Dr. Dahan's Daily Wisdom - Motivational Podcast

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 416 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond There's a woman by the name of Sarah Murray Jordan. She was a doctor, a gastroenterologist, and one of the four founders of one of the most famous clinic in Boston, Massachusetts. She not only had a medical degree, she also had a Ph.D. What is interesting is that in those days, in the 1880s when she was born, it was not particularly accepted, that a woman would become a doctor. Not only was it not accepted, it was actually, to a certain extent, refuted by all other physicians who were themselves males. Now, this is interesting because she was facing a situation and could have accepted it and resigned by not becoming a physician or, not accepted it and done something about, it which is what she did. When you are faced with a situation, typically any kind of situation, whether it's a challenge or an obstacle, you have three options. One is to say, "I'm not going to deal with it. I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to accept it

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 415 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond It's quite amazing how many people you meet at times who tell you “it's over; it's done; it's the end of that chapter; I am finished; it's the end of my book." What does that all mean? That they're going to die? That there is no other solution? Why get all worked up? What's the point? It's not the end of the story. The end of the story is when you actually pass away. Now, that is the end. And it doesn't mean it's the end of your story because if you watch what you do and you do it properly, you will create a legacy and the legacy will stay on, so it won't even really be the end of the story; it'll just be the end of your chapter in that book. Why not find yourself a way to remind yourself that it's just a short chapter? The end is not here yet. When the end comes, you won't be there anymore to talk about it. Now, wait until the end and you'll see. And here is what happens when you wait, although you should not think about it: f

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 414 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond There is a story about a writer by the name of Flannery O'Connor. She battled lupus, a terrible disease, but wrote about her life, and then she died unfortunately, at the young age of 39 years old. Now, at one point in time she was asked, "Why is it that you are writing in spite of your illness?" And she said, "Because I'm good at it." You know, it's interesting. If you think about that, she battled her sickness but what she was good at, she used as an incentive to become better. It was an enticement for her to make things better. When you use your own talent, you feel like you are invincible; you could do anything you want. Don't take your talents for granted. Take them and use them for the best of your abilities. Not only should you not envy others but, you should envy yourself for what you've got. Years ago, when I was in private practice. I only treated one patient at a time. I didn't treat many patients. I just treated one

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 413 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond Some people believe that the reason why they are unhappy is because of their biochemistry. That may be true; I'm not going to discuss the medical implications of the medications or hormonal imbalances, or the chemical dependency that some people taking. That's not what this is all about. What I am going to discuss, however, is that although these biomechanical imbalances may be real, you have to ask yourself, what can you do to try to overcome some of these unhappy times? What should you do? Now, whether or not it's a behavior that you have to learn or the innate biochemistry you have within you, you need to try your best to always have control of your thoughts. It's interesting: there were two university professors in Pittsburgh. They were psychologists, and in their experiments, they counted the ratio of good and bad thoughts in depressed people versus happy people. Quite interesting what they found. They discovered that depres

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 412 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond At times, we have decisions that we have to make and we're not too sure which direction to go. Interestingly enough, the grief that we cause ourselves in not making the decision or second-guessing our self, can be quite difficult to handle at times. Not only that, as it says, it's the difference between a promise and a price. The price that we're going to pay if we don't keep our promise can be difficult. Regrets weighs literally tons while discipline weighs ounces. Think about that for a second. Every decision we make is not only a choice for something but it could be a choice for something else; so we know, if there's going to be that choice to be made, why be stuck in that action? Just act it. Don't look to make the perfect choice, just a good one. What is a good choice? The one that you're coming up with. But you said, "I don't know, I'm stuck." Don't second-guess yourself. You have within you the ability and the power to ove

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 411 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond Did you know that Michelangelo was one of the artists who lived years ago and he was able to imagine and literally come up with designs in his level which were beyond and above so many artists? Michelangelo, a famous sculptor, was asked how he saw what he saw. He said, "I did not create anything. I saw an angel set in the marble and all I did was chiseled around the angel and I set the angel free." Interesting, isn't it? Now, you have to ask yourself, in your life, you have to find the angel in the marble. Now, most people, all they see is the marble. However, they need to see the angel in the marble, and the angel could be trapped. There are two challenges about that. One is doubt. A person could say, "Is there an angel? I can't see him." And the second is, "It's hard work." That's the truth. But here's the beauty of it. Once you find the angel in the marble, to set him free, that's opening your life up for goodness. So ask yo

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 410 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond There's an interesting idea about helping others and helping them for an altruistic way. Let me give you an example. What is the difference between an artist and a philanthropist? You see, the artist is driven to actualize his own talents. The philanthropist, on the other hand, is driven by the need of others. The artist wants to express himself. Artists just want to express what they have within themselves that makes them an artist. They don't care about the audience; it's about “my expression”, what I do, what I've created, and I want other people to see it, but it's about me. Me developing what I have seen to be good and what I believe to be different, unique, special, sophisticated, just mine. The philanthropist, on the other hand, cares about the need of the other people. Not about giving from him, but that others should receive. It's not about him giving. Now, of course, there may be some people out there who want to becom

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 409 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond Recently, I heard about a Doctor John Nash. He was a professor of mathematics from Princeton University. He was actually a Nobel Prize winner in economics. Quite amazing. Interestingly enough, he suffered from a disease called Schizophrenia, and he thought in his mind that communists wanted to take his life pursuing him, and thanks to his wife, he was rehabilitated but that took many years. Now, here's an interesting story. At the Nobel Prize ceremony, he gave a speech and he asked the question, "What is the summation of all mathematical equation?" And this is what he answered, he said “It was love”, and of course, during that time, he thanked his wife for all her support, the empowerment, the security in the life that she had given him. Interestingly enough, after the speech they both leave and in the hallway, he has an attack; a schizophrenic attack. Now, this is, remember, at the pinnacle of his career and this attack takes h

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 408 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond How do you fill up a glass? Well, one way is to, for some people, use a garden hose and the pressure that comes out from the garden hose is so powerful, that will actually make it overflow and never fill up the glass, or at least only a very small amount. Another way is to use a faucet. Even if it's dripping, one drop at a time. This will fill up the glass. So to fill up a glass, there are two conditions. Number one, that the glass has to be empty. Second, that the pressure of the water that you are applying to fill up the glass has to be moderated and gentle so that you can actually fill it up to the level that you wish. This is the way the mind works: when you try to give a message to somebody else and you want them to take this message or receive the message and accept what you're saying, it's like filling up a glass. If you hit them with harsh words and tremendous pressure, and try to talk them into what it is that you believ

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 407 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond When you have a strong desire in your heart and something is pushing you to do things which are not appropriate or that you feel they are not good, and certainly not good to you or perhaps even to those around you, you have to ask yourself a question. Don't judge yourself at that moment, just ask the question: “Who am I” and “What is my purpose in this world?” Who am I is deeper than why I am here because the why I am here, says “Is there anything real about me?” Do I have a function or a purpose in this world? That is obvious, something you need to know. If you don't know that, you need to realize it. Who am I is a better question than why am I. The why is the mission, the who is up to you. Within each person, there are two dividing forces and both of them are a paradox to each other. They fight to win over the person at any given time. One force tries to do the right things. That's the positive one. You might want to call tha

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 406 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond There's a story of a person who passed away and when they got to heaven, they cried in front of the Creator saying that they didn't get what they wanted while they were on earth. The Creator asked that person, "But you didn't ask for these things," and it occurred to that person that the remark was true. In order to receive, you must ask. Here is the beauty about prayer: asking for help is something that human beings have a right and the intelligence to do. So when you ask, first know that you have to ask with intelligence. Don't ask for things that are ridiculous; ask for good things. Now, you know what that means, and don't ask while mumbling; be clear, be specific. Ask intelligently and ask for what you want and know how long it should be, how much, when, what size, what kind, what color. Define it. Know in your mind what you're asking for and ask. Well-defined goals are like magnets and the better you chisel them, the stro

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 405 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond I'm sure you've heard the term “perfectionism”. They are called OCD, over Compulsive Disorder. Everything has to be perfect, everything has to be done exactly this way and not that way. The truth is, perfectionism is a good thing when you're trying to prepare a paper. You want it be good, you want to be perfect. Now, to be stuck by the fact that there are some issues with it, that will be something different. Perfectionism is a person who doesn't accept a mistake but it's also a person who never gets started because they think that they cannot be perfect. A person who says, "I can't finish this because it's not perfect yet." That's not perfectionism, that's procrastination. The person who procrastinates, never begins or ends a task, yet they call that “perfectionism”. They say they can't finish because it needs so much more for it to be perfect, or they can't start because they're not ready because otherwise, it won't be perfect

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 404 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond I was speaking to a friend once who said that they regretted, not having spent more time with their family members. I ask you the question: Are you missing or regretting? See, there's a big difference. Missing, means you wish those times would come again because you enjoyed them and you cherish them. You keep them as a memory, something which will stay with you at all times. Regretting, is different. It is when you feel as though the opportunity passed and you were never able to make up what you needed. Now, that is not good. Regret is negative; missing is positive. Regret brings you back; missing moves you forward. Regret makes you sad; missing makes you happy. Regret shows the difficulty that you were not able to overcome; missing means the good things and the happiness that you were able to create. There is a difference. So don't regret anything. You could say, you missed it. For instance, I miss my father. He passed away. I

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 403 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond There's a concept called “negative self-talk”. Something that we use to bash ourselves; something that we blame ourselves with or carry as guilt because of something we were not able to do at the time. And that is real; people find themselves stuck in situations. They can't move forward, they realize they made a mistake or there's something they can't do, and they say, I just can't do it. I messed up. My life is miserable. I will never be able to do the right thing. I will never be able to move forward. Here's some advice: if you hear yourself thinking, I can't do this. I am stuck. I will never be able to do that, whatever it is, wherever you are, stop and ask yourself, in the last 30 or 60 days, can you recall two or three things that you did if that were good, that were right? Can you recall anything like that? Is there anything at all that would bring this to your mind at all? And you should be able to say yes to this, and now

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 402 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond Here is a disease, a condition which I believe must be avoided at all costs and that is envy. You see, to be envious of others means taking away the right from your life to be happy. We're all stuck in that concept at times. We're going around assuming that others have a better life, more money, they're happier, they have more of everything materially, spiritually, physically, socially, economically, in every aspect. This envy takes away from you the opportunity to live a truly genuine unadulterated life. Why be envious? First of all, do you know that these people have? What they think they have or what you think they have? Do you really believe that? What is it that you think they have that you don't have? You may say, "Well, they have a better car than I do. I can't afford that car." So what? If you have transportation or this is what you've got now, why not enjoy it? And you don't know that the item or this car, what is it tha

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 401 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond I wanted to do a research about geniuses, those who are really nice by the world for being special, different, and clearly defined as geniuses. And it is interesting. The study I found, stated geniuses had routines, things that were common among these special people. One, is that they had a private workplace. This is something that they kept to themselves, a place where they developed their geniuses, in just one little area. The second, is that they took a daily walk. Interesting, isn't it? These very famous geniuses; Charles Dickens, Beethoven, all these people, actually took a daily walk and made it a point every single day to go out on a walk. Third, was they had a concept called “accountability metric” meaning they measured what they did and continuously checked their metrics. In other words, how much did they get accomplished and then moved forward. This accountability gave them the aptitude and the knowledge of where they

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 400 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond I remember when I was younger that my father, bless his soul, used to work with me and help me with my homework and some of the things that I needed. As I became older in the teenage years, I was sent away to school. For many years, I only came home on a sparing time because there were just not enough means for me to go back and forth, yet I always appreciated those times. I appreciated every single moment and I remember. Life is all about remembering, memories of good things, memories of opportunities, memories of thoughts, of things that we once lived with. I remember my father always being there for me even though most of my life, I did not live with my father. I remember what he was to me and what he represented to me. Remembering means having engraved in your heart, the goodness and the opportunities that you were once given. Remembering doesn't mean making up stories or hoping that it was better; remembering means living wi

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 399 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond People often confuse the difference between humility and pride. They believe that if they are humble, they will be naive and that they will be bullied around. That's not what humility is; they also believe, at times, that pride is arrogance. That is also not pride is. Let me explain the difference between humility and pride. See, a person too often focuses on the frailty and the smallness and they become stagnant, unmotivated, and at the same time, they don't have the self-belief and the strength of character or of motivation to keep and persevere in what they're doing. That is not humility or pride; that is just a person who's stuck where they are. When you get too caught up in yourself and you lead but you have a false sense of power, you think you are invincible; that's also the strength of character that you have. It can easily turn into arrogance. That is not pride. Humility is knowing who you are, knowing your capabilities

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 398 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond We often focus on, in our lives, about a “closed door”. We say, this is the end of it. What am I going to do now? I lost my job. I can't finish this project. My spouse doesn't like me. My friends despise me. My parents want to disown me, and on, and on. For many of us, it's easy to get caught up in what we can't have, can't do, what the person we wish to be in or not. And it's extremely disheartening to pull our heart and soul into something and then find a brick wall to stop us and make it so clear that we can't do that thing, whatever that is. Isn't that amazing? And we focus on this door which is also closed and it gets us absolutely nowhere. Now, here's something that you need to know: all endings are also beginnings. You might not know it at the time but the fact that it is an ending process, it's the beginning of something new. Have you ever heard of Helen Keller? She was blind. Now, Helen Keller could have spent her life

Daily Wisdom  – Motivational Podcast – Day 397 – Inspiration: Above and Beyond I read a story once about a very well-to-do king who lived in a beautiful palace. Once, he brought one of his subject, and asked him to work for him. He said however, that “instead of you working out in the field sweating in the heat and enduring the harshness of the weather outside, why not work inside my palace?” The king placed him in a large empty room, gave him the necessary tools, and said: "Just act as though the movements that you're doing outside are the same. Act as though you're cutting wheat, and I'll pay you the same amount of money." Now, the servant was just enamored with the wonderful thought and happy to serve such a wonderful king. Why not? This would be so great. So he came the next day to work grabbed his tool, and acted as though he was cutting wheat in this vast empty room. After a short while however, he couldn't take it anymore. He went back to the king and said, "I can't do this." The king asked him why