Volume 1, Number 41 • December 2011

Habit #41:
Deepen Your Connections
I’m writing this in my car. (I always thank God for giving me a driver. With today’s traffic, I am more productive.)
Today, I’m going to my small group meeting for business mentors. We’re only seven in the group. These are
men who are extremely wealthy and yet want to follow God. We meet almost every week, sharing our lives together.
But that’s not my only small group.
All in all, I lead six of these small groups, composed of all sorts of people from all walks of life.
Let me describe my small groups: I lead three small groups composed of the top leaders in my ministry. I lead
another one as my way of reaching out to people involved in showbiz. And my favorite of all, I lead another small
group at home, composed of my three helpers and my driver.
I love small groups because I love relationships.
I believe life is about deep connections with others. If you don’t have them, you don’t have life.
Obviously, I still lead one more small group: my wife and two boys. This is the small group that gives me the
most joy! And I lead it fulltime.
Recently, I met an old man who didn’t have deep connections with people. He stays at home with a maid taking
care of him. Family members rarely visit him.
With pain in his voice, he told me, “Brother Bo, I want to die.” He said that every day, he prayed to God,
“Please take me…” I felt so sad for him.
The greatest hunger in the world isn’t for food but for love. And our bodies know if we’re starving for love.
Loneliness is a very physical thing.
By the way, the loneliest people I’ve met in my life are married people who live with their spouses under one
roof yet are emotionally disconnected from each other.
God never intended us to live that way!
God never designed us to lack love. That’s why a hunger for love will make you spiritually, emotionally, and
physically sick.
I can never overemphasize this point: Many medical studies have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that
those with positive social relationships have fewer health problems.
Do you have deep, satisfying, happy connections with people?
It’s quite simple to understand that those people who have satisfying relationships with co-workers, neighbors,
friends, and family are known to live happier lives. And happiness simply makes you healthy.
The opposite is true for people whose social connections are negative. People who lack social ties with family
and friends end up living depressed lives and go in decline earlier. A study found that people who lack strong social
relationships increased their risk of early death by 50 percent!
This is almost the same risk percentage as those who smoke 15 cigarettes a day.
The lack of love is a very physical thing!

Disclaimer:
Neither the author, the publisher nor any of their respective affiliates make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using this Report.
No reader should make any health decision without first consulting his or her own personal physician and conducting his or her own research and due diligence. To the
maximum extent permitted by law, the author, the publisher and their respective affiliates disclaim any and all liability in the event that any information, commentary,
analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendation in this book proves to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable or result in any detrimental health condition.

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 Volume 1, Number 41 • December 2011

What Makes Deep Connections Healthy?

Deepening your connections should rank up there together with healthy eating and exercise as an important
investment in your health!
Biggest reason: Our connections help us cope with stress.
Positive relationships can help us survive a rough day.
But it’s not just a one-way street.
Yes, having someone you can turn to for emotional support can do much to buffer the effects of stress. But it’s
not just the comfort we receive from other people that heals you. It’s the comfort you give to others that heals you too.
(This is biblical: You receive more of what you give away.) When you feel that you’re useful to your loved ones, you’re
less likely to suffer from chronic illnesses.
Let me simplify it for you. When you receive love, you get healthier. When you love others, you get healthier
too.
Here are three physical benefits of love…

1. Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease

Be forewarned. Among adults with coronary artery diseases, those who had very minimal connections were
2.4 times more likely to suffer from cardiac death.
Isn’t that scary?
You almost triple your chances of a heart attack.
Here’s my conclusion: Not having deep connections with people is as dangerous to your health as eating
bulalo, aligue, crispy pata, and lechon every day.

2. Boosts Your Immune System

Our immune system slows down and gets weak when social connections are low. When we don’t invest much
in connecting with others, our immune functions are impaired, deeply affecting our health.
Aside from being at higher risk of dying early, those whose social connections are low in quantity or quality
are also known to develop cardiovascular disease, myocordial infarctions, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, cancer
and even delayed cancer healing.
The support from family and friends can actually boost our body’s immune, cardiovascular and endocrine
functions.
For example, medical research has shown that a happy marriage can increase the rate that wounds heal. The
body’s ability to heal itself speeds up when a married couple gives each other support when one is injured.
At the opposite end, couples who end up divorced damage their physical health. Statistics have found that
divorced people end up with 20 percent more chronic health conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer, than
happily married couples.

3. Improve Body Organ Functions

When people feel love, the brain produces powerful neurotransmitters.

Being close to a loved one helps the brain, the heart and improve the function of other body organs.
When we feel love from those we’re connected with, our body releases a lot of oxytocin, a hormone that
stimulates dopamine. When this happens, our stress hormones go down and our blood pressure goes down.

Put Love in Your Calendar

Do you want to be healthier?

I have a very important assignment for you.

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 Volume 1, Number 41 • December 2011

Are you ready?

Get your annual calendar. Whether that be an appointment book, a desk calendar, wall calendar, or a computer
program—just do it. Personally, I use Google Calendar (I love it). I can access it from any computer, as long as I’m
connected to the Internet.
Why am I asking you to get your calendar?
I want you to put love in your schedules for the year.
How?
Fill it up with family dates.
For example, my entire year is already booked. I’ve got it all written down.
First of all, I jotted down the non-negotiable items of my life that are necessary for fulfilling my sacred mission
in life.
For example?
Weekly date with my wife.
Weekly date with my two sons.
Weekly date with my mother.
Weekly family date with siblings.
Weekly family date with my in-laws.
Weekly dates with my friends and fellow-leaders.
Weekly small groups.
I also put my vacations with family and friends.
(Side Bonus: If you plan your vacations way in advance, you can buy really cheap plane tickets online!)
But the real bonus is this: You’re able to design your life.
Here’s what I’ve learned… If you’re not going to design your future, someone else will. Oh, believe me, other
people have many designs for your life—and these things may not be what God wants you to do!
I lead 21 organizations.
Can you imagine how many people want to meet with me?
I’m also a speaker. Can you imagine how many groups and companies want me to speak to them?
But by planning ahead, I’m able to protect my relationships. This practice has given me great returns. Not only
because my relationships are deep, but also because my health is strong.
Go do it.
Deepen your connections.
And be healthy in body too!

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

P.S. Next week, I’ll talk about the importance of healthy teeth. And two weeks from now, I’ll talk about how you
should NEVER do what 90 percent of working people do when they hit 60 or 65… Watch for it!
P.S2. One of the members of our 52 Healing Habits wrote to me. She said that her health has vastly improved since
she applied 60 percent of the Habits. Once upon a time, she’d get sick very often. Now, she rarely does. She feels so
healthy! She said her diet is now focused on fruits in the morning and lots of veggies for lunch and dinner. Though
she said she still eats chicken and she still loves her sweets. But I told her that 60 percent is a great start! Oh, I love
receiving letters like this. It encourages me so much.
Not yet joined 52HealingHabits Program? Join at www.52HealingHabits.com now!

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