YFP 281: The Connection Between Finances and Fitness with The Fit Pharmacist

Dr. Adam Martin, The Fit Pharmacist, talks about practical strategies you can implement to help you thrive, five areas of the SMILE framework for living to your full potential, and the most effective antidote and prevention to disempowering feelings.

About Today’s Guest

Dr. Adam Martin works with people to write their scripts for success using proper nutrition, stress management, and the power of a positive attitude. He earned his doctorate of pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, and with over 7 years of experience working full-time in the community pharmacy setting, he’s passionate about empowering other pharmacists and pharmacy students to put the health back into healthcare through leading by example in their professional practice to not only live their best lives but to

inspire others along the way to do the same. He pairs his PharmD with his expertise as a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant to guide self-care back into healthcare.

Dr. Martin is the founder of The Fit Pharmacist, LLC. As a National Speakers Association (NSA) Professional Speaker, Adam’s core passion is traveling to pharmacy schools across the world to speak to pharmacy students, sharing practical plans of action that will empower them to maximize their careers and create a competitive edge in the profession to maximize their success and degree of impact. 

He has made his life’s work showing people how to take control of their overall wellness, sharing SimpleSolutions through his writing for numerous pharmacy publications including PharmacyTimes magazine, and is the author of the best-selling book “Rx: You: The Pharmacist’s Survival Guide for Managing Stress & Fitting in Fitness” as well as “Gen-Z Pharmacist: Dominate Pharmacy School & Script Your Dream Career.” He is the host of The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast, sharing successes and practical strategies from the most successful minds in the profession of pharmacy with a new episode released every week. 

With a passion for learning and serving his patients, he’s an inaugural member of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association’s Leadership Excellence and Advocacy Development (LEAD) program, and strives to serval the global community of pharmacy as a medical missionary, having served in Honduras and Panama as a pharmacist in the field. In 2019, he was named the “Most Influential Pharmacist” by SingleCare’s Best of the Best Pharmacy Awards.

Episode Summary

In this week’s episode, YFP Co-Founder & CEO, Tim Ulbrich, PharmD, is joined by Dr. Adam Martin, The Fit Pharmacist. Dr. Adam Martin is known for working with people to write their scripts for success using proper nutrition, stress management, and the power of a positive attitude. In today’s show, Tim and Adam discuss the eBook, “5 to Thrive Healthcare Habits,” and how those mindset habits for thriving in life mirror the mindset for financial fitness. Adam shares how he came up with the SMILE framework, how to operate from a thriving versus surviving mindset, and how to form a realistic work-life balance with practical strategies that anyone can implement into their lives. Tim and Adam work through the five areas of the SMILE framework, created to help others live with intention and unlock their full potential by providing examples and demonstrating the concepts with real-life examples. 

The SMILE framework consists of the following: 

• Shift Your Focus
• Move and Groove
• Identify the Best You
• Let Loose and Celebrate
• Electrify Your Spirit

Together they discuss what Adam calls the most effective, instant antidote and prevention to disempowering feelings. Adam shares a technique, “GRIN (Gratitude Ripple In the Now),” for celebrating and igniting joy.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode

• YFP Planning: Financial Planning for Pharmacists
• Schedule a free Discovery Call with YFP Planning
• The Fit Pharmacist
• Get Your Free eBook: 5 to Thrive Healthcare Habits
• Follow Adam Martin on Instagram: @thefitpharmacist
• The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast
• Connect with Adam Martin on LinkedIn
• Your Financial Pharmacist Disclaimer and Disclosures

Episode Transcript

[INTRO]

[00:00:00] TU: Hey, everybody. Tim Ulbrich here, and thank you for listening to the YFP Podcast, where each week we strive to inspire and encourage you on your path towards achieving financial freedom. 

This week, I had a chance to welcome a friend and colleague, Dr. Adam Martin, The Fit Pharmacist, to talk about Five to Thrive Health Care Habits. Highlights from the show include Adam and I talking through practical strategies you can implement to help you not just get by or survive but to thrive, the five areas of the SMILE framework to live with intention at your full potential, and the most effective instant antidote, as well as prevention, to disempowering feelings.

Now, before we jump into the show, I recognize that many listeners may not be aware of what the team at YFP Planning does in working one-on-one with more than 280 households across the country. YFP Planning offers fee-only high-touch financial planning that is customized to the pharmacy professional. If you’re interested in learning more about how working one-on-one with a certified financial planner may help you achieve your financial goals, you can book a free discovery call by visiting yfpplanning.com. Whether or not YFP Planning services are a good fit for you, know that we appreciate your support of this podcast and our mission to help pharmacists achieve financial freedom. 

Okay, let’s jump into my interview with The Fit Pharmacist, Dr. Adam Martin. 

[INTERVIEW]

[00:01:21] TU: Dr. Adam Martin, The Fit Pharmacist, welcome.

[00:01:24] AM: What’s up, Tim. How you doing today?

[00:01:26] TU: Man, I’m doing great. How’s your week been, and how are you doing?

[00:01:30] AM: Dude, it’s Fit Pharmacist Friday. Let’s go. Let’s go.

[00:01:35] TU: Let’s do it. So you recently published a resource, and we’ll leave a link to this as well, Five to Thrive Healthcare Habits, simple and quick ways to use what you have to live a lifestyle you dream about. It caught my attention because of how much overlap there was between those five habits and what I often think about as it relates to the financial plan. So I’m going to dig into each one of those in more detail. 

This has been a long time in the making. You and I had the opportunity to present together at the OPA Annual Meeting last year in Columbus. That was on fire, right? That was an awesome session that we did together, and I’ve thought so many times, when you and I have a chance to converse and dig deep, like there is so much synergy between a lot of the work that you’re doing and the focus on the mindset in the healthcare and how we often need to, should be thinking about the financial plan as well. 

So this is going to be a party of sorts. It always is when Dr. Adam Martin is on the line. So before we get into those five habits, we’ll walk through them one by one, I don’t want to just gloss over the significance of operating from a mindset of thriving, rather than just getting by and surviving. Since the focus of our time together is going to be all about thriving, tell us more about why that is center to what you’re doing and what you’re talking about and how you’ve developed that mindset and learn that through your own experiences.

[00:03:05] AM: Absolutely, Tim. Well, first off, thanks so much for the opportunity. Like you said, it’s always fire getting together, especially in person, but we’ll roll with this. But, yeah, OPA was awesome. First live event since COVID, I believe, for both of us in a long time. So that’s kind of where that idea stemmed from because there are so many overlaps with wellness and fitness and also your money because you won’t feel very well if you’re broke or in debt, so it just kind of goes with that through line. 

But the reason that I made this, and just so y’all know, this is a free e-book, so I’m not selling anything, this is such a needed resource. I created it, like put a ton of time, made it simply applicable because there’s so much information out there that, yeah, it’s great. But how are you going to apply it? 

[00:03:54] TU: That’s right. 

[00:03:54] AM: For example, we all want to get healthier, right? So we go and hire a nutritionist, dietician, whatever. That’s outside of our normal, and they say be mindful when you eat. Chew your salad 30 times before you eat. We don’t get lunch breaks. What are you talking about? 

So when you take the science, the research, and you say, “How can I practically apply this in a simple way,” because here’s the reality, you ain’t got more time. You don’t got any time. You ain’t got more things, and you’ve got no room left on your to-do list. So how are you going to make a change that you know you need to make and you want to make when you don’t have time, when you don’t have money, and you don’t know what’s going to actually work and what’s a scam? 

I took all the things that I’ve learned in my journey in coaching my clients and working with some of the best in the world of mindset of fitness, of nutrition, and I condensed them down into a practical framework that is easy to understand, and more importantly, easy to implement, that actually gets results. So that’s kind of where that came from, from the need of burnout and stress and how do I manage a work-life balance. There’s such a need for it. That’s where it came from. 

[00:05:12] TU: That’s why they call you The Tony Robbins of Healthcare right there, right? That is why. I think that the practical implementation is huge, and we see this every day from the financial side. I live it in my own personal financial journey. We can have these big lofty goals with big numbers. Until we break that down to something that means something to us today, that we can put our arms around, that we can grasp, that we can implement, that we can get some momentum and wins on, those are just nebulous, big, scary goals that we can have somebody coach us and say, “You know what, Adam? You need $3.5 million in your retirement account to save.” 

What does that mean for today and how we can practically implement this? Again, I just love the synergy between the work that you’re doing and what we’re obviously talking about over at YFP. So let’s jump into these five habits to thrive, and the acronym here to remember is the SMILE framework, okay?

[00:06:10] AM: That’s right. 

[00:06:10] TU: S is shift your focus. M is move and groove. We’ll talk about these each individually. I is identify the best you. L is let loose and celebrate, and E is electrify your spirit. So number one, shift your focus. In this habit, you talk about how we often set a goal. It could be around losing weight. It could be around healthier eating, connecting to our community, in our case, improving our financial situation. Despite knowing what to do, we don’t do it. The choices that we make that do or don’t lead us to our goals often revolve around our state of mind. 

So my question for you here, Adam, is why are we drawn into these negative thought patterns and habits that can put us in ruts and prevent us from achieving our goals, even when we don’t want that to be the case?

[00:07:02] AM: Excellent questions. Why don’t we do that? We’re like – It’s like in the moment. We know we’re not supposed to do this, but we’re doing it anyway. So big picture, I just want to simplify this. The reason it’s called the SMILE framework is that regardless of your nutrition, your job, your career, your personal brand, all of it, the reason you do anything is so that you become happy. You want a happy life. What’s the most characteristic thing that would kind of show that someone’s happy? A smile. While this might seem mute, it is absolutely true. We all want to be happy. That’s why we do anything. By being happy you SMILE. 

The reason I did this is to make it simple, so that you can see that you are focused on the outcome. You’re focused on what you want. A lot of times, when we get overwhelmed or we’re pulled in all these directions, for example, what do I do with my finances? The world’s going into recession? What do I do with this? What I do with that? What’s the best workout plan? What’s the best nutrition plan? How do I manage stress? The question you have to ask is what is your outcome? What do you want? 

That comes right into your question, ironically, because that’s the answer. The first kind of pin of that SMILE framework is S, to shift your focus. What you need to ask yourself is what do I want? What is the outcome that you want? If you reverse engineer that, it will lead you upstream to realize that it all starts with the quality of question that you ask. To your point or question, again, the answer of why do we ask questions that get us so worked up, that get us so stressed out and focused on what’s wrong? It’s because that’s our survival brain. 

Here’s something that I want you to hear and understand. Your brain does not exist to make you financially successful, to make you happy, or to make you thrive or live your best life. Your brain exists to keep you alive. That’s it. So when you’re taking a financial risk for a potential gain, that is interpreted as dangerous. 

[00:09:11] TU: Scary. Yup.

[00:09:12] AM: Threats to your survival. 

[00:09:14] TU: That’s right. 

[00:09:15] AM: Your subconscious is going to hijack you and say, “Oh, no. That could mean death. Let’s not do that.” Going to work out, that is painful, right? I mean –

[00:09:25] TU: Literally tearing muscles. Yes. 

[00:09:26] AM: After not going for a while, that is painful. That is a threat to survival. So whatever area of your life you want to improve, you inherently know that when you start that process, that it is uncomfortable. We’ve all heard that phrase, nothing grows from comfort zones. So you have to recognize that you will have resistance from the good intention that your brain is trying to protect you. So don’t be hard on yourself and say, “Why is my brain so stupid?” It’s trying to keep you alive because that’s what it’s designed to do. So you have to identify the purpose. You have to identify what you want, and then recognize there’s a gap there that is going to require your active participation.

[00:10:09] TU: Yeah. Adam, my mind is spinning with the financial connection here. So a great example, I just mentioned a big scary retirement number before, $3.5 million. That often is not the question we want to focus on. So we’ve been trained societally through a lot of financial information commercials to ask the question of how much do you need in your bank account to retire, right? It’s an important question, but it’s not the question that we need to be asking ourselves, right? 

The question we need to be asking ourselves is what does it mean to live a wealthy life, not just in dollars and cents, right? How can our financial plan support and get us towards living a wealthy life? Why do we even care about this topic of money to begin with? Money is a tool that derives value, only because you and I and the rest of the world say it has value. Objectively, by itself, it doesn’t have value, right? So why does money matter to you? What does it mean to live a wealthy life? How can we support a financial plan that aligns with that? 

Because to your point about some of the pain, it’s no different with our finances. If I say that, I want to be able to save money for the future because of X, Y, and Z, and that’s a compelling reason, well, guess what? That means I’m going to have to not spend it today to save it for the future. There’s pain in that, right? There’s pain. So I love how you focus. Again, we’ll link to this, so folks can download it and read it in its entirety. 

But you have a whole page, maybe two pages. I remember at least one page of questions that we can be asking ourselves, right? Better questions, give us better information that we can live with more intentionality. I think that’s so important here, when we talk about shifting your focus. So that’s habit number one, shifting your focus. 

Number two is we work to the SMILE framework. The M is move and groove, and you argue that this is the most effective instant antidote, as well as prevention to disempowering feelings. That’s a pretty strong statement. Tell us more. Why is that the case, and what does this practically look like?

[00:12:14] AM: Absolutely. So without a doubt, if you’re in a funk mood, if you’re scared, if you’re terrified, the fastest way to break out of that state is to move your body, the fastest way. You can do it immediately. For example, if you ever had like an argument, a confrontation, or you’ve heard the phrase, “Go walk it off,” there’s truth behind that. So this comes to go like, well, if we just move. What are you just saying? Like run away from your problems? Running away from your problems burns zero calories, okay? 

But what you have to recognize is that when you move your body, you are changing your state. So I’m not saying go run a marathon. But I’m saying, for example, if you’re out in public, and I told you that I would give you 50 grand if you could tell me which of the people in public was depressed, I guarantee you could do it. You’re not a psychiatrist. You’re not a therapist. You don’t have ESP. But how can you see that? Because when they’re walking, their heads’ down. They’re walking slow. They’re chests in, right? They’re kind of like this. From someone that has overcome that, I can tell you, that’s absolutely spot on. 

But if you – If I do the same to the other side, I say, “What if I gave you 50 grand to identify the most confident person that you encounter?” You can already see in your mind what that’s like. They’re walking with purpose and intention. Their shoulders are back. Their chest is out. Maybe they’ve got like a little swag in their step. It’s because that motion is inducing the emotion. If you look at emotion, I don’t want to feel bad. I don’t want to feel better. I want to be happy. I want to feel fulfilled. Emotion is energy in motion. So to snap that, it’s very simple. Change how you’re carrying yourself, moving yourself.

Now, to the practical implementation part. Well, Adam, how do I just snap out of it if I’m having such a bad day, week, month? Music. Let me ask y’all a question. Have you ever worked in a community pharmacy or just been out in public and on the PA system, on the radio in the store, a song comes on? Maybe some Gloria Estefan, if we want to throw it back. All of the sudden, you see Granny Smith in Aisle 5, tapping her foot to the point where she’s like, “[inaudible 00:14:38] pop out or what?” She can’t help it. She might not even be aware of it. 

Everybody is moving, tapping their feet, bobbing their head. Music is the fastest way to change your emotion. You can do it without even being aware of it. So that’s the fastest way to snap out of your state. Play a song that makes you jive.

[00:14:59] TU: So are we talking dance party in the pharmacy? Is that what we’re doing here?

[00:15:02] AM: So true story. When I started as a pharmacist back in 2012, it was, I mean, busy store, like super busy. When I retired there in December, we were doing over 600 scripts a day on Monday with no pharmacist overlap. That’s the reality. So there’s a lot of stress as you can imagine. So in order to kind of refocus, I would actually create something free on Pandora called Happy Radio. So whenever I noticed stress coming, the levels of tension going up, I would literally play that. 

That’s where – If you ever heard the term club pharmacy, I coined that term back in 2012 because it’s how you frame your environment. If you say, for example, I have to go to work today, how does that make you feel? Versus I get to go to club pharmacy today. That’s going to interrupt your state. What is he talking about? What, like Sam’s Club? Like what? Yeah. So you frame it, and then you entertain it, and you do something different. That’s how you kind of snap out of the norm so that you can rescript what you want to get.

[00:16:06] TU: I love that. I think some people, this is more natural than others. For me, it’s music. You talk about the idea of creating your playlist. Have it ready, right? Walking is a huge daily rhythm or routine. It just provides like, for me, some perspective, some space, and some peace of mind as well. So find that piece that really helps you. That’s number two, move and groove. 

Number three, the I in the SMILE framework is identify the best you. What do you mean by this, identify the best you, and how can individuals work towards accomplishing this?

[00:16:42] AM: Excellent question. When it comes to psychology, the most defended aspect of the human condition is your identity. People will defend that to the death. Look at any religious war that’s ever been fought. Look at anyone that’s done anything drastic. Look at people who refuse to do anything. What do they say? I’m not that kind of person. That’s not who I am. Your identity is the strongest driving force in your psychology. 

When we’re talking about goals with finances, with fitness, why are you doing that? Why do you want to save three and a half million? Yes, that is, obviously, a good goal. But what is the means behind that? What does money mean to you? What will that afford you? There’s got to be some sort of compelling future because the reality that we all know is that whatever your goal is, whether it’s small or large, think big, by the way. Whatever your goal is, you are going to have resistance. You’re going to come across adversity. You’re going to be exhausted. You’re going to start with a lot of motivation. 

But if you’re not committed to exactly with a perfect picture in your mind to visualize exactly why you’re putting in the time, why you’re putting in the work, why you’re sacrificing a comfortable lifestyle, and instead going after it, facing rejection to make calls, to grow whatever you’re trying to achieve. You have to have a clear, compelling future that pulls you towards what you want. Keyword, you, what you want. Not what your friends want. Not what you think you should want or should have or should do. Quit shoulding all over yourself, please. You want something that is genuinely authentic to what makes you happy. That’s the secret. 

[00:18:43] TU: That last point is huge in the financial services space, right? Because I talked to people weekly. I experienced this myself as well, where often our goals aren’t truly our goals. The reflection of what we feel like should be our goals. Or we interpret it as someone else says it should be our goals. 

One thing you said there I want to dissect a little bit more, you kind of mentioned like, by the way, think big. As you said that, my mind went down this path how often the goals I hear from individuals, guilty as charged, no judgment to anyone else, we often limit those. I’m wondering why? So for example, right? If someone says, “Hey, I really have a goal to give philanthropically or to give,” like usually we’ll put a qualifier on that like 3, 5, 10 percent of my income, or I really want to save for retirement. 

It’s a big number. Don’t get me wrong. But we’re kind of defaulting to like what is a limit low number that is acceptable or that we’ve heard elsewhere, and our mind doesn’t naturally go towards, well, if instead of making $120,000 a year, and I gave 10% of that or $12,000, what if I made $500,000 a year? 30% of that or – Why doesn’t our mind go in that direction? Why are we kind of defaulting to this low norm, if that makes sense?

[00:20:11] AM: Excellent question. So another thing that we all know of, and I want to kind of bring this back home, is the only thing that’s going to stop you is you. Not the economy, not your circumstances, you. When I mean you, what I mean is your fear. While there’s lots of specific fears with everyone in specific situations, all humans have two fears. There’s two fears that are the most common fears, the fear of not being enough and the fear of being unlovable. 

When you’re looking at, “I want to set a goal,” if you say like, “Oh, this would be a nice increase.” Let’s say, for example, you’re making 120 grand a year, and you want to go up to 150. Just a little bit. Well, if I set 500 grand a month, that is a huge jump. That is a risk that if I don’t get it, it might mean that I’m not enough. It might mean that I can’t be loved because I didn’t get this. It’s not what’s going on. It’s not your circumstance. It’s the meaning that you give to your circumstance that is the driving force of whether you’re going to face everything and rise or fall into that fear. It’s all based on the meaning that you give something that becomes the outcome.

[00:21:29] TU: In that example, we’re essentially trying to set ourselves up to avoid failure or not even actual failure. Our perception of what that failure would be in that. So that’s interesting. Okay. That’s number three, identify the best you. Habit number four in the SMILE framework is let loose and celebrate. You say, “You need to party more, like seriously.” You will feel like you’re losing when you’re actually winning, if you do not celebrate your wins. My question here is why do we not celebrate our wins, in the same way that we dwell on our losses?

[00:22:03] AM: Let me paint a scenario that those of you watching or listening might resonate with. You work for years, for months, for, let’s say, getting a job as a pharmacist, and you get the job. You get the email. You’re on stage, getting a promotion. As they’re calling your name and reading your bio, you say, “What’s next?” You get the promotion. Then you say, “I’m going to go after this goal.” Let’s say that you launch a book. Let’s say you’re trying to get your name out there and build your personal brand. So you decide that you’re going to publish a book. So it gets released. What’s next? What’s next? What’s next? You’re so focused in the future that you’re living in a state of anxiety. 

Now, here’s something that I want to just share, as far as emotion, like why do I feel this way? What’s wrong with me? Those kinds of things that get us twisted. If you’re living in the past, you’re living in depression. If you’re focused on the future, you’re living in anxiety. But when you’re focused on the present, it is a gift, which is why it’s called the present. The attitude of gratitude is honestly the antidote for fear. 

Try this. If you’re angry, frustrated, or ticked off, I want you to think about and just look around and say one thing that you’re grateful for. Then say another and then another. It is literally impossible to be both grateful and angry or upset or overwhelmed at the same time. It is impossible. So the antidote to this, really, is to be grateful at your progress. 

Now, there is a thin line for this, and I think the best way to do it is to live it and really go after your goals because on one hand, you don’t want to rest on your laurels and take your foot off the gas, because if you’re not growing, you’re dying. So you want to constantly be pursuing the best version of you. But if you’re living in that what’s next, what’s next, what’s next, here’s the reality. You will feel like you’re losing when you’re actually winning, if you don’t take time to note how far you’ve come. 

[00:24:16] TU: 100%. Yes. 

[00:24:19] AM: That’s really it. So you say like, “Oh, Adam. There’s so much going on. I don’t know. How do I be grateful? I’ve heard this before. It’s not practical,” blah, blah, blah. So we’re going to go with the grin, with the SMILE framework, and stay on theme here. I actually found this out of a necessity when I was in a really dark time in my life many years ago because I heard this over and over and over from so many successful people. Gratitude is the antidote to everything, all this sort of stuff. 

I woke up in an anxiety attack, and I thought, how can I start this gratitude thing? So I was laying in bed, and I said, “What can I be grateful for right here right now?” So I just rolled my feet around like, “Wow, these sheets are really comfortable. I’m really grateful to have comfortable sheets.” “Wow, I’m on a comfortable mattress. I’m really grateful to have this mattress and not be laying on the floor.” “Wow, I have my own bedroom. I’m grateful to be in this bedroom.” Oh, my goodness. I own a house. Wow, I own a house, and it’s in a neighborhood that’s quiet. Just be quiet and listen. I can’t hear anything. It’s so quiet. I live in the city.” 

It became a ripple effect from wherever you are in the moment. State and feel and focus on wherever you are in the moment so that it’s real. It’s one thing to say that you’re grateful for something that might have happened. But when you can be lying in bed and feel your soft sheets, it gives evidence and makes that real. When you’re in your room, and you like peace and quiet, and you just listen to the silence, that is evidence that, yes, this is something I can be grateful. 

So the acronym I made for this is to GRIN. It’s the gratitude ripple in the now. So wherever you are, just pause and start thinking like do you have clothes on? Those probably. I mean, not everyone in the world has clothes, right? Are you standing somewhere that is safe? Is it raining outside, but you’ve got to shelter over your head? Just start where you are, and ripple from where you are outwards, and just watch what happens inside. That is truly the secret. But it’s so simple, people throw it out like, “Oh.” It’s so simple, it can’t fix my complex problem. The antidote really is that simple, and it’s so simple that it actually works.

[00:26:40] TU: Yeah. I really liked that. You and I have talked about this before. This has been transformative in my own life. So I am notorious for living in the future. Living in the present is not my jam. I will say I’m not a big dweller of the past. So that is something I’m grateful for. But what I have found is like what you describe. Publishing a book, what’s next? Giving a speaking event, what’s next? Achieving this milestone, what’s next? It’s not natural for me to really pause and be present in the moment. 

But the gratitude piece, what I have found is, and you described it perfectly, an example, when you’re laying there in bed in the midst of an anxiety attack, as you’re going through a gratitude, exercise, and reflection, it forces you to be present in the moment. It shifts your perspective and focus while you’re there as well. 

I think the trick for this, in my opinion, which you’ve really addressed here with the gratitude rip on the now, the GRIN acronym, is it doesn’t have to be like a one time in the morning, I’m going to do a gratitude exercise for five minutes. This could be a quick reminder as you’re going throughout the day because as you highlight, I mean, at any given moment of the day, we can all stop and find one thing that we’re thankful for in that moment. So I love that. 

[00:27:57] AM: One caveat to that, I don’t want to say that thinking in the future is a bad thing. You want to always be planning. This is one of the biggest sources of anxiety that pharmacists have. When you’re in pharmacy school, your goal is to graduate and get a job. So when you graduate and get a job, if you don’t have goals, you have a problem. That’s where a lot of pharmacy students transitioning to pharmacists life are. 

I don’t want to downplay how valuable forward thinking is. Just make sure that as you make those milestones, you pause, you note them, and you celebrate them however you actually can feel that celebration of your progress in the process.

[00:28:37] TU: I love that. Great input. Number five in the SMILE framework is electrify your spirit. It’s clear as we’re talking that consistency is the key here when we talk about the SMILE framework and the importance of a daily routine. You say in the e-book, “Stand guard at the doorway of your mind at the most critical time of the day, the beginning.” Tell us more about why standing guard at the beginning of the day is that important, and what are some of the habits that folks can implement to help here?

[00:29:07] AM: If you ever woke up, and you stub your toe, and then you realize that you’re late, and you get a red light, and then your tech doesn’t show up, or someone comes and yells at you, and what do you say? Wow, this day keeps going from bad to worse. It is a ripple effect from what you focus on, literally taking all that we’ve looked at through the SMILE framework, starting with shifting your focus. 

When you wake up in the morning, you have a clean slate. You are starting with a brand new bank account of time for those 24 hours. If the first thing you look at or think about is your to-do list or the news or all the things that you wish you did, then that’s going to ripple and transcend the whole mood of your day. So it literally – You all know this is true, but we all do it. 

Again, simple doesn’t mean easy, especially if this is a habit that you’ve had for a long time, the simplest thing, to stand guard at the door of your mind is to not touch your phone for the first half hour, hour, whatever that might be. For me, it’s two hours because it’s that sacred of time. Because think about it. People want to get your attention, news highlights. They’re not talking about new puppies that were given out for free. They’re talking about stabbings and murder and death. 

[00:30:35] TU: Push notification. Push notification. 

[00:30:37] AM: Yeah, yeah. All that stuff. It’s grabbing your attention. Your eyeballs are the new real estate. That’s what everyone is after. The best way to get them, again, coming back to an original point, is your brain, and your brain is wired to keep you alive. So it is going to be focused on any potential threat as a means to protect you. 

So knowing that, that’s how media and everyone uses that fact of your physiology to grab your attention, to lead with danger and all these negative things. So if you can just give yourself an hour to instead of let other people direct how your day is going to go and really own your hour and decide and declare that I am going to fill the first hour, half hour, whatever you allow, that that first fruit of your day needs to be given and stewarded in a way that it sets the tone and ripples you towards the compelling future that you want. Instead of I have to avoid all this stuff that I don’t want. 

Really start simple. The phone is the most effective thing, and that’s hard for a lot of people. I remember when I first did this years ago. It was like an addiction, and it’s just how we are in society. But it’s become normalized to the point where no one really questions it. But when you realize that by doing that, you’re giving control of your mind and focus to other people that just want your eyeballs, and want you to click and scroll and all this stuff, it puts you in the driver’s seat so that you can now intentionally be present on what you want to do. 

You can start simple. This is my routine. This has evolved over the years. I start off by saying, “Good morning, Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, fill me and guide me, so I can be a blessing in your way through this day. Today is going to be an amazing, outstanding day.” Then I take a five-minute freezing cold shower, I read my devotional, I jump in the Bible, and then I’m off on my 45-minute walk. That’s how I start. 

Now, that might not be practical for you. You might genuinely like realistically have five minutes. In those five minutes, don’t be on your phone and start with the gratitude ripple, the GRIN. So start where you are to start listing things you’re grateful for. I promise, if you do that every day for 30 days, you’ll feel like a totally different person.

[00:33:11] TU: Yeah. It’s about winning the start of the day, whether that’s five minutes or three hours, right? Some people, maybe there’s more flexibility and time, whatever. Many folks, that’s not the case. Winning the day and the momentum and, as you mentioned, the ripple effect that can come from that. I love that. 

Mine has evolved over time, and there are certain seasons where I’m humming every day. There’s other seasons where I kind of fall off track. You give yourself some grace. You get back on. But I consistently come back to a noticeable, palpable difference. I’m sure Jess and the boys would say that they can see it as well when I start and win the day. Because what I have found, and this has taken a while to really, I think, realize and work through, is that things can just begin to quickly unravel, and you throw your hands up, if things aren’t going in the steps I think they should go. 

What I’ve really, especially with my four boys, is that it is rare, very rare, actually, that their behavior changes in any given day. It’s my perspective, patience, and mindset, coming into my interactions with them. When I walk out of my home office door, that first two to five minutes, which is on me and my responsibility, sets the tone for the rest of the evening, the rest of the evening. For the longest time, I’d kind of throw my hands up a little bit of a victim mentality of like, “Ah, man. They are so loud, Adam. They are so loud. Can’t they just be quiet?” It’s like I remember I had this conversation with my wife one time. It’s like, “They really don’t change a lot in any given day.” 

I mean, sure, there’s a behavior thing here there, but like it really is like my mindset, my preparation, my awareness. That, obviously, is talking more about the second half of the day. But same can be said, I think, for the first part of the day as well. 

[00:35:04] AM: Yes. Tim, you said something that was such a gem, I have to bring it to the forefront. You said, “I have to give myself some grace.” I really want everyone listening to this to understand, embody, and implement that. Because if you’re listening to this, chances are you’re not like – You’re going after the best version of you. 

I mean, if you’re listening to a podcast, if you’re in this community, it’s because you want more. You know you’re destined to be more, to give more, to do more, to contribute. Not just to improve your life but to be an impact on those that you are blessed to influence. That’s ultimate leadership is influence. So when you’re in this journey, remember that it is not about a destination. It’s about who you become in the process. It is about progress, not perfection. 

So if you’re wanting to be a good leader, if you’re wanting to be the best employee, wherever you are in your career, if you want to receive something like grace, because we all are very human, the best way to receive something is to give it. To the point of finances, so many people, one of the reasons that they want to save, and call me on this, if I’m wrong, Tim. You’re the pro of the pros. One of the reasons that people give to save money and make more is so that they can have more to give away. They can contribute to their church, whatever it might be. True or true. 

[00:36:36] TU: True, true. Yep. 

[00:36:38] AM: So here’s the challenge. This is very humbling, but this is literally the cheat codes for life. This is how it works. Whenever you identify whatever it is you want to receive, you must become it and go give it because, especially with finance, here’s the reality. If you won’t give a dime out of a dollar, you’ll never give a million out of a billion. So it’s not I’ll wait until. It’s how can you give from where you are right now. Because whatever you give will come back to you tenfold. 

Now, that’s not the reason that you give. But the secret, the life hack, the behind the scenes truth is that the secret to living is giving. When you embody that and say, “If I want this to come in my life, how can I become it,” and then use that to give and serve others, your life will never be the same, and you will actually start to find that you are smiling more than you ever thought possible.

[00:37:39] TU: Oh, man. That is so true and so much wisdom in that that I think we can fall into that trap, and it is a trap to think that in that day in the future, a future state when I’ve got X in the bank, at that point, like I’ll be ready in a position to give. To your point about building that habit and that muscle and making that a priority, so important. 

There you have it, the SMILE framework. As always, Dr. Adam Martin, it has been a pleasure. I’m so grateful for you as a friend and a colleague. For folks that don’t yet know you and follow your work, which I think are few and far between listening to this, but for folks that don’t, where’s the best place that they can go to stay in touch with you?

[00:38:22] AM: Thank you, Tim. So, so honored. So I’ve had the honor and privilege of working with and helping many pharmacists and students grow their personal brands all across the world. Your brand is my favorite because you embody the principles and values. You are the best steward of your gifts I’ve ever seen in my life. So it is such an honor. 

[00:38:40] TU: Thank you. 

[00:38:41] AM: I just want to give a shameless plug of real talk real real quick there. But if you want to see more smiling faces and goofy things, feel free. The best place to interact with me is on Instagram, all one word, @thefitpharmacist. I also have a podcast that I’ve been running for a little over five years now a new episode every week. It is The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast. That’s on your favorite podcast platforms, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Spotify. You name it, I’m there. So feel free to subscribe on there if you want more content, also on LinkedIn. But, yeah, feel free to interact and engage. 

But definitely make sure, if you’re not for some crazy reason, following Tim and Your Financial Pharmacist because he has such a gift for connecting and nurturing people that have an incredible spirit and value within them. That he invests and nurtures so that they can then become the people that go and nurture and gift them. Just an amazing quality that you have, Tim, and I’m just really inspired by you personally. So seriously, thank you for who you are and who you continue to become.

[00:39:50] TU: Awesome, man. That means the world to me, really, guys. I really appreciate that, and I’m so grateful for you and appreciate you taking the time to come on here. Thanks, Adam. 

[00:39:59] AM: An honor. Thank you. 

[END OF INTERVIEW]

[00:40:01] TU: As we conclude this week’s podcast, an important reminder that the content on this show is provided to you for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for investment or any other advice. Information in the podcast and corresponding materials should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any investment or related financial products. We urge listeners to consult with a financial advisor with respect to any investment. 

Furthermore, the information contained in our archived newsletters, blog posts, and podcasts is not updated and may not be accurate at the time you listen to it on the podcast. Opinions and analyses expressed herein are solely those of Your Financial Pharmacist, unless otherwise noted, and constitute judgments as of the dates published. Such information may contain forward-looking statements that are not intended to be guarantees of future events. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. For more information, please visit yourfinancialpharmacist.com/disclaimer. 

Thank you, again, for your support of the Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast. Have a great rest of your week. 

[END]

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