I am excited as I just had Dr. Chris Zaino join me on Episode 18 of The BOOST Health Podcast! If you normally just read the blog, you will want to tune in for this episode for sure. There was too much great content to capture in blog form. If you are using an Apple iPhone or iPad, then go here to listen to the BOOST Health podcast. If you are using another type of mobile device, then go to Google Play to listen to The BOOST Health podcast. Anyone using their computer can just go to iTunes or Apple Podcasts on their iPhone and search for “Boost Health.” Below is are the notes of what we cover. Please listen in..I promise you will be inspired!
Dr. Zaino has an obsession for helping people realize what they are truly capable of which I think is absolutely fantastic! He and I thought having a chat on this show would be great because at BOOST Health we are always searching for new wellness tactics and encouraging folks to be open minded and try new things.
In case you are not familiar with Dr. Zaino, I will get you up to speed. He is a world-renowned speaker, author, entrepreneur, and HERO (we will get into what that means). After winning Mr. America in 1998, and being a leader in the fitness industry, he found himself defying a deadly disease in his late 20’s. Dr. Zaino leveraged his experience to establish one of the largest health and wellness clinics in the world, seeing thousands of patients per week (yes, per week). Teaching mindset and health principles has allowed thousands of people to finally receive results where other health and medical systems failed them in the past. Now an international speaker, author, and mindset expert, Dr. Chris has shared his message of wholeness in mind and body over 4430 times. Shifting Doctors and Clients alike to continue to make the impact on millions.
The Core Premise of his work is that everybody is born with seeds of greatness and capable of heroic things if given the chance. That each person has the noble qualities inherent in them to drastically shift themselves and their work. Dr. Chris seeks to unlock this in each man, woman, and child he reaches. Rather than let people silently grieve their potential, he exists to wake up the hero that we know is hidden within each of us.
Oh by the way he also won his age group at Mr. Universe in 2016 and is a pro body builder today. Needless to say he is in incredible shape! But what I like most about Dr. Zaino is that he has figured out how to keep fit while managing a very successful business and also being a great husband and father to his 2 boys. He sounds pretty balanced to me!
Dr. Zaino thank you very much for taking time to join us on the show!
I have tons of questions I want to ask you so I will jump right in.
I read that the terrible disease that you were able to rebound from was actually ulcerative colitis, which is tough stuff! What tactics did you use heal/recover from this?
Was your battle and victory over ulcerative colitis what inspired you to become a doctor of chiropractic medicine?
You grew your chiropractic practice to one of the biggest in world, do you still see patients? Or do you just focus on your speaking engagements and online HERO courses now?
Your online courses are really cool. One of them that I have been studying is the Hero Secret Sauce where you discuss 5 Key Ingredients to reaching your potential. One of the ingredients is Speed of Implementation. This ingredient was especially interesting for me because I can relate. When I have implemented with speed in the past it is has led to success, and when I waiver I typically wish I would have taken action sooner. A good example is with starting this BOOST Health business. I was focusing on finishing my MBA full time after we moved to Hong Kong for my wife’s job. It felt strange and unsatisfying not working because I had worked ever since I was 16. I knew that as soon as I finished my masters I would need to do something to feel fulfilled. My friends who knew I was finishing school would ask me what I was planning next. I would usually just answer that I would see what’s out there in healthcare and wellness when I was finishing up. One day when I was asked, I told my buddies that I would actually like to start my own wellness and fitness business. It was something I had dreamed about for many years but never actually said out loud. It just sort of burst out! Then I began saying it every time I was asked what is next. I would explain that I felt like I had a “voice” that needed to be heard and there is only one way to find out! I said it enough times, over and over, that it started to become real. So real, in fact, that the same week I was turning in my final papers for my MBA program I was also submitting the papers to start BOOST Health. That version of me would be a HERO, as you might say, with drive and initiative. This side of me doesn’t always emerge though. This Speed of Implementation ingredient is something that I can sense with you Dr. Zaino, almost like an aura. And I haven’t even met you in person! For example, when we first started talking about doing the show I was suggesting we maybe wait until July when we were closer in time zones when we are back visiting the US, but you said that is fine or we can just figure it out now with one person late and one person early. I get the sense that that is how you make all your decisions. It reminds me of a football coach I had once who would say “get after it!”
With all of that said (sorry big lead into a question) how do we tap into that speed of implementation zone or ingredient all of the time with opportunities?
Also in your Secret Sauce you have a beautifully written, and painfully true statement: “perfectionism fuels the slow drip of inaction”. It hits me like a dagger in my soul. I like to wear my perfectionism as a badge of honor and it seems to suit me well in some cases with always getting up early to exercise, eating clean, being on time for meetings, etc. But there is also this inaction thing that sets in for me when there is unknown. When I don’t control the variables I get scared. For example when I first started considering moving to a plant-based diet I was really nervous that I was going to lose all kinds of strength and muscle. I worried about stuff like how I was going to get enough protein, if I would miss certain foods, if I had the willpower necessary to succeed, etc. Then shortly after I started on plant-based I felt amazing and had incredible results, and I wondered why I hesitated at all.
So my question is – Dr. Zaino, have you always been wired that way where you jump at opportunities or did you have to work to be more open to trying new things and failing?
This process of jumping on an opportunity, even if you don’t even know all of the angles of how it will play out, reminds of a type of project management we studied in school. Sometimes when you begin a project it is difficult to fully understand what the final product will look like and what changes will need to be made to arrive at implementation with high client satisfaction. This became especially prevalent as technology began changing and improving so quickly with computers and applications, and so a new type of project management was developed called Agile Project Management. According to a 2015 article on contentmarketinginstitute.com, technology companies such as Google and Facebook use Agile Project Management methods to be innovative and do this by developing products rapidly as they can, test them on real users, change the product based on the user requests, then update the product as fast as they can. You can see Agile Project Management happening each time you see an update for an app on your smartphone.
Previously I had always thought about this type of strategy for project management situations only, but maybe we can apply this type of Agile Project Management to our life! What do you think Dr. Zaino?
Some of the messages you mentioned in your videos that resonated with me were:
“Living in the comfort and torment of your secret identity”
“Knowing that you have more to give and being ok with it”
“Be inspired by yourself”
“We live in a broken society that teaches, encourages, and rewards mediocrity”
Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean these messages?
Another one of your courses discusses a concept you call “Time Expansion” which is to help people with being more productive. I absolutely love productivity tips. I think it is because I am a protocol junkie and come from military roots. Finding ways to work more efficiently is in my blood and I really enjoy it. I mention a couple of tips for productivity in my blog and podcast on the BEST morning routine including doing the hardest thing first, in the first 90 minutes of your day, and also the 2 minute rule. In the 90 minute, hardest thing first activity, you work on an output activity like a big project or presentation. This 90 minutes is uninterrupted focus on your most difficult activity and you make massive progress on it. Then, in a separate time of your day, you run the 2 minute rule on input activities, like responding to emails, and complete tasks immediately if they take 2 minutes or less. You check off an insane amount of stuff on your to do list this way. These tactics are taken from the great David Allen in his book “Getting Things Done”.
Dr. Zaino can you what are a few of your strategies to be more productive?
My mission with BOOST Health is: To inspire people to live a healthier and more balanced life. I am always encouraging people to “find your balance”, and teach that it is an individualistic and introspective journey. And I also mention that perfect balance isn’t possible but you can learn what wellness dimensions you have opportunity in and put energy and effort into them. That said, I saw in one of your tutorials that you think “balance is bs”. I think we make be talking about it in a different way though. You have figured out how to become a successful businessman, a good husband and father, a champion body builder, and an inspirational leader all at the same time. This requires incredible balance from all of the wellness dimensions (occupational, social, intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual).
I don’t want to put words in your mouth but I think you would agree, from that perspective you have found your balance. Would you agree?
I talk about wellness balance in my blog and podcast titled 7 Dimensions of Wellness Balance. In effort to show there is good science behind success in the real world and having good wellness balance I included a few studies. One study I included was study in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism where it appears there is a correlation between wellness balance and academic performance. This was a 3 year study with 249 university students as subjects. They tracked how they spent their time over a 2 week period. The time was tracked in 30 minute increments over a 24 hour period. The students were separated into 3 subcategories based on their GPA with top performers, moderate performers, and poor performers. The study looked at the students’ percentage of time spent in each of the 7 dimensions and compared to their GPA. Some interesting data came out of the research including top performers had the best overall balance in wellness dimensions, and top performers spent most of their time on physical activity including sleeping, eating, and exercise.
Everyone responds differently to different wellness strategies. As such I always like to ask people what tactics work best for them. If we stay curious and open-minded we can continue to learn what works best for us as individuals. Try tips from everyone and keep what works for you.
Dr. Zaino what would you say are your top tips to Find Your Balance?
Dr. Zaino is there anything I left out that you wanted to cover on the show today?
Well I think we have learned a lot today! I know I have. I will be putting some of the tips that Dr. Zaino shared with us into action right away! Dr. Zaino, where should we send everyone to learn more about your awesome programs?
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