7 Habits Of Highly Intelligent People

By  //  October 27, 2013

Tips To Help You Live Healthier, Happier Lives

ABOVE VIDEO: Dr. Larry Bishop borrows the theme of “Seven Habits for Highly Effective People,” by Stephen Covey.

BREVARD COUNTY • FLORIDA — Almost 15 years ago, Steven R. Covey wrote a self-help book called “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” which was a huge hit, reinvigorated the self-improvement genre and is still one of the most widely read books of its type.

So, with that in mind, I will shamelessly borrow from his theme, giving you Seven Habits for Highly Intelligent People. These tips will help you live healthier, happier lives, at least from a dermatologic standpoint.

• HABIT NUMBER ONE

Wash your skin less. Yes, that’s counterintuitive, because your skin has, well, germs on it. Trust me, germs are like politicians. Some are good. Some are bad. And most are better left alone.

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By using hot water and soap, you remove the protective barrier that your natural oils provide.

The reasons to lay off on the soap are these: By using hot water and soap, you remove the protective barrier that your natural oils provide, thus making your skin far more irritable, susceptible to eczema and irritants, and most importantly, it makes your skin more likely to fall prey to the bad bacteria, leading to potentially serious infection.

• HABIT NUMBER TWO

Use a cream called tretinoin. Tretinoin, which is the generic name for Retin-A, is a Vitamin A derivative.

It works in two different ways. One, it helps prevent skin cancers. It works to blunt the effects of our misspent youths, and in the process helps stop skin cancers in their tracks.

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Use a cream called tretinoin. Tretinoin, which is the generic name for Retin-A, is a Vitamin A derivative.

It isn’t 100 per cent effective, but it definitely makes a significant difference. Tretinoin also markedly reduces wrinkles and spots that show on all our sun-damaged skin. It promotes the formation of collagen, and forces the cells that produce collagen to produce “younger” collagen.

Also it causes age spots to diminish, which in turn may save you some anxiety down the road. Tretinoin is, hands down, the best medication I know for the skin.

• HABIT NUMBER THREE

Exercise improves not only your muscles, but improves the blood supply to all your organs, including the skin. Regular exercise is a boon for your skin, giving the cells that make up your skin the proper nutrition that improves the turnover of dead and ineffective cells.

Get some exercise. It is well known that exercise improves not only your muscles, but improves the blood supply to all your organs, including the skin.

Regular exercise is a boon for your skin, giving the cells that make up your skin the proper nutrition that improves the turnover of dead and ineffective cells.

Exercise is also proven to improve the immune system, which plays a key role in cancer prevention.

Compare the skin of a person who gets regular exercise with someone who does not. You will find the person who gets more exercise has, by and large, a healthier glow. And exercise is more likely to put a smile on your face.

• HABIT NUMBER FOUR

Speaking of smiles, make a conscious effort to smile more. I know, I know, it sounds like advice your mom might give, so as to attract the opposite gender in Middle School, but if you don’t believe me on this one, try this experiment.

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When you meet a new person, make a conscious effort to notice whether they smile at you or not.

When you meet a new person, make a conscious effort to notice whether they smile at you or not.

Try the same thing in the grocery store, at parties, and so on. Now, remember the people who smiled at you. You can’t remember their physical imperfections, can you?

All of us are born with something a little off. Eyes are too wide, nose too short, lips too large for our face.

Well, guess what? If you smile at others, they are less likely to notice your physical imperfections. When I give talks on Botox and other cosmetic procedures, I always say the best of all cosmetic procedures is to put a smile on your face.

It always works, and the price is certainly right!

• HABIT NUMBER FIVE

Consider relaxing those frown lines. As time marches on, several things happen just as regularly as clockwork.

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Botox, used in competent hands, is an extremely effective and safe medication.

Our lips start to disappear. Our face becomes more lax.

And we tend to develop squint lines, which often are misinterpreted as frown lines. As opposed to the laxity and disappearing lips, the frown lines derive from active muscle contraction, which creates vertical lines in between our brows, and horizontal lines “crow’s feet”, which radiate from the corners of our eyes.

Botox, used in competent hands, is an extremely effective and safe medication.

If Botox wasn’t safe, Hollywood would be dead by now! It relaxes the muscles which cause the frown lines, and once the effects of overactive contraction are relieved, the skin does a remarkable job of filling in lines that have been etched into our faces.

If it weren’t safe, three quarters of Hollywood would be dead by now! It works by relaxing those muscles, which cause the frown lines, and once the corrugating effects of overactive contraction are relieved, the skin does a pretty remarkable job of filling in the lines that had been etched into our faces.

Botox really needs to be administered every three months in order to maintain the results, but I can’t think of a single medication with a higher satisfaction rating overall than Botox.

• HABIT NUMBER SIX

Stop smoking. Smoking is obviously a significant health risk, but as it relates to the skin, it has two important side effects.

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SMOKING IS OBVIOUSLY a significant health risk. It makes eczema to psoriasis to acne, worse – and makes you look older.

First, it makes inflammatory skin diseases, from eczema to psoriasis to acne, worse.

Smoking has a secondary effect. It makes you look older. When I interview candidates for positions in my office, I don’t even have to ask them if they smoke.

One look tells the tale. If they look older than their age, and if the changes are related to more wrinkling, I have them figured out.

• HABIT NUMBER SEVEN

C’mon. You knew I’d mention sunscreen, didn’t you? Living in the Sunshine State takes its toll on our skin on a daily basis.

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On the face of adult drivers, we find far more skin cancers on the left side than the right.

Don’t buy that?  Well, take a look at the numbers. On the face of adult drivers, we find far more skin cancers on the left side than the right. Reason?

That side gets more sunlight. And coincidentally, in Australia it’s right side predominant, because their steering wheels are on the right, not the left.

Sunscreen has dramatically lowered the risks of skin cancer, and I can assure you, you will be happier in the future if you should avoid getting skin cancer.

Well, there you have it, Seven Habits of Highly Intelligent People.  I hope you will incorporate these tricks into your life, and have a long, healthy and happy relationship with your dermatologist!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Larry Bishop attended Wright State University Medical School, and then went on to the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a surgical internship. 

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In addition to being among the best physicians on the Space Coast, Dr. Larry Bishop is an accomplished endurance athlete and recognized humanitarian.

He followed with his residency in Dermatology at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. While at Wilford Hall, he served as an exchange resident at the world’s oldest hospital dedicated to dermatology – Hospital Saint-Louis in Paris, France. Dr. Bishop spent nine years in the U.S. Air Force and traveled the world as Bob Hope’s personal physician during his USO tours.

Dr. Bishop specializes in cosmetic and surgical dermatology, including Mohs Micrographic Surgery and non-surgical rejuvenation of the face. You contact Dr. Bishop by calling 321-751-9097.

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