Have you ever stared down a challenge so massive it felt like the universe was putting you to the test? What if, right there in the thick of it, you uncovered an unexpected gift? Jeffrey Saad wants you to get ready—because this conversation is going to shift your perspective in a way you won’t see coming.
When Jeffrey was diagnosed with throat cancer, it wasn’t just a health scare—it was the ultimate test. But instead of crumbling, he found something deeper. This isn’t just his story; it’s a masterclass in resilience, radical acceptance, and the power of mindset.
Jeffrey is not here to wear labels or dwell in victimhood. He’s here to share what it means to embrace life—every bit of it—even when it’s messy, painful, and uncertain. Because there’s beauty in the chaos, and peace is possible even in the middle of the storm. Remember that no matter what you’re facing, you do have a choice in how you respond. This isn’t just about cancer—it’s about the strength that lives inside all of us.
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Cancer And I Am Still The Luckiest Guy I Know
Embracing the Test: Cancer as a Journey, Not a Label
It is so good to have you back. For those of you who have tuned in before, I’m super grateful to have you back. For those of you who are joining, I am determined to leave you with something of value and leave you better than I found you. It is wild. I never thought I’d be able to say that maybe cancer is a gift. I have throat cancer.
The best thing about this whole thing is that it has given me the ultimate test of whether I can walk the walk. I believe so much in everything I say, all these philosophies I have, all this morning routine I’ve created, and all these ways of living the personal constitution. When you’re tested is when you find out whether it is a bunch of blah or does it work. I am so grateful and honored to say it works because I am so peaceful.
This is not, “I have cancer. I’m a victim.” You will never hear me say, “I’m a cancer survivor,” because that’s a label I’m not interested in. I don’t like labels in general. This is a moment in time. This is life. This is what happens. The people who love me, I’m so honored and grateful that they say, “Why you?” I think to myself, “Why not me? Why anybody?” It is what it is. That is the first way I approached this.
The story is wild. A few months ago, I woke up and I was spinning blood. I was like, “That’s not a good thing.” I go to the doctor, and sure enough, the second she looked in my mouth, she was like, “That’s throat cancer. I’m sorry. There’s no way around it.” She took a biopsy two days later and confirmed it. Here comes the scary part. They say, “We should get a CT scan for your chest and neck to make sure it hasn’t metastasized or spread.” They get the scans and say, “This is not good. Your neck is fine, but for some reason, it appears to be all over your chest.”
I then got a PET scan. They said, “The PET scan will confirm.” I get this PET scan, and my entire chest is lit up. Three different doctors said, “It’s cancer. It’s all over your chest. We don’t know what else it would be. It doesn’t make sense that it would be anything else. We need to schedule a biopsy so we can figure out what kind of cancer it is, so we can figure out what we’re going to do.”
This is where the test starts to come into play. I find this out, and I get on the phone. I’m in the car. It’s a rainy day. I still remember it. I’m crying. I’m talking to my daughter, my son, and my wife. We’re all crying. Coincidentally, I’m on the way to a podcast with this amazing human, Victoria Garrick. It’s called Real Pod. I love her. I love what she does. She is the most transparent, amazing woman who was an incredible athlete, and still is. She reached out to help so many people in this world.
I was scheduled to be on her podcast. I’m like, “There’s no way I’m not going to show up now. I need to walk the walk. I say I’m here to help other people. This is my goal, which is to spread joy in a twenty-foot radius wherever I go. I need to do it then.” I pulled over to CVS and got some Visine, breath mints, and some Kleenex. I took a minute.
It was maybe one of the most rewarding moments in my life because I had the love of my family. I sat there in my car with the rain hitting the roof. I’ve always said, “The true test of your life is that you can say, ‘If I die tomorrow, it’s okay.’ My last words will be, ‘Thank you,’ with a smile.” I looked in the rearview mirror at my red eyes and said, “I can do that.”
The combination of the way they made me feel about it, with the chest and what was going on, was a real moment of, “Could I die?” I said, “I will say thank you. I have checked the list. I have lived a life of no should-haves, would-haves, or could-haves. I’ve lived an authentic life of doing it, making it happen, and enjoying life.” It felt so good. I got this breath of fresh air. I went into the podcast. By all means, if you haven’t, please check that out on Real Pod. It was a great moment.
Here’s the good news. The good news is, my family and I had to live for three weeks thinking that I could be terminal stage four. This is crazy stuff all over the place. I go down into surgery and come out of surgery. The doctor is standing over me, and he goes, “It’s not cancer in your chest.” I’ll never forget that day the rest of my life because it was like the weight of the world lifted off of me.
All of a sudden, I’m super grateful to have throat cancer. I’m like, “This is cancer light. All I have is a tumor. Let’s bang this out.” It’s funny, but that’s a lesson in life in general. It takes the worst to make you grateful for the regular bad. Here I am with throat cancer. I’m doing my treatments. I have 35 days of radiation and 7 weeks of chemotherapy. Everything in life is about how you choose to look at it. The first thing I did was I said, “What are all the advantages to having cancer? What’s the best possible thing it could be?”
Sometimes it takes the worst of the worst to make you grateful for just the regular bad. Share on XThe tattoo on my wrist that says Amor Fati is a Stoic philosophy. Some people hope that nothing bad happens. Others will deal with it if it happens, but they’ll always be going, “Why me? Why did this happen?” The ultimate goal with Amor Fati is to not only accept what happens to you, but welcome it and believe that it’s meant to be, and it is part of your journey. That was my first moment of personal growth and success. I accepted that. I’m like, “If this is what I got, this is what I’m going to deal with.”
Top 10 Reasons Why I Think Cancer Is A Gift
I’ll share something with you. I said, “I’m going to do the top ten reasons why it’s great to have cancer. This is the way I want to look at it.” Number one, it’s temporary, no matter what. Whether it’s terminal or whether it’s getting cured, it’s temporary. Think about all the people in this world who suffer through personal handicaps and challenges that are forever.
Number two, when I thought I couldn’t love my family and life anymore, I did. I haven’t left anything on the table, and yet the depth of love as my family has come together has been unbelievable. Number three, I get to meet an entirely new group of amazing humans who save lives. Sure enough, that’s exactly what’s come to fruition with the treatment. Every day, I am going into these buildings and seeing the number of people working hard to save lives and be of service.
Number four, it’s a reminder of how blessed we are to have such a high level of care right here. I live in Los Angeles. Ten minutes away is Cedars-Sinai, one of the greatest cancer institutions on earth. I had the privilege of meeting the tumor board and the people at UCLA for a second opinion. These are amazing humans and amazing doctors right here at our fingertips.
Number five, another opportunity to be reminded how lucky I am to have a life. You’re not in a perfect world. It doesn’t have to be taken away for you to appreciate it. That’s what I’m proud of. On the same token, it’s a moment to go, “How lucky am I to even be alive?” The next one is discomfort is a healthy reminder of how comfortable I normally am. Normally, the challenges are, “What should I cook today? What am I going to eat? My neck is a little sore from working out.” It makes you appreciate it so much. The discomfort is a gift. I’m going to get through this, and I’m going to be even more grateful for health and for the daily ease of life that normally exists.
Discomfort is a gift because I’m going to get through this and become even more grateful for my health and the daily ease of life that normally exists. Share on XThe next one, which this whole show is about, is that I get to practice what I preach at a high level. This is an amazing opportunity to not just be spewing at you guys every week about all these life philosophies and the circle of control, but to practice it at the highest level. It has been an incredible challenge and incredibly rewarding.
The next one, I may be lucky enough to inspire someone else to deal with big obstacles. If you’re out there reading and you have cancer, some fatal disease, or some challenge or sickness, let me know because there’s nothing I want more than to help you get through what you’re going through. Another one, I’ll have a great last chapter for my book coming out. My lifetime real estate coach, Steve Shull, and I are writing a book on mindset. It’s so ironic that we’re almost done with the book, and here I have this cancer. What a great last chapter. What a great way to solidify the importance of mindset in your life.
The last one I put, and this is when I thought it was going to be a lot worse, is if it is the end, how lucky am I that I can get things in order and make sure my family is set? That was huge for me because the people who get taken from us with no notice, I can’t imagine what that’s like. You don’t even get a chance to say goodbye. You don’t even get a chance to get things in order. My family is my driving force. To know that I can set them up for success is everything to me.
Focusing On The Circle Of Control
That was my top ten. In addition to that, what have I done? I have focused on the circle of control. That’s what this whole show is about. What is in my control? I’m very proud to say I have not Googled once in this whole two-month process, because I know that’s going to be things outside my circle of control. They’re going to create anxiety and worry, like, “Could it be that? This says that.” You go into this rabbit hole. I didn’t Google one thing.
What is in my circle of control? It is to listen to the doctors, be a good patient, and do my full routine. It is unbelievable how many things have to go into place. One is nutrition. I’m cutting back on sugar. I’m eating the healthiest stuff while I can still chew this. I’m in week two, starting week three soon. Supposedly, it gets towards the smoothie zone because you can’t chew and swallow as well. The throat gets bad.
Diet is what I can affect. I hired a trainer back who I used to have. I’ve always worked out six days a week, but now, I’ve hired a trainer. I’m going super hard with this guy. I had an hour and a half of sleep. It’s like getting a third-degree sunburn in your throat with this radiation. I got up anyway. I went to the trainer anyway. I’m determined to come out of cancer more ripped and healthy than when I went in. It’s that physicality that not only is going to keep me focused on something motivating, but it is going to help my body heal and recover.
I’m sober. For all of you that are sober out there, I am so honored to have a page in your book because there’s a magic to it. I’ve always gotten up early at 5:00 or 5:30. I’ve always done my morning routine. I realize that there were some mornings I was doing it out of oomph. I was pushing myself through it. Now that I’m sober, I get up twice as clear. Sobriety has helped to offset the diminishing qualities of the body from cancer. That’s been an incredible opportunity. That’s in my circle of control.
I’m riding my motorcycle to what I call my healing rays session. Words matter. How you frame this matters. I have it in my calendar as healing rays. I’m not calling it radiation, I’m calling it healing rays. It’s the way you look at everything. When I lay on that table and they put this mask on me, and they clip it down to the table, you want to get claustrophobic. What I do is I go into meditation. All these years of meditation have saved me.
Words matter. How you frame your situation matters. Share on XI picture that I’m a superhero. I’m the sun walker. I am being injected with these healing rays. I believe that I can go hug anybody and heal them. That’s what’s running through my body. That has made it so much more invigorating and easier to tolerate than looking at it as radiation, chemotherapy, and this heaviness. I’m riding my motorcycle there so that I can feel normal until I can’t.
My amazing wife is taking good care of me. My daughter’s in town. My son’s here. I have amazing friends. To all of you and to any of you tuning in, I love you and I’m so grateful for you. I’m determined, for as long as I can, to be as normal as I can until I need help, and then I’ll take it.
Another thing that’s in my circle of control is on the bathroom mirror, which some of you may know from past episodes, my wife and I have always made these love notes. The tattoo on my arm of us hugging with a heart, I’ve written that on the mirror for her for years. I finally got a tattoo of it. We’re always leaving each other little notes.
I created this huge note on my side of the mirror with the countdown of days of the healing rays, the chemo, and motivating notes for myself that say, “I will survive. I will thrive. I will heal. I want to be very clear. For throat cancer, it has a 90% success rate. They’ve got this down. How blessed am I that even when something bad happens, it is the good version of bad? The tumor is already shrinking after two weeks. I can see it.
My wife leaves me notes back like, you’ve got this. It’s going to be a great day.” It was the first day of healing rays. We have all this love fest going on in the mirror. I look at that every morning when I wake up. The first thing I do is brush my teeth, look in that mirror, and go, “It’s going to be a great day.” I see that on there, and I’m watching the countdown.
It’s wild, too, because everything I have practiced has come into play to serve me perfectly through this cancer. My wife and I are active realtors. One of my philosophies from some of the past episodes is my triangle of a perfect life. The base of that pyramid is bringing your best self, which is what this show is about. One side of the pyramid is high skills, like being excellent in whatever it is you choose to do.
The other side of the pyramid is high standards. If you have great skill and you show up as your best self, but you have low standards, you try to do too much for too many people to make a buck or whatever it is. Everything’s going to crumble. The center of that is optimism. It was Atomic Habits that said optimism is a performance-enhancing drug. I love that way of saying it because it’s true. If you don’t believe something can happen, then you sure don’t have a chance. If I don’t expect to heal, that makes the healing a lot harder.
If you don't believe something can happen, then you certainly don't have a chance. Share on XI am focused on that pyramid. High standards, high skills, and best self. What that has allowed us to do is I’m still showing up every day, working all day, going to listing appointments, and showing houses. We have that efficient model set up because we’re not working with anybody and everybody. We’re only working with people who are a good fit, who we believe want our help, and whom we can help. It allows me to still be successful while filling in my days with all these doctor’s appointments, procedures, and everything else.
Choosing Response & Mindset
When you’ve built your life in a way that makes it efficient and doable, and you have plenty of time built in for the things you love, work will fill the space given. I choose to only give it the space that allows me to pursue my passions, enjoy my life, enjoy my family, and give more than I take. That is serving me through this cancer because I have extra hours every day. When I’m getting those healing rays injected into me, meditation has saved me. Otherwise, it’s very easy to get worked up. You’re not supposed to move. You can’t swallow. The rays will hit the wrong place. That meditation has made me so peaceful.
My morning routine is serving me more than ever. Before, it made my life great. Now, it’s saving me because it’s giving me the extra dose of mindset that I need to get through all this. It is choosing my response and thinking about myself as a superhero being injected with healing powers instead of all the other negative things I could say and going to such victim places.
Choosing your response, which is what we talk about in this episode, is the most beautiful thing. We don’t control what happens in life. Nobody. You don’t get to control it. You might think you do. You can do all your business plans, set up everything, and say, “Here’s how it’s going to be.” A lot of it may happen the way you plan it, but a lot of it won’t. Most of it won’t, and usually, not the way you think it’s going to happen.
Your ability to be light on your feet, adapt, and adjust to whatever happens because you get to choose your response is gold. That’s what I’m experiencing. I’m getting to choose my response. I’m not getting weighed down. I’m not negative. I’m not heavy. My goal is to spread joy in a twenty-foot radius wherever I go. Expect the best and react well to the worst. It is incredible how walking the walk has been so rewarding. We are leaving in June 2025 for Europe. I’m planning on being cancer-free and in great shape.
Unfortunately, here we are at the end of week two. I can’t taste anything. I’m a chef. I live for food, and I can’t taste anything. It is almost justification for suicide. If you can’t taste bacon, you guys can understand that. It is crazy. I cook up this stuff because in my head, I’m thinking about these flavors. I sear the steak off, make these roasted potatoes, and do this beautiful chimichurri, but I taste nothing.
What could I do? I could say, “Poor me. I’m a chef. This isn’t fair. I can’t taste it.” What I’m saying is I’m going to mind-taste the crap out of everything. I am going to think in my head about every flavor combination that I’m going to create when my tastes are back. I’m still going to make it my ultimate challenge to cook for the ones I love.
My daughter is seeing this new guy. He’s going to come over for dinner. I’m going to cook up a storm. My goal is going to be to bring joy through my mind tasting, even though I’m not going to be able to taste it myself. I’m looking at it as an opportunity to elevate my other senses. I took a walk with my daughter. I’m smelling the lavender, the flowers, and the trees. I’m looking at the beautiful blue sky.
I’m going to work harder than ever to be as present as possible and take in all the other senses because I’m not going to have taste for a while. They say 6 to 9 months. I’m going to expect the best. Maybe I’ll get it back in two months. I’m going to set a record. If it takes a year, then it’s going to be a year. I’m going to deal with it and react well to the worst.
Those are some of my little cancer highlights. I hope that you can constantly work to stay in the circle of control. Remember, the circle of control is the thing you can affect. That’s why I have this tattoo. Anything that comes up in your life, whatever it is, there are no exceptions. Ask yourself, “Can I affect this? What can I do to have an impact on this?” If you have an answer, then do that and be inspired while you’re doing it. Make a change in the world. If you can’t make an impact or you’re not willing to, then you have to trust that it’s outside your circle. Let it go because then your circle will grow.
Focus on what you can control. As your circle grows, so does your impact—and eventually, all our circles begin to overlap and change the world. Share on XThis endless irony that I want to reinforce sounds selfish. It’s like, “It’s only me and my circle.” It’s not, because when you’re focused on the circle of control, you keep making your life better, which makes the lives of those around you better, which makes your circle and their circle keep expanding. Sooner or later, all those circles will overlap with each other around the world, and we’ll have a better place to be. It’ll be a better life. If you’re focused on all those things outside the circle, they’re going to keep putting pressure on the circle. They’re going to crumble it. They’re going to squeeze it and potentially collapse it.
We went and saw Eckhart Tolle. I love that guy. The Power of Now, if you haven’t read it, is the most important book to read. It’s honestly the only book that you ever have to read if you want to show up as your best self and have a great life. It is a wild concept that all that ever matters is the moment. You never have more than one thing on your to-do list, the thing in front of you. You never have more than one person to think about, the person in front of you.
You never have anything else going on with what’s happening. When you do that, anxiety and depression are gone. Anxiety and depression only come as a result of the gap between here and wherever it is that your head’s at that’s not here. Keep that in mind. I love you all. I am so grateful for the support. Have a beautiful day. Enjoy that circle.