Ep. 107 - Rich Roll: What Happens When You Turn On Your Inner Addict?

Rich Roll was having a heart attack on his staircase. He was fat. He hated his work. He was unhappy. A few years later, he ran, swam, and biked 703 miles in seven days when he was 45 years old. When he was 40, he had a job he hated, but he was still trying to live the American dream: the two cars, the beautiful family, the partnership at a law firm. "I thought I was having a heart attack on the staircase," he said. "I was 50 pounds overweight. I was working 80 hours a week. I wasn't happy. I was going to die." That moment on the staircase was one of three or four turning points in Rich Roll's life that forced him to say: "I have a small window to change for the better." And then he did it. But what's interesting to me is that Rich Roll is an addict. I'm an addict. Many people I know are addicts. Many addictions are bad for you. When I was younger, I was addicted to just about everything that could possibly be harmful to me. Rich Roll, when he was 31 years old and a high-priced lawyer, had to check himself into a 100-day rehab center after he was drunk driving the wrong way down a one-way street. While in rehab, he noticed something interesting. "At first it felt really horrible, and then it felt better." When he was 40, he wasn't drinking, but he threw those obsessions into his NEXT unhealthy addiction. "I was living on the window diet" - if you can drive up to a window and order the food, then that's what he would eat. Like three Wendy's cheeseburgers. He threw himself into the lifestyle of top lawyer, 80 hours a week, eat whatever you can. But that moment on the stairs made him realize, with heart disease in his family, that he was at risk. So he started a seven day cleanse. All juices. "In the first three days I felt horrible, but I knew from my experience in rehab that it would get a lot better." And it did. At the end of the juicing, he felt incredibly energetic and cleansed. This was his third addiction. Gradually he went from juicing to a "junk vegetarian" style (pizza, etc.) to real plant-based vegan lifestyle. "I had so much energy, I couldn't stop moving. Even sitting at rest I couldn't stop tapping my leg." So one day he went for a run. He ran 24 miles. His biggest run prior that was 8 miles! And that was 22 years earlier. Sorry, Rich, if I'm getting the numbers slightly wrong. After that, he realized this was some latent ability that was coming out so he started to train. He trained every day. He started running in Iron Man competitions. Then the competitions got more and more intense until he did his 700 mile Hawaii run. Five Irons Mans in seven days. This was his fourth addiction. He was named one of the 50 fittest men in the world. But he was still a lawyer part-time and training part-time. He wrote a book about his lifestyle. He started giving talks for free and going to conferences. Spreading the word on this healthy lifestyle that had changed his life invigorated his relationships and catapulted him to become one of the healthiest people in the world. This was his fifth addiction. He couldn't stop spreading the word about what was happening to him. "It was hard at first," he said. "I wasn't getting paid and I was traveling everywhere." Gradually he started making a living at his new career and he gave up his job as a lawyer. His book The Plantpower Way" is about to come out, describing his lifestyle even more. Rich and I are one year apart in age. I can't even run down the block, although I try to live a healthy lifestyle. People always demonize addiction. It's bad! Don't be an addict! But there are positive addictions. "Well-being" is being addicted to three things: competence, positive relationships, autonomy. And maybe one more thing: Growth every day in all three of those areas. If you do those things, I can tell you that you will feel well-being today, no matter what else is going on in your life. The first... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.