VIC STRECHER

Life On Purpose:

How Living for What Matters Most

Changes Everything

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.

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About Vic

Vic Strecher PhD MPH is a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health and Director for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. For over two decades Vic Strecher has been a leader and visionary in the fields of health and well-being, creating new solutions that operate at the intersection of the science of behavior change and advanced technology.

A noted researcher and successful entrepreneur, Vic has cultivated a passion for connecting academic research to practical applications. In 1998, Vic created Health Media pioneering Web-based “digital health coaching.” The company set a new benchmark for scalable, lifestyle and condition management program delivery. Health Media was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2008.

In late 2014, Vic founded Kumanu (formerly JOOL Health) as a major paradigm shift in how individuals engage in the pursuit of well-being while offering organizations a more insightful means to support positive, healthy change. Vic and his work have recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, WIRED, the Chicago Tribute, and at TEDMED and TEDX events. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife Jeri.

Endorsements

New York Times bestselling author of The Spectrum

“Purpose and meaning are at the heart of healing. If you have time to read only one book on what brings health and happiness this year, this is it.”

Dean Ornish, M.D.

Director of Women's Heart
Health at the Heart and
Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City

"Vic Strecher provides insight and understanding on how living a purposeful life fills our hearts, not only with a sense of true fulfillment, but with a substantial mechanism to reduce heart disease and stroke by
as much as 27 percent. Living with purpose in today’s world is no
longer a choice, it is a true call
to action, for all of us."

Suzanne

Steinbaum, M.D.

New York Times bestselling author of Search Inside Yourself

"Studies show that people who live with purpose lead longer, happier lives. Studies also show that people don’t listen to studies because they are usually boring. Victor Strecher makes the science of purpose come alive and shows how we can all find motivation, peace, and contentment by understanding the power of purpose and how to find it for ourselves."

Chade-Meng Tan

President of the American College of Preventive Medicine

"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."

Robert Carr, M.D.

Cofounder of the Human Performance Institute
and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Power
of Full Engagement

"Brilliant blend of personal experience and scientific research. The authenticity of Strecher’s message provides stunning insights into
life’s most compelling mysteries
and questions."

Dr. Jim Loehr

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
for Photography

"Life on Purpose is in fact a must-read for anyone seeking a meaningful life. This is an inspired work, extraordinarily personal, accessible, credible, and practical. And with Life on Purpose, you will find peace and happiness through your own greater developed sense of purpose."

David Turnley

On Purpose: Lessons in Life and Health from the Frog, the Dung Beetle, and Julia is life transforming journey through ancient and modern philosophy, literature, psychology, neuroscience, and Egyptology. Along the way, Vic Strecher was introduced to an unlikely role model: a six-legged superhero whose unique relationship with a ball of excrement forever altered his outlook. Part self-help guide, college lecture, confessional, and time-travel adventure all rolled into one, On Purpose uses a beautiful, fantasy-fueled, graphic novel format to tell a story of self-discovery and personal growth you'll never forget.