The Rich Roll Podcast

Conor Dwyer: An Olympic Gold Medalist On Why Hard Work Beats Talent That Doesn’t Work Hard

I know what you’re thinking. It's rather convenient for any Olympic athlete to say that hard work trumps talent. For perspective, take a glance at the palmarès of this week's guest: * 2012 London Olympics: Gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay * 2016 Rio Olympics: Gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay * 2016 Rio Olympics: Bronze in the 200 meter freestyle In total, Conor Dwyer has won seventeen medals in major international swimming competitions: nine gold, six silver, and two bronze. I could geek out on his statistics forever but you get the picture. The dude is super fast in the pool; one of the fastest swimmers of all time. An extraordinary athlete, Conor is obviously immensely talented. So this idea that hard work beats talent can't possibly apply to him, right? Not so fast. Conor was the furthest thing from a natural talent right out of the gate. His performances out of high school were so mediocre in fact, he couldn't even get the attention of college coaches let alone a swimming scholarship. I simply cannot overstate how rare it is in competitive swimming that an athlete of his current caliber had yet to distinguish himself by 18. It just doesn't happen. But Conor refused to give up. Through persistence and a robust work ethic relentlessly applied, a series of circumstances slowly aligned. A believing coach appeared to mentor him, followed by training partners to push him to new levels of possibility and further fuel his self-belief in potential. Over time, all the important ingredients alchemized to bake the cake that is the superstar athlete we know today as Conor Dwyer. This week Conor shares his extraordinary story from bench warmer to Olympic champion. A story that lays bare a simple core truth I have experienced myself: when the heart is pure and fueled by self-belief, extreme faith, unwavering patience and an unabating work ethic, the universe conspires to support the dream. One of the good guys, Conor lives it with every breath. A recipe for success that has fueled his accomplishments and will support anyone — irrespective of talent level — in the pursuit of an audacious dream. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

“What The Health” – How Corporate Collusion Is Making Us Sick & Costing Us Trillions

Imagine four commercial airliners crashing every single hour of every single day of every single year. It's unfathomable. And yet that is how many Americans die from heart disease annually. In fact, an unbelievable 1 out of every 3 people in the U.S. will perish from this one disease. Meanwhile, 70% of Americans are obese or overweight. In the coming decade, 50% of Americans will be diagnosed diabetic or pre-diabetic. An economic disaster, 75% of all health care costs in America are attributable to these and a few other chronic lifestyle illnesses. It's devastating. And yet the most heartbreaking aspect of this crisis is that 80-90% of these illnesses are very easily preventable and often entirely reversible via some rather simple diet and lifestyle alternations. It's the food, stupid. This week I'm joined by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, the filmmaking dynamic duo behind the groundbreaking documentary Cowspiracy, to talk about their brand new follow up. Equally groundbreaking, What The Health explores the relationship between our food systems and big business, exposing the collusion and corruption that is making us sick, keeping us sick and costing us trillions in healthcare dollars. Whereas Cowspiracy explores the impact of animal agriculture on environmental health, What The Health focuses on human health. Perhaps the most important documentary you will ever see, it's a film about the power of special interest groups to drive unhealthy consumer spending habits. It's about environmental racism and the impact of animal agriculture on community health. And it's about why you need to rethink for yourself everything you've ever been told about the relationship between business and food, the impact of food choice on personal health, and your body's incredible, innate power to prevent, fight and even reverse the chronic lifestyle illnesses that are unnecessarily killing people by the millions. Starting March 16, the film will be available to watch worldwide at whatthehealthfilm.com – where you can also pre-order the DVD and cookbook as well as set up a screening in your town (I'm hosting one on March 29). In addition, for the first four days of the film's release (between March 16 – 20), Keegan and Kip will be donating half of all proceeds to Food Not Bombs – an amazing, for-purpose organization that feeds thousands of people free vegan meals across North America and the world. Kip and Keegan are truly breaking paradigms. Making the world a better place. And changing lives with what I think is the most important film of the year. A film that just might save your life or that of a loved one. I aspire to their level of courage and advocacy. And I sincerely hope you enjoy this exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Brogan Graham On Igniting A Fitness Revolution

There are leaders and then there are followers. The best leaders engender devotion to a big, new idea. But only a few successfully grow their conceit into a thriving a enterprise that withstands the test of time. Fewer still scale to mainstream cultural impact. Then there are the charmed select who simply see the world differently. Not how it is, but how it could be. How it should be. The rare figure who infuses his or her vision with a contagion of enthusiasm and connectivity so infectious and powerful, it ignites a revolution – catalyzing a movement that penetrates the mainstream, hypnotizes the masses and forever alters the perspective and behavior of all who fall under its spell. This is the story of Brogan Graham — an irreverent, way-outside-the-box fitness fanatic who, along with partner-in-crime Bojan Mandaric decided to flip the fitness industry on its head and make the world a better place with a creation dubbed November Project. No gyms or machines. No fees or dues. Just two dudes, wide open public space and a fervent, gung-ho tribe of thousands taking over not just urban landscapes but the world, one city at a time. If you’re into fitness and live in a metropolis, chances are you've already caught wind of NP. Maybe you've even attended one of their infamous morning workouts. But for those unfamiliar, November Project started as a simple month-long workout pact between Brogan and Bojan, two former rowers who wanted to stay fit through the cold New England months. One by one, a burgeoning community of fitness freaks joined the party. And before long, the few morphed into a fanatical multitude, bonding around NP's free, open-to-anyone, frentic sweat revivals – the more ice, sleet, snow, and rain the better. Dubbed “the ‘Fight Club' of running clubs”, November Project has matured into a flashmob fitness revolution that now dominates the pre-dawn urban landscape of cities all across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and even parts of Asia. Thoroughly grassroots and populist to the core, it's a category-defying movement that is redefining how we think about and practice fitness by leveraging community, a simple sense of accountability and open public spaces to motivate and encourage people of all ages, shapes, sizes and levels — welcoming everyone from Olympic medalists and professional athletes all the way to complete fitness rookies and recent couch potatoes. The idea: use movement to turn strangers into friends and connect everyone to the city in which they live. The goal: world domination. This week I sit down Brogan — one-half of the beautiful high-energy, charismatic superhero duo that birthed it all — to find out how he did it, and why. I was super stoked to meet up with Brogan. From the minute he pulled into my driveway and gave me a bear hug (he's a big dude), I knew it was a bromance in the making. I have a strong feeling this is but the first of many future collaborations. This is an amazing conversation about the power of community and storytelling to drive positive cultural change. It's about the audacity to dream big, think different, and act outside the box. It's about the freedom and power of being you. And it's a conversation about unlocking untapped reservoirs of human potential to step into your best, most fully actualized self. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Why You Should Be Devotional, Not Emotional — And How Insistence Trumps Resistance

Julie Piatt joins me for another mid-week installment of the podcast — a twist on my normal format where we go deep on a specific topic. This is a conversation about how to best bridge the emotional landmines of our expanding cultural divide. It's about how to be insistent rather than resistant. It's about the power of devotion over emotion. And it's about inner strength and the importance of cultivating your inner Jedi warrior. I hope you enjoy the offering. #StayJedi! Peace + Plants, Rich

Kimberley Chambers Swims With Sharks: The World’s Greatest Female Marathon Swimmer On Turning Adversity To Advantage

Close your eyes and imagine yourself 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, swimming in the freezing cold, shark-infested waters famously dubbed the Red Triangle. No wetsuit. In the middle of the night. Most would call this lunacy. Kimberley Chambers calls this home. This week's guest is one of the most accomplished record-setting marathon open water swimmers in the world. Her story is incredibly inspiring, but not for the reasons you might imagine. Her story is inspiring because just nine years ago, Kim was not a swimmer at all, suffering a life-threatening accident that nearly claimed her leg and her overall enthusiasm for life. The morning started out like every other morning. The New Zealand born former ballerina and rower turned software executive left her San Francisco apartment and accidentally tripped, toppling down a treacherous flight of stairs. We saved your leg. But it’s unlikely you will walk again. The doctor's verdict presented Kim with a choice: accept permanent disability. Or prove them wrong. Needless to say, she chose the latter. After countless surgeries and an excruciatingly prolonged rehabilitation, a friend encouraged her to try swimming. Although foreign to the water, she immediately took to it. A ticket to freedom. But the real turning point came the moment she first jumped into the frigid San Francisco Bay. In an instant, she had found sanctuary. To this day, it's a love affair with cold water and the tight-knit community of like-minded souls who embrace it that changed everything about her life and how she lives it. An inner fire ignited, Kim began to channel her newfound passion into a series of death-defying, envelope-pushing open-water marathon challenges that have redefined the limits of human potential and transformed her into the elite athlete she is today. Among Kim's many accomplishments: * In 2014, she became the 6th person (and 3rd woman) in history to complete the Oceans Seven – the marathon swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge, with each of the 7 swims chosen for their treacherous water conditions and potential wildlife risks; * In 2015, she set a new world record becoming the first woman to swim 30 miles from the shark-infested Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco; * In September 2016, Kim attempted a non-stop 93 mile swim from Sacramento to Tiburon. However after swimming over 24 hours and 54 miles, sustained 30 knot winds rendered it unsafe for her to continue; * And just two months later, Kim led an international team of swimmers to complete an unprecedented historic swim across the Dead Sea to raise global awareness around the environmental deterioration of that critical body of water. This is a conversation about the boundaries of human potential. It's about the capacity to turn tremendous adversity into boundless opportunity. It's about finding joy and adventure outside the comfort zone. It's a conversation about reframing identity to step into and own — really own — our most authentic, fully actualized selves. And I suppose it's about how to not get eaten by a shark. Delightfully engaging, ever humble, and beautifully human, Kim embodies everything you seek in a modern day female super hero. It was a pleasure to spend time with her and it is my hope that our conversation will leave you deeply reconsidering the limits of your own potential. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Idea Architect Douglas Abrams: Cultivating Joy, Collaborating With Spiritual Masters & Elevating Consciousness

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have both survived more than fifty years of exile. Both have endured the soul-crushing violence of oppression. And yet despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet. How is this possible? And what can we learn from their example to cultivate more joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering? To answer this question, in 2015 Douglas Abrams united the two spiritual giants in Dharamsala, India on the occasion of the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday. During the course of what became a rare, five-day conversation on the nature of human happiness and suffering, the two Nobel Peace Prize recipients traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy. A beautiful synthesis of this transcendent union, it's no surprise that Abrams' The Book of Joy* became an instant New York Times bestseller. It's a book that deeply humanizes an Archbishop who has never claimed sainthood and a Dalai Lama who considers himself a simple monk. It's a book that transports you deep within the intimate friendship that binds these two incredible souls. And it's a book that vividly probes the very nature of joy itself — the illusions that eclipse it, the obstacles that obscure it, the practices that cultivate it, and the pillars that sustain it. In addition to being a celebrated author, editor and literary agent, Doug is the founder and president of the creative book and media agency Idea Architects, where he works with true visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. He is also the co-founder with Pam Omidyar and Bishop Desmond Tutu of HumanJourney.com, a public benefit company working to share life-changing and world-changing ideas. Doug has worked with Desmond Tutu as his co-writer and editor for over a decade, and before founding his own literary agency, he was a senior editor at HarperCollins and also served for nine years as the religion editor at the University of California Press. I wanted to know more about what my Stanford classmate learned spending so much intimate time with two of the planet's most conscious and revered spiritual leaders. What was his biggest takeaway? How did he synthesize their wisdom into such an extraordinary book? And what impact has the experience had on how he lives his life today? This conversation is the result. It's everything I was hoping for, and then some. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Mark Allen: One Of The Greatest Athletes of All Time On The Spirituality of Peak Performance

Between 1982 and 1988, Mark Allen launched six attempts to claim the title of Ironman World Champion. Each year he was squarely defeated by his arch rival, the legendary Dave Scott. In 1989, the two titans of triathlon once again descended upon the white hot lava fields of Hawaii to reprise their annual duel in a spectacular showdown that would make history as the greatest race Ironman had ever seen. Dubbed The Iron War, Allen & Scott raced neck and neck at blistering speeds for 8 hours and would cross the finish line less than one minute apart — decimating the previous world record and redefining the limits of human endurance in the process. When the dust settled, Mark Allen finally emerged victorious. And over the next several years the man they call The Grip would become arguably the most successful triathlete in the sport's history with six Hawaii Ironman World Championship titles, 10 Nice International Triathlon titles and countless other victories across distances, terrains and fields of every variety. So how did Mark Allen go from perennial also-ran to an athlete ESPN dubbed “The Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time”?  The answer might surprise you. Because it has nothing to do with fitness, nutrition or gear. Instead, it has everything to do with spirituality. Without a doubt, Mark's embrace of shamanism unlocked hidden reservoirs of human potential. It's a devotion that broke the glass ceiling on his mindset and plateaued career and ultimately propelled him to staggering heights of athletic success. But how? And what does it all means to him now? I needed to know. So I jumped in my truck, drove to his house Santa Cruz and put a microphone in front of him. This conversation is the result. It's a conversation about Mark's remarkable life and his ongoing quest for expansion. It's about the importance of aligning yourself with nature's rhythms. It's about investing in yourself, cultivating self-understanding and honing a positive mindset. And it's about the crucial role humility — detaching from ego — plays in manifesting personal potential. Bottom line? If you really want to soar, look within. Deep within. It was an absolute honor to speak with Mark. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD: Listening To Your Body’s Intelligence

We are all innately gifted with something called body intelligence — an intuitive sense of what best serves our mental, physical and emotional well-being. However, most of us disconnect from our bodies' persistent efforts to communicate, muting it out to favor the breakneck pace of our modern lives. Left unchecked, this leaves us at serious risk of what this week's guest calls chronic body depletion – a crisis of mind, body and spirit that can lead to everything from weight gain and chronic pain to high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, autoimmune disease and more. This week Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS, ABIHM joins the podcast to help us better cultivate our body intelligence, so that we can begin to properly treat the cause of what ails us and set a better trajectory for optimum healing and lifelong health. Dr. Abrams is a board-certified primary care, family practice physician, integrative health expert and author with over two decades of experience in preventive and comprehensive care medicine. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, received her medical degree from UC San Francisco, earned her master’s degree in Holistic Health and Medical Sciences from UC Berkeley, and has been voted the “Best Doctor” in Santa Cruz County every year from 2010 to 2016. In the scope of her dynamic practice, she works with many of the world’s most influential people, from CEOs to billionaire entrepreneurs to Nobel Peace laureates, and has spent countless hours addressing everyday patients with chronic health conditions. The author of several books on holistic health, relationships and sexuality, her latest offering, BodyWise: Discovering Your Body’s Intelligence for Lifelong Health and Healing*, skillfully and accessibly guides the reader on a journey of discovery towards creating the vibrant, balanced, healthy life you have always deserved. This is a fun and super informative conversation packed with knowledge nuggets and practical wisdom takeaways all designed to cultivate your own body intelligence. An intelligence that will help you take better responsibility for yourself, your environment, your behaviors, your relationships, and your health so that you can fuel your body’s natural predisposition to heal and thrive. Specific topics covered include: * the concept of chronic body depletion * reconnecting with our bodies/nature * mind, body & spirit connection * taking responsibility for yourself * the business of healthcare * sense, feel & discernment * the body’s natural predisposition to heal * the benefits of integrative medicine * link inflammation and disease * the importance of positive feedback loops * adaptogenic herbs & essential oils It was an absolute joy talking to Dr. Abrams and I'm delighted to bring you our conversation. I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Peace + Plants, Rich

Rich Roll & Marco Borges On Living In Alignment With Core Values

This is a special mid-week episode of the podcast featuring a panel discussion that took place at the Miami Seed Food and Wine Festival in November 2016 between me and Marco Borges, the CEO of 22 Days Nutrition – a plant-based nutrition products and meal delivery service he founded in partnership with Jay-Z and Beyonce. If you are new to the podcast, I implore you to check out my first conversation with Marco, RRP #195 — it's great. Since that day Marco and I have become very close. The real deal with a huge heart, he's a man truly committed to educating people about health and fitness, while providing them with the best possible organic, plant-based meal service and nutritional supplements. This a loose, fun, unmoderated off-the-cuff conversation about many things, with a focus on nutrition, fitness and effective strategies for being the best living advocate of a thriving, vibrant lifestyle. Specific topics include: * practicing non-judgment & the vegan lifestyle * striving for growth & expansion * managing perfectionism in business * the power of conscious consumerism * living in alignment with your core values * to compromise or not to compromise * plant-based at your own pace NOTE: The audio is wonky (and I'm being kind). Apologies in advance, but this recording was captured on less than stellar audio equipment before a live audience. Nonetheless, I thought it valuable enough to share. I love this guy and I hope you enjoy our lively banter! Peace + Plants, Rich

Travis Barker On Premonition, Intuition & The Importance Of Following Your Heart

Dubbed one of the “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time” by Rolling Stone, Travis Barker rose from blue collar roots to become one of the world's most talented, prolific and hard working rock stars — a multi-hyphenate musician-producer-entrepreneur who initially made his mark as the drummer for Blink-182, the influential, multi-platinum punk-rock band that earned it's very first Grammy nomination this week for it's latest release, California. Today, Travis is celebrated for his unique percussive acumen; a rare ability to collaborate with a diversity of musical giants — people like Eminem, Lil Wayne, Slash, Mary J. Blige, RZA, Tom Morello and Steve Aoki — across a swath of genres that reach past rock to country, jazz, hip hop and everything in between. Extending his entrepreneurial flair beyond music, Travis is also the founder of accessory/apparel company Famous Stars and Straps as well as LaSalle Records and is an investor in a variety of ventures including Crossroads Kitchen – one of Los Angeles' best restaurants and perhaps the most acclaimed vegan restaurant in the world. Travis bares his soul in Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums* — a deeply personal and brutally honest memoir chronicling the highlights and lowlights of the renowned drummer’s art and life, including the harrowing plane crash that nearly killed him and his traumatic road to recovery. Ultimately, it's a book about personal survival. Constant reinvention. Musical salvation. And fatherhood. Travis Barker is a great rock star. But behind the tattoos, sold out arenas and dope rides lives a quiet, soulful artist with a prodigious work ethic. A sober consciousness birthed from pain. Etched from hardship, Travis Barker has survived some serious shit. But it's our wounds that make us human. And it's that humanity that interests me the most. This is a conversation about a remarkable life. The pivotal moments that forged it. The premonitions that foretold it. The intuitions that directed it. The humanity behind it. And the heart that animates it. Open, humble and present, I absolutely loved spending time with Travis. I sincerely hope you enjoy the first of what I hope will be many future exchanges. Peace + Plants, Rich

Darin Olien: A Superfood Hunter On Peak Nutrition & Next Level Hydration

What's it like to traipse the far outreaches of the globe in search of the the world’s greatest edible food sources for optimal health? Meet the Indiana Jones of Superfoods. One of the most popular guests of 2015, this week my friend Darin Olien (@superlifeliving) returns to the podcast to delve deep on the next level nutrition insights he's gleaned from his extraordinary adventure-based experiences as a widely recognized exotic superfoods hunter, wellness advocate, supplement formulator & environmental activist. Over the last twenty plus years, Darin has explored every imaginable port of call across the developing world questing for better, more natural pathways to ultimate wellness. Communing with thousands of rural farmers, growers and manufacturers in remote communities across Peru, Bhutan, the Amazon, the Himalayas, the South Pacific, Latin America and Asia, Darin now shepherds exotic, high-quality, fair-trade superfoods and indigenous herbal commodities to market. Perhaps best known for his work with fitness company Beachbody, Darin was instrumental in the development and ongoing formulation of the wildly successful whole-food supplement, Shakeology. He chronicles his experience and expertise in Superlife: The 5 Simple Fixes That Will Make You Healthy, Fit & Eternally Awesome* (just released in paperback), as well as on his website Superlife.com, where he demystifies health, fitness, nutrition, and longevity into simple daily actions designed to promote life-long wellness. Plant-based, ripped, and bearing more than a passing resemblance to his workout buddy Laird Hamilton, what is most intriguing to me about Darin isn't just that he is a respected authority on the healing potential of food. And it isn't just that he has been instrumental in introducing these so called superfoods to western consumers. What is most interesting is his commitment to do it right. A deep rooted responsibility to fairly, sustainably and transparently support the long-term interests of indigenous grower communities against the industrialized threat posed by the well-funded, politically powerful agricultural interests responsible for decimating the planet's precious rainforests at an unfathomable rate. An inspiration to me personally, this is a guy who walks his talk. From the foods he consumes to the lifestyle habits he practices, Darin is the thriving embodiment of what it means to truly own and take responsibility for your health, your life and the planet we collectively enjoy. But what exactly is a superfood? Are these foods truly “super” or is it all just exaggerated marketing hype? Our first conversation tracked Darin’s life story. Packed with takeaways, today's exchange deep dives into the efficacy of exotic fruits, herbs, adaptogens and mushrooms. Parsing fact from hyperbole, it's a conversation about the most important superfoods you should be incorporating into your daily routine and why. It's a mind-blowing discourse on the importance of water quality and next-level hydration. It's an exploration of Darin’s pre-workout routine and nutrition essentials. Enjoy! Rich

Guru Singh: A Master Spiritual Teacher on The Power of Cultivating Awareness To Awaken Your Highest Self

Inspiration. We crave it. We need it. We love it. But inspiration alone is a salve that does not cure. Because it rarely translates into positive lifestyle adaptations sustained over time. For that you need something called purpose. Purpose derives from a keen awareness of self. An awareness that cannot be found in externalities but instead emanates from the deep recesses of your soul — a place far removed from the dopamine-inducing inspiration hits we restlessly seek outside ourselves. Indeed, purpose is an inside job. So this week, we turn inward. A conversation designed to cultivate that awareness, amplify intuition, and enliven the soul so that we can more deeply connect with our unique purpose and awaken to our highest, most authentic selves. I can think of no better steward to ignite this process than master spiritual teacher and celebrated Kundalini yoga wizard Guru Singh (@gurusinghyogi). Imagine a modern-day rock star Gandalf dropping mad guitar licks between pearls of timeless wisdom that beautifully fuse of Eastern mysticism with Western pragmatism and you start to get the picture. Named “Best Guru in LA” by Los Angeles magazine, for the last 40 years Guru Singh has been studying and teaching Kundalini Yoga – a 5,000 year old ancient science and school of yoga focused on awakening the primal energy known as shakti for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment. He is the author of several books (enumerated below) and a powerful lecturer uplifting thousands worldwide. An extraordinary teacher, he also serves as a behind-the-scenes guide to many a luminary, including Fortune 500 CEOs, athletes, artists and even Tony Robbins. A peer of rock legends like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead, Guru Singh is also a supremely talented musician who began his recording career on Warner Bros' Sire label in the 1960s. When he isn't recording tracks with people like Seal, he's bringing down the house on the daily at Yoga West, his Los Angeles home base. Simply put, Guru Singh is one of the coolest people I have ever met — a huge, beautiful consciousness I'm proud to call friend. It's an honor to share his story and wisdom with you today. My hope is that that this conversation will catalyze your desire to peer more deeply inward. That it will spark a yearning to more thoroughly cultivate your latent intuition. And ultimately that it helps set a trajectory for your journey towards the ultimate superpower — unlimited awareness. To rise up, you gotta lay down. It is there that you will find purpose. Peace + Plants, Rich

Navy SEAL David Goggins Is The Toughest Athlete On Earth — Thoughts On Mindset, The 40% Rule & Why Purpose Always Trumps Motivation

“When you think you're done, you're only at 40% of your total potential.” David Goggins This week's guest is incontrovertibly the most inspirational person I have ever met — a man that will catapult you into 2017 with the inspiration and tools to chase huge dreams, shatter limits, and actualize your best, most authentic self. Often referred to as the toughest athlete on the planet, David Goggins (@davidgoggins) is the only member of the US Armed Forces to complete SEAL training (including THREE Hell Weeks), the U.S. Army Ranger School (where he graduated as Enlisted Honor Man) and Air Force tactical air controller training. But David is perhaps best known for his superhuman feats of strength and ultra-endurance. After several of his friends died in a 2005 helicopter crash while deployed in Afghanistan, David honored their memory by tackling the 10 most difficult endurance challenges on Earth to raise funds and awareness for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides college scholarships and grants to the children of fallen special ops soldiers. Hence began a most unexpected yet remarkably storied athletic career as one of the world's most accomplished endurance athletes. Highlights include: * 2013: world record for most pullups in a 24 hour period (4,030); * 2007: 3rd place — Badwater 135 – a 135 mile ultramarathon across Death Valley widely considered to be the world’s most difficult foot race; * 2006: 2nd place — Ultraman World Championships, a double-ironman distance race widely considered to be the world's most difficult triathlon; * 2007: 1st place — 48-Hour National Championship endurance foot race, where he ran 203.5 miles, beating the previous record by 20 miles; and * 2007 – 2016 — additional top finishes at dozens of the world's most grueling endurance races, including The HURT 100, Leadville 100, Western States & more. But perhaps David’s greatest accomplishment is that throughout his life, he has faced and overcome a concatenation of seemingly insurmountable obstacles to become the man he is today – obstacles like asthma, sickle cell anemia, psychological and physical abuse, obesity, academic struggles, and even a congenital heart defect that often left him competing — and winning — on a mere fraction of his actual physical capabilities. In addition to being one of the most remarkable people I have ever met, David has had a profound impact on me personally. It was his singular example that ignited my passion for ultra-endurance and fueled the self-belief required to pursue a new life. In truth, I’m not sure I would have achieved my athletic and life goals had he not blazed the path before me. I simply cannot ever repay the debt of gratitude I have for this man. One of the most powerful podcasts I have ever produced, this a conversation about the primacy of purpose to cultivate your inner voice. It's about passion and self-accountability. It's about the limiting beliefs that hold us back and the importance of mindset to overcome them. And it's about the embrace of suffering as a crucible for growth and self-knowledge. But ultimately, this is a conversation about what it means to be truly alive. Welcome to 2017 people. It's time to check your excuses at the door. It's time to stop talking yourselves out of being great. It's time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It's time to wake up. Because your life is not some future event. Your life is now. Peace + Plants, Rich

Best of 2016 – Part II

Welcome to Part II of our fourth annual Best of the RRP Anthology series. If you haven’t already, I suggest listening to The Best of 2016 — Part I first. This is a compendium of excerpts from some of my favorite conversations of 2016. It's our way of saying thanks, giving back, expressing gratitude and catapulting you into the new year with the information and inspiration required to make 2017 your best year yet. I appreciate you. Here’s to an absolutely extraordinary 2017. Enjoy the listen. Peace + Plants, Rich * RRP #242: Neal Barnard, M.D. On The Power Of Nutrition To Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease, Diabetes & Alzheimer’s * RRP #248: From Crack Addict To Running The Sahara To Prison Hero — Charlie Engle’s Third Act * RRP #252: Dr. Michael Gervais On Elite Performance & The Psychology Of Self-Mastery * RRP #262: Kerri Walsh Jennings: Lessons On Mindset From One Of The Most Dominant Olympic Athletes Of All Time * RRP #256: Chris Hauth: Building Better Athletes, Training For Optimal Performance & Achieving Fitness For Life * RRP #254: Julie Piatt On How To Build An Authentic Brand * RRP #223: John Joseph Wants You To Wake The F*ck Up * RRP #217: Gary Vaynerchuk Works Harder Than You Do * RRP #209: Rhonda Patrick On Longevity, Epigenetics & Microbiome Health * RRP #243: Coach George Raveling Is The Mentor You Wish You Had * RRP #226: Moby On Transforming Electronic Music, Elevating Consciousness & Saving The Planet * RRP #236: Andrew Morgan On The True Cost Of Fast Fashion: The Ethical & Environmental Price Of Clothing * RRP #244: Alexis Fox & Micah Risk Are Igniting A Social Movement To Help The World Eat Better * RRP #253: How To Be A Minimalist: Joshua Fields Millburn On The Power Of Living Deliberately

The Best of 2016 – Part I

This is the time of year to pause. It's the time of year for reflection. For gratitude. And for giving back. So let's do all those things. Welcome to the fourth annual Best of the RRP Anthology — our way of taking a moment to reflect on the year, express gratitude and give thanks for taking this journey with us. I pride myself on bringing a wide variety of personalities, opinions and attitudes to the show. When I look back over 2016, it's amazing how many incredibly dynamic conversations and perspectives I was honored to share. Second listens brought new insights. Another reminder that this show is a gift that just keeps giving. For long-time listeners, this two-part episode is intended to inform and inspire your new year's trajectory. If you're new to the show, my hope is that this anthology will stir you to peruse the back catalog and/or check out episodes you may have missed. Links to the full episodes excerpted in this anthology are enumerated below. What a stunning year. Thank you. I appreciate you. Here's to an extraordinary 2017 — the year we manifest our greatest dreams into reality. Join me, and let's do this thing together. Peace + Plants, Rich

Marc Ching On Risking His Life To End Asia’s Dog Meat Trade

This week's guest is a straight up hero. One of the most courageous and committed animal rights activists I have ever met, Marc Ching (@animalhopeandwellness) is the founder of Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, a non-profit devoted to the rescue and rehabilitation of dogs abused and often tortured at the hands of the Asian dog meat trade. A family man, successful small business owner and animal lover who has been treating dogs (and humans) for years as a holistic nutritionist, in 2011 Marc began using his skills to rescue and rehabilitate abused dogs in need and place them into homes — work he does primarily in and around his home in Los Angeles. But Marc's evolution into an ardent animal rights activist didn't begin until 2015, when he heard about something called the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China. He understood that dog meat is simply part of the regional cuisine across many parts of Asia. What he didn't understand were the reports of mistreatment and abuse. So he decided to infiltrate the festival to learn more. What Marc discovered was an utterly horrific, systemic practice of torture far more pervasive than anything he could have previously imagined. Life for Marc would never be the same again. According to the Humane Society, 30 million dogs are slaughtered every year across Asia with an estimated 10 million per year in China alone. A significant portion of these animals are brutally tortured — often burned and boiled alive prior to death — a practice attributable to the bizarre and misguided belief that tortured dog meat tastes better and provides enhanced health benefits. Let that sink in for a moment. Attending Yulin transformed Marc from an essentially normal, suburban family man into a man obsessed. Over the last two years, Marc has devoted all his free time and resources to combating the Asian dog meat trade. Posing undercover as as a wealthy dog meat buyer, he has traveled extensively across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea and Indonesia to document and expose the inhuman practices of this barbaric industry. This is dangerous work. Marc has been chased, harassed, beat up and even shot. But to date, he has saved over 1,000 dogs, many on his own dime. More importantly, his work has been essential in catalyzing global awareness of dog meat trade practices, which in turn has led to legislative and regulatory reform. There is something undoubtedly heroic about Marc. But it's a heroism that comes at a cost. This work has traumatized him. Perhaps even permanently damaged him. He's made peace with the trade-off. Maybe that makes him even more heroic. I don't know. Mark's work has been extensively profiled in outlets that include the New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Hollywood Reporter, The Telegraph, The Independent, Buzzfeed, and even Breitbart. It's an honor to celebrate the difficult work that Marc does. My hope is that this conversation will raise additional awareness around wrongs we must collectively work to correct. NOTE: The subject matter of today's conversation is disturbing. It's an emotional conversation that traverses sensitive issues. That said, I believe it's an important conversation to have as conscious, global citizens. A conversation I don’t think we can or should shy away from. Enjoy! Rich

Kerri Walsh Jennings: Lessons on Mindset From One of the Most Dominant Olympic Athletes Of All Time

The most decorated beach volleyball player in history and one of the most consistently dominant Olympic athletes of all time, Kerri Walsh Jennings (@kerrileewalsh) needs no introduction. But for those few off-grid souls who somehow avoided the last five Olympiads, here's but a taste of what this week's guest has accomplished: * she has competed in the last five consecutive Olympiads; * she is a 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist & 1-time Olympic Bronze medalist in beach volleyball (2016); * along with teammate Misty May-Treanor, she has been named the greatest beach volleyball team of all time; * during their 11-year run together, Walsh Jennings & May-Treanor won 21 consecutive Olympic matches and only lost one set This is a unique and extraordinary exploration of the habits, practices and mindset behind one of the greatest athletes on the planet. It’s a conversation about the mentality required to be the world's best. It's an exchange about the crucial role effective communication plays in both sport and relationships. And it's about the power and responsibility of being a positive role model. But ultimately, this is a conversation about pursuing what you love, loving what you pursue, and taking a stand for what you believe in. I cannot overstate my respect for Kerri, her athletic achievements, and how this delightful, spirited, beautiful and tenacious human lives her life on a daily basis. I adore this conversation and am thrilled to share it with you today. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange! Peace + Plants, Rich

Heal Thyself

Welcome to a special mid-week episode of the podcast. During our most recent Plantpower Italia retreat, we hosted a panel discussion on the subject of holistic health and alternative healing modalities. I'm glad we decided to record it, and I'm excited to share it with you today. The three-person panel is comprised of: * Angela Bäuml-Nicolas – Osteopath & physiotherapist practicing in southern Germany; * Jennifer Ayres – Ayurvedic Health Practitioner and teacher certified by the internationally known Ayurvedic doctor, writer, and teacher Dr. Vasant Lad; and * Colin Hudon – Physician of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and founder of Living Tea, which imports some of the finest living teas in the world from Taiwan and China. In addition to covering the panelists' various areas of practice, this is a super engaging round table conversation designed to get you thinking pro-actively about long-term health, disease prevention and the power we all hold and exert over the quality of our well-being. Enjoy! Rich

John Lewis Is The Bad Ass Vegan — Upending Stereotypes & The Impact of Positive Mindset on Destiny

Beyond the chiseled arms and imposing six-foot six physique, the thing you notice most about this week's guest is his smile — a smile the size of Texas that only hints at the even bigger heart within. But John Lewis wasn't always the exemplary model of health and advocacy he is today. Tipping the scales at 315 pounds by his freshman year in high school, things could have easily gone sideways for this young man growing up in Ferguson, Missouri. But instead of drugs and gangs, he turned to sports, finding solace and refuge in basketball and football. Honing his skills in both high school and college helped him ditch his fat kid image and triggered his life-long love for healthy living. Nonetheless, John began experiencing some serious, negative health issues despite maintaining an athletic nature post-college. He sought medical advice and was informed that excessive animal protein consumption just might be the culprit. That advice, combined with his mother's colon cancer diagnosis, catalyzed an experiment with vegetarianism. Little did he know, that experiment would change his life. In short shrift, ditching meat resolved his health issues. More importantly, the lifestyle aligned with his values. So it wasn't long before John jettisoned all animal products from his plate and went entirely vegan. Needless to say, this was an unlikely move for a football loving gym rat. His friends were not amused. But John never felt better. The lights went on, opening him to an entirely new way of living and being that brought his life path into focus. Today, John is an in-demand public speaker, personal trainer, and entrepreneur tirelessly spreading his his broad smile as the Bad Ass Vegan — busting traditional stereotypes as an entirely new breed of vegan evangelist with a unique ability to communicate and positively impact a wide diversity of people. He has appeared on multiple television shows and been profiled in several magazines, including Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, Fitness Rx, Vegan Health & Fitness, Thrive, Origin, Maxim and even Sports Illustrated. You might have seen him flexing in all those P90X television ads that were ubiquitous a few years back. Beyond the nickname, Bad Ass Vegan is also John's apparel and lifestyle brand — a health and nutrition company striving to upend traditional notions that surround what it means — and what it looks like — to be vegan by educating individuals on plant-based nutrition and more conscious living. I first met John a couple years ago and always enjoy spending time with him at various lifestyle events — his energy is beyond infectious. So I'm proud to share his powerful, super uplifting message with you today. This is a conversation about taking personal responsibility for ourselves, our well being, and our life paths. It’s about the impact of mindset on personal destiny. It's about the power of community. And it’s a conversation about the power we all possess to positively transform ourselves and make a real difference in those we touch. Enjoy! Rich

Dean Karnazes On The Road To Sparta: Channeling Pheidippides, Out of Body Experiences & Why Inspiration Is A Two Way Street

Picking up where we left off exactly two years ago, today's podcast marks the return of ultramarathon legend Dean Karnazes. For the select few unfamiliar with a man whose name has become synonymous with running, let's break it down: Hailed by TIME as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World, Dean is a New York Times bestselling author of several books and perhaps Earth’s most recognized ultra-distance running specialist – a global ambassador of sport who has pushed his body, mind and spirit beyond places most people simply cannot fathom. Dean's mind-bending feats of two-legged prowess include: * Running 350 miles in under 81 hours, foregoing sleep for 3 days; * Running 50 marathons in each of the 50 states in 50 consecutive days; * Winning the prestigious 4 Desert Race Series in 2008, traversing the Gobi, Antacara, Sahara and Antarctica; * Competing in the Badwater 135 10 times, including victory in 2004; * Running 148 miles on a treadmill in 24 hours; and * Running 3000 miles across the US from Disneyland to NYC in 75 days I met Dean back in 2011 and we’ve been friends ever since. In 2013, I even helped crew him to his 10th Badwater 135 finish. Today we reunite to pickup where we left off in RRP 115 — one of my most popular podcasts to date — to discuss life, running, his latest adventures, and his brand new book, The Road To Sparta: Reliving the Ancient Battle and Epic Run That Inspired the World's Greatest Footrace*. This is the book Dean was born to write. It’s the story of Dean’s ancestral heritage and his deeply personal, genetically hardwired connection to the intrepid ancient Greek ultrarunners known as hemerodromes. It’s also the incredibly well researched historical account of Pheidippides — perhaps the greatest and most heroic hemerodrome of all time — and the crucial role he played in helping Athens defeat Persia in the Battle of Marathon that took place 2,500 years ago. Pheidippides' 153-mile, 36 hour run from Athens to Sparta in 490 B.C. wasn't just critical to Greek victory, it's fair to say it spared Western Civilization and preserved the democratic institutions we so value today. Finally, the book is a deeply engaging, first-hand account of Dean’s attempt to honor his lauded hemerodrome ancestor by replicating Pheidippides' ancient and historic 153-mile run, training and racing on only the few foods actually available to Pheidippides at the time. Beyond fascinating tales from the new book, this is a conversation about curiosity, consistency, and drive. It’s about out-of-body experiences that occur when you are stripped to your very core. It’s about what motivates him to continue pushing the boundaries of human capabilities well into his 50's and how his training, racing and nutrition have evolved to meet that challenge. But most of all, this is a conversation about what it means to be truly alive – and the beautiful embrace of discomfort required to explore the outer limits of performance, potential, and human experience. I consider Dean a role model. In addition to being one of the great athletes of our time and an inspiration to millions worldwide, Dean is someone I am lucky to call friend and mentor. I’m thrilled to further share his life, wisdom and experience with you today. Enjoy! Rich

Andrew “Spud Fit” Taylor: How He Lost 114 Pounds Eating Nothing But Potatoes For An Entire Year

One of the great privileges of hosting this podcast is the occasional opportunity it presents to shift focus from conversations with globally prominent thought leaders to shine a bright spotlight on the struggles and triumphs of the everyman. Folks living average, relatable lives. Anonymous individuals dealing with issues all too many of us confront and combat — obesity, depression, disease, addiction and/or a sense of general dissatisfaction with their current life status. Authentic souls who reach the limit of their pain threshold and cross that tipping point to finally proclaim, enough is enough. On a personal note, nothing gives me more satisfaction than celebrating those who courageously challenge their life paradigm, step outside the cozy comfort zone, and attempt the extraordinary — all in the interest of gaining control of their well being and seizing the reigns of their life path. Folks like Josh LaJaunie, who lost over 200 pounds to conquer ultramarathons and even grace the cover of this month's Runners World magazine. Or Brett & David Wilcox – the father-son duo who ran across the USA to raise GMO awareness. Luke Tyburski fits the bill — a guy who overcame depression to conquer The Ultimate Triathlon. And I'd add Adam Sud to that list — a young guy who kicked adderal, reversed his diabetes and found a life. Sharing these experiences is what makes this podcast different from the others — meaningful and special in a very unique way. So if you enjoy the uplifting everyman story, then you are in for a treat today. About a year ago, Andrew Taylor stepped onto the scale — 334 pounds. The Aussie didn't like what he saw. He didn't like how he felt. Clinically depressed, medicated and hopelessly addicted to unhealthy foods, his elevator was going down — fast. Fed up and sick & tired of being sick & tired, he drew a line in the sand and decided to step over it. It was time to finally wake up and seize the reigns of his physical, mental and emotional health and well being. To once and for all reclaim the life he felt quickly slipping away. Blessed with self-awareness, he saw his path to freedom would lay not in balance but rather in what most would consider drastic and extreme measures. Andrew decided that he would eat nothing but potatoes for an entire year. Nothing. But. Potatoes. For an entire year. On January 2, 2016, all 334 depressed pounds of Andrew popped open his phone, clicked record, and announced his quest on YouTube — to a subscriber base of exactly zero. The single video soon morphed into a daily vlog, a raw, personal and authentic look into the highs, lows, how to's and whatnots of a potato-fueled journey Andrew dubbed Spud Fit. He presumed nobody would care. This was for him. Surprisingly, the world took notice. It wasn't long before the global media picked up Andrew's personal interest story and before he could even blink, his wild adventure was foisted into the white hot spotlight. Enjoy! Rich

What Now?

I have endeavored to keep politics out of this podcast. A podcast proudly built on radical inclusivity that transcends political ideology and affiliation. That said, in the wake of last week, many have solicited my perspective on what I think we can all agree is a historic election — perhaps the most jolting and important political event of our lifetimes. So today, I officially go on record. I'm nervous. Because my truth may not be your truth. But know that I welcome our differences. I do this because I stand for fidelity to authenticity. And authenticity requires I give voice to my truth. I do this with eyes wide open. I understand and accept that I very well may be committing social media suicide. I do this because I am dismayed by the extent to which we are divided as a people. I do this because fear runs rampant. Because discord rules the conversation. Because facts have been rendered irrelevant. Because fundamental rights are being threatened. Because dignity is being trampled. Because science is under siege. And because precious environmental protections are imperiled. I do this to provide counsel for those suffering. I do this to build a bridge to those celebrating. I do this from a desire to better understand. I do this from a place of love. So let's have a conversation about it. About all of it. A real conversation. Today I convene with Julie Piatt and activist filmmaker Darly Wein for a raw and candid roundtable discourse on how to best process, move forward and come together in this most divisive, uncertain time. The answer to what ails us transcends politics. It lives beyond our respective idealogical bubbles. It's an answer that will only be found in the desire to better understand ourselves and each other. In the search for unity. In self-governance and taking responsibility for our actions, our words, and our behavior. Beyond the fear that blinds us, it will be discovered only when we learn to walk with integrity, stop fighting and listen — really listen — with compassion. With empathy. And love. Always love. I sincerely hope you find this conversation helpful. Should you choose to pass on this episode (I get it), regular programming will resume on Monday. Peace + Plants, Rich

Chris Hauth: Building Better Athletes, Training For Optimal Performance & Achieving Fitness For Life

This week marks the highly anticipated return of Chris Hauth to the podcast. A sub-9 hour Ironman, Chris (@AIMPCoach) is the current Age Group Ironman World Champion, a former Olympic Swimmer and one of the world's most respected endurance coaches. In 2006, Chris won the Ironman Coeur D’Alene and went on to be the first American amateur & 4th overall American at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. When he's not training and racing, Chris expertly coaches a wide spectrum of amateur and elite professional athletes across a variety of disciplines, including Ironman and Western States top finishers, Ultraman winners and myriad swimmers towards age group nationals and Olympic Trials. My relationship with Chris began in 2008. A coach/athlete mentorship turned friendship that profoundly and forever altered the trajectory of my life. Brilliantly guiding me through three Ultraman World Championships ('08, '09 & '11) as well as EPIC5 in 2010, my debt of gratitude for Chris' tutelage cannot be overstated. Simply put, I could have never achieved the level of athletic success I have enjoyed without his deft counsel, which has been instrumental in maximizing my potential as an athlete and bettering me as a human being. Today I am pleased to share his wisdom with you. This is a general conversation about Chris' evolving philosophy on training, racing and life. It's also a granular and technical masterclass on optimal training protocols, the common mistakes most athletes make, the approach and mindset required to break the glass ceiling on potential, and how to effectively balance performance goals against general health and well-being. But at it's core, this is a conversation about multi-sport as a crucible for self-awareness and growth. Endurance sports as metaphor for life.  We cover a lot of ground in this conversation, including: * Chris’ training & racing philosophy * aerobic vs. anaerobic training * the benefits of calculated progression * pros & cons of external monitors/trackers * race plan execution * prioritizing core strength * strategies for optimizing recovery  * the facts on fad dieting and fitness nutrition * striking the proper balance between performance & general health * overcoming adversity through mental & physical fitness, and * the imperative of fitness for life I have an inkling this episode will leave you wanting to hear more about Chris' story and philosophy. If so, check out RRP #21 — our first podcast exchange back in the early days of the program. Then check out his website AIMPCoaching and let him know what you think on Twitter at @AIMPCoach. Still have questions for Chris? Shoot him an e-mail at chris@aimpcoaching.com (Chris – you might regret sharing your e-mail here!) I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

Biz Stone on Conscious Capitalism & The Power Of Technology To Cultivate Global Cooperation

Imagine co-creating a tool so powerful, it literally changes the world. Biz Stone is one such man. Most people know Biz as one of the co-founders of Twitter. Together @biz@jack and @ev created the social media behemoth that seismically impacted how we connect with the world, share information, exchange opinions, consume news, and participate in the daily global conversation. Ironically, Biz never aspired to become successful in business. A most unlikely entrepreneur, he spent his early years as an artist, crafting book covers for a Boston publishing house. Biz’s initial interest in Silicon Valley was sparked not by the potential for riches but rather by idealism – technology as potential energy to greater unite the human experience. Bring people closer. And cultivate global cooperation. An early evangelist of blogging as a vehicle to serve his romantic vision, Biz jumped when Ev Williams invited him to join Blogger, the networked blogging platform Ev had built and sold to Google. Ultimately, Biz walked away from Google. Leaving millions on the table, he leaped into the treacherous unknown of start ups, following Ev to podcast precursor Odeo. In one of the greatest pivots in Silicon Valley lore, Odeo would morph into Twitter. Twitter would permanently change culture. And along with Ev, Biz would later advance to co-found Medium, the über-popular, user-friendly blogging platform of the moment. Today brings us to Jelly, a new kind of multi-platform search engine Biz recently launched that allows you to ask questions and get timely, helpful answers (as opposed to an index of websites) from the people most well suited to intelligently respond. It's fun and surprisingly effective. Give it a try by downloading the iOS app, visiting askjelly.com/richroll, or just add #askjelly to your Twitter questions. Among his accolades, INC. Magazine named Biz Entrepreneur of the Decade. TIME listed him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, GQ named him Nerd of the Year, and he’s one of Vanity Fair's Top Ten Most Influential People of the Information Age. Despite never graduating college, today Biz serves up Visiting and Executive Fellow duties at both Oxford and Berkeley respectively and authored the humorous memoir, Things A Little Bird Told Me. Beyond the narrative of inhabiting rare entrepreneurial air, what’s most personally interesting about Biz is that at his core, he really is an artist. A true artist. Not one for the sexy stories of Silicon Valley board room intrigue, what excites Biz most is leveraging his fertile, creative mind to serve humanity. To make the world better. More connected. More empathetic. This is a fun, jocular conversation about conscious capitalism, the future of tech and artificial intelligence. It’s about living in alignment with one’s values. It’s about the future of one man’s dedication to cultivating greater human cooperation. And it’s a conversation about what it takes to change the world. Like, indubitably. Oh yeah – he’s also super funny. I sincerely hope you enjoy the conversation. Give Biz a shout on Twitter at @biz and let him know what you think. Peace + Plants, Rich

How To Build An Authentic Brand

Julie Piatt joins me for another mid-week installment of the podcast — a twist on my normal format where we answer listener questions and go deep on specific topics. Today we recap Plantpower Italia, our second retreat in Italy, before exploring the subject of building a brand that is truly authentic to who you are. Disclaimer: The answers might surprise you. Enjoy the show! Peace + Plants, Rich

How To Be A Minimalist: Joshua Fields Millburn On The Power Of Living Deliberately & Contributing Beyond Ourselves

I thought it would make me happy. So, I studied hard. Nailed the grades & aced my college applications — 7 for 7. Even Harvard gave me the green light. I snagged a degree from Stanford, eked my way through Cornell Law School, bagged the fancy job, worked ridiculous hours in overpriced suits and rode the elevator all the way up the corporate ladder, hammering impressive paychecks along the way. Prosperity? I guess. Security? Maybe. Personal satisfaction? Not so much. Don't get me wrong. The American Dream is a beautiful ideal. An egalitarian proposition I bought into wholesale, forging a life trajectory premised upon material well being. But the dream is not without it's fissures. Nowhere does it promise personal well being. Nowhere does it promise meaning. Nowhere does it promise happiness. But this is on me. Because at no point did I take action on anything of personal importance. What do I want? Who do I want to be?  At 30, I lacked the maturity and self-awareness to honestly answer these questions. But let's face it — I didn't even ask. At first, my dissatisfaction was barely noticeable. But as my disquieting malaise progressively escalated, I compensated with all manner of unhealthy habits. Blackout binges that landed me in jail. Horrendously noxious food that left me atrociously unhealthy. Spending sprees that escalated my debt to almost un-fixable levels. Nothing worked. So I drank more, ate more, spent more, consumed more. Yet no matter how overindulgent my insalubrious habits, how desperate my accelerating efforts to medicate my discomforting dis-ease of self became, that hole in my spirit just grew. Deeper. Wider. Darker. Until it's sheer vastness swallowed me whole, leaving me lost, despondent and utterly alone. Hoping to die and unable to live, all that remained was the realm of the hungry ghost. I honestly don't know how or why I survived. But I do know my rebirth was not by my hand. My divine moment was just that – divine. A faint whisper from the dark recesses of my rootless, discomposed consciousness: You don't have to live this way anymore. This week's guest knows a thing or two about what I'm talking about. Because not that many years ago, Joshua Fields Milburn was blazing a similar trajectory. Mired in the corporate grind, he chased the American Dream banking six figures managing 150 telecom retail stores, expiating for the satisfaction his career failed to provide by doing what we do — accumulating. And when that didn't work, he accumulated more. In fact — much like me — the more Joshua measured self-worth via the barometer of externalities like job titles, condos, and big screen tv's, the more his hole darkened, dilating in depth, width and scope. Joshua's divine moment was delivered in the sudden passing of his mother, followed quickly by the dissolution of his marriage. A devastating succession of events that forced him to take a long look in the mirror. Despondent with the guy being reflected back to him, a whisper began to echo: You don't have to live this way anymore. Hence was born Joshua's search for a more fulfilling and personally satisfying way of living and being. A search that ultimately illuminated a beacon in the darkest of nights. Minimalism. It began with unshackling his relationship to material things. But it culminated in something far more profound: freedom. In Joshua's words, freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from overwhelm. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from depression. Freedom from the trappings of the consumer culture we’ve built our lives around. Real freedom. Enjoy! Rich

Dr. Michael Gervais On Elite Performance & The Psychology of Self-Mastery

At the highest echelon of elite performance, all the athletes possess otherworldly talent. Their thirst for glory is equally preternatural. All of them train to the outer limits of physical possibility. And they are all extraordinarily adroit at focusing on almost inhuman, impossible goals. So what accounts for the distance between the Olympic gold medalist standing proudly atop the podium and the athlete watching the games on television at home? Is it luck? Talent? Support? Resources? Of course every result is significantly influenced by some combination of these important variables. But all things being equal, the difference between the champion and the also ran boils down to one distinct variable: The mind. Once the embarrassing last stop on a flailing athlete’s career, the world's top sports psychologists now enjoys a highly influential and respected role proactively honing the mental and emotional edge of today's most successful athletes, CEOs and creatives looking to elevate peak performance beyond the imaginable. Enter Dr. Michael Gervais — the go to high performance psychologist everyone is talking about. A key member of the Red Bull High Performance Program, Michael works in the trenches of high-stakes environments with some of the world's most prolific Olympic and professional athletes — rare air where there is no luxury for mistakes, hesitation, or failure to respond. Dr. Gervais' results are beyond impressive. If you follow the NFL, then you might recall Michael as the guy Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll credits as integral in their 2014 Super Bowl win for the meditation, mindfulness and other crucial team building techniques he helped foster and instill into the fabric of the Seahawks organization and team culture that paved the team’s path towards incredible success. You might also remember that Felix Baumgartner’s now-infamous Red Bull Stratos jump from an altitude of 128,000 feet almost never was simply because Felix simply could not overcome the high level of anxiety and claustrophobia he experienced every time he donned the jump suit. It was none other than Gervais who helped Baumagartner resolve the issue and get Stratos back on track. No Gervais, no history making jump. And more recently, Michael is the man behind Luke Aikins, who astonished the world this past July by becoming the first skydiver to jump from a plane at 25,000 feet without a parachute or wingsuit and live to tell the story. Dr. Gervais has also worked intimately with US Olympic Team members like beach volleyball superstar Kerry Walsh Jennings, as well as swimmers, snowboarders, golfers, basketball players, track and field athletes, an impressive array of top collegiate programs, and professional sports organizations including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and UFC. In addition, his work has played an integral role in the US Military, as well as several collegiate and high school programs. While Dr. Gervais’ roster includes some of the sports world’s most elite, this isn’t just about high performance athletes. Enjoy! Rich

Faith Provocateur Rob Bell On God, Divinity & Why Love Always Wins

Religion was never for me. Despite many a youthful hour spent kneeling on hardwood church pews, it just never connected. What do all those stained glass windows, depressing organ dirges, and uptight people have to do with art and beauty and meaning and love and purpose and mystery and ultimately what it means to be human? Nothing as far as I could tell. So I searched for answers elsewhere. In the bottom of a bottle. Prowling underground after parties in lower Manhattan. In a mental institution called rehab. In midnight conversations with skid row junkies. In the sound of my breath, lost on a mountain trail run at dawn. During afternoons spent undulating with dolphins in Hawaii. In the overwhelming love I feel simply watching my children sleep. My search didn't lead back to religion. But it did lead to faith. A deep faith of my own design. Faith in an undefined, unlimited power greater than myself. A faith that quite literally saved my life when I was utterly lost, completely broken and unconditionally beyond repair. A faith that has since infused my journey with meaning, purpose and satisfaction beyond my wildest imagination. Some call my version of faith God. Call it whatever you like. I don't care. What I do care about is what it really means to be a spiritual being having a human experience. This week's guest has a few thoughts on the subject — an anti-establishment pastor provocateur making an indelible cultural impact on how we think and practice divinity, faith, and religion in the modern world. Named one of 2011's 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine, Rob Bell has presided over mega congregations, toured with Oprah and been profiled in The New Yorker. iTunes named his podcast, The RobCast, one of the Best of 2015 and he has penned more than a handful of New York Times bestsellers, including Love Wins, the Oprah book of the month What We Talk About When We Talk about God*, and his most recent book, How To Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living*. To me, what makes Rob so undeniably captivating is his independent-minded, radically inclusive — almost punk rock — perspective on faith. Breaking ranks with entrenched, pedantic notions of antiquated Christian church doctrine, his message upends the divisive aspects of religious ideology, recontextualizing the canon as a highly relatable, welcome pallium for all — a comprehensive fiat that boils down to one central premise: Love wins. Always. Enjoy! Rich

Jonathan Fields’ Buckets For Living A Good Life

Some people exude a calm, confident quietude. Others exuberantly burst with exciting ideas. But it's the rare individual that combines understated self-assurance with a spark so powerful, it incites lasting positive change in all who enter his orbit. Jonathan Fields is one such human. His mission? To humanize and empower the process of creation. To help people and organizations conceive and build better, more conscious businesses, art, and lives in less time, with more joy and less effort. On a personal level, Jonathan is guy I can deeply relate to – a dad and husband who (like me) decided to leave the gilded, protective hallways of mega-law firm life and risk everything in search of a life path of greater meaning for himself and others. Reinventing himself as a socially conscious, serial entrepreneur and mindful innovation strategist, today Jonathan is an A-list blogger, award-winning author, speaker, and founder of Good Life Project –empowering people to live more engaged and connected lives via a global education and multi-media venture that encompasses video projects, his wildly popular podcast and super cool events like Camp GLP, his annual 3 1/2- day retreat that blends friendship, adventure and deep-learning with strategies and tools for accelerated personal and business growth. Beneath it all, Jonathan is a teacher. Brimming with empowering wisdom, I love his focus on process over results. His emphasis on the journey over the destination. His deep understanding that authenticity is everything. And that mindfulness lays forth the path. This powerful ethos is reflected in everything Jonathan does, from his writing and advocacy to most importantly, how he conducts his life down to the smallest details. Jonathan has been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, FastCompany, Inc., Entrepreneur, Forbes, USA Today, CNBC, CNN.com, PBS Nightly Report, Elle, Self, Fitness, Vogue, O, People and thousands of other websites that sound cool, but (in Jonathan's words) don't impress his daughter all that much. His first book, Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love*, was named a Top 10 Small Business Book by Small Business Trends and a Top 5 Summer Read by MSNBC. Fields’ second book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance*, was lauded as the #1 Personal Development book of 2011 by 800-CEO-READ. This week marks the release of Jonathan's highly anticipated new book, How to Live a Good Life: Soulful Stories, Surprising Science, and Practical Wisdom*. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy (one of the perks of hosting a podcast) and ...

Sacha Gervasi & David de Rothschild: Chasing Dreams, Seeking Adventure & The Power of Story To Change The World

Two British ex-pats walk into a room. One, a writer and filmmaker. The other, a global adventurer and environmentalist. Upon cursory glance, it's an odd pairing — two exceedingly talented and accomplished yet very different people with little in common beyond their homeland of origin. But peer just beneath the surface and you'll quickly discover certain common passions unite them. A zeal for chasing dreams. An appreciation for cultivating imagination. And a deep understanding that a story well told holds the potential energy to change the world. My very good friend for over 16 years, Sacha Gervasi is the hyper-charismatic screenwriter behind the Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks vehicle The Terminal and the director of 2012's Academy Award nominated Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and Scarlett Johannson. But Sacha is perhaps best known for Anvil! The Story of Anvil — his critically acclaimed rockumentary about an also-ran Canadian heavy metal band. A true-to-life Spinal Tap the London Times dubbed possibly the greatest film ever made about rock and roll, it took independent cinema by storm at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and would go on to win both an Emmy and Independent Spirit Award. But behind the film's can you believe this is actually real? narrative and comedically endearing head-banger protagonists is a powerful, indelible dissection of what it truly means to never give up on your dream. Equally charismatic is Sacha's brother-in-law, David de Rothschild. A world adventurer, passionate environmentalist, entrepreneur and provocative storyteller, David spearheads more conscious causes, mind-boggling expeditions and well deserving non-profits than you can possibly count. In between writing books and graphic novels, David has traipsed the Arctic from Russia to Canada, is one of only 14 people to have traversed the continent of Antarctica and was part of the team that broke the world record for the fastest-ever crossing of the Greenland ice cap. Named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic, a Climate Hero by the United Nations and Man of the Year by GQ Magazine, David is perhaps best known for sailing from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot catamaran forged from 125,000 intact, reclaimed plastic bottles. Dubbed Plastiki — an homage to Kon-Tiki, legendary explorer Thor Heyerdal's epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft in 1947 — the hair-raising odyssey was a successful effort to captivate awareness around the 73.9 million pounds of plastic currently floating in our oceans. David's latest obsession? The Lost Explorer — his recently launched line of stylish, sustainably sourced and manufactured garments, grooming products and travel accessories. The three of us convened in David's spectacular, airy Venice live-work loft for a proper chat and spot of tea. Between witty barbs, this conversation pivots on a central theme: the power of storytelling to lift the human spirit, speak truth to power, incite positive change and elicit indelible, eternal verities about who we are. And how, together, we can leverage imagination to cultivate a better relationship with nature and a brighter future for ourselves, our children and the planet at large. Enjoy! Rich