The Amazing Connection Between Longevity & Purpose - With Dr. Sue Varma
The Model Health Show
Shawn Stevenson
4.8 • 7.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2025
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Since the beginning of existence, humans have wondered why we exist. Having a purpose can bring richness, meaning, and fulfillment to our lives, but for a lot of folks, the idea of finding your life’s purpose can be incredibly intimidating. Today, you’re going to learn how to not only find your purpose, but also to redefine what purpose is and understand how it affects your life in a multitude of ways.
Today’s guest, Dr. Sue Varma is a psychiatrist and cognitive behavioral therapist. She has made a profound impact on the field of mental health, including serving as the pioneering medical director and psychiatrist for the 9/11 mental health program at NYU. Her book, Practical Optimism, is a guide to learning the practice of optimism and harnessing your unique resilience, resourcefulness, and purpose.
In this interview, Dr. Sue Varma is sharing what purpose actually is and how to reframe it. You’re going to learn about some of the major misconceptions about purpose, how having a purpose can improve your health outcomes, and so much more. You’re also going to learn about practical optimism and how to implement habits that will allow you to live a happy, successful, and long life. Enjoy!
In this episode you’ll discover:
- Why western medicine is centered around sickcare. (9:43)
- How cognitive behavioral therapy helped Dr. Varma heal. (10:17)
- The secret of resilient 9/11 survivors. (13:14)
- What percentage of optimism is genetic. (15:56)
- The true definition of purpose. (16:39)
- How having a purpose can improve your health. (18:18)
- The truth about finding purpose in your career. (19:59)
- A major misconception about lifetime purpose. (26:13)
- Why having a sense of curiosity is essential. (28:10)
- How going for a walk can improve your mental health. (31:02)
- The difference between optimism and toxic positivity. (35:44)
- What flow state is. (36:32)
- The importance of mentorship and how to find a mentor. (42:31)
- What it means to turn your pain into purpose. (45:54)
- How to find strength in vulnerability. (48:46)
- Why it’s harder than ever to find adult relationships. (52:01)
- The four habits to create happiness. (1:02:18)
Items mentioned in this episode include:
- DrinkLMNT.com/model - Get a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any order!
- Piquelife.com/model - Get exclusive savings on bundles & subscriptions!
- Practical Optimism by Dr. Sue Varma - Read Dr. Varma’s book!
- EMDR Therapy - Learn more about this treatment from the APA!
- Connect with Dr. Sue Varma Website / Facebook / Instagram
Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes:
This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by LMNT and Pique.
Head to DrinkLMNT.com/model to claim a FREE sample pack of electrolytes with any purchase.
Go to Piquelife.com/model for exclusive savings on bundles & subscriptions on cutting-edge solutions for your head-to-toe health and beauty transformation.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Sean Stevenson. |
| 0:05.0 | For more, visit the modelhealthshow.com. |
| 0:08.0 | Today you're going to discover the amazing impact that our mindset has on our lifespan. |
| 0:19.0 | In particular, you're going to learn about the connection between having a strong |
| 0:23.3 | sense of purpose and the protection against our leading causes of death we're going to dive into |
| 0:30.4 | what specifically we mean by having a sense of purpose what the science says plus we're really |
| 0:37.2 | going to dive into, what if we |
| 0:39.9 | don't have that strong sense of purpose? How do we cultivate that in our lives? Truly, what are |
| 0:46.4 | the science-backed strategies to help us to bring that to the forefront in our lives? And I'm telling |
| 0:52.0 | you so many of these things that our special guests shared really |
| 0:54.6 | spoke to me today and really helped to clarify my purpose right now as well because this is the |
| 1:01.8 | thing. Your purpose, many of us have this belief and she's going to talk about these different |
| 1:07.4 | misconceptions that, you know, we find our sense of purpose and we just |
| 1:11.1 | ride that out to the end of our days. We ride that sense of purpose off into the sunset. |
| 1:17.1 | But life is dynamic. We have all of these amazing seasons and stages of our lives and our purpose |
| 1:26.2 | can change. |
| 1:35.8 | And so really being able to identify that in this ever changing, rapidly changing world that we're existing in, it is so important. |
| 1:38.7 | Yes, for our lifespan, but also for the quality of our lives and utilizing this precious time that we have here |
| 1:46.6 | with each other. |
| 1:48.2 | Now before we get to our special guest, we're going to be talking a lot about mental health, |
| 1:52.3 | absolutely, but a part of mental health is brain health. |
| 1:57.9 | And one of the most important simple things for protecting and supporting our brain health |
... |
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