This One Episode Will Change How You Think About the World & Your Life (From #1 Cancer Doctor)

1. MRMel Robbins0:00

   This is one of the most impactful conversations that I've ever had. Dr. Rahul Jandial, a world-renowned cancer surgeon and neuroscientist who treats stage four cancer patients every day. I'm talking adults, children. He is here to give you the life lessons most people learn too late. What has your patients who are near the end of their life, who come to you as a cancer surgeon, taught you about living life now?

2. RJDr. Rahul Jandial0:30

   If they start talking and they say, "I wish I had..." Then they're not coping well. But some of my others, they say, "I'm glad I did," they're coping well. They never say, "Oof, I'm glad I was practical and conservative." It's a perspective on your life. It's a, it's your own, the story you write for yourself.

3. MRMel Robbins0:54

   So is there a mindset that the person who's listening right now could start to build or practice that could help them go after more or shift things in their lives?

4. RJDr. Rahul Jandial1:04

   You have to know, "Am I in a storm? Am I in a crisis right now?" You gotta know where you're at. There was a time where I was just like, felt like I was drowning, and it, it's a crisis. Now I'm in crisis management mode.

5. MRMel Robbins1:20

   Could you speak directly to the person who's with us right now who's going through an extraordinarily difficult moment, so they're in the crisis mode? Dr. Jandial, what do you want them to know?

6. RJDr. Rahul Jandial1:33

   The best thing you can do is-

7. MRMel Robbins1:36

   Hey, it's Mel, and before we get into this episode, my team was showing me 57% of you who watch The Mel Robbins Podcast here on YouTube are not subscribed yet. Could you do me a quick favor? Just hit subscribe so that you don't miss any of the episodes that we post here on YouTube. It lets me know you're enjoying the guests and the content that we're bringing you, because I wanna make sure you don't miss a thing, and I'm so glad you're here for this episode, 'cause this is a really good one. All right, let's dive in. Dr. Jandial, welcome to The Mel Robbins Podcast.

8. RJDr. Rahul Jandial2:09

   Pleasure to be here.

9. MRMel Robbins2:10

   I am so excited you're here, and I know that some of the things that we are gonna talk about today, you have never talked about in an interview.

10. RJDr. Rahul Jandial2:18

    Written about them, but, uh, not had a conversation about.

11. MRMel Robbins2:22

    Well, that makes me even more excited for what you're about to teach us today from your extraordinary life. You know, if you think about some of the major life lessons that you've learned both through your work and your own personal experiences, what could change about my life if I take to heart everything that you've witnessed, the wisdom you're about to share, and I apply it to my life? What could change?

12. RJDr. Rahul Jandial2:51

    Well, for me personally, what I wanna share are rules for survival that have served me well, uh, throughout my life, as well as lessons from my cancer patients that have given me a greater sense of meaning and purpose, because I've had the fortune and privilege to share in their lives, um-

13. MRMel Robbins3:08

    Hmm

14. RJDr. Rahul Jandial3:08

    ... during their difficult moments. So from there, I've sort of come up with, um, a playbook, if you will, on how to deal with crisis, uh, how to embrace change. It's imperfect, but it's been, uh, it's been something I've been shaping and molding for, uh, for 25 years.

15. MRMel Robbins3:26

    Now, you're about to unpack this playbook for an extraordinary life, and if you could go back and speak to the nine-year-old you-

16. RJDr. Rahul Jandial3:36

    [laughs]

17. MRMel Robbins3:37

    There's a little photo there that I'm passing. Oof. Oh.

18. RJDr. Rahul Jandial3:43

    [laughs]

19. MRMel Robbins3:43

    [laughs]

20. RJDr. Rahul Jandial3:43

    I... Yeah, that was an interesting time. Um, uh, sometimes I mention, like, my life started at LAX. I don't really remember the first eight years of my life. It was when I arrived, and it was, um, an intense kind of thing. Like, one day you're at the foothills of the Himalayas in Kashmir. It's beautiful. It's violent. You get on a Pan Am flight, and 24 hours later, you land at LAX, uh, with my father, with my mother, with my brother. And so for me, it's always, people are like, "Where, where are you from?" [laughs] I'm like, "I'm from LAX." It's sort of, uh, birth, rebirth. And, um, and I think, uh, the suddenness of that, um... And I could tell there was something intense going on, a lot of tears, you know, in the old country. And super fortunate to be here, and all this, uh, wonderful country has given me the opportunities to sort of... So many second chances this country's given me, really. Um, but if I could go back, you know, um, I think I would say that, uh, "You will be underestimated. There will be pain. There may even be violence. But suffering comes from regret, and, um, peace comes from meaning."

21. MRMel Robbins5:03

    Right.

22. RJDr. Rahul Jandial5:03

    I would give myself those, uh, uh, those words as a compass, uh, and because other people gave me that as through mentorship and love.

23. MRMel Robbins5:13

    If you look at that photo of yourself as a nine-year-old, and you think back to landing at LAX-

24. RJDr. Rahul Jandial5:21

    Oof

25. MRMel Robbins5:21

    ... what would you wanna tell the nine-year-old version of you in that moment about what's about to happen and how your life's about to change and all of the extraordinary things that your life is gonna hold for you?

26. RJDr. Rahul Jandial5:38

    I would tell him, "It's gonna be wild, and it's gonna be beautiful, uh, and it can't be completely engineered, and you're gonna have to go with a lot of things that you don't expect and don't want, and the adversity will reveal your character. But it'll also, uh, fortify you and make you the person you're gonna be."

27. MRMel Robbins5:58

    Is there any background that you wanna share about, like, why your parents left, what was happening, coming to this country?

28. RJDr. Rahul Jandial6:06

    Northern India was violent at that time. Uh, my father's an aerospace engineer. He's, he's passed away seven years ago, and, uh, this great country gave us the opportunity to, to come here. We left a crisis and, uh, came to a sanctuary where everybody in my family has since thrived, and I've done my best to, um, be appreciative of, uh, the people that live in this country. Um, I personally love, uh, Los Angeles because it's, uh, it's not just where I landed, it's just the diversity, the creativity has just been, uh, you know... And it, and it's home. And it's home.

29. MRMel Robbins6:46

    Now, today, we look at you, cancer surgeon, neuroscientist, bestselling author.

30. RJDr. Rahul Jandial6:52

    [laughs]

Episode duration: 1:15:53