The Fascinating Structure and Legacy of 12-Step Programs

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At age 40, Rich Roll (@richroll) made the decision to overhaul the sedentary throes of overweight middle age. Walking away from a career in law, he reinvented himself as a globally recognized ultra-distance endurance athlete, bestselling author, and host of the wildly popular Rich Roll Podcast, one of the world’s most listened to podcasts, with more than 200 million downloads.

Named one of the “25 Fittest Men in the World” by Men’s Fitness and the “Guru of Reinvention” by Outside magazine, Rich shares his inspirational story of addiction, redemption, and athletic prowess in his bestselling memoir, Finding Ultra, and in the cookbooks/lifestyle guides The Plantpower Way and The Plantpower Way: Italia, which he co-authored with his wife Julie Piatt.

Rich is a graduate of Stanford University (where he was a member of their dynastic, multiple-NCAA-championship men’s swimming program) and Cornell Law School. He has been featured on CNN and on the cover of Outside and has been profiled in The New York Times, Forbes, ESPN, and many other prominent media outlets.

Please enjoy!

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Prior to turning things around at age 40, what role had alcohol played in Rich’s life, and when did he realize it was a problem? How bad did it get? [07:27]

Why did Rich decide to pursue a career in law? [16:09]

What was the last straw that made Rich decide to seek help for his addiction to alcohol? How old was he, what was going on in his life at the time, and what form did this help take? [18:26]

What does Rich notice people commonly missing when he retells his story of addiction recovery and lifestyle changes that led him to become the person he is today? [27:45]

As Dr. Gabor Maté says: “Don’t ask why the addiction, ask why the pain.” What tools have most helped Rich understand and manage his own addiction? [33:51]

Was the decentralized nature of Bill Wilson’s Alcoholics Anonymous basically blockchain before blockchain was cool? [40:45]

Rich says that addiction is “a spectrum so broad that almost anybody can find themselves somewhere along the line.” Even if you might not consider yourself an addict, the tools of addiction recovery can often be used to help you break bad patterns you find yourself repeating. [43:45]

Having trouble cultivating good habits (like regular exercise)? Remember: “Mood follows action.” [48:36]

Why (and how) did Rich turn his physical health around at age 40? [50:52]

Rich’s most worthwhile investment of time, money, or energy. [57:59]

Rich’s advice for anyone trying to make positive changes in their own life — whether it’s building a small, beneficial habit, picking up a new set of skills, or overhauling their physical regimen for maximum results. [1:03:55]

Zone 2 training thoughts, experiences, and recommendations. [1:14:59]

How — and why — did Rich get in the habit of regularly sleeping in a tent on his roof? How does he maximize benefits and alleviate potential dangers of this unorthodox practice? [1:24:34]

By not scheduling commitments before noon, what does Rich’s daily architecture look like? How often does he succeed in fending off disruptions to this schedule? [1:32:00]

How Rich got to the point where he commits to living a month off the grid every year, what he does to ensure that it happens, and how he benefits from this practice. [1:38:37]

An aside: Rich asks me to share what I experienced off the grid recently in Antarctica. [1:42:41]

What would Rich’s billboard say? [1:49:49]

What is Rich most excited about for the year ahead? [1:52:32]

What Rich would ask the audience to consider and parting thoughts. [1:56:51]

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.

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