Ep 206 - Finding Success Though The Power of Pause with Dr. Emilio Justo

Have you ever wondered how the power of patience can transform your life?

In this enriching episode of The Quiet And Strong Podcast, host David Hall sits down with Dr. Emilio Justo, a highly accomplished ophthalmologist, cosmetic surgeon, and inspiring thought leader. Dr. Justo shares his remarkable journey from Cuban refugee as a young child to celebrated medical professional and bestselling author.

Listeners will learn the profound impact of patience and delayed gratification on achieving exponential growth. Dr. Justo emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries for rest and reflection, fostering self-discipline through small, consistent habits that align with one's long-term goals. He discusses building resilience, explaining how setbacks and challenges can serve as opportunities for growth when viewed through the right lens.

Why should you listen? Dr. Justo's story is not only inspiring but packed with actionable insights that can help you harness the power of patience and delayed gratification to achieve your aspirations. Whether you're looking to overcome personal challenges or elevate your career, this episode offers invaluable lessons on resilience, self-discipline, and strategic goal-setting.

Tune in, learn how to find your 'why' and master the power of pause, and be strong.

Episode Link: QuietandStrong.com/206

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Dr. Emilio M. Justo, a Cuban refugee turned trailblazing ophthalmologist and cosmetic surgeon, has performed nearly 50,000 procedures over three decades as founder of the Arizona Eye Institute & Cosmetic Laser Center. A two-time TEDx speaker and #1 Amazon bestselling author, his insights on resilience, delayed gratification, and purposeful passion have inspired millions worldwide.

Connect with Dr. Justo:

Website: DrEmilioJusto.com
Social Media: Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter/X | TikTok | Youtube

Get Dr. Justo's Book:

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Contact the Host of the Quiet and Strong Podcast:

David Hall

Author, Speaker, Educator, Podcaster

quietandstrong.com
Gobio.link/quietandstrong
david [at] quietandstrong.com

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Transcript

Emilio Justo [00:00:00]:
I think patience is underestimated. It's not talked about enough. And I think patience in every aspect of our life, it doesn't matter whether it's our personal life or professional life, you know, for financial life or emotional life. I mean, we have to be patient and and not be in a rush. And by exercising that patience, which leads directly into the whole delayed gratification subject, but when we're patient, I I truly feel that patience itself is a superpower that can really accelerate our growth exponentially.

David Hall [00:00:45]:
Hello, and welcome to episode 206 of the Quiet and Strong podcast especially for introverts. I'm your host, David Hall, and the creator of quietandstrong.com. It's a weekly podcast dedicated to understanding the strengths and needs of introverts along with strategies for success. Introversion is not something to fix, but to be embraced. Normally, we'll learn each episode on a Monday. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform. Leave a review or a rating. That would mean a lot to me and also help others find the show.

David Hall [00:01:15]:
Tell a friend about the podcast and help get the word out there that introversion is a beautiful thing. Doctor Emilio Justo, a Cuban refugee as a child turned trailblazing ophthalmologist and cosmetic surgeon, has built a remarkable legacy of excellence over 3 decades. He's performed nearly 50,000 procedures since founding the Arizona Eye Institute and Cosmetic Laser Center. Doctor Justow is a globally celebrated 2 time TEDx speaker. His 2023 talk delayed gratification, your superpower to success, became the 3rd most viewed TEDx video that year. His follow-up 2024 talk, the obsession advantage to unprecedented success, captivated audience worldwide, with both talks garnering a combined total of over 10,000,000 views. These transformative insights are further explored in his number one Amazon bestseller, The Power of Pause, Mastering Delayed Gratification for Success. Alright.

David Hall [00:02:24]:
Well, welcome to the Quiet and Strong podcast, Doctor Emilio Justo. Doctor Justo, it's so great to have you on today.

Emilio Justo [00:02:31]:
Thank you so very much, David. It's a pleasure and privilege, and I'm greatly looking forward to chatting with you and your audience.

David Hall [00:02:38]:
Awesome. So we're gonna get into the book you've written and some TED Talks that you've done. But first, just tell us about yourself. Tell us about your journey to the work that you're doing now.

Emilio Justo [00:02:48]:
Yeah. So my journey is perhaps interesting to some, maybe boring to others, but I'm a Cuban refugee, came to United States with my parents at the tender age of 3. We settled in Gary, Indiana originally. The church organizations that were resettling Cuban immigrants settled us to Gary, not to Miami as many Cubans fled to. My grandparents came over a few months later from Cuba, and they settled with their church organization to a little college town in Northwest Missouri called Tarquio College. While my parents and I were in Gary, my father had to work 2 full time jobs. My mother who had her doctorate in education from the University of Havana, relocated 3 hours south to Bloomington, Indiana, where Indiana University is, to restudy all her credentials in a foreign language. And so my parents made the difficult and courageous decision to send me to Missouri with my grandparents to grow up with them from kindergarten through 4th grade while my parents were acclimating and getting resettled.

Emilio Justo [00:03:55]:
And then in 5th grade, we all moved back to Indiana and grew up there through the end of high school. Went to, University of Michigan after that to college and medical school in Washington DC to do my ophthalmology residency. And then finally, at the tender young age of 27, I came to, the Phoenix, Arizona area to establish my ophthalmology medical and surgical practice, and I'm now in my 36 year of full time practice. Hard to believe time has gone by in a heartbeat, but that's where we are. And then there have been a lot of, trials and tribulations along the way, some of which we may get into later.

David Hall [00:04:38]:
Yeah. Wow. Thank you for sharing your amazing journey and your accomplishments. And that's really what we're gonna talk about today is, you know, how people can overcome challenges and become successful and set some goals and things like that. But, also, you shared with me you're a fellow introvert. So let's just talk about that for a second here. What is the strength that you have because you're an introvert?

Emilio Justo [00:05:03]:
Well, David, you know, as an introvert, you know, I'm I'm also let me first start out. I'm an only child. Right? So and and my parents made that decision because of being Cuban, refugees. We didn't have really any money. We just came over with the clothes on our back and my parents wanted to be able to provide fully for me and not have to provide for a number of different children. But growing up as an only child, I think that contributed perhaps to me being an introvert. And part of it, I think, is DNA. I think that introvert versus extrovert, some of it is just pre wired in our DNA.

Emilio Justo [00:05:44]:
But I I view, David, my strength as an introvert lying in kind of the reef what I call reflection in-depth. You know, I'm kinda naturally drawn to introspection, so I kind of analyze situations thoroughly. I try to as best as possible, and I'm, you know, I'm flawed like like all human beings, but I try to make thoughtful decisions. And so, you know, the strength has been valuable or invaluable both not only as a surgeon, but also as a thought leader and also as I think a great listener. One of my attributes as a physician is I really, really try to listen to my patients to connect deeply with them as I do with my audiences. Not all physicians do that. Right? I think nowadays, the typical physician jumps in and out of the exam room within minutes and really doesn't listen to their patients, which I think is, is a significant drawback.

David Hall [00:06:46]:
Yeah. Yeah. And so we definitely talk about Strengths and, you know, your deep thinking, that's got to be a major factor of your success, you know, the the ability to reflect like you're saying.

Emilio Justo [00:06:59]:
Yeah. Absolutely. You know, I think that, you know, to me and and and I think as a fellow introvert, David, you can appreciate the fact that, you know, to me, I I enjoy my quiet time. I'm okay being by myself. I mean, actually, today as we're recording this, I'm not a 100% by myself because I do have my daughter, my 13 year old daughter here in in the house, but my my wife and 17 year old are out of town as I alluded to before we went on the air. And and in a sense, I I kind of am enjoying it because I like the downtime. Yeah. I'll spend a little bit of time with my daughter later today, but she knows that I'm I'm recording this, interview with you and then I I'm gonna be working on some other projects.

Emilio Justo [00:07:47]:
And it's it the the peacefulness is just something that I enjoy so much. I don't need to have all this stuff going on around me all the time, like like our 20 year old. Our 20 year old is just the opposite. He wants to be surrounded by action all the time, wants to be with friends, wants to be out and about. He's a great socializer, and I'll give him that. I I will socialize, but it's not necessarily what I'm drawn to. I will do it at the right opportunity in the right moment, but I'm actually drawn to just chilling and reflecting and being inside my own head, if that makes sense to you.

David Hall [00:08:28]:
Oh, absolutely. And so we need some time to do our work. You know? We need some time to recharge, but also we enjoy it like you're saying. And I think that's an important point to make. But, of course, I know, like, you love your family. You like spending time with your family and others. And, you know, that's definitely a miss that we that a myth that I bust regularly on the show is that introverts don't like people. We absolutely like people, but we also do need some downtime, and we have to find that kind of balance.

Emilio Justo [00:08:58]:
Yeah. Because, you know, David, and I think you'll again relate to this, is that I think a big myth that we oftentimes hear or people perceive about introverts like ourselves is that somehow it's a weakness or that we lack confidence. And, you know, being an introvert isn't about being shy. It's actually, in my view, it's about being energized and having energy. You know, I I recharge through my solitude, not necessarily through social interaction. But that doesn't mean that I'm not capable of leadership or public speaking. Right? I'll get out there on stage. I'll do the TEDx, and and I it invigorates me, but it's not who I am deep inside.

Emilio Justo [00:09:45]:
And I think some of the world's greatest thought leaders, thinkers, leaders, I mean, when you look at people like Einstein and Gandhi from what I've read, they were both introverts. So basically, I've kinda learned to channel my introversion into a source of strength and using that reflection and preparation to be able to excel in whatever I'm doing, whether it's, in my surgery, in my physician, in my practice, or whether it's in my speaking or other types of leadership.

David Hall [00:10:17]:
Yeah. Absolutely. And and that that's the thing. So introversion doesn't equal shyness. An introvert or an extrovert can be shy. But the great thing is you can overcome if someone is shy, and not all introverts start out shy, but the ones that do, they can overcome that. And part of it is these kinds of things that we're talking about, you know, embracing your strengths.

Emilio Justo [00:10:40]:
Yeah. No. Absolutely. And and and and I think I probably when I look back at my life when I was, younger, I probably viewed myself as being a little bit shy. Not probably. I actually did. Now that I think back, I did view myself as being shy. I don't really view myself as being shy anymore, but by no means.

Emilio Justo [00:11:00]:
But yet, if I were at a social event or at a party or something like that, you know, I'm not necessarily gonna be the one with a group of people around me and and and telling jokes and having everyone laughing and chit chatting around me, I'll probably be one of the ones in the group surrounding that person who is the the the hit of the crowd. At the same time, there's a side of me that that wants that extroversion. Right? I mean, when I'm giving that TEDx talk on stage, I mean, I've made a conscious decision that I wanna be out there. And and no matter how challenging it is and how nerve wracking it is to step on stage, once I'm in that spotlight, man, I'm I'm I'm ready, willing, and able. So there is a side of me that likes to have the attention. Right? I don't know if I shared this with you a few weeks ago when we spoke, but, you know, if I could design my own my own future life, I would love to host a TV show, you know, or I would love to be a guest on on a late night show or something like that. Right? I I I crave the spotlight, as crazy as that sounds, being an introvert.

David Hall [00:12:15]:
Not crazy at all. As introverts, we another myth that I bust is that we don't have anything to say. We have lots to say because we're always thinking. And, you know, I love public speaking. I used to get nervous. I don't anymore. And what I learned is as an introvert, I just gotta prepare for it. And I also have to manage my energy around it.

David Hall [00:12:34]:
But, yeah, it's we absolutely might love and crave the spotlight and because we have a lot to say.

Emilio Justo [00:12:41]:
Right. I agree with you.

David Hall [00:12:43]:
So what did make you decide to go to medical school and especially, you know, specialize in being an eye surgeon?

Emilio Justo [00:12:51]:
Yeah. It's a combination of things. Right? The still the aspects and the philosophical aspects. So from a practical standpoint, throughout my early life, I was always leaned towards science and and math. I enjoyed those subjects. So it kind of came naturally to me. And as I weighed different career paths, I kept circling back to to medicine. You know, at a certain point, like in high school, I remember I went on some drive drive bys or drive arounds with police officers thinking, oh, do I wanna go into law enforcement? Things like that.

Emilio Justo [00:13:28]:
I also had a big leaning and passion, baseball. Being your stereotypical Cuban, I was very gifted in baseball and was a great high school pitcher. Actually, my my teammate in high school actually did go into the major leagues and and played for quite a number of years as a pitcher. But the practical aspect, I remember sitting down one Sunday afternoon with my parents discussing that goal, and they just calmly said to me, look, you know, you can you can try and become a Major League pitcher. And, yeah, the the the rewards could be immense, but statistically speaking, the likelihood of you getting there is very low statistically. Or you can continue your path in in science and medicine and do as you wish and continue on your education. And if you wanna become a doctor, great. And and statistically, the the chances are much greater that you'll achieve that.

Emilio Justo [00:14:21]:
And I kinda weighed those things and and I just made a conscious decision that, you know, they were correct and and I I tend to be a little bit more conservative in my decision making, not always but in most cases. And and so I took the path of of education, which my parents were always you know, they they they taught me not only the value of resilience and perseverance from being Cuban refugees, but they also always instilled in me a a sense of how important education is. And and they were just firm believers. Even though my father was essentially not formally educated, my mother did have her doctorate in education in Cuba. So there were kinda two sides of one coin, but they both fully agreed that education was key. And and so it created that that deep desire and that passion in me to to serve others and I and I I felt that medicine was a great way to do that. Initially, when I went to medical school, I actually thought for sure that I was gonna go into obstetrics and gynecology. I mean, I did big projects in in junior high and high school on, you know, pregnancy and childbirth and blah blah blah.

Emilio Justo [00:15:35]:
And I thought for sure, and then I get into medical school and I quickly realized, no, that's not for me and didn't wanna be up in the middle of the night. I like my sleep. And and as I listen to other lectures and other attendings, I observe interestingly, I observed attendings who talked about ophthalmology, ophthalmology attendings, and I observed that they seemed to be very, what I felt, were down to earth, very approachable, very humble people, not so much like other specialties that maybe are a little bit more arrogant, etcetera. And so I use that, believe it or not, to lead me into ophthalmology and cosmetic surgery.

David Hall [00:16:24]:
Wow. So with all that said, you're you're a very busy guy with your, you know, with your medical practice and your surgery. How did you find time to also devote yourself to the book that we're gonna talk about and your 2 TED Talks?

Emilio Justo [00:16:41]:
That's a great question. So let me can try and and and not get into the weeds too far because I I tend to ramble sometimes. But, basically, the the way the journey started, the first TEDx talk so I'm basically sitting on my bike here at home and I'm pedaling away and I'm going through, YouTube, just googling stuff, and I see this little infomercial come out about an organization that helps individuals prepare for TEDx talks and how to apply for them, blah blah blah. And so I decided to kinda join this organization, and and they gave the schematic whereby you should bullet point your talks, not not pre write it. And then they went through the application process, which is quite exhaustive. And they did say, listen, you know, it takes on on average 90 applications to land 1 talk. So I start going through the process and I decided, okay, I'm gonna do this. This is exciting.

Emilio Justo [00:17:40]:
It's exhilarating. Because I don't really have time during the work weeks since I'm so busy at work, I devoted every single weekend for 2 months straight, so 8 weekends to filling out applications, which is really exhaustive. And after 86 applications, it was time to go on a summer family vacation. And so we went to Western Canada, so we're there. We're sitting, having lunch. I remember it's July 5, 2023. We're having lunch outside in Banff, Alberta, Canada. I get a phone call and it's inviting me to this TEDx talk to to give the talk.

Emilio Justo [00:18:16]:
However, the the issue is that the talk is in 5 weeks, and I still have another week of vacation with my family. So I'm thinking in the back of my mind, I'm not gonna turn it down. Right? I mean, my gosh. I've been offered this talk. There's no way in God's green earth I'm gonna turn it down. But I'm thinking, man, by the time I we get home, I'm gonna have 4 weeks to write this talk, to just this talk, to memorize this talk, and then to deliver this talk. That's a lot in 4 weeks. But I did it, and then I was blessed enough the talk came out very quickly because sometimes these talks come out on YouTube, you know, 6 months later.

Emilio Justo [00:18:54]:
But my talk came out 6 weeks after giving it, and it started doing very, very well. And so by as we approached the holidays that year, my wife said, gosh, your talk is doing so well. You should consider writing a book. I've never written a book before and I thought, okay, I'm gonna set my mind to it. I'm gonna start devoting time to this. I've I've found a mentor who kinda helped me initially to kinda formulate my thoughts. And I just started on this process of writing the book, which is, as you know, The Power of Pause, Mastering Delayed Gratification for Success. But as I'm writing the book, I then get the itch to perhaps do a second TEDx talk.

Emilio Justo [00:19:36]:
And I kinda got a lead from a thought leader who just put out on his email blast saying, hey, such and such a TEDx Western U, which is Western University in Ontario, Canada, is opening up their applications for their next TEDx Talk. And I thought, oh, okay. I'll go ahead and apply. And next thing I know, a couple weeks later, they invite me for a Zoom interview. And then after the Zoom interview, a couple weeks later, they accept me. And then I'm back to the drawing board. I'm back to writing a new talk. This one was, as you may know, on obsession, the positive aspects of obsession.

Emilio Justo [00:20:12]:
And so the first time around, I was accepted after submitting 86 applications. The second time around, I got lucky and I was one for 1.

David Hall [00:20:22]:
Alright. And congratulations. I I looked at the accounts today and one was at 7,000,000 and the other was at 3,500,000, and that is just that's amazing. So congratulations on those.

Emilio Justo [00:20:33]:
Thank you, David. I I appreciate that. I I I haven't looked recently. I I need to look to be able to, respond to the comments because I, you know, any comments that I get, I I like to personally respond to, and I haven't done so in a couple weeks. Shame on me.

David Hall [00:20:49]:
So what does the power of the pause mean?

Emilio Justo [00:20:53]:
Yeah. So, basically, it's that phraseology is born from my own journey of what I call, really, sacrifice and long term vision. And for me, being a Cuban refugee, a Cuban immigrant, it's just what I dealt with in my life. I I didn't think about it. I didn't say, oh, I'm gonna pause. You know, I didn't tell myself this. This was just my journey that evolved. So that power of pause, which is essentially that delayed gratification, is what I define as the ability to resist the immediate rewards for a later, often greater reward and greater future benefits, which in my mind is the superpower behind every significant achievement in my life.

Emilio Justo [00:21:47]:
Because as I was writing that first TEDx talk, I was really reflecting back. And and I wanted to leave a legacy for my family, for my children in particular, and if down the road if I have grandchildren. You know, I wanted to leave a legacy in terms of my life. You know, as as as we get older, David, and and I'm probably older than you, but, you know, as we get older, at least in my my world, I start reflecting on my life and and the challenges that I've had, what I've been able to overcome. And so, you know, I I I have this sense of mortality. I'm not gonna be around forever. You know, when you're young, like our 20 year old, right, he he just thinks that he can just do anything and he'll be around forever. But but I I think about it now that, you know, hopefully, I'll be around another 30 years or so, I hope.

Emilio Justo [00:22:39]:
But but but nothing is guaranteed in life. And so I think I wanted to leave this legacy. And as I pondered my life, again, as an introvert through that introspection, I felt that I had this, what I have coined my Cuban triad, which is self discipline. Number 2 is a combination of perseverance and resilience. And number 3 is delayed gratification. And originally, I wanted to write that talk on that Cuban triad, but one of my mentors said, no way. It's just way too long to to go into 3 things in 10 or 12 minutes. So I chose delayed gratification because I thought that that really encapsulated much of my life.

David Hall [00:23:26]:
Yeah. And I'd asked you about this when we spoke before, you know, how you learned to embrace delayed gratification. But as you just state as you just shared, you had to, you know, it was something that, you know, in your circumstances, you had a lot of challenges to overcome, and it was something that you had to do. But now you wanna share it with others.

Emilio Justo [00:23:50]:
That is correct.

David Hall [00:23:51]:
What you know, you know, your your kids are definitely a motivator, other people. What is what's an example of something maybe a young person that's, you know, starting out trying to figure out what to do with their life. What's an example of delayed gratification that you have?

Emilio Justo [00:24:10]:
Well, I think for first, I mean, it's just so so many examples, and let me see if I can summarize it, that that I I I think one needs and it's a it's a difficult concept to preach and to teach. I will grant you that, David, because, I mean, having 3 young kids as as yours are a little bit older, but, you know, having a 20 year old, a 17 year old, and a 13 year old, I talked to them about this. And they they acknowledge it on the surface, but they, in my view, practice it. And so, you know, I haven't been as successful as I would like to in terms of of teaching this. But, basically, I think that that one needs to be able to resist those temptations. 1 needs to strategize and create a big, bold, long term goal. But in addition to the big long term goal, there's gonna be smaller goals along the way to have us achieve. And and achieving those smaller goals, then we want to celebrate those victories and those wins to to to juice us and to give us positive feedback to continue our journey.

Emilio Justo [00:25:27]:
Because it's really all about the journey. It's not about the destination. If if we set up a good enough long term goal and a lofty enough long term goal, that journey is gonna be lifelong. I mean, really, in my mind, we're never really gonna get to that destination. And that's that's a good thing because we wanna keep striving in our life. We we don't wanna ever settle. So in terms of what young people can do, I mean, it could be simple things. Like, for example I'll I'll use a very personal example.

Emilio Justo [00:25:58]:
I hope my my son doesn't mind. If if he listens to this, he's probably gonna gonna shoot me. But, you know, but our our 20 year old just recently went to some sort of I don't even know the name of it, but, there's some sort of, like, 3 day concert festival type thing that that he went to here in in the Phoenix area. And, you know, he and he's been looking forward to it for months, and I I I get it. I I get it. But, man, it it's it's super expensive. I mean, it it it like, just the tickets alone were, I think, $350. I mean, can you imagine? Now I don't spend $350, or if I do, it's pretty rare that I that I do, for a concert.

Emilio Justo [00:26:39]:
And and and and so in my view, you know, the priorities aren't there because, I mean, he'll work a little part time job when he's at home, you know, because he's he's away at college. He's at home. He's you know, working at a restaurant, etcetera. But blowing that kind of money on something that is just a big 3 day dopamine rush, giving that instant gratification. I mean, you should spend that kind of money when you really have it to spend. But, you know, you should be saving, in my view. I'm I'm I'm I'm an old school conservative guy, David. I'm proud to say that.

Emilio Justo [00:27:19]:
And and I think, you know, he should be saving his money for those bigger things. Saving his money for an apartment. Saving his money for a car. Save you know, saving his money rather than, you know, basically pissing away money just for that short term instant gratification. That's my view. Now, I get it. He he's a youngster. He, you know, I was a youngster.

Emilio Justo [00:27:44]:
You know, we all want those instant fuels, but, you know, I think better choices can be made. Like, for example, I talk about in my book the fact, and this is a small example, that when I was at in college and medical school at the University of Michigan, and for those football aficionados in your audience, right, we we they would know that the Michigan Wolverines are one of the blue blood college football programs who, of course, won the national championship in 2024. Thank you very much. But but so I I'm in college and back then, season football tickets for students at the University of Michigan, I remember to this day, were $36, and it was for a 6 pack of tickets. So it was 6 season 6 games. So it was basically $6 a game. It was $36 for the entire season, if you can imagine. But I made the the conscious decision I mean, I think during my college years, I think I attended 1 football game.

Emilio Justo [00:28:47]:
I made the decision to sell my tickets to scalp them, and for that $36 that I spent, which of course was money that was given to me by my parents because I didn't have a job, I would bank $250, which was a lot of money back in the in the early 19 eighties. And so I would have that $250 that I could then use for other things. You know, I could use, instead of eating the dorm foods that you get tired of, I could, on a weekend, get pizza or go to a restaurant or even, you know, have a beer or or what have you. So so I made that conscious decision to delay that gratification. And so now, of course, many years later, as as I have a successful career, what other people might define as success, now now I go back 2 or 3 times a year. I take my family. We go to football games and and I'm on the other end of scalping. I'm buying the tickets, and I'm buying 50 yard line tickets every time we go back.

Emilio Justo [00:29:48]:
I mean, I don't go to a game unless it's on the 50 yard line, and, I go back 2 or 3 times a year, and I'm enjoying the games now. Now that's a that's a lot of years of delayed gratification, mind

David Hall [00:30:10]:
importance of that. So I think, you know, that's my take is you really just have to weigh out. Okay? So, you know, we're all gonna wanna do fun things here and there. But how does this thing you know, can you afford a $350 concert, and how is that gonna impact your your immediate goals and your long term goals? Is is that what you're saying?

Emilio Justo [00:30:32]:
Yeah. It's exactly what what I'm saying. Now, you know, he he afforded it simply because he had some money and and, you know, every holiday season, every birthday, we we put in a little money, not a lot, but we put in a little money in his bank account. So he had just enough money to get by, but but and just in my mind, I I don't think that's a judicious usage of of your money. But I I know that as a young 20 year old, you know, you want that that fun. You wanna be with your friends. You wanna be partying and and and up all night listening to to to crazy music. Okay.

Emilio Justo [00:31:11]:
I I get it, but but I just I I don't agree with it. I mean, I just don't I can't buy into that. I'm sorry. I mean, that's just who I am.

David Hall [00:31:19]:
Yeah. Yeah. And, again, you gotta weigh it all out. But this is when this recording comes out, this is a time people traditionally set goals, long term, short term. Do you have a process for setting goals? What are your recommendations to people to set goals?

Emilio Justo [00:31:34]:
Well, number 1, I I would say that, as I was alluding to earlier, you you wanna set a big, lofty, long term goal. I I think a critical mistake that all of us make, including myself, is that sometimes we set our goals and we shortchange ourselves by not making them big enough. I think we need to have a big long term goal. But then within that long term goal, we need to set smaller goals to get us in that right journey. Because these long term goals, David, give our life direction and purpose. If we don't have those long term goals, we're just kinda just wading in the waters and and we're not really getting anywhere. We're we're we're just kinda paddling away and the waves are just throwing us up and down. So so these long term goals are kind of the compass that keep us aligned even when the journey gets tough.

Emilio Justo [00:32:34]:
So we have to start with clarity and defining what truly, truly matters to us or to me. Then then we break down those goals, as I said earlier, into smaller milestones and then commit to discipline, consistent action. Right? That consistency is key because it's very easy when we encounter a setback or even a failure. It's very easy to just get deflated and get negative, and all of a sudden, we've lost track and lost motivation and lost focus. And and we can't you know, we have to stay disciplined and consistent and committed. I know it's easier said than done, but but really that's what we have to stay focused on and and reflecting on the progress along the way that keeps us motivated and focused, as I said earlier, celebrating those small wins along the way so that we reinvigorate ourselves to keep on that path. So having those long term goals, in my view, are the ultimate act of self discipline to stay anchored to your long term vision.

David Hall [00:33:51]:
Yeah. So you were just talking about setbacks and challenges. I know in your book, you share some very personal examples of that. At the same time, it's a part of life. You know, we've both been through plenty of setbacks and challenges. But sometimes it's harder, you know, for people that are our kids' age or or any age to realize that's a part of life. Why why are setbacks and challenges so important for our growth?

Emilio Justo [00:34:19]:
I view setbacks, David, as really opportunities in disguise. Right? So a a setback is really a temporary step back and an ability then to propel us forward into the next chapter of our lives. We all have setbacks. We all have failures. And these should be embraced. I mean, they truly should. I know at the time, at the moment, it doesn't feel that way. But we should really view every setback, every failure as a lesson that we can then learn from to achieve success.

Emilio Justo [00:35:03]:
And resilience, in my view, is the ability to adapt, to recover, and to thrive despite adversity. And to build that resilience, we have to first reframe these challenges and these setbacks and these failures as growth opportunities. You gotta reflect. Right? As introverts, we have to reflect and then ask ourselves, what is the message here? What is this teaching us? What is it teaching me? And then secondly, something I I I firmly believe in is that we have to practice gratitude daily. Right? We have to be grateful. We're all blessed. I mean, no matter if our life is crumbling around us, I firmly believe that we all have things that we should be grateful for. And practicing that gratitude shifts our focus from what's wrong to what's right.

Emilio Justo [00:36:00]:
And and then lastly, to to have that resilience, it certainly can be helpful if we have a strong support system around us, whether that's family, friends, mentors. But as I do mention in my book, that that support system, it's a little it can be a little dicey, a little tricky because sometimes the support system that we think is a true support system can actually be a negative. I mean, we automatically think, for example, of our family as being our support. Well, it may be, but quite often times our family members who may love us and who may want the best for us may actually pull us back and may actually feed negativity into our goals and into our desires. You know, they may say things, right, we've all heard, oh, you know, why are you spending so much time on that? You have better things to do. Or or, oh, you know, David, you're you're never gonna achieve that. I mean, why don't you set a more realistic goal. Right? So so these are people who love you, who think that they're doing you a service, but who are actually dragging you down.

Emilio Justo [00:37:08]:
And so when you're looking for advice from other people and from other mentors, I mean, it's really ideal if you can find somebody who's actually walked the talk and who's succeeded. Right? And and and so that you can emulate and learn from their experiences. Because it's it's very easy for people around you who may love you because they're a friend or a family member, but they haven't achieved the things that you're wanting to achieve. So they may inadvertently, not not maliciously, but they may inadvertently drag you down because they haven't had those achievements in their life. And so you're listening to to people who haven't achieved. And And and that's not the people you wanna be listening to. You wanna learn from those people who you can emulate and who you can use their words of wisdom because they've walked that talk. They've they've crossed that path themselves.

David Hall [00:38:02]:
Yeah. And definitely, you can find real life people out there, which you can also find a little mentorship just by listening to a podcast such as this and hearing stories from guests like yourself that have achieved. But, definitely, you know, we need some real people in our lives. But I love how you put that because there's gonna be people that don't believe in the goals that you have. And, you know, you just have you have to find those that do. And hopefully, you do have some people like that that believe in in the goals that you have. And, yeah, I've I've been through that myself.

Emilio Justo [00:38:36]:
I think we all have truly.

David Hall [00:38:38]:
Yeah. So with resilience, you talked about that, you know, accepting, understanding, embracing the fact that setbacks are part of life, you know, being grateful, finding the right people to support you. Is there anything else you wanna say about really developing that resilience?

Emilio Justo [00:38:55]:
Well, again, I think it begins with self discipline. Right? Right? You have to be disciplined. I'm again, that was part of my Cuban triad that I mentioned earlier that that, to me, as I reflect back on my life, some of these things have just for my own purposes, I I feel have just come to me innately. I mean, maybe it's been wired in my DNA. I mean, I've always felt that I've been a very, very self disciplined person. I mean, have I faltered? Have I deviated from that path at times? Oh, absolutely. I mean, I'm as flawed as any other human being. But to to have that resilience, we have to start with that self discipline, which really begins with very small, consistent habits.

Emilio Justo [00:39:48]:
And by committing to one small action every day that aligns with our goals, those small actions, David, as you know, will compound into success. Right? It's the whole principle of compounding. Whether we're talking in financial terms or whether we're talking in life terms, compounding is real. And you can quote unquote, use the pun, you can take it to the bank. So another key is accountability. Right? I mean, accountability. We have to be accountable to ourselves and to our own goals. Accountable to other people, certainly, in in our promises and and and the things that that we preach.

Emilio Justo [00:40:32]:
But with our own accountability, we have to be able to track our progress. And as I alluded to earlier, you know, celebrate those those wins. It's okay to to to celebrate. Not not okay. We need to celebrate to to juice us up and to give us that positive reinforcement. And then, of course, remind ourselves periodically of our own why. You know, what is the passion? What is the purpose? Why are we doing this? Because if if if we can define our own internal why and define our passion, discipline becomes much easier. Right? Because it's tied that self discipline is tied to a purpose inside of ourselves that inspires us.

Emilio Justo [00:41:18]:
So so it's not something that we have to fabricate externally. I mean, we have it wired in ourselves if we find that passion and that purpose in what I call in my second TEDx talk that obsession. Right? That positive obsession. Not a negative obsession, not as an OCD, you know, psychologically strange obsession, but the positive obsession of having a passion and a purpose and a why behind what we're doing.

David Hall [00:41:48]:
Yeah. I think that's the key. If you could develop the why, then you can set up all the other actions and think about, you know, where you're gonna be disciplined and what. And and that's definitely something if you don't know that, that's something, like, we've you've been talking a lot about the power of reflection. You know, what is your why? I think that's the key to all of this.

Emilio Justo [00:42:11]:
Yes. Absolutely, David. I couldn't agree with you more. And and, reflection and also something I I I haven't directly commented on, but I'll take a a a moment to to say is the the concept of patience. Right? I mean, you know, they they say patience is a virtue. Well, it it really is. I mean, I think patience is underestimated. It's not talked about enough.

Emilio Justo [00:42:33]:
And I think patience in every aspect of our life, it doesn't matter whether it's our personal life or professional life, you know, for financial life or emotional life. I mean, we have to be patient and and not be in a rush. And by exercising that patience, which leads directly into the whole delayed gratification subject, but when we're patient, I I truly feel that patience itself is a superpower that can really accelerate our growth exponentially. It may sound counterintuitive, but I think rather than being in a rush, rush, rush, rush, rush, rush and getting that dopamine hit that we constantly have to be doing something, oh, we can't waste a moment of time, gotta constantly be doing and achieving. No. Patience. Be patient. Think about what's going on around you.

Emilio Justo [00:43:24]:
If someone says something to you that you don't like, don't don't just right away instantly jump on them. You know, pause and think about it and and and then respond accordingly. If we're motivated because we we see something that we wanna buy and it's super expensive, you know, pause, reflect, be patient. Give it a few days, give it a week, circle back around and then see if it's really still motivating because 9 times out of 10, a week later when you think about it, it's not gonna have the same impact. Guaranteed. So so so patience, I think, is a key that we really, really need to exercise in our life, in every aspect of our life.

David Hall [00:44:02]:
Yeah. Absolutely. And as we're talking about achieving goals, I have one more question for you. So, you know, we have to prioritize, you know, what is our why making the long term goals. But how do you manage your time around that and your energy, especially as an introvert? What do you have any advice as far as that goes?

Emilio Justo [00:44:21]:
Yeah. It it's a difficult challenge, I will readily admit. And, you know, myself as an introvert, I've kinda learned to, I'd say, protect my my own energy by structuring my time intentionally. So I kind of try to prior prioritize the things that are most important that I need to achieve during what I would say are more peak energy times. And for me, you know, if if it's outside of my medical practice world, I basically wait till the weekend because I'm in more peak energy as I am right now with you. I feel energized talking to you. I'm I'm enjoying it. I can devote my full mental faculties to it.

Emilio Justo [00:45:07]:
And then, you know, I'm I'm really learning more and more as the years go by to set boundaries for that rest and reflection. You know, I I've I've and I think part of it is just, I hate to say it, getting older, David, but, you know, I I I am much more rigid and structured about getting my rest, going to bed earlier, getting a good night's sleep, feeling more invigorated when I get up so that I can be more efficient in in what I do. And then also the power of saying no to distractions and and things that really don't align with my goals. I mean, I I I'll say no to all sorts of things. You know, I'll say no to using my my medical practice as an example. I have vendors and pharmaceutical companies and equipment companies that call in and wanna set up meetings with me, and and I just say no. Because, I mean, yeah, I might be able to get a free meal out of it, but who cares? I mean, it's not aligning with my goal. It's not something that I'm gonna pursue.

Emilio Justo [00:46:15]:
So so, you know, I protect my time. I mean, I really wanna protect my time. It's either It's either family needs that require my time or it's my medical practice needs where I have to be there to operate on a patient. Or if it's the personal things like what we're doing here today, these are what I would consider our personal needs that I wanna do to bring goodwill and thought leadership to you, to your audience, to myself. So so it's just a matter of prioritizing time.

David Hall [00:46:50]:
Yeah. That's some good advice. So, doctor Justo, this has been a wonderful conversation. Is there anything else that you wanna share today?

Emilio Justo [00:47:00]:
No. I've enjoyed it immensely, David. I greatly appreciate the opportunity. It's wonderful to meet and chat with someone who's, physically near to me geographically. And, and, I I would just say, if I may, to any of your viewers, if anyone does wish to learn more about me and and what I'm working on on a personal basis or wants to communicate with me, the best way to do so is through my personal website, which is doctorameliojusto.com, and that's spelled

David Hall [00:47:35]:
dreamiliojust0.com.

Emilio Justo [00:47:39]:
And on that personal website, I have links to my TEDx Talks, to my book, to dozens of podcasts that I've appeared on, dozens of magazine articles that I've been in. There's a contact page there that you can fill out and ask any questions, and that information goes directly to my inbox. And I'm very efficient at answering all of that usually the same day and certainly at the most within 24 hours. So I would leave that with your audience. Feel free to reach out to me and I'll be happy to respond.

David Hall [00:48:12]:
Sounds great. And I will be sure to put that in the show notes. Thanks again. This has been a great conversation. Very inspiring.

Emilio Justo [00:48:19]:
Thank you, David. I appreciate the opportunity in getting to know you and and thank your audience for listening.

David Hall [00:48:25]:
Thank you so much for joining me today. I look forward to further connecting with you. Reach out at david{@}quietandstrong.com or check out the quiet and strong dot com website, which includes blog posts and links to social media channels. Send me topics or guests you would like to see on the show. If you're interested in getting to know yourself better, there's now a free type finder personality assessment on the Quiet and Strong website. This free assessment will give you a brief report, including the 4 letter Myers Briggs code, and you can also have the option of purchasing the full report if you'd like to learn more. I'll add a link to the show notes. So many great things about being an introvert, and we need those to be understood.

David Hall [00:49:06]:
Get to know your introverted strengths and needs, and be strong.