Dr. Michael Hart in London, Ontario has made a name for himself in the world of medicine by treating patients with a simple philosophy—create the life you deserve. At his practice the Readytogo Clinic where he acts of Medical Director and Head Physician, he helps people across Ontario gain control of their health by helping them understand their physical and mental conditions so they can make plans to improve them.
Dr. Hart is passionate about pursuing emerging medical treatments that actually work for patients. From nutrition to philosophy to ketogenic diets, he shies away from traditional approaches and stays up to date on the latest medical treatments to make sure his patients get the best care. He is particularly vocal about the use of cannabis in medicine and his advocacy has permitted him to speak publicly about the issue. He has spoken on platforms like CTV News, Rodgers TV, CBC National Radio, and the Toronto Star and appeared at the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids in Toronto.
Dr. Hart attended medical school at Saba University in the Netherlands and participated in the Family Medicine Residency Program at the University of Western Ontario.
Where did the idea for Readytogo Clinic come from?
I was working in several different cannabis clinics, and even though we were doing excellent work, there wasn’t as much of an emphasis on lifestyle education as I wanted there to be. I wanted to put my spin on it and bring my message to it. I feel that cannabis is an effective treatment on its own, but it’s much more effective when its combined with lifestyle factors and healthy lifestyle choices. That’s where people start to see the success with cannabis, so that’s how it got started.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I usually start my day at the clinic around 8:30 a.m. We see patients in the office all day, and I typically see about 20 to 25 patients a day. When I’m seeing patients, I have a full intake form for their history, and that helps during the appointments. I also have a cannabis educator (from Growwise Health) who helps all my patients and helps them with their questions as well. Between the educator and I, we feel that we do a great job with all our patients.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I always try to use logic and not emotion. When I do have an idea, and I get excited about it, I’ll never pursue that idea without thinking about it logically and wondering if it can work. I believe that you always need to sit with the idea that you have. You may want to bounce it off someone else although that’s not necessary. Having someone there to help can be useful because they can give you a more objective measurement. As much as you’d like to think that we’re all objective with our ideas, we tend to be more objective with other people than ourselves. Sometimes getting a third-party’s opinion is good, but also at the same time, you have to believe in yourself and your own ideas.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I see that people are becoming more aware of what they’re putting into their body and they’re more conscious of that, which excites me because I believe that’s what we need to create a healthier population. There are more health products online, fitness gurus, and free online workouts than we’ve ever had before. Information is not the issue; the issue is good people these days have a lack of self-awareness and a lack of responsibility to take care of their health. What I see is that some people are in many ways, frustrated with the current medical system and the treatments that are available, and they have seen better results doing things on their own outside the medical system, using alternative treatments. I’m most excited about the trend of people becoming more self-aware, more open-minded about alternative treatments, and becoming more responsible about taking care of their health and not just putting all the onus on their treating physician or whatever healthcare practitioners they are seeing.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
My biggest hack is that I get up at 5:30 a.m. every day. It’s certainly not something that only I do, but to me, that’s the thing that helps me be more productive during the day. I also I don’t eat too much throughout the day, which helps keep me focused. I use ketones, so I’m always in a state of ketosis, and that helps my overall brain function and my cognition and helps me make better decisions.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Slow down, and don’t act on anything too quickly. Let yourself digest the idea and your philosophy and wait to see if what you’re thinking is truly accurate, necessary, and can be helpful. Sometimes we tend to feel that we have this great idea or that something might help someone else. We’re eager to share this with the world, or with our friends. It’s important to digest what you’ve been saying to other people and think about what you could have done differently.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
Cannabis can lead to a healthier lifestyle. In the past, people always thought of cannabis as being something that is associated with people who are lazy. But in reality, when people start using cannabis, and they start seeing benefits, it opens up their frame of mind. Previously, people put full faith in traditional Western medicine and didn’t have an open mind to alternative treatments or healthy lifestyle factors. Once they see that cannabis is effective, then they understand that other lifestyle choices and alternative treatments may also be effective.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Every single morning, I write in my gratefulness journal. I also read from The Daily Stoic every morning, and then I usually do 10 minutes of heart rate variability training which is a form of meditation. Those three things I find help me be much more productive and help set my mind right for the day.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
I always focus on providing value. Every time I post on social media or meet someone person, I’m always thinking about whether I’m offering more value than what I’m getting. You can always provide more value to your clients, patients, customers and it’s always going to come back to you.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I think the biggest failure I’ve had as an entrepreneur is in the initial stages; I expected things to go smoother than they would in real life. To combat that I’ve used the practice of stoicism. Through practicing stoicism, I’ve learned not to expect things to go smoothly when you’re an entrepreneur and to expect obstacles, and then to look at those obstacles as a way to make yourself better and see it as an opportunity to grow versus something interfering with your business. The failure was that I didn’t have the correct mindset to start entrepreneurship when I started.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think that a lot of people these days and myself included, read a lot of books, and feel that they’re going to learn all these things from books. But in reality, you’re still going to have to learn from your own mistakes. I think a lot of people avoid making mistakes and believe that if they make a mistake, they’re not on the right path that they’re doing something wrong. A lot of the time making mistakes is just part of the overall process, and people might actually be on the right path, and it will eventually help them.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
A monthly supply of endogenous ketone supplements because it’s an incredible cognitive hack. If you feel that you need a little increase in overall brain power, but you don’t want to feel stimulated, like from caffeine, then it’s something that can automatically put your mind to a better state, and because your mind is in a better state, you can work more and be more productive.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday. I recommend it because I feel that it can give us a sense of certainty and a sense of order. I think there are a lot of people who feel like they’re lost, or lost in the chaos, and that they don’t have too much certainty in their life and that causes them a lot of stress and frustration. Reading from The Daily Stoic every day, they can become a little more centered and feel like they have a little more certainty in their life.
What is your favorite quote?
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.” – Bruce Lee
Key Learnings:
- Slow down, and don’t act on anything too quickly. Let yourself digest the idea and your philosophy and wait to see if what you’re thinking is truly accurate, necessary, and can be helpful.
- You can always provide more value to your clients, patients, customers and it’s always going to come back to you.
- Cannabis is an effective treatment on its own, but it’s much more effective when its combined with lifestyle factors and healthy lifestyle choices. That’s where people start to see the success with cannabis.
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Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.