It’s Not Too Late: How to Transform Your Life at Any Moment

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory 👉 https://melrob.co/let-them-theory 👈 The #1 Best Selling Book of 2025 🔥 Discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. Let Them. — If you’ve ever felt stuck, behind, or like you’re not living the life you’re meant to, this conversation is for you. Today’s episode is a guide to how you can transform your life – at any moment. Mel sits down with New York Times bestselling author, ultra-endurance athlete, and host of one of the world’s top podcasts, Rich Roll, to reveal the lessons from his three jaw-dropping reinventions. From being an alcoholic who couldn’t make the ends meet, to an overweight lawyer who could barely climb a flight of stairs, to one of the fittest men alive with a global platform inspiring millions – Rich’s story will show you what it really takes to change, not once, but over and over again. You’ll learn: -How to create a new version of yourself at any age -How to discover your authentic self at any age -What most people get wrong about transformation -How to recognize when you’re stuck in the wrong life and listen to the voice calling you forward -The mindset shifts that transform setbacks into catalysts for change -Why patience and self-compassion are essential for long-term reinvention -How to help someone in your life who is struggling This episode is a roadmap for your own transformation and how you can reinvent yourself at any age. Whether you want to break free from old habits, find your purpose, or start living a life you truly want, this episode will prove that you can rewrite your own story – starting now. For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page: https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-332/ Follow The Mel Robbins Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themelrobbinspodcast I’m just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I’ll see you in the next episode. In this episode: 00:00 Meet the Guest 3:00 How to Change Your Life at Any Age 7:54 Rich’s Story of Reinvention 17:32 What Alcohol Was Really Covering Up 25:46 Inside Rich’s Journey to Sobriety 33:10 How to Help Someone Who’s Spiraling 38:43 How to Reinvent Yourself in Midlife 42:13 The Moment That Changed Everything 47:36 The Trick to Actually Sticking to Your Goals 51:09   The Foundation for Changing Your Life — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@melrobbins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com​ — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins​?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Mel Robbins?

  Hey, it's your friend Mel and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast.

• 0:09Mel Robbins?

  The person you're about to meet is living proof that it is never too late to transform your life. In fact, it can happen at any moment. New York Times bestselling author Rich Roll is here and he is about to take you through the jaw-dropping twists and turns of what it's like to wake up and realize the life you're living needs to change. He's reinvented himself not once, not twice, but three different times. These are the lessons that he learned from overcoming a debilitating alcohol addiction. He'll tell you the exact steps that he took to go from not being able to walk up a flight of stairs to becoming a world-class endurance athlete in his 40s. And he's also going to give you the secret to believing that there's

• 0:53Mel Robbins?

  something better. Rich is also a very close friend of mine and I have been wanting to introduce you to this man for a long time. He is here to prove to you that if he can change his life three times, you can change yours. So if you've ever asked yourself, is this all there is? Is this how my life is always going to feel? If you don't like where you are or where you're going, it is never too late to change. And my hope is that listening to this episode will actually be that moment for you to make the change.

• 1:34Mel Robbins?

  Hey, it's your friend Mel and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast. It is always such an honor to be together and spend this time with you. And if you're a new listener or you're here because somebody shared this with you, I want to personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins Podcast family. Today, you're going to learn how to change your life at any age from someone who has done it three times. Rich Roll is here. He's the host of the award-winning Rich Roll Podcast. In his 40s and 50s, he has become a professional ultra-endurance athlete. Men's Health named him one of the fittest men on the planet and they called him the world's fittest vegan alive. Now, I know that sounds impressive

• 2:15Mel Robbins?

  and Rich is impressive, but he has not always been this way. He has transformed his life and he's going to show you how to do it yourself. So please help me welcome my friend, Rich Roll, to the Mel Robbins Podcast. Rich Roll in the house.

• 2:32Speaker 01

  Happy to be here.

• 2:33Mel Robbins?

  I am so excited you're here.

• 2:34Speaker 01

  I'm very excited to be here. This is a long time coming. We've known each other a long time. So it lined up. It's great. I'm here. Let's do it.

• 2:41Mel Robbins?

  Well, thank you for jumping on a plane. I cannot wait for the person that's with us right now to get to experience the magic that is my friend Rich Roll. So we're going to cover a lot in our conversation, but I would love if you could start by telling the person who's with us right now, what they might experience in their life that could be different, if they take everything to heart that you're about to share from your own life story and they apply it to their own life.

• 3:10Speaker 01

  If you are struggling, if you are stuck, I can promise you that there is hope, that if you want to change, you can change. Because I believe that every single one of us is far more capable than we allow ourselves to believe. And that right underneath our feet is a vast reservoir of untapped potential, just yearning to be released. And our job is to bring it forth, to release it into the world.

• 3:45Mel Robbins?

  One of the reasons why I am so excited to have this conversation with you is because your life demonstrates that there is no age limit for when you can change, when you can achieve things. And in fact, I would love to have you read the posts that you put out that I think is so inspiring.

• 4:10Speaker 01

  So this was six years ago. I didn't reach my athletic peak until I was 43. I didn't write my first book until I was 44. I didn't start my podcast until I was 45. At 30, I thought my life was over. At 52, I know it's just beginning. Keep running, never give up, and watch your kite soar.

• 4:33Mel Robbins?

  What does that mean to you?

• 4:34Speaker 01

  To me, it means that change is always possible. And I think that we put all of this pressure on ourselves. We are in a hurry all the time to get to some place. And we're indoctrinated into that at a very young age. From the beginnings of school, where we're chasing grades and, you know, trying to get to the next level. There's always some goal that we're chasing or some gold star that we're grabbing for. And we're measuring our self-worth against the extent to which we're keeping up with our peers. And so this race begins before our brains are even close to being formed. And we carry it through our entire life, putting pressure on ourselves,

• 5:16Speaker 01

  always believing that we're behind and we have to, we have to catch up or we're just never going to get like quote unquote there. And I think that's a real violence that we do, this socially imposed violence. And in my experience, yes, life is short. We have one precious life. We should all devote ourselves to making the most of it. But life is also long and we're not in a race. So stop measuring yourself against all these other people and figure out who you want to be, what it is that you want to do, and start taking those little baby steps towards it. And it will lead you in a direction that might take longer than other people. But in my experience, that's okay. And this is a, you know, a tweet that I sent out now six years ago.

• 6:00Speaker 01

  And I don't know if I would say I'm still at the beginning, but you know, I'm not nearly at the end right now.

• 6:06Mel Robbins?

  But you're at the beginning of something.

• 6:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, I'm, yeah, I'm not, you're, we're always at the beginning of something, you know? Uh, you know, growth, change, evolution, transformation. This is a, this is a lifelong, you know, path that we're on. So there's always something to learn. There's always a way to grow.

• 6:21Mel Robbins?

  Well, and I cannot wait to get into your story and the lessons learned, like me, the hard way, and the mistakes made and the wisdom that you gained from it. But before we do, I would love to have you talk directly to the person who's either listening or watching right now. And it's so easy in life to get to this point where you're like, I blew it. 25, majored in the wrong thing, did the wrong thing, you know, missed the window, 30, 40. Like for somebody, whatever age they are saying it's too late. What do you want to tell them?

• 6:56Speaker 01

  It's not too late. This is a story that we internalize and dilute ourselves into believing. But it's just that. It's a story. When you can step back and deconstruct, deconstruct it, you realize it's insane. It's a template that's been laid on top of you that I think is deranging our minds in a very violent way that makes us feel bad about ourselves. It's not too late. There's always a possibility for you to move in a new direction, or change the trajectory of your life wholesale, or even make those micro changes that are going to kind of just shift your trajectory just enough to lead you in a direction that is going to be, you know, kind of more personally fulfilling for you.

• 7:40Mel Robbins?

  I love this, Rich. I absolutely love this. You have such an incredible story. You've been named one of the 25 fittest men in the world by Men's Fitness. You literally raised, if you weren't watching on YouTube, Rich put his arms out just a minute ago. Your wingspan is nuts. Like, I bet your arms went across the screen and disappeared across the YouTube screen here. And so I didn't realize that you're, I realized you were a swimmer dude.

• 8:08Speaker 01

  True. I don't even, I never even knew that.

• 8:09Mel Robbins?

  Oh, you went like this. I'm like, is he about to take flight? This man is like, he's like, I don't know what a big bird is, but he's like, I mean, unbelievable. And you say, though, as a kid, that you were shy, insecure, and bullied. So tell me about that.

• 8:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was a very scared and afraid young person who was bullied considerably through elementary school and junior high school and high school.

• 8:38Mel Robbins?

  What did they pick on you about? Because I look at you now, I'm like, man, what a handsome guy. He's like, got it together. He's got the beard, dude.

• 8:44Speaker 01

  Let me paint the picture. Okay. Imagine, you know, the 10, 12-year-old version of me. Giant, thick Coke bottle glasses. Not only that, a patch on one eye, because I have a weak left eye that kind of wanders.

• 9:00Mel Robbins?

  So they literally covered it?

• 9:01Speaker 01

  Do you remember in the 70s? Yeah, they put a patch on it. It was like, they put a patch on your strong eye and the idea is it will strengthen your weak eye. So I had to wear a patch on one eye. And then on top of that, I had the headgear orthodontia with the wires coming out of the mouth and the strap, you know, behind your back. So I was not a vision for you, Mel, hardly.

• 9:24Mel Robbins?

  Well, I don't know. I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut and buck teeth, so you might have been just my type, Rich.

• 9:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's hard to be young. It's hard to be young. So yeah, I was bullied and I think those experiences made me withdraw socially and made me very insecure about my behavior and my appearance. And my solution to that was just to kind of fade into the background, at least initially.

• 9:49Mel Robbins?

  How did that experience shape who you are today?

• 9:55Speaker 01

  It made me a people-pleasing, approval-addicted person who would literally morph to fit the occasion in order to get love and approval. And I think layered on top of that, being raised in a family in which expectations ran high, I intuited that love is transactional, that I'm not entitled to it. And the only way to get it is to somehow figure out how to distinguish myself, to achieve things, to figure out how to be special, and to commit myself to extrinsic, external rewards.

• 10:44Speaker 01

  Because otherwise, I was unworthy of love and unworthy of approval.

• 10:51Mel Robbins?

  So is that what drove you to get the kind of grades that got you into Stanford and to become like a world-class athlete at the collegiate level?

• 11:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think that's a huge part of the motor behind that.

• 11:04Mel Robbins?

  So how did you compete if you got headgear on? Like, how did you discover swimming?

• 11:09Speaker 01

  Swimming was the only thing that I stumbled across as a young person that I felt like I had any aptitude for whatsoever, and I enjoyed it. More than that, the experience of being underwater felt almost womb-like, like a safe place away from the bullying, away from, you know, the name-calling. And I learned very quickly in the pool, having joined a team in which there were a lot of swimmers who were much more talented and accomplished than I was, I'm talking about around the time I was 12, 13 years old, that I could bridge that talent-deficit gap by just working harder than everybody else.

• 11:52Speaker 01

  And so that's where the relationship with suffering and just being the hardest worker in the room was born, because I was quickly rewarded for that. And that started to spill into every aspect of my life, including academics, to my benefit.

• 12:09Mel Robbins?

  Well, all that effort that you put in paid off, because by the time you were in your early twenties, you not only had gone to Stanford, but you were also in law school. You had a fancy job after law school. On the outside, everything seemed like it was working out, but it really wasn't. So put us at the scene of kind of the first thing that started to spiral out of control in your life.

• 12:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, first I would say that this like affinity for extremes is definitely a strength, if not a superpower, but ultimately also like my greatest weakness and Achilles heel. Like what serves us also harms us when it's out of balance. And that's my experience. And I think, yes, like, all of that focus and discipline paid off in a very real, material way. But that came at a cost, which is that I had blinders on and, you know, I was, I was being funneled into a certain track and I figured out how to play that game.

• 13:09Mel Robbins?

  What was that track?

• 13:10Speaker 01

  And I was playing like high achievement, like get the good grades, get into the, get into, I mean, I got into all eight colleges that I applied to, including Harvard, Princeton, like you name it, I got into all the schools.

• 13:21Mel Robbins?

  Wow.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  And

• 13:22Mel Robbins?

  Rich roll, go off.

• 13:24Speaker 01

  And then, and then I was one of the top ranked high school swimmers in the country. And I go to Stanford, which is not only, you know, obviously this insanely amazing academic institution, but also at the time had the number one men's collegiate swimming program in the country. So I went from this bullied, insecure, like naval gazing kid to this guy at Stanford, who was suddenly surrounded by his athletic heroes. But I think, yes, I was still to some degree, you know, being funneled on a track. And the promise, the implicit promise at the end of this funnel is of course, you will be happy, you will

• 14:08Speaker 01

  be fulfilled, you will have a good life. And I believed in that promise. And I'm sure for many people, it's true. But in my case, the pursuit of that track was a betrayal of, of like who I fundamentally was as a person. Like, my whole life was jamming a square peg into a round hole. And that creates like a, like an uncomfortability or, or like a dissonance with your, with your higher self, that is a low hum until it's not. And, you know, alcohol, I'm sure we're going to talk about this, kind of entered the picture to ameliorate that.

• 14:44Mel Robbins?

  Could you describe, what does it feel like to be in a life where you're being funneled, even if it's successful on the outside?

• 14:56Mel Robbins?

  What is that like to be in a life where you're like, it just doesn't quite fit? You know what I mean?

• 15:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, first of all, you don't know that you're in it. That's the truth, right? You may know your intuition, your deep down intuition that you're repressing and compartmentalizing is trying to get your attention, but you don't want to hear it, right? So it is difficult to know if you're not on the right track or not. And I'm sensitive to that. But I do think that there is something that I call the knock, right? Like, I think that when you're, when you're off your trajectory, you know, when you're off your, your, your like true path, and not to get too woo woo about it, but like, the universe kind of lets you know. And they begin to, it begins to let you know very gently, you know, a little tap,

• 15:45Speaker 01

  like something you thought would go right might go wrong, or, or there's a little friction in one area of your life. And these are things we dismiss, you know, uh, you know, moving on, right?

• 15:54Mel Robbins?

  What are some of the things like when you're like in the lawyer mode? What are the gentle knocks before the sledgehammer hits you?

• 16:00Speaker 01

  Well, you know, that, that, that gaze in the mirror in the morning, like where you have to like, get yourself up to just get dressed to go to the job. Like, I think this is common to, you know, most people who are, you know, on a certain career path that is less fulfilling than, than maybe it could be. Like, the fact that you have to like psych yourself up just to get to work. And simple tasks feel daunting. And then you look around the office and the people who got the promotion that you've told yourself that you want, don't look very happy and are compensating for it by spending too much money on things they can't afford. But you don't quite register that and you convince yourself that nonetheless, you want that promotion

• 16:45Speaker 01

  without really reflecting on like, is this what I want? And why, why do I want it? And so I think the universe is like trying to get your attention, like, hey, look over there, see what's happening and you ignore it. And it starts to knock louder and it knocks louder, it knocks louder, until it derails your life to an extent to which you're willing to listen and kind of take accountability for your life.

• 17:08Mel Robbins?

  Well, you mentioned alcohol. You've been very open about your relationship with alcohol, addiction, the role that it played in your life and this kind of life-changing breakdown that you had. How did? It all begin.

• 17:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, first of all, I never got in trouble in high school. Like, I was a goody-goody. I was waking up at 4:30 every morning and going to swim practice for an hour and a half, and then going to school, and then going to back to the pool for two more hours, and then studying, and then lights out at nine. I didn't go to parties. I wasn't invited to the parties anyway. And so my career with alcohol didn't start until a little bit later than it does for a lot of people. Around the time I was 20, 21. And when I got my first buzz, I suddenly felt comfortable in my own skin for the very first time. Like, that low-grade dissonance or discomfort that you've had your whole life,

• 18:06Speaker 01

  that you don't even know that it could feel any different than that, like evaporated. And it just felt like I was being wrapped in a warm blanket and being told that everything was okay. And all I remember about that is just that I wanted to feel that way all the time. And I thought that I had found the solution for my life. But alcohol, you know, getting drunk was really fun, and it solved a lot of my social anxiety. And it taught me how to be a social creature and talk to a girl, and go to a party, and crack a joke, and look somebody in the eye. Like, I felt like it was an education in how to be a social animal.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  But as any alcoholic will tell you, it's not long before the veneer cracks and your life starts to get progressively more chaotic and more unmanageable.

• 18:59Mel Robbins?

  One of the things that I also love about the way that you talk about addiction is that it's way beyond alcohol. That people can become addicted to lots of different things, whether it's to busyness, to drugs, to video games, to toxic relationships, to chaos in their lives. Can you talk a little bit more about that, just to widen the spectrum?

• 19:21Speaker 01

  I've been... In recovery for a long time. I've seen people get sober. I've seen people die. And what I've taken, of the many things I've taken from this experience, is a conviction that addiction is very much a spectrum disease. And it's a disease in which we put all this focus on the behavior or the substance, alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex and love. But these are not the problem. These are the solution to the problem. When you remove alcohol from an alcoholic's life, you're basically forcing that person

• 20:03Speaker 01

  to break up with their best friend, their reliable coping strategy for life. And what you're left with is a raw nerve of a human being that then has to be healed. And I think we have traditionally thought of addiction in the context of these behaviors and substances. But I think that's a very restrictive definition. I think, to some degree or another, on this spectrum, we can all relate to behaviors that we feel powerless to change or overcome, or compulsions we know are leading us astray, and yet we keep doing it and doing it despite wreaking havoc on our lives.

• 20:44Mel Robbins?

  When you said the word "compulsion," like there are these things that you keep doing that you can't stop yourself from doing, it made me think of a number of things, whether it was like the wildly violent and self-destructive behavior. When I was in college and law school, undiagnosed trauma, undiagnosed ADHD, didn't even know I had anxiety yet, and I was a liar, I cheated on boyfriends, like just excessive drinking. And I would always wake up the next day and be like, "I'm not doing that again." And then I would feel just compelled to do it again. And the trap of that, but I've never, I'd never thought about it on the spectrum.

• 21:27Mel Robbins?

  Of the disease of addiction. But you're right, because it became this thing that I kept saying, I'm not going to do this again. And then I would do it again, and then I would feel so shitty about myself. And then I would say, I'm not going to do it again, and then I would do it again.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's powerlessness.

• 21:43Mel Robbins?

  Yes.

• 21:44Speaker 01

  That is a taste of the powerlessness of somebody who's caught in the throes of an addiction they can't control, and their life is spiraling, you know, and unmanageable. I'm very grateful that I had a pretty severe case of alcoholism, because it turned my life into such a chaotic disaster that I was left with no choice if I wanted to live, that I was going to have to contend with it and figure out a way forward. But I think most people on this spectrum, whether it's some kind of errant behavior, like they keep getting involved with the wrong person in a romantic relationship, and are confused why it's always ending up in a terrible result, or the person who can't put down their phone,

• 22:28Speaker 01

  or is compulsively online shopping, or comparing themselves to, you know, beautiful men and women on social media, all the way to the person who can't pull the needle out of their arm. Having a severe case of addiction really is a gift, because you're going to have to face it, right? Whereas if you have a low-grade version of it, you could live out the remainder of your life, never getting bad enough that you're compelled to look at it.

• 22:54Mel Robbins?

  You know, you were saying that it got absolutely disastrous. And at the height of your addiction, you write about how your parents stopped talking to you. I would love to just have you explain, like, what a day in your life looked like and how bad it got. Because I think when you look at you now, and you're like, yeah, I got really bad, and thankful, like, I don't, unless you've ever experienced it yourself, or you have somebody that you love, it's hard to even imagine what that actually looks like.

• 23:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I would say that my drunk log is not sexy. It's not rock and roll. It's pretty boilerplate and banal. I was sleeping on a bare mattress in an unfurnished bedroom, unfurnished apartment, drinking round the clock. Like, I would wake up hungover, having hallucinations and bedspins and, you know, like, night sweats.

• 23:53Speaker 01

  And the only way I could make that go away was to make myself a vodka tonic and drink it in the shower in the morning. And then I would feel better. Not like drunk, just normal. Get dressed, get in the car with a tall boy between my legs and drive across Los Angeles. And I would literally go to work as a lawyer. And then at lunchtime, I would go sneak out to some restaurant or bar where I could like drink, get a couple more drinks in me to make it through the end of the day. Like, there's no way that was gonna last, right? And it didn't last. And then as soon as I could escape from work, having done the least amount possible, I would stop the liquor store on the way home,

• 24:36Speaker 01

  and I would get drunk by myself in my apartment. And then I would go out to some bar by myself. There was nothing social about it. You know, it was by myself. Just sad, lonely, pathetic. And it would always end up the same, which is in a blackout, or in a situation that involved the cops in jail. Like, that's how it ultimately all kind of came to a head for me.

• 24:58Mel Robbins?

  You had a number of DUIs before you hit rock bottom. Like, what ultimately had you hit that moment in your life where you changed?

• 25:11Speaker 01

  I got two DUIs in a period of like, I think it was like six or eight weeks of each other.

• 25:16Mel Robbins?

  Six or eight weeks?

• 25:17Speaker 01

  Like, blowing insanely high numbers. One of which involved me rear-ending an old woman at an intersection. The second of which involved me driving the wrong way down a one-way street, you know, both ending up in jail. And then having those two DUIs stacked on top of each other, going into court like I was looking at jail time. But that was on my bottom. And I didn't get sober in a sustainable way after that. I had to suffer more and go darker. And that elevator just had to keep going down before I was really ready to wake up. Which, you know, is a conversation around rock bottoms and what that really means.

• 25:58Mel Robbins?

  What does a rock bottom moment mean?

• 26:00Speaker 01

  Your rock bottom is what you decided to be. Because if the elevator's going down, there's always, there is no ground level. It can always go further down until... You're dead. People change when the pain of their circumstances exceeds the fear of finally doing something different. So that's how I think about rock bottom. When you're in that space, you're birthed with a willingness that you didn't have prior.

• 26:30Mel Robbins?

  You know, I, I think a lot about a couple of people in my life that are really struggling. And the one phrase that I say, because I know you can't make someone change. I always say, do you want to get worse before you get better?

• 26:46Speaker 01

  Mm hmm. But here's the thing. When you're, when you're in a shitty headspace and your life spiraling out of control, I know for myself, when I was in the throes of alcoholism, I'm sure plenty of people said that to me. I didn't want to hear it. I'm like, I don't care. Like, go away. When you're so caught up in that cycle of, of like craving and reward, and your life is spiraling out of control, like until you are in that moment where your, your pain is enough to exceed that fear of doing something different, does that message land with the person?

• 27:23Mel Robbins?

  Probably not. I'm glad you said that because I want to know what to say. Like I, I, I know that it must've been the hardest thing in the world for your parents to stop talking to you.

• 27:33Speaker 01

  Mm hmm. The hardest, the hardest, the hardest, most painful thing that they had to endure.

• 27:40Mel Robbins?

  Since you've been on this side of it, is there anything anybody can say?

• 27:47Speaker 01

  As you know, you can't get somebody to change who doesn't want to change. You cannot will willingness upon them, which is very difficult, particularly in the context of like a parent who's watching their child suffer from an addiction.

• 28:04Mel Robbins?

  Mm hmm.

• 28:05Speaker 01

  The addicted person is powerless over that behavior, but also the parents are powerless to change that. Every instinct is to rush in and solve the problem, to save this person, to prevent them from doing this thing that so clearly is wrecking their life. The problem is that that instinct doesn't always play out with positive results. So I think what you have to do is Love the individual, not love the behavior. And create boundaries around yourself and that behavior. Like, I love you, you're clearly suffering.

• 28:48Speaker 01

  What you're doing, I'm not down with. Here's why. And until you're ready to do something about that, I'm unavailable to you. Which is essentially what my parents said to me. I'm not saying that this is an easy thing to do. And I'm not saying that it's an appropriate strategy in all circumstances. I can only say that in my case, it was an important piece that led me towards sobriety eventually. Because I could no longer look to them to solve my problem or to be codependent in my behavior. They were no longer available, which meant the mirror flipped. And suddenly I had to take responsibility for myself.

• 29:30Speaker 01

  And it was up to me to decide whether I wanted to keep doing this or not.

• 29:36Mel Robbins?

  Did they leave the door open?

• 29:37Speaker 01

  Yes, when you're ready for help, we're available. And they were, they were.

• 29:42Mel Robbins?

  You know, you mentioned that your elevator had to go lower. What made you finally turn the corner for yourself? Like, what was that moment like? Okay, I have found the willingness for myself.

• 29:53Speaker 01

  Well, the crazy thing is that the day I finally woke up and said, okay, today's the day I'm going to treatment and I'm going to get sober. The night before wasn't great. I mean, I definitely woke up hungover. But I gotta tell you, I've had way lower moments, way crazier, chaotic experiences. So it's not, it's not a one to one ratio kind of thing. Like, I'd gone to jail and gotten DUIs. And I had a marriage that exploded on the honeymoon. I've, I've like endured a lot of low moments. But the day I finally woke up and had that willingness. Was a pretty normal day of waking up hungover. It wasn't drama infused in any way.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  So that day wasn't my rock bottom. But when I look back, I realized that I was in such emotional angst and pain from those other lower moments that it creates a paralysis. Like I had to like medicate myself through that before I could actually take the action to do something about it. And I think that's also a common thing. You were referring to it like when you're, when you're in it, sometimes it's so intense. Like you, you can't, there's, you can't summon the will to do anything about it because you're just too deep in it.

• 31:10Mel Robbins?

  And you can't possibly imagine that things could get better.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  No way.

• 31:13Mel Robbins?

  Yeah.

• 31:14Speaker 01

  And so you resign yourself to it. This is my life.

• 31:17Mel Robbins?

  This is gonna sound like a weird comment, but I feel like that feels very hopeful to me that it doesn't have to be that you have the worst of the worst of the worst as the moment. But there comes a moment where your ability to tolerate it any longer, that the pain of staying where you're at is actually greater than the thing that you need to be willing to do.

• 31:42Speaker 01

  But here's the thing, like pain is this amazing teacher, you know?

• 31:45Mel Robbins?

  I know, but it sounds stupid when we say it, right?

• 31:48Speaker 01

  It's like, it can get you to do things you would never ordinarily do in a good way and in a bad way. But the insane thing is that every single moment presents us with the choice or the opportunity to make a different decision and go a different way. It's just that there's something about the way humans are hardwired that it's so difficult unless we're up against the wall to make that behavior shift.

• 32:13Mel Robbins?

  So Rich, if somebody is in the middle of supporting somebody who's spiraling, what is, based on your experience, just the recommendation for how you approach those situations?

• 32:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's very difficult, again, to give like general advice. Yeah, if like somebody is in a life threatening situation. So I'm reluctant to like give blanket advice on this. But I think in general, the message is like, I love you. Your life is spiraling out of control. I can no longer stand idly by and just witness this.

• 32:45Speaker 01

  But if and when you're ready to make a change, I will be the first one here. But in the meantime, like, I'm not gonna loan you money. I'm not gonna, you know, co-sign your bullshit. I'm not available for that. But there is hope. There is help. And I'm here for you 100%. I just want you to know that.

• 33:08Mel Robbins?

  I love that. And there's something in saying that that also, in a weird way, communicates. I actually believe in your ability to figure this out.

• 33:21Speaker 01

  And that's a key piece as well. I can see the real you beneath all of this. And my wife says this all the time, like, I'm holding a vision for that. I'm, I'm holding you in that higher space. I'm claiming it for you because you can't right now. And I believe in that version of you.

• 33:46Speaker 01

  And I'm not going anywhere. But I'm not gonna do these things that I historically maybe have done, or which you are gonna be very upset with me because I'm no longer available for.

• 33:58Mel Robbins?

  Let's give props to your wife, Julie.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  Oh, she's the, she's the one.

• 34:02Mel Robbins?

  Well, I just, as a parent and as a friend, feel like even if you have somebody that's spiraling in self-doubt over something that you know they're capable of, that's a beautiful way to say to somebody, I am holding a vision of who I know you to be and what you're capable of, and I'm not gonna participate in a conversation where you're engaging in this much self-criticism and self-doubt.

• 34:29Speaker 01

  It also takes the judgment out of it.

• 34:31Mel Robbins?

  Yes.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  No one wants to be judged. And when you're in that dark space, you already feel horrible about yourself. The last thing you need is for somebody to come to you and look down at you. Right? So when you're, when someone comes to you from that compassionate place and says like, I love you and I see you, and I, and I believe in you. I believe in you to find your way. I believe in you to, to find your path.

• 34:55Mel Robbins?

  Yeah.

• 34:55Speaker 01

  You know, I know that you're capable of doing that. Like, that's an incredible, like, vote of confidence and encouragement in a situation in which almost everybody is gonna meet that person with condescension and judgment.

• 35:09Mel Robbins?

  If somebody is hanging on every word and they're right in it.

• 35:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, the thing about being in it is, is that you can't see the way forward. And somebody can say to you, do this, don't do that. You should read this book, listen to this podcast. But it's very difficult to hear that. Because at least for me, the looping message is you don't understand how unique my problems are. You don't, you know, like you can't possibly fathom how different I am from, you know, whatever you're telling me. And you create that separation as a level of self-protection. And I think the advice is you do what you can in the moment you find yourself in.

• 35:58Speaker 01

  And I think when life has gone haywire, it's impossible to see what it could be like. And, and we allow that to prevent us from taking action. Like, we want to know, like, well, if I do this, where is it going to go? And what's it going to get me? And what path am I going to be on? And the truth is, you don't get to see that. All you get to do is that one next thing. And when you're ready, the next thing will be shown to you. And then your job is to do that. These bricks get laid one by one. And I think we think that we're supposed to see clear-eyed into the future and where that's going to lead us. But I can tell you, like, when I landed in, you know, Alcoholics Anonymous,

• 36:43Speaker 01

  like, I couldn't see, you know, outside the window where my life was going to be. It was impossible for me to imagine that I would ever emerge out of this and create a life that would be personally meaningful to me. And the only way I was able to do it is literally by doing the thing that was this close to being in front of me to do. And just, okay, I did that. Now what do I do? I don't know. Oh, I think it would be good if I do. Okay, I'll do that. You know, taking those actions, developing that reflex to act. And more will be revealed.

• 37:21Mel Robbins?

  Rich, I am so grateful for this conversation and for your openness and your thoughtfulness. And I want to take a quick break, but I also want to say something else. As you're listening to our sponsors, be generous. Please share this episode with people in your life who need to hear it. If someone in your life is stuck, if they need to change, if life isn't going the way that you wish it would for them, let Rich be your resource for them. Let this conversation be the spark that inspires the person that you care about to change. And also, don't go anywhere because Rich and I are going to be right back with so much more to share with you, so stay with us.

• 38:10Mel Robbins?

  Welcome back. It's your friend Mel Robbins, and today you and I are here, learning about how you can change your life at any age from the incredible Rich Roll. So, fast forward, you get sober, you meet Julie, you're in your late 30s, you've reinvented yourself, right? You're getting your life back on track. And it's the day before you turn 40, and you have another fork in the road. Can you talk to me about what was going on in your life? Because you're like, I don't want to brand you as the king of reinvention, but I think one of the reasons why people love you so much is one of the reasons why they also relate to me.

• 38:55Mel Robbins?

  It's really cool to see somebody turn their life around a little bit later in life. It's really cool to see somebody who's in their 40s or 50s, changing their career and doing new things, and also dominating in the things that you decide to do. And so you get sober, you turn your life around, and now it's your late 30s, but your health is like just horrendous. So, talk to me about what's going on.

• 39:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, it's even more than that. I mean, 31 to get sober.

• 39:28Mel Robbins?

  Yep.

• 39:29Speaker 01

  That begins with...

• 39:32Speaker 01

  Voluntarily incarcerating myself in what's essentially a mental institution for 100 days.

• 39:37Mel Robbins?

  Oh, you did?

• 39:38Speaker 01

  Well, I went to treatment.

• 39:39Mel Robbins?

  Okay.

• 39:40Speaker 01

  So it's like, treatment is a very polite word for basically, you know, people who are, you know, unhinged and in some kind of unhealthy way, right?

• 39:50Mel Robbins?

  You're not selling it, Rich.

• 39:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, listen, it saved my life.

• 39:53Mel Robbins?

  Okay.

• 39:53Speaker 01

  But 100 days is a long time to go away for. This was no like 28 day, you know, rinse and wash, right? Like, I really had a lot that I had to like, get to the bottom of. I emerged from that experience, returned to Los Angeles, and immersed myself in the recovery community. My job was to create a solid foundation of sobriety, and I was very committed to that. I returned to the law firm.

• 40:20Mel Robbins?

  They took you back?

• 40:21Speaker 01

  That supported me while I went away. That's a whole other story. And even though I already knew enough at that time to know that I had picked the wrong career for me, it felt like the right thing to do to go back and work there at least as long as I had been away. But I will say, despite having built this foundation for long-term sobriety, despite this incredible commitment to the steps and the program and this new set of tools that was now, you know, kind of directing my life in a new and amazing way, truly Mel, my goal was to repair the wreckage of my past and get right back to where I was, like, on that

• 41:03Speaker 01

  track, that respectable track where I could put on the nice suit and people would respect me and, you know, I could give them the business card that had the whatever on it and I was driving the right car. Like, I was motivated by those things. But on the inside, I was having this percolating existential crisis of having chosen this career path where I was jamming a square peg into a round hole and just feeling increasingly disconnected from my life in a way that was making me feel depressed and also...

• 41:40Speaker 01

  Medicating that sense of emotional dis-ease through food and lifestyle choices. So just knocking myself out on fast food, what I call the window diet. You know what the window diet is?

• 41:55Mel Robbins?

  No.

• 41:55Speaker 01

  It's when you drive your car up to a fine dining establishment and roll your window down and they hand you food through your window. Like, that was basically my diet.

• 42:04Mel Robbins?

  That's hard to even wrap your brain around, looking at you today. I want to read to you from your mega bestseller, Finding Ultra. This is page two. "I was a fat, out of shape, and very unhealthy man hurdling into middle age, a depressed, self-destructive person, utterly disconnected from who I was and what I wanted to be. To the outside observer, everything appeared to be perfect. It had been more than eight years since my last drink, and during that time, I'd repaired what was a broken and desperate life, reshaping it into the very model of modern American success." You know, what's interesting, you write further. You're such an unbelievably beautiful writer.

• 42:49Mel Robbins?

  So what was wrong with it? Why did I feel this way? I wasn't just confused, it felt like I was in a freefall. Yet, in that precise moment, this is the day before your 40th birthday, "I was overcome with a profound knowledge, not just that I needed to change, but that I was willing to change. Moments like these were not to be squandered. They were to be respected and seized at all costs, for they just didn't come around that often, if ever." And you're talking about this moment where you're literally hauling your 208-pound body up a flight of stairs, and you're out of breath. Can you put us at that scene?

• 43:30Speaker 01

  Yes. So it was a moment in time in which this existential crisis that I was having about, you know, what am I doing with my life, kind of collided with a health scare. So I wasn't, like, morbidly obese, but I was about 50 pounds overweight for my frame, like, heavy for my frame. But these two things collided with each other.

• 43:53Speaker 01

  On a late evening, when I had arrived home after a very long day at work and was just walking up a simple flight of stairs to my bedroom. And I was seized by this moment halfway up the flight where I had tightness in my chest and I was out of breath. And it was a scary moment that made me realize that I was having another like quote unquote, like big moment. Like I had made that decision that fateful morning when I woke up and suddenly had the willingness to like get sober and went to that treatment center.

• 44:33Speaker 01

  And I had such a deep connection with how vast my life had changed as a result of that decision in that one moment. And there's like an emotional feeling that, you know, when I think about it, that that kind of I can feel inside of me. And so when I was on that staircase, I had the presence of mind somehow to realize like, oh, it's happening again. Like it feels the same as that other moment. And because I had that experience of my life changing so drastically as a result of like a single decision, basically, I felt like I needed to do it again. I was like, this is a brief moment of time, a fleeting moment of time in which willingness

• 45:17Speaker 01

  has descended upon me. Not only is my life going sideways, suddenly I have this sudden superpower of wanting to do something about it. Yes. That I know is going to evaporate immediately unless I take an action upon it. And I thought, what can I do? Like I've gone to re- I can't go to rehab for this, you know, like, but what can I, maybe I can create a rehab for my life, a self-designed rehab. And, and that's what I did. Like the next day, I basically was like, I'm changing my diet. I'm prone to extremes and I needed to do something extreme that would feel sort of like what it felt like when I detoxed from drugs and alcohol. So I just did it with food because I needed to like have that purge, that suffering to

• 46:02Speaker 01

  make it seem like it was significant and hard. Like I needed to do something that was hard.

• 46:08Mel Robbins?

  You know, I want to ask you, because you're so lucky that that happened. And, you know, as I'm listening to you, and I'm sure as you're listening or watching Rich right now, you're reflecting on the fact that you've probably had a thousand moments where you're like, I need to give up vaping. I gotta put the phone down. I gotta do something about my health. I gotta stop spending money. I gotta get serious about this thing. I got, you know, where you have that moment that does swell up inside you. And I do think, truly, that when that happens, there is an earnest desire in that statement when you recognize, okay, how I'm doing life, or finances, or romance, it's just not working. How, is there any insight that you can give us, Rich, about, like, you had willingness

• 46:53Mel Robbins?

  open up?

• 46:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:54Mel Robbins?

  And then you combined it with like, alright, I'm going in.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:58Mel Robbins?

  But, but what can we mere mortals, like, you know, for the person that's like, this is resonating, damn it, when is the lightning striking at the top of the stairs for me? And willingness shows up. Like, is there, is there something that you've found?

• 47:12Speaker 01

  First of all, these moments that I've experienced, I think that we're all visited by them. So the first thing is to develop a presence of mind, or, or just an awareness, so that you're attuned to it when they arrive, and you, you make a promise to yourself in advance that next time I feel that, like, I'm gonna take an action on it, rather than let it pass.

• 47:34Mel Robbins?

  I love that.

• 47:35Speaker 01

  Or commiserate.

• 47:36Mel Robbins?

  I love that.

• 47:36Speaker 01

  Because here's the thing, and I'm sure you will agree, Mel, change is an action-based affair. You cannot make a change by ruminating in your mind. And I have a tool that I think will be helpful for this. And that tool is a phrase, and that phrase is mood follows action. When we are in those moments where we think, yeah, I need to stop vaping, or I need to stop, you know, going on Tinder, or whatever it is, we let those moments pass without doing anything about it. In truth, it is behavior first, thoughts, feelings,

• 48:16Speaker 01

  and emotions follow. So, the easiest example is, I don't want to go to the gym. I'll go to the gym when I'm motivated, when I feel better, when I'm, when I, when I feel energetic. But when you go to the gym, and you realize you feel energetic afterwards. So... Instead of waiting for the feeling to inspire the action, take the action and enjoy the feeling as a consequence of having undertaken it.

• 48:43Mel Robbins?

  I want to make sure that as you're listening or watching, that you got the concrete steps that Rich just gave you. So number one, the next time that, I gotta quit vaping. I gotta stop buying stuff online. I gotta stop running toward walking red flags when it comes to relationships. That right there is the invitation. That's the moment that you're talking about because you just woke up and you recognized that you have a choice in this matter, that there's some song within you that has yet to be sung. Second thing that you said is you could actually say to yourself, "The next time I have that thought, I am going to take an action."

• 49:26Mel Robbins?

  And the third thing that you said that is a tool is one of the cues you could give yourself is mood follows action. So what action am I going to take the next time this thing happens? And that simple little formula, notice, make a promise, and know what the action's going to be, that basically kind of opens up the possibility for the willingness to take the action.

• 49:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's an amazing summary. The only addition I would make to that is to layer it with a sense of immediacy. Because these are sliding door moments. And if you say to yourself,

• 50:06Mel Robbins?

  The next time.

• 50:06Speaker 01

  "Aha, a moment, I need to act. Okay, tomorrow morning when I wake up, I'm going to do that." You've already lost the plot.

• 50:13Mel Robbins?

  Rich, I am just so happy you're here. And I can't wait to keep digging into the story and more importantly, the takeaways and the tools that the person listening can apply to their own life. Let's take a quick pause so we can hear a word from our sponsors. And stay with me because I'm going to be right back waiting for you after this break with more from the amazing Rich Roll.

• 50:44Mel Robbins?

  Welcome back. It's your friend Mel Robbins. Today, you and I are with the one and only Rich Roll. We're talking about how you can change your life at any age. So you're at the top of the stairs, dude. You have a moment. You recognize it. Mood follows action. You commit to like, boom, I'm going all in on this. This part of the story of your life is like a movie, dude. Like, you go all in. What did you do?

• 51:09Speaker 01

  The first thing that I did was change my relationship with food. And it didn't happen overnight. Like, I did a seven-day juice cleanse. Like, that was the detox part.

• 51:18Mel Robbins?

  That sounds kind of extreme.

• 51:19Speaker 01

  It was extreme, but I, but like, I like the extreme.

• 51:22Mel Robbins?

  Is it change or interrupt your relationship with food, right? Because change my relationship with food, sounds like something that a 20-something influencer would say.

• 51:30Speaker 01

  But the reason I do that, Mel, is because I know that most people are not like me. Like, I have to go all in. I'm extreme. But that doesn't work for a lot of people. But yeah, I, you know, did the juice cleanses and I experimented with all these diets and ultimately found an entirely plant-based diet, 100% plant-based diet, to be the thing that worked for me. Like, it really revitalized me in a meaningful way. And the byproduct of that is that I suddenly had this resurgence of energy and vitality that I hadn't experienced since I was a teenager because I'd cleaned up my lifestyle habits and my diet. And suddenly had the urge, for the very first time in a long time, to like, exercise and like, take care of myself.

• 52:14Speaker 01

  Because one act of self-esteem begets another. You know, like, self-esteem is a product of performing esteemable acts, not only on behalf of others, but on behalf of yourself. And when you do something in the interest of your own self-care, like, suddenly, that gives birth to an interest in wanting to do more of that. And it's this domino cascade effect that I was starting to experience. And the truth of the matter is that I was able to lose weight very quickly and I was able to, you know, go from somebody who was completely sedentary to quite fit in.

• 52:50Speaker 01

  A short period of time. But the real gift of that was that it was starting to not only connect me to my physical self, but it was giving me a path to recapturing joy. Like by thinking about what are the things that really make me happy or made me happy as a kid. And it took me all the way back to what was it like when you were underwater and in that pool or you could feel the sun on your shoulders, like very basic primal things. And I just thought, I want more of that in my life. I need that in my life. That's what made me happy. I'm not as happy as I could be right now. And so I'm just gonna, I don't care what anyone says or how it interferes with other areas of my life.

• 53:31Speaker 01

  Like I am going to explore that for myself as an act of like self-love, honestly. And there's a whole athletic, kind of competitive athlete story that blossoms from that. But the truth of the matter is that it was never really about that. It's always been this spiritual journey to, to, you know, find my authentic voice and to heal that wound in my soul and to fill that unfillable hole with something, um, with something divine, uh, that would make me feel at ease with myself and in the world.

• 54:12Mel Robbins?

  That is so beautiful. And the image of finding these just moments of joy, whether it's the sun on your shoulders or what it feels like to be outside moving your body or being back in a pool, something that made you really happy as a child. Like it is so obvious that when you kind of paint the picture, that moving toward those things, of course, would bring something alive. And yet we allow ourselves to be funneled away from them. And end up in places where we're needing to distract and numb ourselves because where we've ended up is devoid of those things.

• 54:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, and confused and hypnotized by the shiny object around the bend that's going to solve that for us when we had the answer all along, which is when you reflect back on your happiest moments, you're probably surrounded by people you care about doing something you really enjoy.

• 55:11Mel Robbins?

  Yes, most likely outside. You know what I'm saying? Well, you know, you not only started running, dude, like, I also think your story is so amazing because within two years of nearly having like, just your chest caving in and you're 50 pounds overweight, you earn a top 10 finish in a three-day, 320-mile race. And you're doing this in your 40s. And you don't stop from there. You go into ultra-marathon-ing called The Fittest Man Alive. I mean, it's rich, it's un- I think at some point, I held up a cover of you to my poor husband, Chris, and said, could you please look more like this guy? Like, this guy looks great in his 40s.

• 55:56Mel Robbins?

  What are you doing, Trump? Like, I realize I wasn't really motivating him, but-

• 55:59Speaker 01

  What I had to do to look that way, though, is insane.

• 56:02Mel Robbins?

  I'm sure. I'm sure, because you're an intense guy. But one of the things that I do find fascinating about you, and you have an award-winning and world-renowned and wildly popular podcast. It's one of the few podcasts I listen to. I've heard you say, not only on your podcast, I've read it in your work, that really, if you're lost or stuck, simply focusing, if you don't know what else to focus on, on your own health, is the single most effective thing to do. Could you talk more about that?

• 56:39Speaker 01

  Health is the foundation upon which the rest of your life is built. And if your health is not sound, then your mind is not sound. Your, your, your energy system is compromised. Like, everything is downstream of your physical health. And I think in our modern, fast-paced world, where, you know, we, none of us have enough time, and there's always too much to do, and we never, you know, accomplish all the things that we set out to every day, it can feel indulgent, or like, something only privileged people can do to take care of themselves. But I think that no matter what your lot in life, it's absolutely mission critical to care for yourself first.

• 57:23Speaker 01

  It's that oxygen mask on you before anyone else, because you can't take care of anyone else unless you take care of yourself first. So it isn't a selfish act to do that. I think it's actually the most selfless thing that you can do, because your capacity to serve is a function of how well you're living, how well you're taking care of yourself.

• 57:46Mel Robbins?

  I've also loved when you wrote, "I didn't get into ultra-endurance sports to win races, beat others, or stand atop a podium. I got into it because it's the perfect template for self-discovery. What did you discover about yourself?

• 58:01Speaker 01

  What I learned about myself, I think is something that is applicable to everybody, which is how we began this conversation. We are all so much more capable than we allow ourselves to believe. When I was 43 years old, I was the top American finisher at this double Ironman race, this three-day, 320-mile circumnavigation of the Big Island of Hawaii. The following year, I did five iron-distance triathlons on all five islands of Hawaii consecutively in a six-day period. Like, I would have never dreamed in a million years that I would have been capable of doing something like that.

• 58:45Speaker 01

  And I think that whoever you are, you don't have to be an endurance athlete. The point is that when we choose to invest in our health and our well-being and we begin to attune ourselves to our own intuition and allow ourselves to be led by it, rather than be funneled by social constructs and constraints, we're giving birth to that song, to that voice, that can lead us in a direction we can't possibly imagine. Because the idea that I'm sitting here today, talking to you, when I reflect upon where I was...

• 59:24Speaker 01

  Not that long ago is shockingly surreal. And it's only because I made a commitment to honor myself in an authentic way. And I followed up that commitment and walked through very difficult times where that commitment to myself has been tested. But I've emerged out of it with a message and that message is that it is worth it. And I think that we all have some version of that within ourselves. The point is to figure out what that thing is that gets you out of bed in the morning, that gets you excited and to respect it and honor it by nourishing it.

• 1:00:06Speaker 01

  So it's not about quitting your job or any of these kinds of things. It's just about like, how can you be more of who you actually are?

• 1:00:16Mel Robbins?

  Rich, you just talked about being led by intention rather than funneled. And you know, part of your story is really about figuring out how to let purpose and intention. And I would even, the word that keeps coming up around you, and I know you may bristle when I say this, but is joy. Like the thing about, there was something that happened for me as your friend, when you talked about the light on your shoulders. Like you, you, you said, and it like, as somebody who knows you, the willingness to suffer, you said a bunch of words at the beginning of our conversation. You kept using the word violent, we're very violent with ourself.

• 1:00:58Mel Robbins?

  The self abuse, this willingness that you had to just endure pain and suffering. And there's this beauty in the realization of just allowing the sun to hit your shoulders, you know, this willingness to allow joy to come into your life.

• 1:01:16Speaker 01

  That it doesn't have to be about suffering. And it can be as simple and as easy as, as that, you know? Which is still a lesson I'm trying to learn.

• 1:01:27Mel Robbins?

  I think that's why it's coming up for me. That that might be something that your next book should be about.

• 1:01:35Speaker 01

  Well, I'm in this, in this, yeah, I'm, I'm in the middle of writing this book and I'm also in this, you know, period of transition or dismantling or transformation right now because I just had a major back surgery and it's forcing me to stop and slow down. And that has prevented me from being able to outpace whatever is making me uncomfortable by running away from it and distracting myself in work or whatever. Like, I have to sit with myself in the way that I had to, you know, be on that bike for that many hours. And, and I'm trying to look at it for the opportunity that it's presenting me.

• 1:02:18Speaker 01

  Like, it is a knock from the universe and what is the message that I'm supposed to hear right now? And I think what the message is, is that, "Good job with the suffering, dude. It took you pretty far, but now it's not your friend so much. It's getting in the way of what life is really about, which is your connection with other people." There's no amount of external validation. I'm already validated by the public in a way that, you know, it's like, "I don't deserve this." Like, I get it, walking down the street and airports and like that, like. So I'm well aware that like chasing more of it isn't going to, you know, make me feel any, you know what I mean?

• 1:02:59Speaker 01

  But what happens when you let go of that and you're like, "Okay, dude, I'm, now I'm just here." And what the universe is trying to tell me is that there is no race. And disabusing myself of that, like paradigm, I think is the, is the, is the lesson that I'm trying to learn right now. And I had to have my body filleted open on both sides in order to be ready to hear it.

• 1:03:22Mel Robbins?

  Like that, like you actually mean that. That's not like they had to cut you from the front and the back in order to do this kind of spine surgery.

• 1:03:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I had spinal fusion surgery 47 days ago.

• 1:03:34Mel Robbins?

  What's interesting about where you're at now, Rich, is that a lot of people would be shocked to know, and a lot of people probably don't know, that even as you were starting your podcast and you got your first book deal. And so now you are turning your life in a different direction. You are making things happen. You're starting to follow your purpose. On the outside, it looks like this is a, so again, I'm saying reinvention. Here we go again. You are now aligning with purpose and intention. You are trusting and changing and the willingness to change. You are starting a podcast. You're about to write a book.

• 1:04:16Mel Robbins?

  You get an advance and you're so in trouble financially. You cannot pay to have the garbage picked up. And this is so related. How old were you when this was happening?

• 1:04:26Speaker 01

  Forty-five, forty, yes, it was 2012.

• 1:04:32Mel Robbins?

  And you've got three kids at this point?

• 1:04:34Speaker 01

  We have 2012. Oh, no, we have four, four kids.

• 1:04:38Mel Robbins?

  Four kids at this point. You can't pay to have the garbage picked up. You are starting. You've got an advance on the book. You've got the podcast starting up. This was not the days where everybody has a podcast. Like you were the OG in podcasting. How did you navigate that?

• 1:04:53Speaker 01

  It was a weirdly disorienting time because I had gotten a lot of media attention from my endurance feats.

• 1:05:05Mel Robbins?

  Oh, yeah, because you're winning all these races.

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  I wasn't winning, but I was sort of like, I was acquitting myself very well, especially as like a man in his mid 40s who was this corporate lawyer, who was only eating plants. Like at that time, that was like, people were like, couldn't understand that, right? And so that attracted a bunch of attention, which led to, you know, a lot of press around it, which led to me writing a book that came out and I got an advance for that. And the day that the book came out, I let my bar membership dues lapse. I was officially like cutting myself off from the escape hatch of returning to the law. I was like, I am doing this. I'm all in. There was no plan. But there's a line in Finding Ultra, which is, "When the heart is pure,

• 1:05:52Speaker 01

  the universe will conspire to support you." I believe this to be true. This has played out as true in my life. I've seen it played out as true in many other people's lives. But when the book came out and like it did its thing in the wake of doing everything I could to push it out, then I'm like, "Okay, universe, I think my heart's pretty pure." You know, the phone can ring anytime, you know, and it was not ringing. I wasn't getting asked to give keynote speeches. I wasn't in high demand for anything. There was no money coming in. I wasn't practicing law anymore. And I had a mortgage and I had four kids.

• 1:06:35Speaker 01

  And it was very emasculating. And I was guilt ridden and really, you know, battling with my own shame that I had made this incredible error out of selfishness that would irreparably like harm the people I cared about most. So it was very confusing. And there were days where we like almost didn't have enough money to like put food on the table. And it's hard to even talk about like, it's embarrassing now. Because as a guy who has this, you know, world-class education and resources and the

• 1:07:19Speaker 01

  like, like, how come I can't figure this out? Like, what am I doing wrong? Like, am I, I literally thought I was insane. I thought, "Who do you think you are? Like, go back and be a worker among workers. Get over yourself. Get a law firm job. Like, you have mouths to feed, young people. You've got to like, do the right thing here." And in those moments of doubt and fear, when, yeah, we didn't have the 80 bucks to pay, you know, waste removal and they took our bins away. So we would have to put the garbage in our beat up minivan and drive it to some dumpster behind a grocery store. Like, our washer and dryer broke, so we were, you know, you know, we would go to the laundromat.

• 1:07:58Speaker 01

  It was, it was, it was, it was, it was difficult. And I wouldn't have made it, except for the support of Julie, who, who...

• 1:08:15Speaker 01

  Who was able to see

• 1:08:19Speaker 01

  the more fully actualized version of myself when I couldn't. She was able, with great strength,

• 1:08:29Speaker 01

  in the face of criticism and judgment by all kinds of people, to hold that vision. And I would come to her and say, like, I can't do it anymore. And she's like, "The only

• 1:08:42Speaker 01

  the only way through this is forward. We're not going back. We've come too far.

• 1:08:52Speaker 01

  I know that you're on the right track. I can see it in you, and there is something here, and we have to follow it through. And I don't know anyone else who would have done that. And another thing that she said to me then, that I think is really powerful, is, you know, when you're up against it financially, like, there's a clarity. Like, it really forces you to confront your attachment to the material world as it's being pulled out from underneath you.

• 1:09:23Speaker 01

  And she would say, like,

• 1:09:26Speaker 01

  "Just because they're taking these things away doesn't mean that they're entitled to rob me of my humanity. Like, that's mine, you know, and so they don't get that piece." And so she was able to engage with all of this with an incredible degree of equanimity. There was a time when we were having a car repossessed. We knew it was gonna get repossessed. I hadn't paid the lease on it. I don't know how long. So the repo guy comes, shows up in the front yard. And Julie goes out to greet him, and, you know, they stiffen up, like, okay, here it comes. And she goes, "Hey, how's it going? Like, what's your name? You're here for the car, right?" He's like, "Yep." She's like, "Cool."

• 1:10:10Speaker 01

  Like, "Do you need to use a bathroom? Do you want anything to drink? Are you hungry? Come on in." Like, just greeted him with compassion and this welcoming energy. And then she goes, "Okay," and like, she gets the keys or whatever, and just says, "Here you go." Like, "I hope you have a great day." Like, and the guy was baffled, right? This is not the normal experience that someone like this is having in their job. And she's like, "Yeah. He doesn't get to determine my dignity."

• 1:10:41Speaker 01

  He doesn't get that piece. And I think there's so much power in that. And we give these abstract externalities, our credit score, our, our credit card balance, you know, our bank accounts, our, our mortgages and our IRAs and all these things such an outweighed like value in terms of how we think about ourselves and, and value who we really are. And for her to model that, I think was incredibly inspirational and, and gave me like the strength that I needed to like continue on this path.

• 1:11:20Mel Robbins?

  Well, it's a very powerful and tangible story that illustrates that the outside world and all the stuff doesn't define your worth or your humanity, how you

• 1:11:34Speaker 01

  Unless you allow it to.

• 1:11:36Mel Robbins?

  Correct. But when you get, when you take ownership of it and you operate with a level of dignity and self-worth, even under really difficult circumstances like that, you stay in control of it.

• 1:11:53Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:11:54Mel Robbins?

  Really powerful.

• 1:11:55Speaker 01

  And that's, that's empowering. Like you do have agency over how you comport yourself in those situations.

• 1:12:01Mel Robbins?

  You've talked a lot about sort of these moments where the desire to change meets a moment of willingness. And what I'm going to say is that the fact that you are listening and that you're watching and you've listened and watched all the way to this point, to me, is evidence of a desire to change. And I personally think that if you are really willing to accept the gift that Rich has shown

• 1:12:40Mel Robbins?

  up and given you, that could be that willingness that has hit you multiple times in your life, Rich, that there's clearly a desire, if you've listened this long.

• 1:12:53Mel Robbins?

  And I do believe that there's a reason why you've listened this long, or that you've watched this long. And I, I'm gonna say you're the manifestation of that willingness that you've been hoping would appear, and now it's here. And it's about the action that you take next in that willingness. So, based on everything that you've poured into us and shared, Rich, if the person were to just do one thing, what would the one thing after spending all this time with us be that you would recommend as most important?

• 1:13:29Speaker 01

  First of all, make a decision to consider this a line in the sand moment. Like, you are being visited with a moment in time in which willingness has brought you this far into the conversation. So the one thing that you can do is identify that single contrary action that you can take. The thing that you have promised yourself a thousand times that, that you were gonna do, or one day you were gonna do. And it can be very small. It only has to be in opposition to the way you have always done that thing that is making you unhappy or leading your life in a negative direction.

• 1:14:10Speaker 01

  Because even the most unbelievable personal transformations are a function of tiny actions just like that, repeated relentlessly and consistently over a sustained period of time.

• 1:14:29Mel Robbins?

  Rich Roll, what are your parting words?

• 1:14:31Speaker 01

  I guess my parting words would be, no matter the circumstances of your life, whatever is holding you back or keeping you stuck can be overcome. And that you deserve to be liberated from the things that are hijacking your life. And that a life that is joyous, happy, and free, and infused with love, meaning, purpose, satisfaction, is not only possible, but available to you if you're willing to take actions to work towards it.

• 1:15:08Mel Robbins?

  Rich Roll, I am so glad the sun has hit your shoulders and that you have landed in Boston here with us. I love you.

• 1:15:17Mel Robbins?

  Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here.

• 1:15:21Speaker 01

  I love you back. This has been great. It's a real honor to be here and I just love celebrating your full expression. And as you said at the outset, we've known each other for a long time. And so I've had the privilege of seeing your trajectory in, you know, the ups and the downs and the struggles and the depth with which you're able to connect with other human beings in a meaningful way to move them in a positive direction is truly inspiring, like your gift. Thank you.

• 1:15:55Mel Robbins?

  Thank you. Thank you for telling me that. I can hear it. And I just want to say I love you too. I love you for finding the time to listen to something that could help you create a different version of who you are, at whatever age you are, wherever you are in your life right now. There is no doubt that based on what Rich shared with you today, that you now have the tools and the steps that you can take, and hopefully the willingness to accept the gift of this moment and take the action that turns your life in a new direction. And I really hope you do. Alrighty, I'll see you in the very next episode. I'll be waiting to welcome you in the moment you hit play. I'll see you there.

• 1:16:41Mel Robbins?

  Alright, here we go. You can literally order books dude, for your studio, based on the color hat you want.

• 1:16:49Speaker 01

  I think that we all to one, I think that we all to one degree or another feel, let me start over.

• 1:16:56Mel Robbins?

  Gather, you got the beard dude.

• 1:16:58Speaker 01

  Let me paint the picture. Okay. Imagine, you know, the 10, 12 year old version of me, giant, thick Coke bottle glasses. Not only that, a patch on one eye, because I have a, I have a weak left eye that kind of wanders.

• 1:17:13Mel Robbins?

  So they literally covered it?

• 1:17:14Speaker 01

  Do you remember in the seventies? Yeah, they put a patch on it. It's like, they put a patch on your strong eye and the idea is it will strengthen your weak eye. And then on top of that, I had the headgear orthodontia with the, with the, with the wires coming out of the mouth and the strap, you know, behind your back. So I was not a vision for you, Mel, hardly.

• 1:17:34Mel Robbins?

  I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut and buck teeth. So you might've been just my type, Rich. I'm so proud of how you showed up today. So proud. I- Love you.

• 1:17:45Speaker 01

  I love you back. This has been great.

• 1:17:52Mel Robbins?

  Oh, and one more thing. And no, this is not a blooper. This is the legal language. You know what the lawyers write and what I need to read to you. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I'll see you in the next episode.