Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - #186 BITESIZE | Find Your Purpose and Transform Your Life | Rich Roll

Episode Date: May 27, 2021

So many of us these days are living lives that are not truly ours.  Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational s...tories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 28 of the podcast with the inspirational wellness advocate, best-selling author and podcast host Rich Roll. In this clip, he shares his incredible journey - from someone that struggled with his health as well as alcohol addiction, to becoming a plant-based ultra-endurance athlete. He also explains why finding your purpose in life can have a positive impact on your health and wellbeing. Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/28 Thanks to our sponsor http://www.athleticgreens.com/livemore Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website. 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's Bite Size episode is brought to you by AG1, a science-driven daily health drink with over 70 essential nutrients to support your overall health. It includes vitamin C and zinc, which helps support a healthy immune system, something that is really important at this time of year. It also contains prebiotics and digestive enzymes that help support your gut health. It's really tasty and has been in my own life for over five years. Until the end of January, AG1 are giving a limited time offer. Usually they offer my listeners a one-year supply of vitamin D and K2 and five free travel packs with their first order. But until the end of January, they are doubling the five free travel packs to
Starting point is 00:00:51 10. And these packs are perfect for keeping in your backpack, office, or car. If you want to take advantage of this limited time offer, all you have to do is go to drinkag1.com forward slash live more. Welcome to Feel Better Live More. Bite size your weekly dose of positivity and optimism to get you ready for the weekend. Today's clip is from episode 28 of the podcast with the inspirational wellness advocate, the best-selling author, and fellow podcast host, Rich Roll. In this clip, Rich shares his incredible journey from being someone who was struggling with his health,
Starting point is 00:01:35 as well as alcohol addiction, and how he transformed his life and became a whole food plant-based ultra endurance athlete. He also explains why finding your purpose in life is crucial for your health and well-being. I was a corporate lawyer. I was doing the typical 60 to 80 hour work weeks and really very focused on my career. And I was coming off of a rehab stint at age 31.
Starting point is 00:02:15 I'm a recovering alcoholic. And when I kind of emerged from that, I was very intent on repairing all the wreckage that I had created as a result of my drinking and drug abuse. And I was successful in that regard. By the time I was 39 years old, I was on the partnership track at a prestigious law firm here in Los Angeles. I was driving a really fancy sports car. I'd met my wife. We were building a family. We built this home.
Starting point is 00:02:40 I had sort of chased this idea of the American dream and was winning at that game, so to speak. And so from the outside, looking in on my life, it looked like I had certain things figured out, you know. But on the inside, I was really suffering. You know, I was very unhappy with my chosen profession. I'd never really taken the time to think about what it was that I wanted or what it was that I wanted to express. And I just sort of did what I thought I was supposed to do. And it was catching up to me. Meanwhile, I hadn't been taking care of myself. I was 50 pounds overweight, subsisting on essentially a junk food diet, which is how I'd been eating throughout my adult life. What I didn't realize at the time was
Starting point is 00:03:26 the extent to which I was medicating my emotional state through food. And I was also a workaholic. And that was another way to kind of self-medicate my emotional, you know, dis-ease. And this sort of poor health collided with my existential crisis shortly before my 40th birthday when I was walking up the flight of stairs just over there to go to bed one night and I had to pause halfway up the flight. Like I literally couldn't walk up a whole flight of stairs without taking a break. And I'd been, you know, a world-ranked swimmer in college. Like I was an athlete my whole life and kind of had been walking around still thinking that I was a fit, you know, swimmer. That's how denial works. And it was really a scary moment. I had tightness in my chest. I, you know, sweat on my brow and
Starting point is 00:04:15 like kind of hunched over and it was a very scary moment. And it really hit me in that moment. Like I had this epiphany where I realized like I can't live this way any longer. And not only did I understand that I needed to change my lifestyle habits, but I had the willingness. Like I wanted to change. That was the biggest difference. And it was very similar to the day that I woke up broken, you know, eight, nine years earlier and said, you know, I gotta go to rehab. Like I can't handle this problem anymore. I need help.
Starting point is 00:04:49 I was willing to accept help. And that decision that day had changed my life so dramatically that I think I understood the power of these moments that I think we all have at certain times if we're paying attention, these kind of pivotal moments where if we make a certain decision and act on it in a swift and decisive way
Starting point is 00:05:07 can change our life in dramatic ways. And that was really the beginning. That was the beginning of me exploring how to better take care of myself. It was the beginning of my exploration into nutrition, which ultimately led me to adopting a plant-based diet that rejuvenated my health, restored my vitality. And it got me interested in being fit again. Like I had all this energy all of a sudden.
Starting point is 00:05:32 It wasn't that I had a desire to return to becoming a competitive athlete in my 40s. It just started out with me reconnecting with my physical well-being in a very basic way. me reconnecting with my physical well-being in a very basic way. I started thinking a lot about potential because in a very short period of time, like in a matter of four or five months, I'd lost those 50 pounds. I felt years younger. I had this incredible resurgence in vitality, like I mentioned. And it was really the result of just making some pretty basic decisions about how I was living. And I thought, if I could change this much in this short a period of time by just doing
Starting point is 00:06:11 like literally like two things, where are the other areas that I've been blind to where I'm sitting on top of untapped potential? And that's what ultimately led me into the world of ultra endurance sports and really exploring my own potential in that realm. Wow. It's such a powerful story, Rich. And I think there's just so many elements of that, which people will resonate with. People listening right now will be resonating, whether it's, you know, using food to soothe some sort of emotional discomforts working extra hard to you know so you don't have to maybe think about things that you don't want to think about i was somebody who always um believed that everything that i had accomplished in my life was a result of my ability to outwork my fellow classmates or teammates. I was never the most talented student or athlete, but I have this incredible capacity to suffer and to go the extra
Starting point is 00:07:15 mile. And I always thought that was my secret weapon. And it wasn't until that couldn't resolve my alcoholism that I was forced to confront a greater truth, which is that the solution isn't in that kind of forcefulness, but in surrender, in acceptance. And that's been the greatest teacher for me. and that's been the greatest teacher for me and it's an ephemeral concept but in truth by letting go i allow the space for what is meant to be to move into my life just incredible rich so so i don't know if that makes any sense but yeah to me perfect sense and i think a lot of people will resonate with that so thank you i think if you don't know what your why is, then you need to start figuring it out for yourself. Because if you don't know your why, why are you doing the things that you're doing, then you're probably not living your life intentionally or as mindfully as you could be. And I know what that's like because I lived that way for a long time.
Starting point is 00:08:31 And I will say that when I was newly sober, journaling was a very huge part and continues to be a huge part of that connection process. So it began for me with getting a book called Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, which is an amazing program for unlocking. It's technically for unlocking creativity for people that are like writers, but it's really about creating a greater connection with yourself and what makes you tick. And one of the practices in that program is something called morning pages, which entails just getting a journal out every morning. First thing in the morning, you write three pages, whatever comes to your mind. You could just write, I hate journaling. I hate journaling. Why am I doing this? This is stupid. Whatever it is, just get out and start writing in this free form kind of way. And what it does is
Starting point is 00:09:13 over time, it starts to unlock aspects of your unconscious mind that really start to put the pieces together that help you answer that question about your why. And I think when you begin to do that, the skies start to clear and you get a better sense of the best direction for you. You cannot be of maximum service to others, to your family members, to your kids, to your partner. To yourself. Unless you take care of yourself. And so as selfish as that may sound, it's actually the most selfless thing that you can do. It's why when you get on an airplane, they tell you if you're an adult, you put the oxygen mask on before you put it on the child. You have got to tend to yourself before you can tend to others. And when you develop healthy habits around
Starting point is 00:10:07 that self-care, you become a better example to those in your life that you care about, and you become a more productive example. And I think that process of investing in yourself contributes to greater self-esteem that has a ripple effect that will positively impact you in every aspect of your life. So my call to action is to make a commitment to yourself. Maybe it's two minutes a day to meditate like you always talk about. Maybe it's just doing those glute exercises in your kitchen in the morning while you're brewing your coffee. It doesn't have to be some massive thing that you're gonna post on Instagram. It's simple, tiny actions that you build
Starting point is 00:10:51 into your daily routine that you do anonymously that are gonna move the needle. Consistency is the most important thing. Finding a habit as small as it is and doing it until it is rote and part of who you are. Yeah, well, inspirational as small as it is and doing it until it is wrote and part of who you are. Yeah. Inspirational, which really is. I mean, I hope people listen to that actually really take that on board and just think about what he said about a journal, you know, do it, you know, it's what have you got to lose in so many ways? I think you're such an inspirational
Starting point is 00:11:20 figure, what you do. I think, um think um you know you're inspiring people including myself all around the world by sharing your story and your journey um and you're an absolute prime example of somebody who has felt better and now is living more which is just perfect for this podcast i wonder in in your life experience you know with alcohol before you revolutionized your diets all this kind of stuff before you went on this journey of self-discovery what would you say is the single biggest truth that you have learned along the way that we are spiritual beings having a human experience and not the other way around round. Wow. We're so caught up in the details and minutiae of our material lives. And like I said earlier, I think most of us are living reactively. We're not taking the time to really reflect on what's most important. And in my experience, and again, this is just my experience, when I prioritize my connection with something greater than myself, which can be of your own definition, my life takes on greater meaning. When I ensure that I am prioritizing service to others,
Starting point is 00:12:47 when I am connecting through meditation and mindfulness practices, this weird equation takes place where everything in my life starts to make sense and work more freely. So that doesn't necessarily make sense in a logical, rational way. There's a weird inverse relationship with time that takes place where the more I invest in meditation, mindfulness, service, you can call it prayer. I don't really call it prayer,
Starting point is 00:13:23 but engaging with a relationship with a power greater than myself. The more time I spend doing that, the less time I need for everything else. And everything seems to get done better and things work out the way that they should. We're all searching for the hack. We're all searching for the quick fix, right? But that's not what life is about. You know, people, we're in this instant gratification culture and we're all looking for the pursuit of any goal or dream inevitably present us with. So let's stop trying to end run around that and just embrace it completely. And I think when you do that, suddenly you have this sense of coming alive. And I think like, if you really want to know what you're made of and who you are, put yourself in an unbelievably uncomfortable, frightening situation that you don't have to,
Starting point is 00:15:01 and you will soon find out what you're about and you'll, your flaws will come out. Your character defects will come out. You will meet and confront yourself in a very profound way. That's what I'm seeking in my life. And I think when you forget about the life hacks and the shortcuts and the 80-20 rule, and you commit yourself to mastery in whatever it is that moves you, whatever it is you figure out is your life purpose, in my experience, that's when you become a fully actualized version of yourself. and family. And if you want more, why not go back and listen to the full conversation with my guest. And if you enjoyed this episode, I think you will really enjoy my new bite-sized Friday email. It's called the Friday Five. And each week I share things that I do not share on social media. It contains five short doses of positivity, articles or books that I'm reading, quotes that I'm thinking about,
Starting point is 00:16:05 exciting research I've come across, and so much more. I really think you're going to love it. The goal is for it to be a small yet powerful dose of feel good to get you ready for the weekend. You can sign up for it at drchatterjee.com forward slash Fridayiday five i hope you have a wonderful weekend make sure you have pressed subscribe and i'll be back next week with my long form conversational wednesday and the latest episode of bite science next friday

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