Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything

About this book

Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything A pioneer in the field of behavioral science delivers a groundbreaking work that shows how finding your purpose in life leads to better health and overall happiness. Your life is a boat. Review “In an eloquently written collection of real life stories, relevant evidence-based research, and his own personal journey, Dr. Strecher compels the reader to develop a strong transcending purpose in life. Life on Purpose should be a part of every personal and leadership development must-read list.” — Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take “In an eloquently written collection of real life stories, relevant evidence-based research, and his own personal journey, Dr. Strecher compels the reader to develop a strong transcending purpose in life. Life on Purpose should be a part of every personal and leadership development must-read list.” — Bob Carr, President-elect of the American College of Preventive Medicine “Vic Strecher provides us with the true secret to living life with health and wellness. The prevention of heart disease is much more than what we eat and the amount of activity we do, it is living your life with purpose.” — Suzanne Steinbaum, M.D. Director of Women's Heart Health at the Heart and Vascular Institute, Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City “Brilliant blend of personal experience and scientific research. The authenticity of Vic’s message provides stunning insights into life’s most compelling mysteries and questions.” — Dr. Jim Loehr, Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, and co-author of The New York Times bestseller The Power of Full Engagement “Victor Strecher has written what I would best describe as a ‘gift.’ He gifts us the ability to define our purpose and immediately start instilling into our own lives. Make no mistake, understanding this concept is not only good for your health -- it is good for the whole world.” — Sanjay Gupta, New York Times bestselling author and Chief Medical Correspondent CNN From the Back Cover Imagine a drug that was proven to add years to your life, reduce risk of heart attack and stroke, cut your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by more than half, help you relax during the day and sleep better at night, double your chances of staying drug- and alcohol-free after treatment, activate your natural killer cells, diminish your inflammatory cells, increase your good cholesterol, and repair your chromosomes. What if this imaginary drug reduced hospital stays so much that it put a dent in the national health care crisis? The pharmaceutical company who made the drug would be worth billions. The inventors of the drug would receive Nobel Prizes and have institutes named for them. But it’s not a drug. It’s purpose. And it’s free. Victor Strecher, an award-winning pioneer in the field of behavioral science and professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, lost his nineteen-year-old daughter, Julia, to a rare heart disease that resulted from an infant case of chicken pox. This life event challenged every aspect of Strecher’s personal and professional experience and drove him to an exhaustive search, from ancient philosophy to cutting-edge science, to pinpoint the potential and impact of purpose in our lives. What is it? How can we discover it? And what does the latest research tell us about the importance of how purpose affects our overall health and happiness? The results of this groundbreaking investigation are revelatory and the crux of this engaging book. But Life on Purpose does more than just provide the latest science, it offers a step-by-step program for improving energy, willpower, health, and long-term happiness. Strecher’s smart, personal, and highly practical book will fundamentally change the way we understand what it means to lead a good life. About the Author Victor J. Strecher is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and founded Health Media Inc. , a groundbreaking health and wellness company. He has published over 100 articles in scientific journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Preventive Medicine and Nature Neuroscience and is the co-editor of Oncology: An Evidenced-Based Approach. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.