WARNING: If you are involved or will be involved in the medical field, this episode may alter your future aspirations... CNN Hero Dr. Ben LaBrot began working on fishing boats in California at age 11 and always knew that he was destined to live at sea. In 2009, he began refurbishing a 76-foot-long fishing boat and named it The Southern Wind. A year later, Dr. Ben and his penniless team left EVERYTHING behind and set sail to Haiti to cure the poor. “My high school counselor never told me that these kinds of jobs and solutions existed,” he said. So he created a nonprofit organization and called it the Floating Doctors.  “I pushed all my chips in the center of the table. I was all in,” he said. Upon arrival, Dr. Ben LaBrot said to himself, “I’m about to find out if this works or if I just wasted a whole lot of everyone’s time, money, and resources.” For years, they endured endless delays, storms, 18-hour workdays, not being able to afford the light bills, and living in poverty (eating baked bread was the highlight of their week) as they provided free healthcare for people in remote coastal regions. “I never envisioned that I’d be this poor for this long," he said. Yet for Dr. Ben, “if you do what you love and you have enough to eat and a roof over your head, you’ll be happy even if you’re poor. I’ve since tested that for the last ten years and found it to be true.” Dr. Benjamin LaBrot is a physician, social entrepreneur, and true inspiration. He is a man who is living out his dream and destiny, each and every day of his life. When reflecting back on the experience, he says, “When you’re choosing your work, don’t think about what you’re going to get paid for it. Think about what you’re going to become because of it. And choose accordingly. Because remember, we only get one lifetime. Make it count.” The Floating Doctors have treated more than 60,000 patients in Haiti and Central America.  Best quotes: “Sometimes I lie awake at night wondering about challenges and future. But I never worry about the big questions. I’ve never woken up to wonder if I’m just wasting my time. I’ve never had to ask myself, should I be doing something more meaningful? Should I follow my dream and get out of this cubicle instead?” “Our lights are going to be turned off tomorrow because we don’t have any money.” “It was a continual emergency. Day after day after day.” “There is something to be said for doing your watch from 2-4am when it’s just you and a sleeping boat… and hopefully a calm ocean.” “You have to maintain a culture aboard your ship of IF ONE OF US GOES DOWN, WE ALL GO DOWN.” “The ocean doesn’t care what you WANT or INTENDED to do. The only thing the ocean respects is what you DID do.” “I could be a plastic surgeon or be making more money doing general practice. But my commute even on a bad day is still better than sitting in traffic.” “When was the last time you went on a giant, hollowed out tree to work?” “Unfortunately, they say to themselves, I’ll do the dream later. Then they look back and realize they blew it. Their one chance. We get one lifetime. No more. No less. Just one.” “If you do what you love and you have enough to eat and a roof over your head, you’ll be happy even if you’re poor. I’ve since tested that for the last ten years and found it to be true.” “It sometimes turns out to have been a mistake to climb the mountain. But it is always a mistake to have never made the attempt.” “My high school counselor never told me that these kinds of jobs and solutions existed.” “Almost anything can be done in a way that allows you to still have a family and a life, even if it means you have to work very hard to figure out how to do that.” Reading List by Dr. Ben LaBrot Anything written by Neil