Transcript of Episode 580: Plastic Surgery, Comparison, and the Hidden Cost of Chasing Perfection

Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. Welcome to Habits and Hustle, where I sit down with the biggest thinkers, entrepreneurs, athletes, and experts to uncover the habits, strategies, and mindset shifts that actually move the needle on your health, happiness, and success. And today on this solo episode, we are talking about plastic surgery. It has become more normalized, more accessible, and more visible than ever. We watch people document facelifts, nose jobs, injectables, and cosmetic procedures in real time, which can make major medical decisions feel as casual as booking a facial. But behind the polished before and after photos, there can be real complications, long recoveries, and the uncomfortable reality that fixing one insecurity may only give you another one to focus on. So in this episode, I share how social media, filters, Zoom, and the fact that we are constantly seeing our own faces in photos and on video is changing the way we view ourselves and why cosmetic procedures may not fix the insecurity underneath them. What people should understand about the risks and recovery and why a surgeon's popularity online does not necessarily make them the best person for the job.

Before diving in, if you're listening right now and you've gotten somewhere or something out of this show, do me a big favor. Give please hit subscribe if you haven't already and leave a review of your own. I really appreciate those. I read every single one of them and it really makes a difference on getting the show to more people. So with that being said, let's dive in. Welcome, welcome, welcome back to another episode of Habits and Hustles. Solo Edition, where I am joined by my, uh, friend and foil, friend and colleague, Shani Suissa. Shani Suissa. Yes, yes, yes. But before we go into this episode, I will love to remind people, if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, please do so. It makes a massive difference in the algorithm and all these things that are on the back end that I had no idea about. So for the last 7 years, I've been remiss in telling people. So if, uh, you have not yet, please, uh, please hit the button and also share it with your friends because that makes a massive difference. So thank you very much.

And if you're listening to this, there's all the video episodes up on YouTube, which you can subscribe to Jenna's channel on there as well.

Thank you, Shawnee.

You're welcome.

On these solos, typically what we do is we do— we— if you have not, if you're just joining us or haven't listened to any episodes, what we do in these solos is we kind of just explore hot takes. Like, it's very much like a conversation. And today I want to talk about that. And also, I should say, conversations that are kind of in these aiguilles that are kind of trending, that are kind of like happening in real time a lot. And the one thing that I really want to talk to you about, Shani, because we talked about it, we kind of touched upon it in another solo, but we didn't really get into it. And I'm sure a lot of you guys who are on social media and just kind of like in the world, in the world, just living out there, right? Living out there. A really big thing that I'm noticing a huge uptick in is plastic surgery. I mean, I remember like when I was a kid, if anyone got anything done, it was a humongous secret. Nobody talked about it. It was definitely not like video. It was definitely not like talked about and videotaped and shown in real time when someone's getting their face lifted.

Right. Come with me. I got a facelift. Yeah.

Or like, I'm talking to 9 doctors. Look at this. Like, I've never seen such a, such a craziness in something like this. It's one of these things that I think is trending and upticking. And I know why. I think it's because everyone is comparing themselves to other people. It's because of the— we're in the world of video and Zoom. And I know myself, 'cause now I'm, I'm on social, obviously I do this podcast. I, I'm, I see myself constantly. So you see every imperfection, everything. And it's, I understand that it's so consuming and it's really easy to go down that rabbit hole. But I also believe, and I shouldn't say but, and I also believe like whatever happened to being happy with what God gave you and kind of just enhance, like, you know, kind of being natural. Right. And I understand it cuz I'm like now in this age, right? Like I'm middle-aged and I'm like, oh shit. Like look at my, look at my face and my face is falling and I, I never liked my nose and I didn't do this. But like, I'm just fearful, to be honest.

Yeah.

But you said something that—

As you should be.

As I should be. Because you said something that was really important. And I want you to say that again, because you said that kind of like in a, in a passing moment, which I think people can, people can possibly, people should hear that. Please say it again.

Well, I, you know, I said that, you know, I got my nose done. I got a nose job and I, you know, I think—

How long ago? Like recently?

A couple of years ago.

Yeah.

And I, you know, I didn't do much to it. It's not like we took down like a crazy amount, but I, I don't feel like it changed my face like astronomically to the point where the cost that it has cost me were worth it because I had a lot of complications. You know, I had a massive septum perforation left in my, in my septum, which is just a huge hole in my septum from the first surgery. And I had to get that fixed. I also had my turbinates reduced as well because I had a rhinoplasty, septoplasty, and a turbinate reduction.

People don't know what those are. Basically what happens—

rhinoplasty is the outside. Septoplasty is fixing the septum. So it's deviated. They fix that. But when they fix the deviated septum, they don't actually make it straight. They just cut out the crooked part and put the, the tissue on top of it and hope it heals. Mine did not. It healed with a perforation. And then I had a turbinate reduction, which is there's these little flaps inside of your nose that are called turbinates, and they help create what's called turbinate airflow, which warms up your air, humidifies it before it goes to your throat. And one of the reasons why I originally even got the surgery was because my breathing was so bad and I was having to mouth breathe so much. And so I always had like strep throat and tonsillitis and just so many annoying throat conditions. And the surgery left me with honestly more complications than I had originally. My breathing has been more labored. It's a lot harder for me to breathe. I now, because my nose is smaller, I have smaller canals, which is already also an issue. And I don't think I should have gotten my turbinates reduced at all, which is something nobody should ever actually do.

And I really encourage people to never do it.

My sister, by the way, got a nose job when she was like 16, like really young. And she's never breathed properly since.

Yeah.

So what I, this is, this is—

And I have a lot of friends who also are in the same situation. Okay.

This is, this is the part that I really wanted to focus on is the fact that we all see and hear about all the wonderful things. Like, oh yeah. Like people are like, go Queen, if it makes you feel better. Yeah. Go for it. But no one ever talks about like the other potentials, like the complications that can happen or like how much does it really make a difference? Right? Like, like does it, does it really, like you just said earlier, like, you know what? Yeah. Like, does it make you that much more beautiful because you got the nose?

It did not turn me into a straight Victoria's Secret model. Like, that was not the— but I also didn't get like a dramatic one, you know what I mean? Like, I think maybe there are different—

You did actually, by the way. Yeah, but not very different.

But not compared to what the— like, I had consults with people who wanted to like chop it off. Like, they wanted to go like little button nose.

Have you looked in the mirror?

Yeah, but have you seen other nose jobs?

You're not as nose strong.

Have you seen— but Jen, it's still quite— a nose. Have you seen people from Turkey who come in? It's still downturned. I'm not like, I love you, but you're also not looking at my face like I'm looking at my face. I've been to doctors, like, this is the whole thing. There are people who wanted to literally go and do this.

Oh, you mean do a slope?

Yeah, or like a button nose, or this. So many people get like— there are different doctors will do different things, and that's really important for people to know because a lot of doctors have different aesthetics, and you have to understand the doctor that you're going to. And you know, I did do a significant amount of research, not enough, not enough. You need to do way more, and you need to make sure that the person you're going to has both the aesthetic understanding of what it is you're looking for and also the internal, like, functions of your organs to make sure that you're not messing things up in the long run.

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my anatomy, like, I think I needed a bigger nose, you know what I mean? Yeah, no, for my face, it's visually, I like it.

Yeah, visually happy with that.

But I don't know that it's worth the, the like health things it's caused me.

Well, listen, at the end of the day, this is what I would— I want to talk about, like, like where, at what point, because you're just, you're just one person who, who's had that experience, right? I'm just more curious, like where, again, where is this line drawn? Like, does it really— I like maybe, I don't know, this is just me like talking and riffing with you, like How much does it really make a difference?

You know what I mean?

Like, that's what I'm curious because, like, I don't like my nose either. Maybe I should get— I'm too scared of a needle. Not a needle. I am scared of needles too, but of going out. Like, the thing is, like, this is a thing. If I didn't have to be out for the count afterwards for 6 weeks because I need to exercise for my mental health, like, that's the thing. Maybe I would have gotten my nose done. I just didn't want to, like, have that downtime.

I'm still swollen years later. I went to a dermatologist just last week for my laser facial, which is why I'm healing. And it's literally— literally, he was like, you're still very swollen.

Really?

Yeah.

How long has it been?

Two years. It was 2 years.

And you're still swollen?

Yeah, but that— it takes like time. Like, I mean, obviously not the same that I was swollen, you know, from the first year of surgery, but it takes time. Like, these things are— you're, you're going in and really like messing with your body, and people don't understand the severity of that.

Because that's the thing, right? Everyone's so flippant. They're like, yeah, just go get your nose done, it's no big deal, like, you'll be fine, like, just go. Or let's just go get your boobs done, or just go get your face. Not casual. Like, people are like making it sound like a facelift is like literally going to Starbucks for a latte, right?

I'm like, not casual.

Yeah. I'm like, um, that seems not so casual. Seems like very, very invasive and scary.

Even this laser facial, which like they were like zero downtime, zero downtime, zero downtime. Then I get the instructions for aftercare and it's like stay out of the sun for 2 weeks, do this, do that. Like that's not zero downtime.

What kind of facial?

Zero downtime is I can go and do every single thing that I was just doing before and look exactly the same. But downtime is different for people. Like, everybody, everybody talks about it in different ways. And I think you have to get really specific about what that's gonna look like for you. But I just would really caution people. I don't think people shouldn't do it. You know, I think that my situation could have been prevented by a number of different ways. I just think you really wanna do a lot of research on your doctor. Don't go to the cheapest person. Don't go to someone who's gonna save you money. Never consider cost. And if cost is a heavy factor for you, then don't do it. Wait till you can actually afford to go to someone who's not gonna mess you up. I mean, genuinely, it's one of those things don't cheap out on, you know, a lot of people try and like, they'll go here, they'll go— just don't. Just go to someone good.

But the problem is though, Shawnee, because now it's become so popular like that, the prices have also skyrocketed. So something that maybe would have cost $8,000 right now costs $20,000. So that's why you said earlier, people are like flying to Turkey like by the droves. There's all these funny pictures I'm seeing of like the planes full of people with their hair transplants, with like the bandages all over their faces and heads because of all the different things happening. So I mean, or they're going to Tijuana or wherever in Mexico to get these things done. But like, I guess my point is a little bit different than what you're saying, and that is that like, you know, I think beauty comes from like, if you— from within. Like, if you are someone who is confident and carries yourself a certain way and is like happy with who you are and what you look like, that's really hot. I do think so. I don't know.

I mean, yes and no. I think that I think it depends on the scenario. There's some people who I've seen and I'm like, yeah, you really needed that. Like, listen, I'm like, that really helped you. Like, that's like night and day, game changer. Like, that's crazy.

The caveat to what I'm saying is I am not begrudging anyone. I, like I said, I'm, I'm putting myself out there saying if I wasn't such a scaredy cat, I probably would have done something by now. But I'm just a scaredy cat. And so I chose to focus on how to do the best I can with what I was given.

Which is honestly great. And I think that we need more examples of that because it's kind of like just become non-existent.

But it's hard. We're living in a time when like you keep on, we get constantly reminded of like, oh, and like it's, it plays psychological tricks on us. Like we think, oh, you mean you could just get a facelift and you'll be good to go like in a few days? No, you will not be good to go. We should be, people should be a little bit more upfront upfront and honest about what the possible complications and, like, what the downtime is. And, like, in, like, real life, who has all this ability to have downtime and not do anything for weeks on end?

I mean, humans were not built to see themselves. We were not created to see our reflections. We were not created to see our own outer casings. We just were not, you know? And cameras and mirrors and all of these things are modern inventions that have honestly really degraded our own personal self-love. And I think that like a lot of people, you know, had we been born in the 1800s, would be considered quite beautiful human beings.

I think I'm also probably just stating things too Pollyannically, like, oh yeah, why don't we just love the way we look? I'm not trying to sound that way. If I do, I apologize. No, no, no, I get what you're saying because I don't mean it that way. I really don't.

But I think, but I think we would be like that and able to do what you're saying more if we just didn't have like these, you know, cameras and these angles. It's like, We were not meant to know what we look like from the back of our head.

No, I think this is what I think. I think pre-COVID, when you didn't have— we weren't forced to stare at each other on Zoom and we didn't have social media to the extent we have it. And all these things, like there was a reason why it wasn't like, it wasn't like everyone and their dog running to get surgery. Like people that you would never expect, people who are dropped dead, even beautiful.

I can't believe I even did it. I was such a, like, I was so against it for so long. I was scared. And I also just thought it was crazy. You know what someone said to me also was kind of around COVID time too, but like Snapchat filters, which was maybe before.

Yeah.

Snapchat filters and then FaceApp and all the face filters. Like a lot of doctors say that people come in with like filtered examples or AI or whatever now. And they're like, I want this, you know, done to me. So, you know, that's definitely, I think, taken a toll, but it's also become way more accessible now for people.

Well, way more accessible.

Way more accessible. Everybody and their mother. Like, I mean, it's just not even funny how accessible it is.

How many people do you—

There's a med spa on every corner in this city.

That was what I was going to say. I don't— but by the way, that could just be in L.A., New York, Miami. Of course, these med spas are popping up like, like Starbucks.

But it's so— but med spas also in other cities all over the world. But like, but med— no, there's a million of them. But I do think that there— it's become so much more common and it's so much easier to get to. Actually, hilarious headline that came out recently, which was that celebrities, now that plastic surgery is becoming so much more accessible, and the low-class poor people of the world are getting plastic surgery. Celebrities are going back to their natural selves.

Yes, I know. Did you see that?

Yeah, I saw that. And that's a whole other discussion, which is like, okay, so now the upper echelon is going au naturel, but they just convinced us into doing all of this plastic surgery.

I love that. That— okay, so I was going to bring that up. That was part of my notes in the— in this segment. I want to repeat that because that's very interesting, that now, because in— there's a, there's a big headline about this, that the— because now Everybody and their dog is getting so much surgery. The celebrities now feel like they are kind of like, kind of like part of the whole, you know, basically the, the common folk. The common folk. So now they're going au naturel. They're like not getting surgery. They're not wearing makeup.

Well, they are getting surgery. They are wearing makeup, but they're doing it way more natural. And that's the thing is that now, but, but those cost a lot of money. So like to get the super natural, nose job or the supernatural eye lift, this time it's going to cost you 10x the cost, right? So now it's becoming out of reach. So now shittier plastic surgery that's a bit more generic, a bit more— this is so accessible. But the fine-tuned, fine-touch, perfect whatever, that's far more expensive. Same thing with like filler and Botox. Like you could just go to any med spa and get shot up like crazy. You'll look a little insane. Or you could spend, you know, 2x the cost per unit and go to somebody who's going to make you look Exactly like your teenage self.

10x, I'm sure.

No, for my spouse, it was like 2x. But like, as in to say, like, a really good person now, instead of it being so obvious, they're trying to make you all natural. It's like a whole— it's, it's, it's honestly funny how they flip the script, but they always do that, right? What becomes accessible to the poor must then become inaccessible to the rich versus vice versa. Like, you must always maintain that, that, that separation, that class thing. It's gonna— but, but also, like, facelifts are insane. The cost of a facelift, I don't know that people understand. Oh my God, there are— these facelifts are like $250,000.

No more. But can I tell you something?

It's fucking crazy.

It's for the fancy people. I have my hair— yeah, $250,000 hair colorist. Okay, my hair colorist, okay, she's 68 years old. I'm gonna shout out to her, and she, um, she wouldn't care if I said this. She's 68, she literally looks 40.

I love that.

Okay.

Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you said that.

No, no, she got, she lower facelift by a really good doc. But she always looked really— but this is my point.

But she also probably looked so good before.

Her and I talked about this actually yesterday, right, when I got my hair done. She said to me, and it's so true, it's like, if you are pretty before, you're going to be pretty after. If you're ugly before, you're going to be uglier with a tighter face after. It's not going to change, like what you said earlier, about your nose. It's not going to make you gorgeous because you're changing what, like if you're— if you are something before, you're going to still be that, just enhanced. Yeah. You know, I believe this. So my point is, she was really pretty before. She looked really young before. So with this— but she went to a guy who is like super under the radar. Nobody knows him. He's not on social media. And he was $24,000 for her lower facelift. And it is incredible.

Oh, well, that's okay.

Still. Okay. But also he just does the work and doesn't need the whole, you know, hoopla around him. And he's so busy, he doesn't need to be on social. I mean, this is what I think. Let me finish.

Which is important.

I think the second some— a plastic surgeon puts himself on social right away, psychologically, I think he's not as good as somebody who's not on there.

100%. They're spending more time creating content than creating whatever it is, surgeries that they're doing. Absolutely. So it's a big red flag to me when I see that.

It's a massive red flag. So this is my, this is my, my big hot take or takeaway. Maybe try to find a doctor who's not trying to be famous on social media, be a social media plastic surgeon. And find one that's just super good and their, their head is down doing the actual work offline. And you're gonna save yourself also 90, 90% of the, the money because the doctors I see who are on social, they are charging 10, 20 times. We're talking like the $300,000 facial, the $500,000 facial. And they say it's because they're doing this special thing like deep plane this, da da da. Meanwhile, you go talk to the doctor that my hairdresser went to and he's like, we all do deep plane or we all do this. We all do that. Do that. We're just not like— I'm just not blabbing about it on social media and charging you $500,000. But that guy that Kim, you know, obviously not Kim, Kris Jenner went to, Dr. Klein I think is his name, I'm not sure.

I don't know.

I don't know if he was a social media guy or not. I'm not sure.

No, he just— she blew him up because other people were taking credit for his work, so she dropped his name. She was like, no way.

Oh, because I don't think he was a—

so because he was just really good, obviously that is going to send you into— he was very stratosphere, you know.

True. Without him even trying, he He was the only— I think he was the anomaly where he was like extremely expensive, but not necessarily a social media doctor.

There is really high quality doctors that are a fortune who are not very active on social. It's not necessarily—

No, no, I agree. That's what I meant to say.

Yeah. It's not necessarily indicative of that.

They're not always the same.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's not always correlated, but it does make a difference. I'm saying 90% of the time that that is the situation. But of course there's some that are in Manhattan. Who have such a high— even here in Beverly Hills, who have such a high caliber. Their patients are so rich that they can charge whatever the hell they want, or they're very big experts in their field.

The guy who did my septum perforation, who I love, Jason Hamilton, I think he's— if anyone's looking for a nose person, he is literally the guy to go to. Like, he's such an expert in his class for septums. No, you don't understand. There are very few doctors out there who will actually fix a septum perforation.

Okay. I said I don't know because I don't know who he is. I don't say yes or no.

As in there's some doctors, but like, if they're very published in their field field, or if they're very, you know, if they're like— there are doctors who within their space are incredibly famous in that field, but they're not necessarily famous to the general public.

Yeah, of course.

Versus like the ones who are like the celebrities, influencers, or whatever. But I also think that there's like, there's some caveats there. You want to kind of feel out what kind of influencer doctor the person is, because sometimes they just have a killer team and it's not really them doing much, or sometimes they care so much about it and they're all caught up and they're all, you know, and that's not necessarily someone you want.

Yeah, no, I totally agree with that.

But, um, but listen, don't cheap out. It's really important. Love yourself also. And if you have insecurities before, genuinely, like, you will have them after.

That was my point. That's a good point.

You will have them after.

They don't—

you don't find other ones, by the way. Like, you might, you know, like, I like my nose now. I have other shit I don't like, you know what I'm saying? And also, I still sometimes nitpick up my nose, right?

So true. Yeah. Okay, that's another great point.

On to the next. What else do I gotta fix?

Like, it's just, you know, I love that. It's so true. It's when you actually have— now you have that taken care of, you're going to fixate on something else that's a problem.

You lose weight, you get in shape, you look great, now all of a sudden you have another like thing that you don't like about yourself, right? Now it's like a little bit of loose skin under the arms like you never noticed before.

Like, that is human nature to some extent. Yeah, 100%. Okay, you guys, I gotta wrap this, but, uh, Shawnee, you're the best. Thank you for coming again, and, um, don't forget to subscribe. I love the new studio.

I'll come back when my face is healed. Bye!