Episode 125
Unlocking Success: The Secrets of Delayed Gratification with Dr. Emilio Justo
Delving into the concept of delayed gratification, Dr. Emilio Justo shares his journey from being a Cuban refugee to a respected medical professional, emphasizing the importance of resilience and long-term goals. He reflects on the challenges he faced and the lessons learned, illustrating how these experiences have shaped his values and success. Through personal anecdotes, Dr. Justo highlights the significance of making mindful decisions and investing in one's future rather than succumbing to the allure of instant rewards. He discusses the impact of his upbringing and education, detailing how each step in his life required patience and perseverance. The conversation ultimately encourages listeners to embrace delays in gratification, turn life's challenges into opportunities, and focus on leaving a meaningful legacy for future generations.
Dr. Emilio Justo, a Cuban refugee turned esteemed doctor, shares his inspiring journey on the podcast, shedding light on the significance of delayed gratification and resilience. His story begins with his family's escape from Cuba, navigating through Mexico before arriving in the United States. Justo recalls the humble beginnings of his childhood in a college dorm with his grandparents, highlighting the sacrifices his parents made to ensure a better future for him. This backdrop sets the stage for his emphasis on the importance of hard work and perseverance, illustrated through personal anecdotes from his academic and professional life.
Throughout the conversation, Justo emphasizes the mantra his wife taught him: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This philosophy guided him through the challenges he faced, including the pressures of medical school and the early years of his practice. He elaborates on the pivotal moments where he chose to delay immediate pleasures for long-term gains, such as investing in his education and career rather than indulging in instant gratification. His reflections resonate deeply, especially in today's fast-paced society, where instant rewards often overshadow meaningful accomplishments.
The dialogue progresses to explore Justo's latest book, "The Power of Pause," where he expands on themes of mindfulness and the necessity of taking a step back to evaluate one's goals. He encourages listeners to cultivate a mindset geared towards long-term success, underscoring that true achievement requires patience and discipline. Justo's insights challenge the contemporary culture of immediacy, advocating for a balanced approach that incorporates both instant and delayed rewards for a fulfilling life journey.
Takeaways:
- Dr. Emilio Justo's journey from a Cuban refugee to a respected doctor is a testament to resilience and hard work.
- The importance of delayed gratification is emphasized as a key to achieving long-term goals and success.
- Emilio's personal anecdotes illustrate how resisting immediate rewards can lead to greater fulfillment in life.
- Creating clear goals and structured plans are essential steps towards practicing delayed gratification effectively.
- Instilling values of delayed gratification in the younger generation poses significant challenges in today's instant-gratification society.
- Emilio's commitment to his profession and his family serves as an inspiration for those seeking balance in life.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Indiana University
- Central Christian Church
- University of Michigan
- Tarquillo College
- Barnes and Noble
- Target
Transcript
Well, Doc, welcome to the podcast.
Reverend Keith:How are you doing today?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Fantastic.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Reverend Keith, it's just a delight to be with you here, sir.
Reverend Keith:It's a pleasure to be with you too.
Reverend Keith:I'm going to ask you my favorite question of all my guests.
Reverend Keith:What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Wow, that is a great question.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So, you know, truly, I think the best piece of advice, which comes from a negative experience that I had of my own doing, is my wife basically telling me that when life deals you lemons, you gotta make lemonade.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And she's told me that several times and I've taken it to heart.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And, and truly it's that, that's, that's what we've done is we've made lemonade from the lemons.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so I've been led a very blessed life.
Reverend Keith:Yeah, that's it.
Reverend Keith:I've heard that one before.
Reverend Keith:That it's also always sound advice.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Yes, I definitely think so.
Reverend Keith:Advocating from your wife is really, really good advice.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Yes, yes.
Reverend Keith:So I'm curious, tell us about your journey from being a Cuban refugee to becoming a respected doctor.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Wow, that's a jam packed question.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So just in general, I'll kind of talk quickly so as not to bore your audience too much, but basically my parents and I came to the United States as Cuban refugees when I was three years old.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And unlike many Cuban refugees who escaped via Miami, we actually escaped via Mexico.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So we were in Mexico for six months.
Dr. Emilio Justo: And then back then in the: Dr. Emilio Justo:And so our church who sponsored us, Central Christian Church, relocated us to Gary, Indiana, you know, home of the Jackson 5, you may recall.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That's when they were getting their start.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My grandparents came over a few months later in the church that sponsored them, relocated them to a small college town in northwest Missouri called Tarquillo College, Missouri.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so because my parents were starting over from scratch, you know, they didn't know the language.
Dr. Emilio Justo:We came over with just the clothes on our back.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My father worked two full time jobs.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My mother, who actually had her doctorate in education in Cuba, relocated three hours south to Bloomington, Indiana to Indiana University to restudy.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So my parents made the courageous decision to send me to do my early years of growing up with my grandparents in Tarkhio College.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So from kindergarten through the end of fourth grade, I grew up on this college campus.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My grandparents and I lived in this dorm room which I went to visit about six, seven, eight years ago with my Family.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I kid you not, it was at most 400 square feet.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And growing up, it just felt like a regular home, you know, I didn't know any better, but.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I grew up in a dorm room with my grandparents, had a wonderful, wonderful upbringing, was surrounded by college students all the time.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Finally, in fifth grade, we relocated back to Indiana.
Dr. Emilio Justo:By that time my father could go down to just one full time job.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My mother was now teaching high school Spanish.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Spanish.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And my parents had saved enough money to buy a home and we relocated just slightly south of Gary in a little town called Crown Point, Indiana.
Dr. Emilio Justo:There I did my growing up through the remainder of high school.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I was blessed.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Having worked extremely hard in high school, I was blessed to be valedictorian of our graduating class.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I got into the University of Michigan's Accelerated Premedical Medical Program, graduated medical school at age 23, then went to Washington D.C.
Dr. Emilio Justo:to do my residency.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Finished there at the age of 27.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then I decided that I was tired of having the winters and the cold weather and the dreary skies.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so I relocated then to Phoenix, Arizona to start my practice.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that's where I've been now.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And this is my 36th year of full time medical surgical practice.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And the rest is history.
Reverend Keith:Wow.
Reverend Keith:The American dream.
Reverend Keith:What a cool story.
Reverend Keith:Thanks for sharing that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Yes, yes.
Reverend Keith:So what led you to write the Power of Pause?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Well, a great question.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So the backstory is that from first, before writing the book, I wrote a TEDx talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And the reason that came about is I was just on my stationary bike at home, pedaling away, and I was just kind of going through YouTube videos and I came across a YouTube advertisement video talking about an organization that would help people prepare and formulate TEDx talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I decided to join and I worked on that weekend after weekend because they would preach that it would take an average of 90 applications to land a TEDx talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Of course, that's just an average.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Some people might hit it their fifth time, other people might take 200 times.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I started working on that every weekend that I would spend my whole weekend.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And after about two months, about eight weekends, I had finally submitted 86 applications.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then it was time to go on our, basically our summer vacation, which we went to Western Canada.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then I'll never forget July 5th, we're having lunch outside in Banff, Alberta, Canada, and I get a phone call and it's basically inviting me to present at TedxCherry Creek HS.
Dr. Emilio Justo:The difficulty was that the, the talk was going to be the date was going to be in five weeks from that phone call.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I hadn't actually written the talk because the way it was explained to us was to basically do some bullet points for the application, but not actually the talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I'm thinking, wow, you know, I still have another week of vacation, so I know I'm not going to get anything done during that time.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So by the time I home, I'm going to have four weeks to basically write the talk, practice the talk, memorize the talk, and then deliver the talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so it was a lot of stress, but I pulled it off.
Dr. Emilio Justo: s went by, this was August of: Dr. Emilio Justo:Sometimes it takes up to six months for the TED organization to release it on YouTube.
Dr. Emilio Justo: was released in September of: Dr. Emilio Justo:And then towards the holiday season, my wife said, hey, you know, you're doing so well with this talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You should consider expanding on it and writing a book.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I thought, that's an interesting idea.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I've never written a book before, but so I started doing just that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I started writing the book.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that, of course, took a tremendous amount of time.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And as I'm writing the book, I'm getting this inkling that maybe I should write another talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I'm kind of doing both things simultaneously.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so in.
Dr. Emilio Justo:In February 24th, I actually delivered a second TEDx talk on a completely different subject on obsession.
Dr. Emilio Justo:My first one was on delayed gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo: r this year, in the summer of: Dr. Emilio Justo:But ultimately, Reverend Keith, the short answer to your question, that was the long, drawn out answer.
Dr. Emilio Justo:The short answer is that all of this started because I truly wanted to leave kind of a message and a legacy to my family.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, my wife and I started a little bit later in life.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And, you know, we have three teenage kids and we're just trying to impart some lessons and to show them that what I feel are the keys to my success and the keys really that could be for anyone's success.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And also as we get older, maybe you can appreciate this.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I may be older than you, but as I get older, I start thinking about my own mortality.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, when you're young, you think you're invincible.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You're going to live forever, you know, but now as you start getting older, you reflect, you know, you reflect back on your life.
Dr. Emilio Justo:What have you done right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:What have you done wrong?
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I just wanted to kind of leave a message out there for primarily my family, but also for others out there who are willing to listen to what I have to say.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And furthermore, when I wrote the book, I also decided that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Reverend Keith.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That I wanted to narrate it myself because I wanted to leave my voice as an imprint for generations to follow.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so I really, really enjoy that process of narrating the book.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that was really just a joy for me.
Reverend Keith:We live in a society where delayed gratification is not a popular topic.
Reverend Keith:It's almost as popular as healthy eating, right?
Reverend Keith:So how do you convince a generation that has grown up on instant gratification, instant contact, constant contact, to really relish in this idea of delayed gratification?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Boy, that's an incredible challenge.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I share that with you because I know the challenges that I have faced and continue to face with our own children, who I love deeply, as you can imagine.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But in today's society, you know, more and more it's all about instant gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Because certainly there's a certain dopamine rush that you get when you get things instantly.
Dr. Emilio Justo:There's no doubt.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But I firmly believe that truly, deep down, we've been wired with delayed gratification, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:If you think back to caveman days, they had to delay their gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:They had to plan and hunt for their meals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:It wasn't all, you know, the delivery, the Ubers and, and that sort of thing.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I think that there's a certain DNA wiring for delayed gratification, but it's been taken over by the dopamine rush of that instant gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So all I can do, you know, it's like the old expression, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Dr.
Dr. Emilio Justo:All I can do is to try to preach, pardon the pun, but when I say preach, you know, the first thing I tell anyone is that, look, instant gratification does play a role in our lives.
Dr. Emilio Justo:At no time am I saying that instant gratification shouldn't be there or that we shouldn't exercise it.
Dr. Emilio Justo:No, but it has its own role.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But in terms of long term growth and success, that I think if we delay gratification, that it will have a much, much greater and exponential influence on our life to achieve greater, greater success.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But again, getting the younger generation to catch on to that and to digest that and to internalize that is a tremendous challenge.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And if I had the secret to that, you know, I would be, you know, perhaps on, on late night TV shows because I don't have that exact secret.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But all I can do is just keep, keep pounding the hammer and preaching what I firmly believe in.
Reverend Keith:That'd be TED Talk 3, 4 and 5, if you could figure that out.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That's right.
Dr. Emilio Justo:There you go.
Reverend Keith:You know, I, when you talk about delayed gratification and resilience, to me those two things are tied together, together or at least connected.
Reverend Keith:And I, and I wonder how much this generation struggles with resilience because of the lack of instant gratification, because of the lack of delayed gratification.
Reverend Keith:I just kind of wonder if you, as you think about how important it is to have that in our lives, can.
Reverend Keith:Are there some real life examples that you can share that illustrate that delayed gratification is so meaningful for us?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Certainly.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Well, first I want to echo what you just said, because my definition of delayed gratification is the practice of resisting that temptation for immediate rewards and instead choosing to invest time and effort into long term goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And as you correctly pointed out, one of the critical benefits of delayed gratification is, is the development of resilience, you know, strengthening our ability to overcome obstacles, endure challenges, and persevere through setbacks.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So the delayed gratification allows us to gain clarity about our goals and aspirations and it forces us to reflect on what truly matters and then identify the steps needed to achieve those goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So by delaying that instant gratification, we actually become the masters of our own desires rather than the slaves to our impulses.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But in my own life, I mean, there are very various examples.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Number one is just the obvious, that when we came over as refugees, we had nothing, so I had to delay gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I mean, simple examples of.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I talk about this even in my TEDx talk, that when I was in high school, I wanted so badly to play for our high school hockey team, but we had to purchase our own equipment.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Our high school was a parochial high school and they didn't have a lot of money.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So you had to buy your own equipment.
Dr. Emilio Justo: e hundred dollars back in the: Dr. Emilio Justo:And I knew I didn't even have to ask my parents.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I was very cognizant of the fact that we didn't have a ton of money.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So there was just no way that I could look my parents in the eye and ask for that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I had to delay that gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, fast forward to in medical school, I talk about this in one of my TEDx talks that on a Sunday evening I get a call from one of my best friends in college and he, he wasn't in the medical school and he all of a sudden got tickets to a Beach Boys concert that evening.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, and I love the Beach Boys, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Most of us do.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And he wanted to invite me to the concert.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I, I looked, looked at him and said, look, man, I have a gross anatomy test the next morning.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And gross anatomy is one of those courses that's super difficult and it's bulk memorization.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I said, there is no way that I'm going to be able to pass this test if I don't study, you know, and he's basically telling me, oh no, no, you're smart, you can do it, no problem.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And no, I basically delayed that gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I said, thank you, but no thank you, you know, I needed to study.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that was another example of delayed gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Another one going back to my days at University of Michigan is that because as a student I didn't have a lot of money to spend on frivolous things that my parents did give me enough money to buy season football tickets, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:And if you know anything about college football for your audience that does, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:The University of Michigan Wolverines are one of the blue blood programs in college football.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Also won the national championship last year, but that's another story.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I distinctly remember, Reverend Keith, that back then it would cost $36 for student end zone tickets.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And this was for a pack of six tickets.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Back then it would be six home games and I would take that $36, I would buy the season tickets and I wouldn't go to the games.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I would sell them because there was such a demand for tickets that I would take that $36 and I would turn it into 200, $250 by selling those tickets, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:For, for those of us today, it doesn't seem like much, but that profit back then, you know, allowed me a little spending money that on the weekends, if I got tired of the dorm food, I could go and, and get a pizza or something like that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So that was another example of delayed gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then the final example before I bore you too much, is that just in my professional life is that, you know, early on, probably the first, easily the first 10 years of my practice career, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:I'm in my 36 year practice, but the first 10 years, you know, any profits I made from the practice, I didn't just pay myself out to, to go Have a good time and buy fancy things.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I reinvested those funds into the practice to get better equipment, to hire more skilled staff members, to, to provide better benefits for them.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I basically reinvested into the practice to allow it to grow and mature over time, which later on paid huge dividends for me.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I think there are numerous examples of delayed gratification in my own life, and those are just a few of them.
Reverend Keith:Those are all cool.
Reverend Keith:It's funny because I was thinking when you talked about your education, to be a pastor in our church body.
Reverend Keith:It takes us eight years of higher education.
Reverend Keith:And so I always joked we have as much years to become a doctor as we do a pastor, but a lot less.
Reverend Keith:Sure.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But it depends what kind of pastor you are.
Dr. Emilio Justo:If you're, if you're one of those mega church pastors.
Reverend Keith:Yeah, that wasn't, that wasn't me.
Reverend Keith:But.
Reverend Keith:No, but, you know, it's, it's so interesting because when you think about the journey to get where you are, the delayed gratification makes the end of your journey so much sweeter because you know, what it took to get there.
Reverend Keith:And all along the way, even some of the struggles, the lemons that life throws at you that you turn into lemonade make you such a much deeper, well rounded individual if you take advantage of those opportunities to grow.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Correct, correct.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I firmly believe that, Firmly believe that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I just, to my core, I just am such a devout believer in delayed gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Again, not to say that, you know, especially as I've gotten a little bit older in my life, you know, I've had my, my pleasures, my instant gratification that I've consciously allowed myself to, to participate in.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But to my core, I do believe in delayed gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And, and I will say, and I talk about this in my book, it's, it's highly embarrassing.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But, you know, I mean, it just, I want to show the world that I don't, I'm not perfect.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And, and I make huge errors, and I still continue to make huge errors in my life.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But, but the one time that I strayed away from my delayed gratification ideology, it really just haunted me immensely and almost sent me into bankruptcy.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that was basically, I think, a little over 20 years ago.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You may recall that there was a time when the real estate market was getting very hot and prices, and certainly in the Phoenix, Arizona area, which was one of the hotter markets in the country, prices were just going through the roof.
Dr. Emilio Justo:The banking industry was essentially unregulated, and you could just sign on the dotted line with either no down payment or minimal down payment and you could acquire these big, big old homes.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I, I went to the seminar and I got sucked in and all the, you know, all the excitement, you know, that instant gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Next thing you know, Reverend Keith, I kid you not.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Within a period of 12 months, I had acquired 20 residential real estate properties that were each over $300,000 and with little or no money down.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And my wife kept telling me that, you know, this is bad, you're not doing the right thing.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I just wasn't listening to her because I was so fixated on this instant gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Come to find out that, you know, I couldn't support those homes financially, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Because when you think about it, when there's very little equity in a home, your mortgage payments are so high that the rental income that you're getting doesn't even come close to offsetting the mortgage payment.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So, you know, it just, it was a bad, bad decision.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I slowly had to start unwrapping that huge mistake to get out of that incredible situation before literally, I mean, I was on, I, I spent my, my life savings up to that point and nearly sent me into bankruptcy just by stupid, stupid decisions.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I mean, I just, when I think back, I think to myself, what the heck was I thinking?
Reverend Keith:Right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:But it, but it was getting sucke in to that instant gratification.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That's all it was.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so it just taught me again, it redirected my focus into focusing on delayed gratification and, and not acting haphazardly.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so since then, since I got out of that situation, I mean, life's been much better and it's been a slow climb upwards and, and, and it's a blessing really.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I look back and that's been part of my life and part of what's shaped my, my future.
Reverend Keith:As you think about delayed gratification, are there some practice, best practices that you have used in your own life and maybe in your book as well, to kind of give people who are just trying to figure this out for themselves some good first steps in doing that?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Certainly.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Well, good first steps would be, number one, to set out very, very clear, structured goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I mean I'm talking about clear goals, goals that you can identify, that you can visualize, that you can reflect upon.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then once you have those goals, then I believe that you need to create some sort of structured plan to achieve those goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Now that plan, it's okay to break down the goals and the plan into smaller, more Manageable chunks.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then assign realistic timelines to achieve each goal along the way.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And as you do achieve them, then celebrate those milestones.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:You got to be able to celebrate, to give yourself the positive feedback, that drive to continue.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And then finally practice what I call mindful decision making.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And that is when you're faced with choices that involve immediate rewards but could hinder your progress toward a long term goal, to pause.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That's where the pause and the patience comes into play.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So pause and consider the consequences and then embrace self discipline.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I'm a huge believer in self discipline.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And choose those actions that align with your long term vision.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So that's just a very simplistic outline.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I know it's easier said than done, but, but I think if one sticks to that, that outline, one can achieve a delayed gratification and achieve your long term goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You got, you gotta, it's a long game, right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:I mean, this is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
Reverend Keith:Right?
Reverend Keith:Exactly.
Reverend Keith:So I love to ask my guest this other question.
Reverend Keith:It's my other favorite question.
Reverend Keith:What do you want your legacy to be?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Wow.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, I truly feel that what I want people to remember me as is someone who was honest and ethical, committed to their goals.
Dr. Emilio Justo:A good human being, not a perfect one.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I have my flaws like everyone else.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And one who has always been loyal to their family and friends and has always tried to do his best for myself, for my family, and for the world around him.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That, that's, that's really what I want to, how I want to be remembered.
Reverend Keith:That's amazing.
Reverend Keith:So what projects are you working on now?
Reverend Keith:Anything new you got in works?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Well, I would like to, I haven't had a chance to work on it, but I would like to do a third TEDx talk.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I'm thinking right now, I mean, there's a lot of different ideas going through my head, but one of them is on the negative aspects of multitasking.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Because many of us, including myself, have preached over the years, oh, I'm a great multitasker.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I can juggle all these things simultaneously.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But the more I've looked into this and the more research I've done, I've actually found that there's a whole body of neuroscientific work and psychological work that shows that multitasking is actually a detriment and that single tasking is really the way to go.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I'm thinking about doing that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I, my wife and I would like to write a book together that's another project and also I need to set aside the time.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Time is always the biggest issue, but I have a commitment to write a book with.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You probably are familiar with Les Brown.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so I need to find the time to do that because I've already committed to that and I'm greatly looking forward to it.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Just need to find that.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And while I juggle all these things, you know, I'm still practicing full time and I love the work that I do and I love serving patients and improving their vision, improving their, their aesthetics, their self esteem, their self confidence.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So, you know, a lot going on and you know, Reverend Keith, you know, I've lived such a blessed charm life with a lot of challenges, you know, including I had my own medical crisis in high school that I had to overcome and I missed two and a half months of my freshman year of high school, etc.
Dr. Emilio Justo:But you know, these challenges in our life make us better.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Right?
Dr. Emilio Justo:So, so a lot of times people ask me, well, if you had to live your life over, what, what would you change?
Dr. Emilio Justo:And truly my answer is I wouldn't change a thing.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Because all these challenges, all the failures that I've had, they've all contributed to who I am today.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And so if had I not had them, who knows where I would be today.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So I'm a person grounded in the present and looking ahead to the future, but I'm one who does not reflect and look back in the past.
Reverend Keith:That's amazing.
Reverend Keith:So where can people find your books and connect with you on social media?
Dr. Emilio Justo:Well, the, the easiest way where all that is located is to go to my personal website, which is Dr.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Emiliohousto.com and that's spelled D R E M I L I O J U S T O dot com.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That's not my practice website, that's my personal website.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And within that website there are links to all of my social media platforms which I participate in.
Dr. Emilio Justo:All of them.
Dr. Emilio Justo:You know, LinkedIn in particular, I'm a big LinkedIn person, but also Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, etc.
Dr. Emilio Justo:There's a link to my book which the link goes to Amazon, but the book is available through any major retailer such as Barnes and Noble, Target, etc.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And additionally a lot more links and there's a contact page.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So if anyone wants to communicate with me or write me questions, I'm extremely good at being efficient at writing back usually within the same day and if not within 24 hours for sure.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So they can communicate through the website and they can see my body of work.
Dr. Emilio Justo:I mean, I have all sorts of as we're doing here today, Reverend Keith I have tons of podcast appearances that are there, a lot of articles and the like.
Dr. Emilio Justo:So definitely my website is the go to place.
Reverend Keith:Well, thanks so much for taking the time to share with us and making us think about delayed gratification and learning to appreciate the challenges, but also the benefits of not getting everything we want, when we want it, immediately as we want it.
Reverend Keith:So it's good to kind of wait and turn those lemons, as your wife pointed out, and eliminate in our lives.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That is correct.
Dr. Emilio Justo:That is correct.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And, Reverend Keith, it's been a sincere delight and pleasure and privilege to spend a few minutes with you, and I've greatly enjoyed it.
Dr. Emilio Justo:And I wish you many blessings for the New Year.
Reverend Keith:And you as well, Doc.
Dr. Emilio Justo:Thank you.
