and and the the narrative has to change. And within wellness, it's also now flipped 180 in that now on social media, right? Everyone's a doctor, everyone has experience. Even with JetGPT, right, everyone has right. I always tell people, well, be careful of that too, because there's a reason we train so long, there's a reason we have board certification, right? There's a reason we have to keep up with ours. You might have the same knowledge. For example, me and you can read something on JetGPT, but we think about it differently, we apply it differently. And if it was a topic, I guarantee you, I'll ask the question. So that blood pressure, you might ask in a certain way, I might ask in a different way because of my training. And that's the difference that you want to get. And so for longevity space, you talk about all these rituals, you talk about peptides, hormones, red light, cryo, and to me, it's they're all good if for it depends for the reason you're doing them. And then it depends on protocols, and that's where you know being able to talk to someone is is the guiding principle because you're gonna see is it doable, right? And or financially, like all this stuff is expensive at times. So to me, it's like, well, Sean, okay, you're does money matter? No, great. Then here you go, this is everything, right? If money does matter, then it's my job to say, out of all these things, good, better, best, this is where you should start with and why. I know your buddy has a Lamborghini, but you're not there there. So just ride on the Lamborghini and a ride with them, but you can't get it right now, right? And so you put that all into perspective, then that's how I think we start changing the narrative. Same we're working out, all right, just three times a week. We'll walk, you know, okay, but I need you to do a little bit more, right? And then it becomes like, man, this is cool. Like I can see the changes, I'm getting healthier. Uh and so so that that's I agree with you. Like the way we think about. About aging, the way we think about disease has to change.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

And it's interesting because, like, you know, one of the things too, like I was um you're right, maybe your buddy has a Lamborghini, but you you're not gonna be ready for that Lamborghini if you aren't getting in and learning to drive, you know? So start showing up. If you go to an expensive gym, great. If you can get expensive supplements, great. But you know what? You might be at the point where just getting something is the right, but right step, you know, and that makes me want to ask this question because like when you think about longevity, like what matters more, like cutting-edge medical tech and it's that, or is it the little daily habits and routines that make the bigger you know, movement for a person?

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Yeah, I think it's the daily habits. It's it's starting like building blocks on where you're at and and and not skipping with the if you don't have tires where you got to get tires to the car analogy, right? If you don't have brakes, like rather than getting a paint job or the cool things that we'd like. And so every day I get a new client that says, Hey, I love it. I heard you talk, or, or whatever, right? I have a friend referred me to you, and I'm looking to be on all these 10 things. And then I go, let's say it was you, Sean. You send me a list, and I'm like, Sean, why? Uh, well, I mean, that that's the longevity. That's what everyone says you need. I'm like, yeah, but who's everyone, right? Like, well, where are you? What what have we got in labs? Have we got metrics? Have we measured something where I can prove it to you, not just be a great salesperson, for example? And and and then what does it apply? What do you need? And then oftentimes, people are are are let's say out of that, let's say just a medication, for example, or a peptide. Those 10 peptides, four of them do the same thing. And then becomes like, well, how are you gonna do it? Well, I don't know. Uh why do you want to do my friend, right? So it's like it's it's the small, uh to me, it's the small little things. When you build up, that's where the cool part comes, right? You your building blot is able to amass a bunch if you have money, but your building blocks might be just three or four floors, right? Like your house might not be ten floors, it might be four, but those four are way better than you ever were, and it's gonna sustain you for the longer period of time. With the goal being, if you're healthier, you're either happier, which is you know, you can't put a dollar value into that, you're happier, you show up better for your family, your kids, your work. But then that should replicate into financial and career development too, right? So that's where we forget that all that like leads, because a happy employee, a happy doctor, I can create way more than when I'm grumpy just surviving, where it's like this is my my there's a ceiling to my limit, to my to my sky.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

My personal, I I have a certified financial planner, CFP, and his name's Kevin Dunford, and I love the guy. And Kevin is awesome, and I pick Kevin because um Kevin's whole thing is about health and wellness. And like he's like, if you want to be truly successful, you need to take care of your health. And like he's like, you want to be rich, take care of your health, you know, because people don't realize that if you want to be productive and you want to get out there and do stuff, um, you got to be taking care of your health. Today, one of my employees was like, Man, you're really stressed. And I was like, Yeah, I I work hard, I focus, I get a lot done with my company. We've got a lot going on. And he's like, But you guys should take care of yourself. I was like, dude, I get good sleep, I eat healthy, and like after we're done here, like I work really hard, but when we're done, I'm going to the Muay Thai gym with my daughter. I am gonna like hit those bags so hard and I'm de-stressed and I feel great. And then when I come home, I turn off work. And so I'm like, I'm okay. Like I'm actually okay. Like, you know, I understand I'm working hard, but I've also I've trained for this and I feel good. And it's like, and I I also understand what I need to do to make sure that it doesn't get overwhelming. I put in my headphones, put in my relaxing, you know, relaxing beats to help me stay calm and just it can keep that center and that zen. But like I've been doing it, I've been training myself. And I can understand like how if I wasn't, oh man, it'd be really easy to get super overwhelmed super fast. But this is this is my question though, because you know, with other people that are in a similar situation, like other professionals, like what separates people who transform their lives from people who stay stuck, even when they have resources.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Yeah, no, I think it's the intentionality, right? Whether it's and I could tell you, I I've lifted, right? Where it's you you become what you intentionally want to do. Right. You you and and to your point, like your stress wouldn't imagine you were you weren't doing all those things. The stress is not gonna get better. It would get worse, right? And you would it would affect you differently, which would be worse, not better. Because stress is gonna be around, right? Like high profile position, you want to grow your business, right? It's gonna be there. It's not gonna go away unless you you you go in the middle of nowhere and that's your happiness, right? But the majority of us, the stress is gonna be there. It's just how we deal with it and how we do it. So I think of the people there, I mean, I gotta tell you, there's so many people that are at the top of their game. And I was one of them back in the day where because I intentionally I always tell people you intentionally ignore it by not intentionally prioritizing. You're just kidding yourself of saying you don't. So I think the big difference, you see it in sports, right? Why is it Tom Brady? Well, he invested, you know. But for every Tom Brady, there's another athlete that has the money, has the access that doesn't, and didn't have as career like Tom Brady. Same as a CEO, right? Same as a high performer. It's you have to intentionally do it, otherwise, something else is going to occupy that space. And you have to do it. You have to do it. You have to find those habits, those rhythms. And just like what would you do? We talked about earlier on the show, right? Like your business. And I'm like, damn, yeah, I need help. Let me go. Right. That's where I think the second trick to people have access and money is well then partner up with the people that can make it. Like, you don't have to recreate the wheel. If you can, you know, whether it's me or someone else, like if you come to me and you're like, hey, Nestor, can you help me with this? That's gonna save you a lot of time. It's like, Sean, don't even worry about it. Give me your life, give me where you're at. This is stuff you need to do. We'll meet monthly, we'll adjust things. That's a different thing than you trying to do it by yourself because that's gonna be like a surmountable mountain that you're like, why am I even gonna go with this? No, I'll do it later when I have more time. So I think those are the two the intentional part of it, and then the partnering with the right people. You just spoke with financial advisor. You could probably, and even now with JetGPT, right? People who argue that they could be just as good as a doctor with JetGPT than my training, sure, go at it, right? But the amount of time it's gonna take you to to figure something out rather than working with me and JetGPT, right, right, it's it's in it's a whole different ballgame for that stuff. You know, we were talking last night, I had Bible study with my wife and and and the Bible study group. Yeah, and and I brought up um, you know, we we were talking about you know, counseling and relationships and how spirituality or or or God can plays into things or religion, right? Whatever it might be. And I brought up, you know, it's crazy, like, oh, the word obedience, the the word of sinless versus sinless, like just wordsmithing can change someone's mentality. And what dawned on me was like, man, we have, and I'll tell you why it relates to health, in that think of marital problems. If you don't, if you go to a counselor for a marital problem, you always usually come off pissed off because you're arguing, it's logical. But then when you when you take the logic out and you're like, okay, what is the correct thing? Or some other higher power that's helping, and in my case, it's God, then it becomes like, am I trying to be right or am I trying to be better? Right? So with health. Am I trying to argue with health or am I applying it for me? Am I trying to say I'm better than someone else? Look, I look better, hey, I'm not as bad as that person. Well, that's the wrong thinking. If the goal is to be healthy and to be healthy, to be the best version of myself, then who do I have to surround myself with? Who do I have to partner with so I could achieve that goal? Same in that counseling. I told my pastor, I'm like, why isn't there more counselors that bring God into it? Because, well, what do we do with my wife? But you know, he'd bring, well, God says this. We're like, what are we gonna do? Argue with God? I could argue with my wife left and right, right? But when it's like God wants you guys to get better, now you're like, ooh, okay, let's think about it differently. Right. So it's the same with health. Like, if you want to do it for your kids, you're gonna do it for your wife, whatever it is. Don't just think about yourself. That narrative stops changing.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

Well, this is again, it comes back to what I was talking about earlier. You gotta have those three things. You have to have your dreams. You know, what is it that you want to be achieving? You gotta have your values, you know? And like for me, uh I've been reading Simon Simon Sinek Start with Why, and I love that book, and I reread it a lot. But, you know, for me, my core why that I'm doing all of this stuff is to try to make this world a little bit better place for my daughter upstairs. You know, I feel like we can have a part in doing that and and in and shaping the world in a way that people, you know, if I can this conversation, maybe it goes out there and one person hears this, a father, and that father sits there and says, you know what, I don't want to be that guy. I want to be there for my daughter too, and they make a difference. And because they get back in shape, they're able to go and maybe work longer and they can mentor another person and like change the world in a better way. But if you're, you know, getting sidelined and dealing with a lot of problems, um, you know, it's hard to help other people. I I make this example for for financial health. Like, say you're driving down the street and you see a uh a person who's you know down on their luck and you want to go in and get some money out and help them, it's hard to do it. There was a wild video that I saw uh a while back, and it was a mother who was not in the greatest of shape. And I remember watching this video, and it's a like a closed circuit television, like a camera that's just sitting out, and the mom falls down and the baby stroller starts rolling into the street. But she was unable to get up and chase after it. And finally a stranger had to run out. And it was just so heartbreaking to see her struggle to try to get up, but her knee went out or something. If you're not taking care of yourself, it's hard to take care of someone else, you know. And I mean, for me, that's where the values come in. And then, you know, getting back into those habits, you know, you have to have all of those. You have to have whatever it is that is is driving you, your dreams, your morals, and your your high belief in a higher purpose, and then you combine that, you know. But I think that we live in a society that is very much focused on success, and social media um is not helping. Like, and that's one of the reasons, too. I love putting out good content on social media to try to balance out the chaos because there's a lot of noise. But many people chase success but sacrifice their health in the process. And this is something that's modeled for us, the hustle culture. And I got to talk to a great guy, Kevin Stark, the other day, uh former Navy SEAL, and he works with men talking about how like you don't need to try to knock down every wall. Sometimes you need to slow down and rest. It's about balance. But you know, how do you define a truly successful life at this point in time, you know, as it regards to health and wellness?

SPEAKER_01 34:20

Yeah, it's a so that's a great question. And one that I was gonna meant as you spoke about that scenario, right? I think the other the um when we look at the culture we have, it is a hustle hustle culture, right? So it's a lot of times. And and I'll tell you, growing up the way I did, I I that was a chip in the shoulder, right? Um, I was an immigrant. Well, immigrants suck. Well, I'll show you. Um, I'm a first generation um high school and college. Well, I'll show you that I could achieve. And you know, I went to Yale for undergrad. I I didn't have any, I was on welfare, well, I'll show you I can make money, right? So you have this like go, goal, goal mentality, but but you also soon have to realize that that's gonna fuel you to an X. But after you achieve the X and you don't realize, if you don't recognize that you achieved the X, that same attitude might then make you crash, might make you then want more because there's always gonna be prettier, there's always gonna be richer, there's always gonna be more successful, right? So to your point of like, then at some point you have to be, what is success for you? So for me, in this point in my life, is as I get older, people are saying, hey, you look younger. As I get older, my health scores, like my metrics, my labs, my hormones, my BO2 max, there's a bunch of data there is getting biologically younger without being crazy, right? Or overdoing it. And then I'm actually showing up in my most stressful points of my career, better for my wife, better for my kids, better for my community. So to me, that's success, where it's like, man, I could do it all, and I feel great doing it. Not where it's at an expense. Because there's been moments in my life where, hey guys, like Sean, you just just bear with me, man. As soon as I make it here, I'm gonna come back and our friendship's gonna be awesome, right? Because it's not, because it's not part of it. And so to me, it's that where you you talk about work-life balance, and I'm like, I'm always like, what does that mean? Is it just an hour thing? Is it a time thing? It's it's not, it's it's what you make it, what your balance is gonna be different than mine. And to me, is that I'm happy where really, if you had interviewed my wife, my kids, they'll tell you, yeah, he's changed to the point where he can deal with stress better, he could think, he could put things in perspective. You know, he I did grow back in faith and close to God, where before it was like medicine beats it out because you don't even have time to go to church. And and if let's say you wanted me to go to church on Sunday and I tell you I have to work at the hospital, you're not you're not gonna bug twice. But if I if I tell you I gotta watch the game, you're gonna be like, come on, Nestor, like really the game of God, like but but we have these outs, and it's it's my job to say those aren't outs. I I still have to incorporate what these values are in my life, so I can every day wake up and I'm happy that I like you mentioned earlier, making the place a bit making the world a better place every day. And I truly believe that, and and and and it's feasible with the right team around you. The other thing I was gonna say, when you mention social media, it was funny. In the same Bible study, do you think Jesus would have a social media account? And the pastor was like, I don't think it did. I'm like, I think he would, because you have to put good stuff out there, otherwise you're just getting this negative stuff. So Jesus would use it now, he wouldn't, not all the time or the way, but it was interesting conversation. So I'm like, I think he would. Because he would he would show that that's what people are viewing, that's how your people are being influenced, and you have to put the right influences out there, otherwise, you know, we're losing the battle. That's that. And that relates to like body image. There's this thing of when we say wellness, or let's say we're talking, people would be like, but that's vanity. It can be, and and and and unfortunately, vanity is part of it, right? People feel better when they look better. Like Forbes does these studies of like the top CEOs. I can't change my height. I can't change that I'm Caucasian, I can't change my eye colors. But if you look at the top of like the CEOs in the world, it's usually above six feet. It tends to be Caucasians, males, right? These metrics that like, well, I can't change those, but I can change all the other ones, which is relating to health, I mean religion, whatever it might be. So you have to be up front. And then it becomes this body image issue. But I never said you have to get to a certain body. Like, right? That's how we're taking what we're saying. It's just no. What is healthy for you for the things you do? And that's mobility without getting hurt, right? That's showing up when you're tired, as dealing with stress better. That's not being on medications that you could have prevented for being, and being on medications because you want to continue better. Those are the different themes rather than the excuses we we just jump to. It was like, well, but it's not about looking good. That's fine. But I guarantee you, if you feel better and you look better to yourself, you're gonna be in a better place. I don't care who tells you that it's not. Um, and if you're able to move, you're able to feel healthier, you're gonna be better for everyone. Right? So we had to call out those elephants in the rooms and say again, why are we putting all these barriers to ourselves? And it's out of fear. And if you you meet with the right people, right? That's what that's what people tell me. They're like, man, why I love how you talk to me. I love like because Guinness shows I care. Unfortunately, sometimes you don't, and then now, or you had a bad interaction, then you turn that whole that that whole uh like corner of life and you you ignore it. Because you're like, now I had that one interaction with that doctor, he was a dick, he was horrible, whatever. Well, yeah, but there's like that in every industry, right? It's like don't let that deter you from wanting to be better and doing better.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Right. Well, let me ask you this. I I 100% agree, man. Just because it's like you have one bad interaction, it does shouldn't turn you off from everything, you know? And you gotta go to the to the source, but like let me ask you this because it's still the beginning of the year. People are still getting their New Year's resolutions out there. And for someone who wants to take control of their health in 2026 without getting lost in all of the gadget supplements and conflicting advice, where should they start right now?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

So one is looking at the doing short intervals. So I always tell people in six months, what is different? And shoot the stars, like what's the goal? What what is that? Because it's gonna be different for everyone. Not what social media says, right? So you might, Sean, you might be like, I want a six pack. I might be like, I don't care about a six-pack. I I want to be able to move, right? What whatever that six month period is, is is one thing. Being realistic or asking your significantity, your friends, like, what is it? Uh and and what I mean by that, I always start lectures. Sometimes I'm like, all right, pick out your phones, look at the last text message and that was meaningful. What if I called them today? And let's say Sean, your wife or your daughter, I don't know how old your daughter is, but let's say your wife, I called her today and I said, Sean's in the emergency room, he just collapsed. Would that person say, Yeah, damn, I knew it? Or would outside of the shock of that obviously you're in the emergency department, would your wife be like, Well, that's crazy, I don't know how. Or would she be like, Yeah, I kind of saw that coming. And that should be a red flag, right? So, like within that framework, what can you do? And then the next is pairing up, whether it's with us, with someone else, that can walk you and have you ask those questions, not because you're gonna be on medications, not because you're gonna be on hormones, not because it's just to have that conversation to give you that roadmap because you are gonna put so many stops to that roadmap, you're gonna put in so many excuses, or you don't even know what that roadmap looks like. So you're gonna say it's hard versus partnering with someone that shows you. So what we do every year, I I'm not a big New Year's resolutionist with my wife, what we do is we take quarter of time and we put uh for the year what we did, what's our beehab, right? Big, very audacious um goal. And we're like, pick one or two. The other way, so we picked them, and then the way that we know that we're gonna go through it, it's like, okay, now, what is when we're sitting here 2027, what has to have happened in 2026 to say you had a great year? Different question, same kind of thing, and and see what we put. Now we're like, that seems daunting, right? You can make the excuse of like, uh, well, I have nine more months, ten more months, eleven more months, like, right, whatever excuse you want to do. But then if you break down to quarter, what's one habit that I want to measure this quarter? And for us, it was like we want you know, make it bang for a buck, and we're like, let's work. We all work, we both work out five or six times a week. Let's try to do four of the times where we're together and that's bonding time. Sweet. Let's do it, right? For someone, it might be that. The other was all right, every quarter, let's one of us plan a date that the other person, but we have to do something new. Then you start looking at, I forget where I got this from, but then you start looking where at the end of the year, if you did that every quarter, you have four new habits you created. You have four or five new experiences that you did. Then it doesn't seem daunting, right? So, but it starts with let me sit down with someone that can help me create this. Help me ask the questions that I don't want to ask myself. And then you start looking at, okay, which ones do you need? How do you do it? That's what I would tell people. It's always like sit in front of us. Let's talk about it. Get the data we need, so then we can figure it out. Think about financial advisor. Like the first painful meetings always like you gotta blurb out where your your portfolios are, right? Like your your books. You open it up and we're always scared. We're like, ugh, this doesn't look good. So a good financial planner is not gonna say you suck. They're gonna say, well, there's some work to be done, but this is how we need to do it.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

I love that. I love that. This is how we need to do it. And if they can you can get clarity, man, you can change, change anything. But you gotta have that clarity first. Uh, where can people go to find out more about you and what you do?

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Yeah, so they can go to our website, you know, Carbonworld Health.com, so C-A-R-B-O-N World Health. And you can do it's also at Carbon World Health or social media, contact us to the contact page and just say, hey, I'd love to have a consult. But I always tell when I've done podcasts, if they mention your podcast, then they get a free consultation with me. And then we start kind of creating that work. And we can do it, you know, you don't have to be locally, we work nationally, internationally. Like people reach out and we can help them, whether through our services or some of them that I know around their part. And then follow you for me personally, I don't I don't have social media other than LinkedIn, but I do create a lot of content there. And the other thing then is if if you feel this resonates, you know, I love speaking, I love traveling to companies uh or speaking events. And a lot of times, what I tell to changing the narrative of how we change things is I try to go into those environments that are never there. And so in a month from now, you know, uh Mass Mutual or a section of Mass Mutual and West Point Finance, these financial groups have heard me speak. So now they're bringing me to their performers because it's high stress, right? It's a hustle, and it's they recognize if I can give this mentality or this framework to them, they could be even better and and produce more for me. So any of those things I would say. But definitely reach out if if there's questions, things I can help. Mention you, we'll waive that fee. And you know, I'm here to help.