24min chapter

#561: Rich Roll — Reinventing Your Life at 30, 40, and Beyond

The Tim Ferriss Show

notes

CHAPTER

Navigating Sobriety: A Journey of Self-Discovery

This chapter explores the speaker's tumultuous journey from pursuing a legal career to confronting their struggles with alcoholism. They reflect on the pressures of societal expectations and the emotional turmoil of their past, including a failed marriage and pivotal moments that marked their path to recovery. Focusing on the complexities of addiction, the speaker emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and compassion in the journey toward sobriety.

00:00

Transcript

Episode notes

Brought to you by Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating, and Tonal smart home gym.

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!

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.

Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.

This episode is also brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.

And now, my dear listeners—that’s you—can get $250 off the Pod Pro Cover. Simply go to EightSleep.com/Tim or use code TIM at checkout.

This episode is also brought to you by Tonal! Tonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the most advanced strength studio on the market today. Tonal uses breakthrough technology—like adaptive digital weights and AI learning—together with the best experts in resistance training so you get stronger, faster. Every program is personalized to your body using AI, and smart features check your form in real time, just like a personal trainer.

Try Tonal, the world’s smartest home gym, for 30 days in your home, and if you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund. Visit Tonal.com for $100 off their smart accessories when you use promo code TIM100 at checkout.

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]

For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.

For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors.

Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.

For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.

Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.

Follow Tim:

Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss

Instagram: instagram.com/timferriss