Episode 54: Dr. Allen Lycka - How to Live a Fantastic Life

0:09 Hello, beautiful humans. Welcome to the human Beauty movement podcast. I'm your host Jennifer Norman. Throughout my life, I've been a lover and a seeker of all things beauty from art and dance to cosmetics, and fashion to music and nature. But through my own personal Journey. I've come to discover what I believe is the most beautiful thing. In the universe, the beauty of the human soul. On this podcast, I sit down with beautiful humans. From all corners of the globe and all walks of life to learn how they are living their own unique. Soul Beauty out loud. You'll hear from game changers. Rebels with gray causes stages odds, M and Valiant Warriors who fall down seven times and get up eight.

0:55 This is the podcast where abundant energy flows and supreme wisdom is bestowed, get ready to enjoy the inspiration. Hello, beautiful humans. Today we're going to talk about life. Beyond Beauty. My guest today is dr. Alan Leica dr. Leica has been acknowledged as one of the leading cosmetic dermatologist in the world. For three decades, a Pioneer in his field, he is an inventor author of 17 books and over 30 academic papers for many years. He hosted inside cosmetic surgery today at top internet radio show, but that all changed and that's why I have him here to talk with you. Welcome dr. Lika, well, welcome Jeez, I'm so glad to be here. Jennifer, it's so much fun.

1:40 Yes, I'm delighted to have you here so you can share your story. So, let's dial it back. You spent a lot of years as a cosmetic dermatologist, can you share a little bit of what that was like? No cosmetic. Dermatology was probably one of the best things that I could ever do. You know, I have the chance of making beautiful people. Even more beautiful helping to bring out the insides of them and make them shine to the world. So it was Leah calling that I had. And the Beautiful Thing I was there at the start of the, many of the things they were doing, you know, I was there when Botox was invented. I was there, when fillers were invented. I was there when lasers were just starting to be used in cosmetic surgery.

2:24 So, it was a beautiful wonderful time that I was able to help influence many of those things and how bring him to another level. Well, that is really fascinating, because after having been in the beauty industry for so many, Years myself, there has been definitely a lot of discussion about cosmetic surgery, cosmetic, Dermatology, and the like, and the impact that it has on society in a positive way and in a, perhaps not so positive way. So I was curious about your take you say, you love to make people that were beautiful even more beautiful. And so certainly you saw what seems to be an after effect of high self-esteem of people feeling really happy about their results.

3:06 Is that right? Well, That's exactly what it was about, you know, but you can't make a person, see something that they cannot, but the answer is, if you can take them and just Elevate him that little bit more, it helps a lot. And that's what I was able to do. I was able to make people's dreams and wishes come true. So it was just a beautiful thing and I'm so glad I was part of that. Hmm, yes. And I have to say a lot of people look to me and they say that. And they know that I'm very much, a proponent of natural beauty, But I myself am very much. Also are proponents of people manifesting the outsides that match their insides. And if somebody feels a certain way about themselves and the mirror does not reflect that and that creates dissonance, then I believe there's nothing wrong with making any changes.

3:55 Just like we dye our hair just like we, you know, put makeup on. There's really two me. I actually find that if there's nothing wrong with in and I think that it helps to emboldened somebody and help them to maybe four more fully. Express who they are when they can see themselves in the mirror, reflecting back at them in a way that they like, I think that's true, okay? As I said, you can't just change a person 180 degrees, but you can Elevate them, you can bring out their natural beauty, that much more. So that's what I think. Cosmetic surgery is really designed for and really helps people along the way. So, let's talk about what happened in 2003 because you had this very successful career and then your life, Changed. Tell us about 2003 as walking with my wife and my youngest daughter in Disneyland.

4:43 And my wife turned to me, and she said, what's wrong with you, huh? You know, for once in my life I hadn't said anything wrong. I haven't done anything wrong. I hadn't even Funk anything Rock. But she persisted, she said, what's wrong with you? So I said here, I don't know what you're talking about. She said, listen to your foot. I said, what do you mean listen to your foot? That's the funniest thing you've ever said, she said, well listen. Well, my right foot had decided to not function properly, it was flapping on the pavement with each step, I was taking now Jennifer your brain is designed to lift up your foot with each step that you're taking. Unfortunately, that wasn't happening for me. It just wasn't happening.

5:25 My foot was flapping on the pavement. My wife said, did you have a stroke? And I said, dear, you're a doctor, I'm a doctor. If I had a stroke, I'd probably be some muttering, something unintelligible. And I wouldn't be doing like I am now while she said when you get back you better get that checked out Jennifer when your significant other tells you to get it checked out. What do you do? Sometimes people, listen, sometimes not so much. The answer is when you've been married for as long as I have, you know, you better listen. So, the answer is, I listened and I started that journey. I went to see doctors and doctors and doctors it led Is to dozens of doctors which led to more doctors and more doctors. They did cat-scans.

6:13 They did brain scans, they even did scan skins. But you know what, they showed at the end of the day. What did they show? Absolutely nothing. The doctors were befuddled. They thought, you know, you must have a tumor or a a slipped discs or something, but they found nothing. So you know, what doctors do when they find nothing, I'm not a doctor, but what do they do? More tests and more More tests and more tests because they want to find an answer and, you know, so back then they did every test known to man and still at the end of the day, they couldn't find anything so they sent me to a world-leading neurologist. Now, a neurologist is a brain doctor.

6:53 He's the guy that has the answer to all these complex neurological problems. And I went in to see him and he said, hi and I said hi. He said you better be sitting down when I tell you this. I said why? I've got a dropped right foot. He said no you don't you have ALS Lou Gehrig's Disease, you better get your Affairs in order. Because in six months, you're going to be dead. I said is there a way to prove this diagnosis? He said yes on autopsy, it's a geez. You don't have much of a bedside manner, you know? The thing is when something like this hits, you Jennifer, you go through the phases of death and dying, you go through Hangar because you're mad.

7:37 Mad, you're mad at everything. You're mad at the people around, you, you're mad at you and your staff, you're mad at your family. And, you know, you're just mad. That is not a healthy thing, but at least it motivates you, you go through bargaining? Oh, God, please don't let this happen. I'll do anything. If you don't let this happen, you go through denial and you deny that anything's wrong. But through all those my foot was still not working properly. So I couldn't deny things much more and then you go through deep. Russian. Jennifer, have you ever been depressed? Yes, I have. Yeah, it's a terrible State. You know, you can't eat. You can't sleep. You stay in bed all day staring at the ceiling. And you don't want to do anything, you know, but I wasn't going to die by this terrible disease called ALS. And so I had decided that if I was getting worse I was going to kill myself.

8:29 But before I did that, I went to my wife and I said to my wife and said yeah the idea what I have. She said no No, I have no idea whatsoever. She said, she said, you're smart, you'll figure that out, I laughed and I said, well, how can I figure it out? I've already seen hundreds of doctors. She said, perhaps, you haven't seen the right doctor again. Yeah. So back in the early 2000s, something brand-new wasn't that it's called the internet. He ever hear of that little bit, you know, but back then it was very primitive. You had to put your phone on a dial on connection. It would go really an area area for something like 15 minutes and it would connect to the other side, you would get some answers.

9:16 But the internet was just like, now is like the best resources in the world but of is full of garbage cans and it was impossible to find the garbage cans from the good resources. The fortunately, I had people around me that could guide me. So we search the web, we surf the web. We found a doctor in Colorado Springs Colorado by the name of David Marks and David was fascinating because he had a disease very much like mine, but he got worse, much more rapidly and he was on his deathbed within weeks of having this diagnosis. What happened next is doctors from around the world were coming to say goodbye to David and a doctor came up from Texas to say goodbye to David.

9:58 His name was dr. Harvey and he looked at David and said, I don't think you have ALS. I don't think you have Lou Gehrig's Disease. David said, what do I have says, I think Being bitten by a tick and you have a disease called chronic lines disease and this disease, mimics ALS said, he said, if I'm right, I can start you on treatment and you will rapidly get better. Well, David said, what do I have to lose? I'm dying. So, we started him on treatment and within weeks, he was back to his usual self. Wow, why I knew I had to get in touch with David's white and phone every hospital in Colorado, Springs, Colorado, and I got in touch with the Methodist hospital. And we talked for hours, And he invited me to come down to Colorado Springs which I did and he started me on treatment and he said the magic words, I think history is repeating itself.

10:47 I think I can make you better just like I did and because of him I was able to stay at my status as a top cosmetic surgeon until 2019. When I walked way to help people in more ways to help people in their heads face to help people do the things they want to do. And I did that in. In the 19th at published a best-selling book in 2020 called the secrets to living a fantastic life and it became a podcast which began a syndicated radio show which now has three million listeners a month. So it's been an amazing journey I've been up but all of this started with getting treated and then it started with giving back and deciding to give back to people because I think that is one of the greatest things that you can do. If you go Through a storm like I did and come through on the other side.

11:41 I think it's very important to realize that every day you're given is just a gift and that gift is one of the most important things. So you should try and make that gift. So important for people that they will do well and prosper. Just like I've done. That's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing all of that doctor. Like it reminds me of the time when I was still working as a VP at a beauty. Company. I had a young son at home, he was two years old at the time, and he started to show signs of spasticity, which pretty much caused him over a very rapid time to degrade. And he was at Children's Hospital, Los Angeles for four months, fell into a coma, didn't know what was wrong with him. And then ultimately he got a diagnosis back of mitochondrial disease which is a global energy deficiency at the cellular level.

12:34 And we were also given the same same sort of talk from the doctors there that said, you know, you have a decision to make, you know, and he was intubated at the time. So we were keeping him on life support and we decided to hold on for Hope. There wasn't very much known about very rare genetic diseases. Back then it was before Gene sequencing and 23 and me were very popularized and we decided to hold on for Hope. And this year, he celebrated his 16th birthday, he's an absolute fighter, he's severely disabled. However, we believe that with the love that he's Given over the course of years. His quality of life is probably a lot better than a lot of other children because he knows that he's loves challenge.

13:16 The fact of the matter is that, we do we treat every day. Like a gift, he's living on life support. He's on a ventilator, 24/7. He's non-mobile and nonverbal yet, he is such a strong spiritual teacher to not only me, but to so many people around us. He is the reason why I believe that I live a fantastic life and why I want to share my gifts. To and have people on my podcast just like you. Your well I think that's important and, you know, we do not know all the answers to all the things and we're at any given time. And any doctor that says he does is wrong, you know, when I was told, I had ALS it's because the doctor that's all he knew, he didn't know. All the other thing, the problem is there's a lot more that we don't know than what we know.

14:04 And your son is living proof of that, that there. So much that we will learn and there's so much more that's going to come out in the next couple of years as we found some of these cures for covid. And so on the very technology that has helped to cure that can be used in many other diseases as well. So the answer is we're just at the start of a new frontier and a whole new way of doing things. And we haven't even scratched the surface yet. It's so true. And boy, has he had a bevy of neurologists and And it always had surprised me and I was grateful to meet the ones that were humble enough to say, there's still so much that we don't know the ones that said, well, this is the way that it is and that's the way that it's going to be a, you know, that you're going to move on and probably find a different neurologist.

14:52 It's true. And I'm always humbled by what we don't know. I'm always humbled by the fact that it is just a small amount that we know. And when I was taking my Dermatology training at the University of Minnesota and a great teacher by Name of dr. Peter Lynch Peter. The first day I was in my program, he drew a box on the board and he said, this is what you're going to learn in your residency and he drew a bigger box and he said this is the knowledge that's available in the medical journals that we have. Then he drew a bigger box and he said, this is the amount. That's an all the medical schools in the world and then he said, the real box you got to be in and the one that's bigger than this room, that's bigger than this universe.

15:37 Because that's the knowledge. We actually need to help people and this is true about everyone in this world. We only know what we know. We cannot know what we do, not know. Mmm. Yeah. And if we keep our minds open, then perhaps we get those downloads of the things that are out there and that are yet to be manifested. So amazing, I would love to have you take us through your book which is the secrets to living a fantastic life and by the way, you Arthur this with a very special woman. Can you tell us about Harriet, Tinka? Yes, I'd love to. As I said, the first thing I did was start giving back when I got through my diagnosis and the guy started giving back to was a charity called the YWCA and I sponsored an amazing event called women of Distinction and we honored women in society for the wonderful things.

16:31 They did, you know, women still do not get the Kudos that they need for all the wonderful things they do. So So I thought it's a good thing to give back. So I sponsored this big event and here he had applied for an award called the turning point toward. Now, that Turning Point award was given for people that had made a significant change in their life and he it is a beautiful black lady who used to walk the runways of New York and Milan Paris as a leading model. But she grew tired of that industry because YouTube probably know of the beauty industry models. Don't have a very good life. It's a dog-eat-dog breakfast and she decided that wasn't what you wanted to do with her life. So she decided to do her second life which is accounting and she went to the University of Calgary and Calgary Alberta. And unfortunately, she was befriended by a person that was a psychopath who ended up kidnapping, her stabbing her and leaving her for dead down here.

17:28 He had ended up in the hospital and she was going through rehab and she was very, very depressed but she met a young girl by the name of a man. Anda who was Wheeling down the hallway in a wheelchair. Now, Amanda story was equally tragic and that she was in a car accident in which he lost both of her parents and the use of her legs. What happened next is? She said, she looked at Aryans at area, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should use your story, to empower others. So Harriet that applied for this award, not to win the award, but to meet me and take me for lunch. Shouldn't convince me to write a book and so that's why we wrote this book together called the secrets to living a fantastic life. It's the story of our journey.

18:17 Then each chapter is rather unique. Each chapter has a quote and then it has a story that cares you into the meaning of the story. And then the book has the dialogue that Harriet and I had as we were writing the book together, so it's a very interesting book. It's based on 13, gold and Pearls. Now golden pearls actually exist in nature there in the South Pacific and they're produced by particular oysters. Now these oysters get a little grain of sand inside their shell, and instead of be harmed by it, they wallet off this beautiful material called luster and the single solitary Golden Pearl cost more than ten thousand dollars. That's how valuable is.

19:04 But the golden pearls Harriet, and I write about Or more valuable than that, they're found inside of you and they can come out and they can even be more beautiful than that. Mmm, that is wonderful. What an amazing woman and somebody that is an incredible partner to write something. So poignant about, why do you think that their secrets will, you know, I think secrets are little things that people need to find out and I wanted and Harry good wanted to encourage people to read this book. So we called them Secrets because not Everybody knows them and we wanted people to explore them and bring them out to their lives. Well, some of the pearls I think people would be like, okay, I get that when you talk about love and inspiration and purpose there are a few on here which I was like, I could see it a little bit more explanation and so I was hoping that you might be able to elucidate a little bit.

19:59 Just give it a teaser. So that people are intrigued and want to buy your book. What about Victory? What about Victory is a golden Pearl. I will tell you something about Harriet that you probably don't realize. In addition to be ignored cold class model, she runs ultramarathons handsome, Harriet is like the Amazon princes. Death will run an ultra marathon for people who don't know about it is like running for 24 to 48 hours without a rest. So she just ran one last weekend and she finished it in 28 hours. And up here in the Northern woods, it's been raining a lot. So it was a bun fast where she had to fall down more Hills than she was actually able to run through. So, the concept of Victory is something that carry it really wanted in there.

20:53 Has a very important part of people's lives and I concur, Victory is what everybody should strive towards now. The story of Victory is different for each and every person, but to be victorious is the opposite. Of being a victim. And that's why it's in there. We don't want people to be victim. We want them to adopt a victory philosophy. Hmm. That's actually very well. Put and boy, I don't know if I will ever run an ultramarathon, but I cheer the people on, who do, what about non-negotiables? I saw that on the list, you know, Norm negotiables are very, very important things because they're the guideposts that you steer your both through all the time, you know, you have to have non-negotiables in your life because exactly by their nature.

21:44 They're non-negotiable, you use those in situations where you have questioned, whether you do a, or b and the non-negotiable really makes it so that you choose the right path and keeps you on the right path, what would be an example of a non-negotiable in your life? Well, for me, it's always being that I work. Hard, and no matter what, I find that getting up every day, doing the things that I do, are something that I find very important, but another not negotiable. It's my family and my wife mics for wonderful, daughters and my seven wonderful grandchildren.

22:26 So as I say those are non-negotiable for me because their number one on my plate. Absolutely. Some of the others here on this list or forgiveness. Your attitude, your laughter enthusiasm and empowerment. And I'm sure that there are quite a lot of gems when you explain each and every one of these, let me try and give you one. That's so important. And that's enthusiasm. And I'm going to tell you a little story to bring that home for you. There was a carpenter by the name of Fred and he worked for the same company for 45 years. And at the end of that he was tired, he didn't want to go to work anymore. So he went to his boss and A tine done.

23:08 This is episode is my last day. The boss was taken aback. He Said, Fred, you've helped me build every house we built in this company. Could you do just one more thing for me before you go Frets at? Of course, I've loved it here. This is the only job that I've had. So the boss said, okay, build me just one more house. Only you can do it, you're my master Carpenter. So Fred said, okay. And he did it, but he did it begrudgingly for the The first time in his life he produced shoddy workmanship. He barely got the job done but a miracle happened when it was done and it passed inspection. So he went back to the boss and said, okay, here's the keys to the last house, I'm done the boss.

23:53 It's cold at fret. We're going to have a big party. So he called everybody into the office, they pop the champagne, they had the caviar, they had a big party and then he said, he's gathered everybody around me said. Everybody. This is Fred's last day. I am so sad, but he's going to be so happy and he said Fred, I've got a gift for you. It's a Parting Gift. Here's the keys to the last house you ever built. May, you live in it with, with all the enthusiasm you showed me old? Now, can you picture the difference of he had been in his usual workmanship. Now, that's just to show you Jennifer that enthusiasm is not a Monday thing. It's not a Tuesday that it's not a Wednesday thing. It It's something you bring to the table each and every day and that's the game changer.

24:42 That makes everything so special. That's a great story. I actually was listening to an interview with Deepak Chopra and I didn't realize that enthusiasm the word itself means and theater switches in God. And so if you have the purpose or the intention of God flowing through you, then you're eager for life. You're eager for what's next. And so I thought that was a really Fascinating twists on what I had always known enthusiasm. So otherwise be and another one of her golden curls, ask inspiration and the inspiration is simpler, it means from the spirit. So again, very important concept that people should realize that these are deeper principles than what is just in the book.

25:27 Mmm, exactly. Well, those are amazing. So now, as far as some of your more recent work, you just did a piece of writing as its called Blue talks presents business life and the universe. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, this isn't a series of books that my friend Cory, Poirier is put together and I wrote a chapter in the very first of that. They're now, we're six of those books out and it's something that people can really learn about business life and the universe does each one of these books concentrates on those things. And so, I was very happy to be part of that, again. It's just showing that I keep on going. I keep on Galloping new things and helping people with their lives.

26:09 Absolutely. And you also had another piece of writing with Jack Canfield, I understand colors of success. Yeah, Jack Canfield for people who don't recognize nice. His name, is he co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul. And so Jack approached me and said, could you please write something with me in my book pillars of success. So when that opportunity presented itself, I was so happy and as a result, it became a best-selling book and Iran. When me Major award for that cultic quilly award which is equivalent to an Academy Award for best selling authors. Well, congratulations to you for that. Well, he was a yag again of thrilling. Time to walk the red carpet in Los Angeles, and be able to share that with my co-authors to another wonderful thing in my life. So, again, it was a very fun time but you know, it doesn't stop there.

27:01 I have my syndicated radio show and I've been asked to do a television show Well and so it's going to be very exciting in the next couple of years as my television show comes on. And they've even asked me to do my own station so that we can even bring more of these wonderful things to people over the next couple of years. It's really wonderful to be able to see positive content out there because there's so much of the contrary. That is filling the minds of people all over the world. And so that was one of the reasons why I wanted the human Beauty movement to really be all about. About inspiring people to that radical self-love and radical self-acceptance. Because I think that when you don't talk about it enough, or when you don't see it enough, then people don't recognize that it really exists, and it's important for people to be able to see that there is so much good in the world.

27:52 There are so many wonderful people that are cheering for you and that want you to succeed and want to drive. Well, you know, I learned a very interesting statistic the other day but 40% of Americans, do not watch the news anymore. Because of the negative news that's out there all the time I'm running and so that number is growing and in some countries, it's even more than that. So, it's just showing that everybody's sick and tired of the negative news that goes on day in, and day out the other day, my wife and I were watching and there were 14 - stories all in a row. Yeah, it's almost like these little micro tears on our soul. Exactly.

28:34 So how do you Gary's about that? By Contra manding, it with more positive experiences with more positive messages, so that people have this opportunity to learn about wonderful things and do things in a more positive way. Absolutely. Well, doctor, like I am so pleased to have you on so that we together can spread positivity and spread different secrets on how to live a fantastic life. Yes. And I'm so glad you had me here and I'm so glad to spread my message with you wonderful everybody. Please take Look at the show notes so that you can see how you can get in touch with dr. Lega, and find, his writings in the meantime, stay beautiful. Thank you for listening to the human Beauty movement podcast. Be sure to follow rate and review us wherever you stream podcasts.

29:23 The human Beauty movement is a community based platform. That cultivates, the beauty of humankind, check out our workshops, find us on social media and share our inspiration with all the beautiful humans in your life. Learn more at the Human Beauty. Movement.com. Thank you so much for being a beautiful human.