Leadership, Success & Business | Dr. Harvey Castro

Episode 253

Transcript

Medical laboratories are always on the lookout for healthcare professionals who are willing to give their expert opinion on the latest medical breakthroughs. All Global Circle offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to shape the medical industry by participating in surveys that are relevant to their specialty. Receive $50 of signup bonuses, and get paid for participating in studies by giving your opinion. Sign up today, impact millions of lives, and go to www.allglobalcircle.com.

Welcome to The Happy Doc, the voice of fulfilled physicians. Sharing life stories from physicians, health professionals and entrepreneurs, so that you can live your happy life.

[00:00:49] Dr. Taylor Brana: Hello, how’s it going Dr. Harvey? 

[00:00:51] Dr. Harvey Castro: Awesome. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. 

[00:00:54] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. Amazing. So for those who do not know, this is a part two episode of  The Happy Doc. And as you see directly behind Dr. Castro here, he has his book success reinvention, which is going to be the topic. For today.  I have to tell you look, so, you, you were able to send me over a copy and I took a look at it and I started to read into your story.

And I know I already talked to you, but I have to say I was very much, I was very moved. By your story. Obviously we’re going to get into it. Your mom is your inspiration and she’s done so much for you, but I don’t know how much you’re willing to share, but would you be able to paint a picture a little bit of that early upbringing for you?

[00:01:40] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah, for sure. You know, preface a at the beginning, it was really hard to share with others, but I started thinking about the bigger picture by me sharing. I feel like it’s helping. And I’m feeling like maybe I’m turning a negative into a positive, and if I can do that, then why not share? And so growing up was not easy.

[00:01:59] And I know for a lot of us it is not.  but my childhood was, it was really rough.  My dad was abusive. My mom left my dad at age 16 and the little memories I have. My dad was very, always abusive. And, we grew up in poverty and a lot of things, it’s just not knowing we had this funny looking money and I always wonder what that was.

[00:02:19] And later I realized that was food stamps. And then I remember growing up thinking, man, we always have a lot of cheese and milk. I don’t know what that’s about. And I remember my uncle always bringing groceries and I’m like, yeah, I’m hungry. I know there’s food coming. Or I think my uncle’s coming tomorrow, so we’ll have food.

[00:02:34] So I just remember growing up in poverty. And then I remember growing up and asking my mom, Hey, I need help with XYZ and her looking at me saying, I can’t help you. I would love to help you with this math problem or this, but I can’t, I don’t, I don’t know what to say here. And so, but I do remember the strong skills that she gave me and tools to succeed.

[00:02:57] And that’s what this book’s about. She gave me a lot of excellent tools that have helped me even till today. 

[00:03:03] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. Amazing. And yeah, it’s something that is very impressive to me. And again, I found you inspirational the first time I spoke to you, but to actually read into that story and to learn about what you had to go through, is absolutely amazing.

And I feel like oftentimes when people have that difficult upbringing, it can be a reason that they get stuck, right? It can be a reason that they’re not able to succeed, not able to reinvent themselves as you know your book is about. And yet in your story, You’ve been able to take those difficulties, transform them into that, like net positive.

So I think it’s a, it’s a very commendable thing. And you’re a great example of what can happen when you do that. So tell me what the inspiration of this book was. Obviously not everyone goes ahead and takes their story. And transforms that into the book, but what made you feel like this book was something you wanted to put out into the world?

[00:03:59] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah. Good question. Yeah. You know, I was thinking about life in general and thinking I shouldn’t be where I’m at. I really feel blessed and honored to be a doctor and blessed to be able to do what I get to do every day. And then I started thinking there’s a lot of other kids just like me, and there’s a lot of single parents out there.

[00:04:16] And I thought, why not take all these experiences and stuff that’s happened to you and why not refocus that energy and just share that story. And then I started thinking, I was like I feel like I have the blueprint to succeed. Why not just share it with people that are like another Harvey out there and another, my mom out there.

[00:04:34] And I thought if I could do that, then in theory, I’m kind of like a doctor. I’m helping people. I’m helping others and I’m helping others just like me. And so that’s really what gave me the energy. And so it’s been a work over the last five years of actually writing and sitting down and making time. And then it’s a lifetime experience of all the things that have happened to me into that book.

[00:04:54] Dr. Taylor Brana: What was it like to literally have to sit down and recall all of this information data. Was that like a difficult process? 

[00:05:04] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, it’s interesting you say that. Yes. and it was, and ironically, my mom and I are super tight. We’re like best friends, but this book, if anything, has brought us even closer and she’s shared stories about my childhood that I didn’t even know, or she kind of glanced or touched on it and I knew, but I didn’t realize the depth of it.

[00:05:21] So this book actually brought out some good and bad memories, but I like, again, I always think the bad memories are actually good memories. Cause I think it’s causing better. Good, or there’s more good out of it. And so. But, yeah, I’ll never forget. I had, the book came out and then I had someone, basically, read the book and create an audible edition.

[00:05:42] And then that audible edition, I had a proof listen to it and make sure it was well. And I remember having to pause the, the audible, cause I, I started crying. I was like, wow, this put me in a different place. And it’s weird when you write it. But when you hear it, for some reason, it hits me harder.  so it was hard.

[00:06:00] It was really hard. 

[00:06:01] Dr. Taylor Brana: And look, I, I started reading that first, the first like introduction chapter, and I actually had a pause also.  you don’t know this about my story, but I’m also very close with my mom and my upbringing wasn’t. It was great, but there were also a lot of difficulties. Yeah. I think that’s the one thing that I really like about your book.

[00:06:19] Two is you write it in a story and you have that sort of story telling kind of a voice throughout it. And what I think is really nice about that is we all have a story and you have your story. And then with that story, You know, I, again, like I was reading and I was connecting it to my story and I think that’s just like something that’s really beautiful about and unique about life is that we all have that.

[00:06:42] And so I think again, I think it’s, yeah, something I’m really interested in reading further as I go through the book and I’m looking for, or to really share this material with other people. So with that being said, let’s dig into a couple of the concepts here. This isn’t, my goal is not to. You know, flush out this whole thing.

[00:07:01] I want people to check out this book as well, but you kind of start off with this concept again, of the productivity ladder. And we, again, we don’t have to go through everything here.  Actually before I got to the productivity ladder, I just reminded myself. Some people say that success is something that only talented people can do.

[00:07:20] Right. And some, some people say that it’s something that is kind of born within you, but what do you have to say about that? 

[00:07:27] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah, I think success is defined by you.  I think that some people will say, being wealthy it’s success. Some people say financial independence is success for me. My two things that are successful are spending time with family.

[00:07:42] And then the second is helping others. And not in necessarily that order. So me that defines success. But when I look at all the things I’ve done and I’m not bragging in any way back and say, I really shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be a doctor. I shouldn’t have started a business. I should have done it. I should have made it as far.

[00:08:01] But I think the key is with me. And it goes into the book if you gotta, just continuously do better. We’re all, we all make mistakes. The difference is when we make the mistake, can we do better the next time? Or can we learn from our mistakes? And sometimes we have to make the mistakes a couple of times before we learn them well.

[00:08:18] And then sometimes we just hear about the mistake and don’t have to go through ourselves. But I think the key is a lot of people I’ve noticed, We’ll work out something, and then it’ll fail. And then they’ll say, you know what? This applies to the rest of my life. I can’t do X, Y, and Z now. Because I already failed at this other thing.

[00:08:34] And I truly think the older I get, it’s more important to learn from your mistakes, make better decisions and then not to give up. I think the minute you give up, I always tell my kids this and my colleagues don’t you give up and else reject you, but don’t reject yourself. Like how far are you going to go?

[00:08:52] If you already reject yourself and say, Nope, I’m not going to do it. And so I think that’s one of the key things I talk about in the book. 

[00:08:59] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. I mean, I love it. I mean, I love these concepts. I’m getting super excited, just talking to you about it.  So yeah, let’s, let’s dig into some of these successes, principles and concepts that you’ve put in the book.

[00:09:11] So you start with the productivity ladder. What does that do? 

[00:09:14] Dr. Harvey Castro: No, this is an interesting story. And, I started off the book with a doctor named Dr. Kevin Smith. He was the first person that I considered my mentor towards, wanting to be a physician. And I’m going to tell the story basically.  I was in the U S army.

[00:09:30] it wasn’t drilling that weekend and by chance I was half a mile away from where this doctor was going to give a talk about how to get into med school. And during the talk, he talked about something called a productivity ladder, and I thought, Oh, what the heck is that? And I remember sticking out cause I was the only one in army fatigues.

[00:09:47] Everybody else was dressed normal. And I remember him looking at me in the middle of the speech cause I came in late. It was during my lunch break. And he talked about an individual that wanted to be a doctor. And all they could dream of as being a doctrine. They went and applied and got rejected. And so this individual went back and got a master’s in public health, went back and applied, got rejected, went back and got a law degree and applied and then finally got accepted.

[00:10:14] And I thought, Oh my gosh, this person I went four or five years extra than the normal person. Just cause that’s what they wanted to do, but they were just trying to reinvent themself and always moving forward. And so I’ve taken that analogy and said, look, look at life as a ladder and look at it as an infinity ladder.

[00:10:31] One, one that you’re always going up to the next wrong, and it doesn’t matter how fast you get there. It matters that you’re getting to the next run. And then the other parts of that, I always say when you get to the top of the bat bladder, there is no such thing as the top of the ladder, you want to keep improving.

[00:10:46] Cause at that point you can always, there’s always room for improvement. And so this leads me to another story. You know, one of my kids, he was on Tech-Talk long story short, he got like 3.5 million hits. And I said, Oh my gosh.  have some people that might give you some good media tips and help you.

[00:11:04] And he looked at me. He said that there’s, there’s no need for that.  I could probably teach them I’m at the max here and there’s no room for improvement. And I said, you know what, when you talk like that, I want you to consider that you’re actually weighed down because now you’re not learning and other people are gonna catch up to you and stop learning.

[00:11:22] And now you’re not reinventing yourself. Now you’ve really got to work harder if anything. And it took him a while to understand, and now he gets it. But my point is no matter what you’re doing. Especially as doctors we say, Oh, we made it. But in reality, we haven’t, it’s a continual process to always improve.

[00:11:41] Dr. Taylor Brana: I love that. I love that. And you, you talked about it in the book as well, but the concept of never arriving, right. Because if we’re always in pursuit of learning and growing and all those things, that’s where the fun is. Right. And to kind of have like that, almost like you mentioned in the previous interview, that childlike sort of mentality, but when you feel like you’ve reached that peak.

[00:12:03] Like you said, then your ego is super big. You think you’re the best, you think that you’re there, there’s no room for improvement and then there’s, there’s no, there’s no way you get a return there. And it’s, I’ve, I’ve been in that state of mind and I’ve definitely been humbled in that state of mind.

[00:12:18] More, more, many, many times. I think you and I both could have some examples of, of getting maybe too hot headed at some point.  but it’s, it’s really, it’s really important. So I appreciate that. So, so with this ladder concept, but what are you, what are you saying? You’re saying that we’re able to start to take little steps towards our goal, but it’s an infinite line.

[00:12:40] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yes. Because think about us right now as. Yeah. And I liked this podcast a lot, cause it’s a lot of physicians and all of us have made the same milestones and I’ve gotten to so-called arrive. Right. I feel like society also holds physicians at a different level. And so I feel like if you take that MD and say, okay, I am the best doctor out there.

[00:13:01] I’ve learned it all. Then in reality, if you think about it, diseases are changing, evolving, you’re learning, there’s new terms, even change the nomenclature things that you and I label X and in your S in your field, they changed the DSM-IV and come up with the next terms and then things change.

[00:13:16] And so my point is this, if you can always be humble and learn and always improve. Then you really do a really good job. I worry for those that eventually become, let’s just say they become arrogant or lose track of the bigger vision. And then all of a sudden they stop learning and they stop improving and then they just become average.

[00:13:36] And nothing’s wrong with that, but for others that’s, that’s not good for me. I feel like we only have so many years on this earth. Let’s make it take advantage of it and let’s always continue to improve. And I think that’s an important concept to really take into heart. I think that will change your life, your marriage, your situation, your work environment.

[00:13:54] I really think if you take that kind of attitude, right. Instead of being defensive and saying, Oh no, I don’t do that. Then they’ll listen to everyone. All the good and bad feedback. Take it all in. And learn from it.  I think as a doctor, sometimes it’s hard because we feel like we’ve done so many accomplishments and so many accolades that how could you say, not doing it right.

[00:14:14] And in reality, I think if you’re humble and you learn and you, and you allow others to teach you, then you can grow in faster. 

[00:14:22] Dr. Taylor Brana: I couldn’t agree more and it really fits in with your book too. I’m asking a follow-up question to this, do you think it can be harder sometimes for people to reinvent themselves when they’re more successful?

[00:14:36] Dr. Harvey Castro: Excellent point. I love that you said that. Yes. I think. The higher you are in let’s say in the “food chain,” the higher you are in the corporation or wherever it is, it’s a little bit easier to say, you know what? I’m here. Why should I kill myself? Why should I push? And so that goes into one of my other chapters is what is your, why?

[00:14:54] Why, why are you doing all these things? You know, for me personally, I’m back going to school, I’m getting my MBA. Because I feel like I need that. I’m more on the business side right now. And I feel like I need these tools. With that said, I’ve started over 20 companies. I’ve started different projects.

[00:15:11] I’ve done a lot of nonprofits and I’ve enjoyed it, but I still feel like I need more. I feel like I’m nowhere near where I should be. I should be further ahead. And so when I’m in class, I’m taking it all in, I’m learning and it’s a lot tougher as they get older, to just appreciate learning and studying.

[00:15:29] Cause back in the day, I didn’t have any worries and now I have other, other responsibilities, so it’s even tougher.  and to your point, I think for me personally, when I start training doctors or people that are older, Sometimes one of the challenges is they’re so used to doing things their own way, and that’s the best way in their mind that it’s hard for me to sit down and say, let’s pause for a minute.

[00:15:50] Let’s let’s work on this together. And let’s see if there’s a better way. And a lot of times they fight me cause they’re like, no, my way or the highway. And I’m like, well, let’s just slow down a little bit. Let’s let’s work on this together and try to get there. And I think eventually when they see the bigger picture, they, they start.

[00:16:05] Listening more and they start being more receptive.  But, but a lot of it, again for us physicians is pride. You know, it was hard as a doctor to say you’re wrong or you’re, you’re not right.  and it takes some six, some growing, I think, to be able to say, I’m sorry, sorry. Or, you know what? I messed up or I gotta do better.

[00:16:23] Or Hey, I, you have less admission than me, but you know what? I bet I’m going to learn from you. And to say those words and to truly mean them, it’s hard for some people. 

[00:16:34] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah, definitely. And as you’re saying that it reminds me of the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

[00:16:41] And I feel like people are really fixed right. Or they feel like they’re at the top of the food chain, right. They’re very kind of the, the mindset’s very concrete and it’s very tough to actually like, not like in a physical sense, but like mentally to break through and to have a normal conversation. And you can’t really even have a conversation when someone.

[00:16:59] At the very get, go like your son, right? Believing they’re the best tech talker out there. You can’t really even engage with someone, who, who does that. So, and I think this is a nice segue into the next part of your book that you kind of touched on, which is obstacles, right? And there’s many obstacles that are going to get in the way. someone being able to succeed. So how, what’s your concept around obstacles and what are some methods we can break through those obstacles? 

[00:17:28] Dr. Harvey Castro: You know, two parts I always think about obstacles. Number one is try your best. Number two, use prior failures or in your mind failures to hold you back for future success.

[00:17:39] You know, I see that a lot I meet people and they’re like, Oh, I. I failed at this and therefore I cannot succeed. My point with obstacles is two parts. Don’t let prior failures move you in the future. If anything used that information to help you learn from, for the future endeavors.

[00:18:00] And then when it comes to obstacles, I really think it’s about two parts. It’s you who needs to think outside the box. And you really need to plan all of us, or the majority that we went to school here with, we knew it was going to be a lot of work. We prepared, we knew that. Yeah, probably couldn’t have a full time job going to med school.

[00:18:17] And, you knew certain things going into it. We all started preparing ahead of time so that we knew that those four years were going to be tough and that we knew certain months were going to be even tougher. And we all prepared and we looked at those obstacles and we started thinking outside the box and how can we make things better?

[00:18:33] And you start seeing it’s interesting watching med students they’re learning and how they’re cramming. And you know, at, at the coffee line with a book reading, cause they only have five minutes or right before patients are pulling up. Okay. And kind of reading and whatever they could, but they’re working out those obstacles.

[00:18:50] And I think it’s important to plan ahead. Basically, you have to look at every possibility of what can throw you off. Obviously we will know everything, but if you can plan ahead as much as possible, then that’s half the battle because then you know what to do when that issue comes up. Cause you’ve been planning for that day.

[00:19:06] Dr. Taylor Brana: Absolutely. And leaders anticipate people well who are really taking charge of their life. And I think that’s part of this concept of reinventing yourself and being able to succeed is anticipating the challenges. And like for example, med school, for as an example, we all know it’s hard.

[00:19:26] But what are you going to do to anticipate the challenges to make it easier? So maybe it goes from hard to like, it was moderate, it wasn’t as it wasn’t as difficult. So I think it’s a really good point. And. To sort of plan the obstacles is something. And to think about the obstacles is way better than the avoidance, which I think most people do, which is, I know it’s going to be hard.

[00:19:51] I have no idea what I’m gonna do. I’m not even going to think about it. And then we run into that 

[00:19:56] Dr. Harvey Castro: and turned her up. I want to make sure I say this. Also think outside the box, don’t just traditional. That’s one of the analogies we did in the last show don’t think like a child, take away all the rules, take everything off and just think of the problem differently.

[00:20:11] I’ll use medical school as an example. One of them was finance for me. So I thought, well, how the heck am I going to afford all these books? I can take out loans. Well, what I did that I thought was out of the box thinking is I went to the book publishers and I said, Hey, I’ll correct these books for you for free, but I want the books free.

[00:20:29] I went to the local bookstore that I bought the books from, I suppose, sat down with the manager and said, if you give me all these looks free, I will do a book review. I will put a corner in the bookstore that says all my recommendations and why. And I’ll go through each subject and I’ll create a wishlist of, this is why the best one, the second best third.

[00:20:48] And this is what I would have. And guess what? I got all these books for free and med school. And I have probably one of the best libraries, undergrad, I mean, undergrad and mainly med school, because this is what I did. And it was thinking outside of the box, I had a problem which, Hey, I don’t have money to pay for this stuff.

[00:21:02] Second is how do I address that problem? And third was like, you know what? I have an idea. It’s kind of crazy, but I’m going to try it and believe it or not. Especially with Lippincott William Williams.  I got to tell them how to format the book, and do great tabs. This was back in the day and back in the day and tell them, Hey, we need to start going to Palm pilots or more digital, forget about printing.

[00:21:24] We need to start going into the visual media. And I, they sat me down and it was nice. Be able to tell them where I thought the future of medicine and the digital world and shape. That. And that actually gave me all these free apps later when I was coming up. So again, it’s thinking outside the box for these obstacles, just not just falling into this one way of thinking.

[00:21:42] Dr. Taylor Brana: Amazing. And as you were saying that, like I was like, Oh, it’s a great idea for a med student. Like in modern day 2020, it would be figuring out how to run a podcast and then do a book review on a podcast. Hey, look, if you send me your book, I’ll review the book. And let students check it out. And then all of a sudden I think that that would be a great idea.

[00:22:01] So, and listening, 

[00:22:03] Dr. Harvey Castro: it sounds kind of, 

[00:22:05] Dr. Taylor Brana: no, I, I really, I think, I think it’s great. And I think it’s interesting too, because not only did you solve your problem, but in the end you had, you ended up getting paid. Essentially to salt when you solve that problem. Right. You got paid, right? So not only were you, you, not losing money, you’re making money from this process, which obviously is, it’s an amazing way to do this, later in your book and one of the chapters.

[00:22:31]  you start to talk about the idea of celebration. And again, I don’t want to really hit every single part of your book, cause that’s not the point of this.  but I do think I want to kind of hit, hit this because I think, one of the things you talked about in there is, you can win in terms of success.

[00:22:50] But you still might feel impoverished or not fulfilled. And this show’s all about happiness and fulfillment. So can you talk about why it’s so important to celebrate your wins? 

[00:23:00] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah. You know, for the longest I remember, I would do all these things and we would accomplish a big task, by our first ER,  starting our first company.

[00:23:12] And I remember just to say, okay, done and keep going. And I started thinking, I’m like, wow, I don’t really ever celebrate. I’ll never do anything. And I remember one time I told my business partner, I was like, we need to celebrate here. And she, and we were already on the phone. With the, and I said, we started like giving each other high fives or saying, you know what, starting to take time.

[00:23:32] Each time we had a milestone and say we need to stop for a minute and be grateful that we got this far, and we need to celebrate, you know? And so I started a ritual that whenever a big accolade or something would happen, or even if it was a small accolade, I would take my kids thinner. I would spend time with the loved one whatever it was, but I would celebrate.

[00:23:53] And I thought it’s important, you know? Cause there’s plenty of negatives out there. There’s plenty of things that happen. But are you taking time to just celebrate and rejoice in something that you worked so hard? And I, I guess I lost track. I think maybe the med student in me and the work work kind of forgot why I was doing things.

[00:24:11] And I thought, you know what. I need to put this in this book. It’s important to celebrate. It’s important to stop and appreciate what you’ve done. Even if it’s a small one in your mind, it’s still important to stop and say, you know what? I’m glad I made it this milestone back to chapter one, it talks about the productivity ladder.

[00:24:26] So now it’s important to celebrate that saying, you know what? I was working really hard to get to the next wrong and I got there and I’m going to celebrate. 

[00:24:34] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. And I think it’s so important, especially for people who have such a strong work ethic and who have sort of gotten used to their work.

[00:24:44] No, in a sense that an I, I can speak for myself on this. Like I could definitely look at myself and say, look, I’m kind of like a workaholic. I love doing stuff. I love trying different projects in medicine. You might do that. Right. You’ve had, you’ve seen 20 patients in a day, but maybe out of those 20 patients, maybe there was like, Two or three where you just did such a good job with them.

[00:25:05] You felt like there was a moment there, but I think we always and especially like, and I talk about this a lot with fulfillment and medicine, but like, if you don’t take like that 30 seconds or like a minute just to like, Oh, I did such a good job. They’re like, wow, like, this is why I do this.

[00:25:21] And it kind of comes back to the concept of why if you just live 30, 40, 50 years of her life working super hard, but you never. Get those moments and like, what’s the point? 

[00:25:33] Dr. Harvey Castro: It’s true. Personally, I’ve taken it to the next level for me personally. I say live each day as if it’s the last, enjoy every day, as much as he can.

[00:25:44] And I know it’s easier to say than to actually do it, but I, every day either, I usually try to always, at the end of the day, do something for me. It may be simple. Maybe call my kids, tell them I love them. It may be. Going for a walk and maybe just I, as near doc, you’re always inside and most doctors are stuck inside.

[00:26:01] So for me, I love being outside. So for me, maybe just walking around my neighborhood and just kind of enjoying the fresh air.  but I just do something that I say if today’s my last day, I can say, you know what? I did what I wanted today. I had my phone and I enjoyed it. I didn’t just go, go, go and go to bed upset or go to bed with whatever.

[00:26:19] I’m like, no, I, I did my job and I enjoyed it and I made the best of today. And. If today’s my last day, then I made a mess already. 

[00:26:27] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah, that’s great. One of my guests I had previously met was David Meltzer, he says that the most powerful two words any human can use is this. Thank you. And he says, if you start your day with thank you and you end your day with, thank you.

If you do that consistently for a month, it will change your life. I’m curious. Do you have a, like you said you go for a walk and those things. Do you have a consistent gratitude practice or would you say it’s more kind of just taking a moment?

[00:26:51] Dr. Harvey Castro: No, I’m very consistent. I feel really humble.

[00:26:56] I try to always remember where I started and I thank God every day that I have a roof over my head that I have food on the table. And I’m just blessed to have those things and everything extra. I just feel like it’s extra and it’s a blessing. So I’m, I’m very humble. And you know, when I get up in the morning and I.

[00:27:14] Walk around my house. I’m like, wow, I didn’t never expect to have this as a child. I never thought this would be where I’m at. And I just feel grateful that I’m at this place. And, and that’s another thing I don’t want to give away the book either, but there’s a part in the book that I talk about.

[00:27:29] It’s important for you not to get stuck on your MD or your title. It’s important to be valued by your name and who you are. Oh, my analogy. Yeah. Is at some point the state of Texas will be like, you’re too old. You can’t remember stuff, your license away. And if, if my name and my pride and everything’s value is based on that MD, then the minute that goes away, then they take my identity.

[00:27:56] But if I look at life as this is who I am, and this is what I’m worth, and this is who I stand for. Then you can take my MD away or take everything away, but I’m still who I am. And I think that’s a concept that everyone should think about it. Especially a physician that is the MD defining you, or is it you that’s defining you.

[00:28:16] Dr. Taylor Brana: I mean, we, I feel like I could sit with that for a while. Right? Like that, that’s something that definitely contemplates. And it’s very important because I think as physicians and any, not just physicians, but any professional, like a lawyer, it doesn’t matter whatever accolade or whatever’s behind your name.

[00:28:35] you’re human first and you’re a human who has. Grown and achieved a title, but that’s not who you are. And I think, especially at least I can speak for the physician space. As you know, let’s say something happens and you can’t continue doing that job anymore. Who are you after that? And I think that’s why it’s so important that.

[00:28:56] you’ve provided this resource and the concept around reinvention because as you talk about a lot and in this book too, every day is an opportunity. So there’s a question that I actually asked the title of, of this, this, talk today. And so why do you, you think today is the best day, or why do you think now is the best time to reinvent yourself?

[00:29:20] Dr. Harvey Castro: That’s an excellent question. It’s kind of like when people say, when should I have a kid? I said there’s never a good time to have a kid kind of do it. You know, you just gotta have your, you gotta live life.  you know, I’m going to backtrack a little and it’ll explain why I’m about to say a couple of months ago I met a oncologist and he said, Harvey, do you have anything on your bucket list?

[00:29:42] And I said, Oh yeah, I got a couple of things on my bucket list, but other things are knocking out now and he’s like my advice to you is knock them all out now. And I said, why? He said, I’m an oncologist. I met tons of people that I’ve told them, Hey, you have cancer. You’re about to die. You got six months.

[00:29:57] And they’re like, Oh my gosh, I’m not going to get a bucket list. And basically the reason I say that is now is the time to reinvent yourself. You don’t know about tomorrow. Now it’s time to do better. Now’s the time to live life and look at life differently. You know, some of us are scared to move forward about certain things.

[00:30:16] Well that’s only going to delay things. So my mind is like, don’t live life in regrets. Live now, do it.  you’re smart. You’ve been, you studied your preparation now at the time to look at things differently and reinvent yourself and work on things. We all have room for improvement. All of us. And so the reason I say that with this story is don’t wait for you, you can always be a better father, a better spouse, a better parent whatever that is, a better employee, but now’s the time to really sit down.

[00:30:50] And, and not that I’m pushing for my book, but to understand your why and understand why you’re doing things and then take all of that in and make a new you. 

[00:30:59] Dr. Taylor Brana: Absolutely. I mean, I loved everything you said, and I think it’s something that I definitely feel has been an important aspect of it. Me growing personally.

[00:31:08] And I think anyone listening to that really today is the day to look at things a little bit differently. Try something, you read the new book. Go on that trip actually with the caveat it’s coven time. So maybe not go on a trip, but, but, yeah, I just think it’s that’s, that’s so important. So again, we’re alluding to your book a lot and you know, we’ll get to maybe check it out shortly, but is there something?

[00:31:37] You know, something that you really would love readers or listeners today to know about this book or something you hope that they can take away from it. Maybe we didn’t touch on it. 

[00:31:47] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yeah. I do want to share a quick story.  Since the book’s been out, it’s only been out about a month and I’ve already had people reach out saying that they read it, they gave it to their kid, gave it to their spouse.

[00:31:58] I’ve had excellent feedback. today, someone told me that they’re big. Book club and they picked this book and the spouse is reading it together. And the husband told the wife today and said, Hey, I’m taking this job. I can’t put it down. I really want to read the next chapter. I’m not going to wait until tonight.

[00:32:13] And she was sharing the story with me and I thought that was kind of funny, but my point is this my goal of the book and what I have, I have not said enough is I just wanted to help someone else. I, if. If you read it, donate it to somebody else, give it to someone else. My goal with the book is just to help someone else.

[00:32:30]  my, I told my publisher this, if one person reaches out to me and says, man, this book changed my life. It helped me in X and Y when my job was done. I said, wow, my story now helped one other person. And if more people are helped. Great.  but my goal is just one.  and again, if you can donate it to somebody else, give it to your friends whatever I, I want, I would be, I would love to hear that story.

[00:32:54] So if you do anything or if the book impacts you in any way, I would love to hear that story and just shoot me an email or contact me on social media. 

[00:33:03] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. And I’ll tell you, it’s already impacted me. I mean, when I read. That beginning chapter.  and to you hear your story, especially because I already interviewed you and then I didn’t really get the full picture and then to read what you’ve gone through and to see you sitting here in emergency medicine, physician, building out businesses, writing a book, doing what you’re doing to give back to the community.

[00:33:25] It’s like, wow. Amazing. Right. So I definitely, yeah. And, and I mean it, I really do, so if anyone’s listening and really wants to just speak curious and just take a look, I would love for people to check out your books. So how do they find your book and what are some avenues? People can not take a listen to read this book.

[00:33:44] Dr. Harvey Castro: Yes. it’s on Amazon. So just type in Harvey Castro or success reinvention.  it’s in Spanish already and it’s both in Kindle and paperback.  sometime in October it should be in the, in the audible edition, both in. Spanish and English, and then I’m working on getting the book next month in Portuguese, and currently believe it or not, I’m working hard on a course that you can log in.

[00:34:10] And, and basically that’s what I’m doing right now. It’ll probably be on Harvey Castro, md.info, and I’m still beta testing and creating. So I didn’t realize how much work is in the ebook, more than just creating the course and the content and exploding each chapter into a more in depth. so that’s what I’m doing.

[00:34:27] Not telling her how long it’s going to take me, but I’m working on that. So I’m hoping that by January it’s done and then I can have it online. So it should be fun. I, this is another story I’m doing, the other day. I met a waitress. And she was telling me that she has this degree and she’s all indebted.

[00:34:42] And she’s been out of school for about since a year now. And I said, so, you know what, I’ll be right back, ran into the car and got it, copied, signed it, put a little something and gave it to her. And I said, please read this book.  I think it’s going to help. I think you’re going to see life a little bit different and I think you’re going to.

[00:34:57] Find a job in a different way. And I gave her some ideas and suggestions and I thought, you know what? This is what it’s about. And later when I have this course, I would love to say, Hey, here’s a code. It’s free. It’s yours. I want you to do something for you and hopefully I can help you somehow. So that’s, that’s my goal.

[00:35:14] Dr. Taylor Brana: I love that idea. Like that just got me so excited because when you have a conversation with someone. You know, you, you hit them in one way, but when you can literally physically hand them the book or hand on the course, then they can learn those tools and they can figure it out through, like we talked about before, like they have their own stories.

[00:35:34] So, I love that. And again, Dr. Harvey Castro, thank you so much for being on the episode today.  I want to celebrate you, so thank you. 

[00:35:44] Dr. Harvey Castro: Thank you so much. 

[00:35:46] Dr. Taylor Brana: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I want to celebrate you for being on this episode today. If anyone has any questions or comments, please let us know.  and we’ll definitely reach out and reply to all of those. and again, thank you so much for being on. 

[00:36:00] Dr. Harvey Castro: Thank you. Have a great day. Have a blessed day guys. 

[00:36:02] Dr. Taylor Brana: And that’s the episode for today. I want to thank you so much for listening to the Happy Doc Podcast. Again, this is a podcast that is going to inspire you as a physician, as a health professional, as an individual to be fulfilled in your life, so please look out for the other episodes in The Happy Doc. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a five star review on the podcasting application of your choice. You can also reach out to us by emailing the happydoc1@gmail.com. I’ll see you on the next episode.