The Rich Roll Podcast - Stop Living Like You Get A ‘Do-Over’ Life

Episode Date: October 8, 2015

We're back with yet another installment of Ask Me Anything — a twist on my normal format where we answer questions submitted by you, the listener. In addition to recapping our recent visit to Washington, D.C. and our upcoming trip to Frankfurt, Germany, this week Julie and I traverse a variety of subjects, including: * the release of “Proteinaholic” by Garth Davis, MD * ‘happy traveler' – my experiments in gratitude * the risk calculus of choosing security over passion * the persistent illusion of the “do-over” life * combating the “fundraising oxymoron” * the nexus (or lack thereof) between diet and addiction The show concludes with My Man, written and performed by Julie — aka SriMati – accompanied by our sons Tyler & Trapper Piatt. Special thanks to Scott, Lisa & Dallas for today’s questions, as well as everyone who submitted inquiries — keep ‘em coming! I sincerely hope you enjoy the conversation. Peace + Plants, Rich

The Rich Roll Podcast. Ask me anything. Thanks so much for tuning in today, for giving us a review on iTunes, for subscribing on iTunes, for checking out my newsletter, and for always using the Amazon banner app, richroll.com. We greatly appreciate it. We're brought to you today by recovery.com. I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety. And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life. And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing

and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care, especially because, unfortunately, not all treatment resources adhere to ethical practices. by the people at recovery.com who created an online support portal designed to guide, to support, and empower you to find the ideal level of care tailored to your personal needs. They've partnered with the best global behavioral health providers to cover the full spectrum of behavioral health disorders, including substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, gambling addictions, and more. Navigating their site is simple. Search by insurance coverage, location, treatment type, you name it. Plus, you can read reviews from former patients to help you decide. Whether you're a busy exec, a parent of a struggling teen, or battling addiction yourself. I feel you. I empathize

with you. I really do. And they have treatment options for you. Life in recovery is wonderful, and recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. We're brought to you today by recovery.com. I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety.

And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life. And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care,

especially because unfortunately, not all treatment resources adhere to ethical practices. It's a real problem. A problem I'm now happy and proud to share has been solved by the people at recovery.com who created an online support portal designed to guide, to support, and empower you to find the ideal level of care tailored to your personal needs. Thank you. disorders, gambling addictions, and more. Navigating their site is simple. Search by insurance coverage, location, treatment type, you name it. Plus, you can read reviews from former patients to help you decide. Whether you're a busy exec, a parent of a struggling teen, or battling addiction yourself, I feel you. I empathize with you. I really do. And they have treatment options for you. Life in recovery

is wonderful. And recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. Hey, Julie. Hey, Rich. How are you doing? Doing well. How are you doing? Good. Before we get into the AMA part of this whole thing, a couple other really quick announcements. The first of which is our good buddy, Garth Davis, Dr. Garth Davis from Houston, weight loss surgeon.

Love Garth. He's been on the podcast twice. His book came out today. We're recording this on Tuesday, October 6th. You're going to hear this on the 7th or the 8th or maybe a couple days after that. But yeah, you got to check out his new book. It's called Proteinaholic, How Our Obsession with Meat is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It. I love this guy.

I love his message. And I strongly encourage all of you guys to go and check out his book, which actually our friend Howard was a co-writer on. So cool. Howard Jacobson. Yeah, Howard Jacobson. Awesome. You can find out finally where you'll get enough protein on a vegan diet. I know. And how you can be a compassionate person as well. But basically his whole message is kind of what I've been preaching lately more and more is that we're on this kick of like high protein diets

and people are using protein for weight control, either to gain or lose pounds. And this idea that others believe that it gives them more energy, it's essential for a longer, healthier life. And, you know, Garth did like this unbelievable amount of research to kind of delve into, you know, what exactly is going on with protein in our body and in our diet. And the results and the answers that he kind of delivers in this book is pretty conclusively that, you know, too much protein is actually making us sick, fat, and tired.

And most of us are eating too much protein. So anyway, check out the book. I just wanted to make sure you guys are aware of that. And the other thing is we're getting a lot of emails and inquiries about what our schedule is going to be in Frankfurt. Julie and I are leaving this upcoming Sunday to go to Germany. We're going to be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair when we're there.

And a lot of people have been reaching out and wanting to know how they can connect with us when we're there. And the answer is, I have these notes right here. We have a website, first of all, richroll.de. It has all the events. So yeah, first of all, I mean, the reason that we're going to the Frankfurt Book Fair is because the Plant Power Way is coming out in a German language edition pretty soon by the same publisher that put out Finding Ultra in German language edition.

So we're kind of going there to promote the book. And this event, this book fair is a gigantic international, you know, kind of a fair. It's on Friday, October 16th, but it's only open to journalists and bloggers and other kind of professional publishers, people in the publishing business. So it's not open for anybody who's just listening who wants to come by and try to meet us. But the good news is, is that on the 18th, which is Sunday at 3.30 in the afternoon, Julie and I are, mostly Julie, is going to be doing a 30-minute cooking demo

at an event called the Heldon Mart. That's it? They're giving me 30 minutes? I think I have to make like five recipes in 30 minutes. Oh, really? So it'll be a speed feed as well. Right. So I don't know how that's going to work. We should probably quickly, but anyway, so that would be the place to try to

connect with us. Uh, I think we're probably going to be signing books and just kind of hanging around and making ourselves available to whoever wants to come up and say hi. Um, and it's, uh, it's, it's like this fair for sustainable living and I think I get like 5 or 8 thousand people that attend it's only 7 euros to get into it so that's the deal there's information about it at richroll.de

if you speak German you can find out more information there and that's the scoop other than that I think we have like we're kind of booked with a lot of different stuff that we have to do. Some people are emailing, hey, I want to take you out to dinner. We can't really do that, but we'd love to meet you and say hi. So if you can come to the Heldenmarkt, however you say that.

Some listeners said last time that you actually pronounced it perfectly last time. Heldenmarkt. Very good, honey. I don't know if that's good or not. All right. So how are you, Julie? I'm well. I'm happy know if that's good or not. All right. So how are you, Julie? I'm well. I'm happy to be home from D.C. We had an amazing trip out to the D.C. VegFest 2015.

And we just got back last night. But it was a really, really amazing experience. And I have to say I was quite surprised because when we left, we were flying into a Cat 4 hurricane warning. And Rich was pretty sure that none of that was actually going to transpire because he grew up in there. Well, it hit South Carolina in a pretty devastating way. That's not good. Yeah. So, you know, thoughts and prayers and, you know, hearts and minds all go out to anybody who is caught up in that.

That looked quite terrible. But yeah, we did have a moment of thinking maybe we shouldn't go. But it seemed like the event was on and my parents lived there. It was an opportunity to bring our girls and have them connect with their grandparents. So I was like, we're going. You were like, are you sure? We had a little mini conference at like 4 a.m. as we were getting ready to leave for the airport. I also wasn't feeling very well at all.

But anyway, we went. I'm really glad that we did. The event ended up happening. It was raining and cold. And so many people came out to support us and see us. And it was really, really meaningful and just really wonderful to meet everybody. So many podcast fans,

so many people who own the Plant Power Way, who have been cooking out of it. And I just, I love the diversity. I love the complete individuality of our listeners and of, you know, humanity at large. But we really seem to tap into quite a diverse population. And it's just, it's always so meaningful to meet everyone and hear, you know, your stories of transformation and, you know, how you've benefited or how you've,

you know, expanded your life by connecting with Rich's podcast and also our books and our messages and my music. And it was just, it was really, really a love fest. And we stayed out there and we met everyone in a very long line for a long time. Yeah, it was freezing. I mean, it was freezing cold for, you know, early October in DC and raining and, you know, just not exactly a hospitable environment for an outdoor veg fest. No. Outdoors near the ballpark. They had tents up, but it was, you know, it was amazing actually how many people still showed up despite, you know, inclement weather.

And we had, I don't know, 350, 400 people, you know, who were in attendance to see us present. We went up right after our good buddy David Carter, the 300-pound vegan. It was great to see him. And then Gene Bauer, our friend from Farm Sanctuary, went on right after us, both podcast guests. So it was really great to kind of like see them. And it's just cool when you go to these events. You're like, oh, yeah, he was on the podcast. Like it's a community.

You know what I mean? And then after our event, we really did hang around and talk to people for hours and hours afterwards. So it was meaningful. And I got to rock my new Bonobos golf pants. You did, and they were quite a hit, I have to say. People really like them, and they seem to be sort of waterproof-ish, right? They wick quite well. They wick? Is that a characteristic of golf pants? I don't know. I wouldn't know.

Really? Because you're such a golfer. That would imply that I've played golf before. Do they make them water-resistant so you can lie down in the dewy grass on the green? Is that the reason? I'm getting the impression. Is that what golf players do? Would somebody let us know? Somebody write in.

When you play golf, is that what you do? You lay down in the dewy grass? I don't know. I don't know why else they wouldn't be waterproof. I don't know. Anyway. You could, though. They'd be great pants for a picnic.

But they're stretchy. They are. They're pretty cool. I actually like them on you. They look good. People like them. So, yeah. They'd be great pants for a picnic. But they're stretchy. They are. They're pretty cool. I actually like them on you. They look good. People like them. So, yeah, so that was great. And it's funny because I posted a couple Instagram pictures or just on Facebook,

and there were a bunch of comments saying, taking a tip from our last Ask Me Anything last week, about this experiment in practicing gratitude that I was going to be embarking upon. And if you haven't listened to that episode, maybe dial that up. But basically, what came up was that I had heard an interview with the film producer, Brian Grazer, and he was being asked a question about, you know, why he thought he was able to maintain his level of success, or I can't remember exactly what the question was. But essentially, his answer was that he thought it was because he was really good at gratitude. And that like, that like hit me. I was like, wow, that's an interesting answer. Like he's really good at gratitude. I was like, I want to be good at gratitude. And so we had a conversation about

that. And so Julie challenged me to practice a few habits during our travel excursion to Washington, D.C. to see if I could, you know, increase the volume on my gratitude quotient, because gratitude is not a default setting for me. It's something that I have to, like, work at. And so I was like, yeah, well, I'm going to focus on that because I think it would be quite amazing and transformative if I just focused on one thing, I'm going to get really good at gratitude and, like what happens, I bet it would be like wild, right? So I did. Like, so how did I do? You did actually pretty well.

It was kind of amazing. Well, I wasn't feeling well, so I kind of made this deal with you that if I did go to Washington that you needed to sort of be shifting your focus in service of me and you needed to be cheerful and pleasant because I couldn't handle anymore. You have to set the stage for what I'm usually like. What he's usually like is very resentful. Somebody, one of the girls asked, Daddy, what are you, or something like, Daddy, what are you resentful for? And he says, everything. And I say anything at the same time.

So it's kind of anything and everything actually. I get grumpy. I get grumpy with travel. I get frustrated with like long lines and like sort of service people that are gatekeepers that prevent you from accessing your goal.

And so inevitably you always get shut down. Yeah, because you know people like security lines or checking your bags all that kind of stuff so it just grinds me down and i usually get you know and it's it's bad because i don't want to be like that and i realize like that's not a good mindset to be it's just it's a lazy default mindset that i've known for a long time like i really need to like work on this so i did i made a very conscious effort, like, I'm going to have a different experience. I'm traveling with my wife and our daughters, my wife doesn't feel well. How can I approach this differently and see if I can have a different

experience so that everybody could have a different experience. And everybody did have a very different experience. I didn't do it. I had a couple lapses. You had one lapse in the airplane when there was no space above your seat for your backpack. Yeah, I think it drives me crazy. We were sitting in the very last row of the plane, first of all. And, you know, and basically the overhead bins going up like nine rows forward from there were all completely full. And not that many people had gotten on the plane yet. I was like, how does that work?

Like, how does that make sense? It should be that you could put your bags above your seat, but you can't just choose anywhere to put your bag. Like, I'm like, there's nowhere for me to put my stuff. So I had a little, I had a momentary relapse and I kind of like caught myself, pulled it together. And then, but it was okay because you got to recalibrate. It was good. What you didn't take into account is that we were flying on Virgin, and, you know, they're into fashion on the airline. So I'm sure that their flight attendants have much bigger suitcases

than on any other airline. No, I'm kidding. The thing is, like, I would much rather, like, dispense with the purple mood lighting if I could just have, like, space above my seat to put my bag. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We don't want that. No, I want the mood lighting.

The mood lighting makes a big difference to me. Disco music in the bathroom and the purple light, right? It's all about the purple lighting. No, but you correct it, which is great. And actually, you proved that the power of gratitude is accessible and that it is a choice. And that it is simply a choice of perspective of how you choose to meet something. And the truth of the matter is that your emotions are not in control of you, the higher self, you are in control of your emotions. But until yesterday, you were of the belief system that your default setting is resentment. And so in a way, your ego had given yourself permission to kick around in that dirt and had sort of convinced yourself that that is how you are. But well, I would say, in honesty, you know, I think that it

is, it is my default in the sense that if I take my foot off the gas, or I'm not like focused or attentive to my mental state that I will just lazily lapse into, you know, a mindset of, you know, resentment. Like that will be where I will naturally gravitate. You know, it's sort of like that state of the, like, you know, irritable, discontent, tired, you know, hungry. It's halt, hungry, angry, lonely, tired, irritable. You know, all those sorts of moods are what happens when I'm not really vigilant or attentive to taking care of myself. Is that like an AA acronym? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. HALT, hungry, angry, lonely, tired. Right? HALT? Yeah. Should I just use that? That's when you should be like, HALT. Should I just tell you HALT?

How come I'm just learning about this? I don't know. This could have been helpful in past situations. Because I'm always hungry. I'm always angry. I'm always lonely. And I'm always tired. So what do we do with that? What do we do with that? Obviously, I need to double down.

That's so funny. No, but you proved, okay, so what you're describing, basically allowing yourself to be ruled by your emotions or by your state. And you've spoken also a lot about acting as if or stepping into a different experience. And so you used your will, you applied a certain intent, and you shifted your experience very viscerally and very physically. And it was felt not only by you, but it was felt by all of us, and surely the people that you came into contact with. And it was kind of hilarious, because by the end of the trip, I had nicknamed you the happy traveler. Now I'm the happy traveler. Hey, how's it going?

This is awesome. You know, it's like that act as if thing. So, you know, what we talked about last week was, you know, after I said, you know, that's awesome. I'd love to get good at gratitude. How do I do that? Well, you know, it's a practice. You know, you have to practice acting as if. practice, you know, you have to practice acting as if like, why don't you just try, you know,

throughout this experience of traveling to and from Washington, to, you know, look each person in the eye that you have to engage and be present with them and try to be, you know, thankful and gracious, and you just tiny little things that add up. And so I really did, like I made an effort, I was like, you know, I'm really annoyed, but I'm going to like be present. I'm going to like treat this person like a, you know, with compassion and, you know, an added level of compassion that wouldn't naturally just come naturally to me. And it was, it was effective, you know, it worked and it made my experience better and it made your experience better. It made the experience of my daughters better. And it certainly was, you know, a more positive experience for the, you know, the gatekeepers that I'm constantly sort of, you know, doing battle with traditionally. And now I feel like there's a momentum behind it, like, okay, now I have like

some energy behind that. So it makes it easier to kind of self propel through that, like, okay, I can continue to do this. And I think a big part of it also is, you know, it's not like, hey, put on a fake, happy, smiley face. I mean, part of it, part of acting as if is to like, say, you know, for me, it's like, if I'm not feeling that way, I was like, what would a normal human being do in this circumstance? You know, like, what would a rational person do? You know, like trying to imagine, like, you know, and just doing that, instead of what I feel like doing. But a lot, I think what comes with that is a conscious awareness of trying to remain neutral, especially in scenarios where, you know, things aren't going the way that you

would like them to go, or they're not happening as quickly enough, or, you know, whether it's like, somebody cuts you off in line or, or in the car, or we know whatever it's like somebody cuts you off in line or or in the car or you know whatever it is little stuff that like tends to aggravate at least me um cultivating a habit and a practice of like not being ruffled by that like you're always talking about the jedi mind state you know like not being rattled by stupid little stuff and that's a practice as well and it requires you being like, dialed in mentally to like, be aware when things are happening. So you're not impulsively just reacting. Well, and so you're, you're sort of the, you're the guardian of your thoughts, you're the guardian of your emotions. And when we start to understand that we're not our thoughts,

and we're not our emotions, if you think you are, you're an illusion. So you're being run by those things. So thoughts and emotions are, they can be shifted. So you can take the driver's seat and intend or vision or desire a certain experience and you can act as if into that and start to cultivate that kind of energy around you. And it was, it was really miraculous. And I have to just tell you, I mean, I've been teasing you along the way. And we actually had a really fun trip and a lot of laughing and just we had fun with it. And you had one one kind of relapse, but it was pretty short. And you did remarkably well, like and you stayed on task, actually through the entire trip, not only on the airplane, but also through the event and in the evenings and back on the plane and really until we got home last night. So it was really, really cool to see. I was really super grateful. I'm very grateful that you had this awareness and that you had a desire to, you know, endeavor to shift your state and experience something a little lighter and

brighter and just more expanded now now we're going to really put it to the test though when we get on a plane and have to fly 12 hours to europe across you know however many time zones it's going to be a little bit more challenging but and the pressure is on i believe in you i believe in you i think you can do it i think you can do it. I think you demonstrate an amazing, I think again, it's like this, you know, this is a huge key, um, you know, theme for me in life. And that is that it's all about perspective. Life is all about perspective. That's why you can take two individuals that had the same thing happen to them and they perceive it two different ways. So it's simply a choice, you know, it's a choice of, you know, where do you want to put your energy? And what do you want to have the power over you? And how much

responsibility are you willing to take? I mean, really, but I also think that that choice that you make in that moment is influenced by choices that you make leading up to that moment, right? Like, how much sleep did you get? What did you eat for breakfast? All these things are going to inform how you're going to react in that moment when you get activated in a certain way. And this came up. One of the other things, in addition to presenting at the VegFest in Washington, was I did a

podcast interview with Dr. Robin Shutkan, who is a Shutkan. Love Robin. She's amazing. She's just beautiful, incredible medical doctor, Yale undergrad, Columbia Medical School. And she was shortlisted to be Surgeon General under Obama. She's just very accomplished and cool. And her specialty is the microbiome. And she's written two books on it.'s written a book called gut bliss and her

most recent book is called the microbiome solution and we were talking about you know that thing that i always talk about which is how uh your cravings are influenced by the nature of your your gut flora right and she takes it like many steps beyond that she's like your level of anxiety like the stress that you experience like all these the thoughts that you entertain the behaviors that you manifest so much of who you are is dictated by uh that gut ecology the quality of that gut ecology which is crazy because then it brings up this whole idea of free will who are you like who are you like if you're like you know i crave this food or i want to do this are you? It's like, who are you? Like, if you're like, you know, I crave this food

or I want to do this, or you're like making decisions that have impact on your life. Like you're making behavioral decisions that are being literally influenced, if not completely dictated by like- The gut flora. The microorganisms in your intestine.

Like that's insane, right? So, but when you think about that, then you're like, well, if I eat differently, then I'm going to crave different foods or my anxiety level will reduce. And then that will impact how I interact socially with the people around me. Like the domino effect of that is unbelievable. It's massive. But anyway. No, it's true. It is true. And you know, you can bet that if you're operating on the microbiome produced by, you know, the American Twinkie and Hostess products, versus, you know, eating living plants, you know, it's going to be very, very different experience. And I think that's a lot of what we experience, or we hear about the experiences of our listeners and people who have gone plant based, and suddenly they're connecting with their hearts in a deeper way. They're open to meditation. Their actions are a lot more expanded and a lot more high vibrating

than they were previously when they were eating the processed food and the meat. And that's another thing is just the violence and the energy of the animal products as you're taking that into your body. It's not nothing. It goes somewhere. There is some symbiotic or actual relationship between the food that you put in your mouth and when it goes into your body, you're having a very intimate relationship with that food. And I think almost all of us are completely disconnected by that.

Well, how about the idea that you're not even eating your food? The microorganisms are what's eating it. They're the ones who are digesting it for you. So, you know, you can go down the, it's a crazy rabbit hole. I'm telling you, if you read the microbiome solution, it'll like blow your mind. There's all this crazy stuff in there about that. But the point being that, you know, when I always say it, I say this when I give talks all the time, like, you know, adopting a plant-based diet didn't just, you know, repair my health. It, like, changed my consciousness. And that's the truth.

And the microbiome is really a big part of the scientific explanation for that beyond the kind of, you know, metaphysical, you know, spiritual kind of ramifications of changing the vibration that you take in your body. But, you know, it's very real, I would say that. So anyway, you know, part of practicing gratitude is more than just what are you going to spontaneously do and say in that moment, but what are your daily practices? What are you cultivating that will ultimately lead you to making more high minded and better, you know, decisions and adopting practices that are going to serve you in the long run. Yeah, absolutely. I agree. It's powerful. And neutrality is big. Neutrality is huge. I mean, I think it's one of the, you know, one of the great, great, great awarenesses that we can start to embody is that is to understand that in neutrality, that is where we can access this

connection with our deeper heart and our soul. And it's really this power of zero point of being beyond the pain and the pleasure beyond the highs and the lows beyond the judgment and the, you know, passion, if you want to call it, you know, just being being very, very grounded and very connected to your breath. And that is truly the place of power and the place of living as a living example. Yeah, very good. All right, you want to take a listener question? Sure. So this question is from Scott.

I'm just going to leave it at Scott. Hey, Rich, I'm in a tough place right now. I have a great paying job in the blank field, I'm not going to say, that I'm very good at. I don't see myself doing this the rest of my life, though. I'm going to school in hopes of moving up in the blank field. I know it's great money, and I'll be able to provide for my wife and start having children if I just stick it out. I also know that doing something else would make me happier. I'm scared to give up a job with great money and benefits for a pipe dream,

though. I know what I truly want to do. That's an important part of this. And I know it would be something I enjoy doing every single day. I wouldn't dread going to work every day. I wouldn't watch the clock waiting for the shift to end. What's your advice for someone who wants to change their life path like you did? I know it must have been hard to leave your career and pursue a health-related career. I think about it every day. I'm just too scared to throw away a great job in school for a career which requires debt and uncertainty. To me, this is almost like a no brainer. And I understand, you know, the fear and the uncertainty and all of that. But, you know, it's like, you don't get a do over life. You know, you have one life, you have one, you have one opportunity to pursue the thing that's going to

make you happy. And had you said, you know, I don't really know what I want to do. I just know that I'm like, not that happy doing what I'm doing right now, but it pays really well. That would be a different matter. But what you're saying here is, you know, what you truly want to do. So if that's true, if you really do know what you want to do, and you know, it would be a different matter. But what you're saying here is you know what you truly want to do. So if that's true, if you really do know what you want to do and you know it would be something that you would enjoy doing every single day, then to me that's a pretty strong indication that that's something that you should pursue. Now, that doesn't mean that you have to quit your job tomorrow and do this new thing full time. And I don't even know what the new thing is.

your job tomorrow and do this new thing full time. And I don't even know what the new thing is. But to the extent that there is a way to express that, you know, maybe in a small way at first and incrementally over time before you end up leaving your job or decelerating out of it, that's what I would suggest that you do. But, you know, simply because, you know, you're nervous and there's uncertainty about it, I think that implies that, you know, you're nervous and there's uncertainty about it, I think that implies that because you have a good paying job now that seems to have a clear track as to where you're going, that implies security and certainty. And the truth is there is no certainty in life. Just because that seems to be safe doesn't necessarily mean that in reality that's the way that it will play out.

Many, many things can happen. And I think that to premise these massive decisions about how you're going to live your life based on doing something that's less uncertain than the other, maybe is not the best decision tree to focus on. You know, I also think that you can kind of start to test the universal heart connection waters a little bit by starting to set up some entry points into your new way of being, starting to take some actions maybe on the weekend or maybe in the evenings to get the structure set up. So get the infrastructure set up, possibly website, your contacts, the name, any kind of copyright that needs to be done, all of this kind of stuff.

Get all of that set up, and maybe shift your spending habits now and start saving some money, possibly. And then kind of, you know, check it out and see how the energy feels. Like, how do you feel when you're in the process of setting up those new things or in the process of doing that thing that you know you're supposed to do? And then I would try to cultivate repeating that feeling as much as you can. Because if you can be in the energy of expressing from your heart from that thing that you love, it will amplify and it will magnetize more opportunities and more resources to you that will support you in making the transition. Now, you may experience some universal help in that you might get fired unexpectedly. That would be like universal help or your company could fold or

the department could exist no longer. And this big secure track that you've seen, you know, ahead, you know, may be revealed that it's not actually what you thought it was, you know, or you may be called to make that decision at that point in the road, like, you know, you may have to stand up and take responsibility and say, Okay, I'm going to jump and this is the point that I'm going to jump. And, you know, it can be any any spectrum of experience after that, you know, any spectrum of experience after that, you know, it might be some struggle and you might be tested. And, you know, it's, in our experiences is definitely not, not an easy landing all the time. But I think if you can focus on that feeling that you feel when you're doing the thing that you love, that will inform the rest of your decisions. But never make a decision based out of

fear. Okay, so there's two forces in the world. There's fear and there's love. And that's it. There's also different kinds of decisions. The decision not to make a change is based on fear. That's a decision in its own right. Like a decision of inaction is still a decision. So, you know, basically, like not making a decision based on fear, you know, he's saying that he's scared to leave, right? So it seems like not making a decision to just stay

is like to perpetuate the stasis of staying, but that's basically a, you know, a decision based on fear, right? It's a different kind of decision. Exactly. So the other thing I would say is that, well, two things. The first thing is,

did I interrupt you? Are you still in the middle of your thought? No, it's okay. I've lost my thought now. Oh, you did? Sorry about that. You know, what's the worst thing that can happen? You could die. That's the worst thing.

Let's just put it out there right now. Well, that's part of the second point that I'm going to get to. But realistically, if you make this decision to go pursue this thing that apparently really makes you happy, it's what you want to do and would be something that you would enjoy every day. I gather that there's some kind of price that you're going to have to pay for that. Well, what is that price? Like how bad could it potentially be?

And just kind of camp out there and see how that feels. Like what would happen oh i'd have to give up this or i'd give up that it's probably a lot of material stuff but if you get to wake up every single day and enjoy what you're doing my experience is that a lot of that other stuff doesn't really carry the meaning it does like when you're working in a job that you don't like that pays really well that stuff starts to take on meaning because those are the things that you're chasing to help you feel better about being in this situation that isn't really making you happy and you're kind of doing it for the money, right? Then like what car you drive and the clothes,

whatever it is that you're into, that stuff starts to get heightened and becomes much more important than it needs to be or should be. But when you're doing something that you really love and you look forward to get up in the morning and doing it, all that other stuff kind of like fades away and becomes not that important. And the second thing is, is, you know, it has to do with this idea of like, of the do over life.

Like, you know, we're like, well, I'll do that next time. Like, I'm going to do the safe thing now. I'll do the thing I really want to do. Like when I have this other life, you know, like we trick ourselves like, and behind that is this idea that we're not going to die or that if we do die, well, that's just a temporary thing. And then we're going to have this other opportunity to make the decisions that we're too afraid to make now. But I don't really think most people live in this culture with the idea

that they can do it next life. I don't think that they believe in multiple lifetimes as a mass. I'm not saying that. I'm saying there's a denial that death is going to happen. Okay. Right. There's a denial. Exactly. I'll do that thing later. It's like, no, your life is happening now. It's not some future event. Your life is in session in this moment. And you will die. We will all die. And the clock is ticking. So how are you maximizing this time to, you know, express what's most important to you? And, you know, this is something that we're not encouraged to do. And there is a lot of fear around it. And I'm empathetic to that. I've

been in that prison and that cage for many, many years. I know what that feels like. And there are a lot of, you know, real human experiences that are very scary and very, you know, full, rife with suffering. So it's not being disconnected by, you know, disconnected from the human experience, because the human experience is very intense, and especially in this, you know, world of polarity that we live in. So, but again, going back to as you examine your decisions, and hopefully you do this in a meditative state in a moment of quiet quiet where you're alone and you can really connect with your breath and go into a deeper, deeper place of your consciousness, I would look at every decision and sort of inquire into every decision and really look from where is it arising? Is it arising from fear or is it arising from love? And I would use that as your tool of sort of maneuvering your way through the process and through deciding what you want to do. And the other thing that could happen in your life is you could end up living like an amazing life. That could happen too. to somebody, I mean, Scott is a guy who looks like he's got options, right? And he's weighing those options. And, and I think it's very kind of cavalier to just sort of cast off this

inspirational, like, Hey, quit your job and, you know, chase your dream and all of that. And it's, you know, it's, that's not everyone's reality. Like if you're stuck in, you know, a situation where, you know, you're a single parent, and you have a couple kids, and you know, maybe you don't have the education or what you're stuck in a job situation, you're just trying to make it through the day. Like, I think it's, you know, irresponsible to like tell somebody that they should just, you know, you know, cavalierly, like cast that aside and chase some pipe dream. Like there are real world, you know, constraints and concerns and responsibilities that come into play. So it's just not as simple as that.

I'm just focusing this on Scott's inquiry. Well, everybody and everybody's journey is completely unique. Everybody has a completely unique circumstance, karma, blueprint, and soul mission. So you have to really get in touch with you. Again, it's about getting in touch with you. And I mean, what I can feel from this email from Scott is that he happens to have a very expanded, actually very positive energy field around him. And so, you know, he probably knows exactly what to do. And he'll probably be successful in, you know, executing whatever he whatever he chooses to do. And he honestly probably already knew the answer to this before he even sent the email so that's the kind of the vibration and the feeling of the whole question but again getting back to yourself that's why you can't look at another person and say i'm going to live my life exactly the way that other person lives because it's a different life form

it's a different blueprint it's a different So once again, we're brought back to the core of how do you know yourself in addition to eating a plant-based diet is meditation. Again, connecting in deeper with your heart's soul blueprint. Cool. All right, let's take another question. This one is from Dallas. I love Dallas. Hello. I've been a lacto-vegetarian for the past 10 years or so. I have struggled with alcoholism but have found that when I have gone vegan, that alcohol is not so much a problem. Do you know of any correlation between consuming animal products and alcoholism? And the answer to that question is a resounding no.

alcoholism? And the answer to that question is a resounding no. I mean, I can only speak to my experience and what I've observed. And, you know, I don't know of any correlation between consuming animal products and alcoholism. I would venture to say that there probably isn't one. I think that the reason that I sort of selected this question to kind of talk about a little bit is because one thing that alcoholics are really good at is kind of canvassing their environment and pointing their finger and, you know, blaming a certain scenario for their alcoholism, blaming sort of everything except the one thing that actually is causing it. You know, or like, you know, in recovery, there's a joke, it's like, oh, the alcoholic will do everything except the really simple things that are kind of laid out, like you can, hey, just do these, you know, I'm in 12 steps. So that's my path or whatever. But they'll say, you could do these 12 steps. And you can have an amazing life, sober life where anything's possible.

Or you can go back to drinking and suffer a miserable, lonely existence and probably die or kill somebody else. Like what's your choice? And the only – the alcoholic is the only person who will go, hold on, give me a minute. Like I need to like think about that. And the alcoholic will kind of go, well, I found the solution to my problem. And that solution, when the alcoholic is coming up with it on their own, is usually not the good solution. It's usually not the one that's rooted in the principles of recovery. It's always something else. It's like, oh, running or training for an Ironman, that's the solution to my alcoholism. Or if I just get rid of eating animal products in my diet, that will solve my problem. Or if I move from St. Louis to, you know, to Dallas, pardon the pun, like that will solve my problem. And none of these

things are really getting at the root of what the problem is, because it's a, it's a, you know, it's a spiritual and an emotional problem as much as it is a physical one. And that's not to say that, you know, if you, you could, you know, that the way that I do it is the only way. There's many ways, and I have no judgment on any of that, but I can only speak to the way that this worked for me. And the truth is that when I get caught up in these ideas of other ways of sort of curing or resolving this problem for me, that's when I start to get into trouble. So I have learned to stop looking around for other reasons that, that, you know, are other ways of solving my problem and just focusing on what I know works. That's interesting. It's good. Why? Will you disagree? No, I don't disagree. I don't really have experience with it like you do. I trust you.

And I, you know, that was interesting to hear. I also, you know, I trust Dallas's intuition and what they are feeling about their experience. And if they're noticing a correlation, I don't mean to diminish that. No, of course. But I mean, I would trust your intuition. And you know, you may be sensitively tapping into something. And so I definitely think eating a plant based diet, I know from being the partner of an alcoholic, recovering alcoholic, who was eating a lot of processed foods and also meat, that he had a density or an energetic malaise that was covering him that I could not access who he was. He started to eat plants. When Rich started to eat plants and started to embrace this new lifestyle, I did see this energy move. So I do think that alcoholism feeds on the density of these food products that are not good. I think it feeds on coffee, and I think it feeds on sugar, on processed white food, and I think it feeds on meat products. I actually would have to agree with you in that sense. Well, I think that really the idea behind it is that, you know, the alcoholic

will always seek out ways of medicating themselves. You know, once you take the drugs and the alcohol away, they're still an alcoholic. The drugs and the alcohol are the solution to the problem. The problem is the sense of dis-ease or the imbalance within the human being that seeks out the drugs and the alcohol to make them feel better, right? So you take away the drugs and alcohol. You haven't solved the problem. The problem is just there. You've taken away actually the cure, you know, for a long time. So what is that getting supplanted with?

What is that getting replaced with? And so a lot of people that struggle with addiction will start eating gigantic amounts of sugar or smoking a lot of cigarettes or drinking a lot of coffee because all of these things are ways to medicate your emotional state. And that can be manifest through anything, shopping, gambling, relationships, whatever. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. And so to harken back to what we said earlier in the podcast, you know, when I when I when I changed my diet to plant based diet, it shifted my consciousness. That's true. And so and that's very real. And maybe that's what Dallas is experiencing on some level. But I think you have to be careful to not say, well, this is the this is the solution to my addiction problem also. Yeah, so this along with recovery. And it's an and situation, not an or situation. So both things to be considered.

But also just as we're here right now, I'm just interested if we bring this conversation back to Robin and back to her work in the microbiome. Did she talk to you about anything about addiction? What about the cravings of addiction being in to you about anything about addiction? What about the cravings of addiction being in the gut? What about that? We didn't, we didn't get into that. I would love to explore that a little bit more with her. Yes. I, I, there's no doubt that there is a component to that, especially like if you're used to eating those sorts of foods and you're populating your microbiome with the microorganisms that actually need those foods to survive. So and, you know, obviously, like alcohol is a sugar and that's going to carry

with it a certain kind of, you know, microbiotic population that comes along with that. But I think you need to discern and kind of separate the physical craving aspect of the disease of addiction with, you know, the underlying kind of emotional and spiritual kind of affliction. That is the definition of it, right? Those are two different things. So you have the physical aspect of the cravings. And then there is the emotional and spiritual component of that as well. And those things work in tandem. So you can kind of do your best to alleviate the physical aspects of the craving. But if you're not treating the emotional state, the emotional can override, you know, and create that craving, irrespective of whatever your microbial ecology is. I mean,

that's just my presumption. Right. And my experience. Well, it'd be interesting to hear you guys explore that more. I would love to have a conversation where they're purely focused on that. And no doubt there is a component there. I think it's super interesting stuff. Yeah. So we also talked about fecal transplants. That was amazing. Well, that's what I'm wondering.

Okay, so going back to fecal transplants, I don't want to give everything away for the podcast because she's so, so beautiful and such a smart, lovely, beautiful, energetic woman. She's just, she's a wealth of information and very passionate about what she's doing. And she does it in such a happy way. She's very happy about the microbiome. But yeah, I'm wondering because, you know, she was talking about doing fecal transplants where, you know, they actually take fecal matter out of like an obese person and

put it inside, you know, a slim person and that person becomes obese and vice versa. Yeah, they've done studies with mice with that where, yeah, you take the microbes out of an obese mouse and you transplant them into a skinny mouse and the skinny mouse becomes obese. Like there's crazy stuff like that that goes on. So it's only natural to say, well, what would happen if you transplanted the micro, you know, microbiome of an addict or a non-addict vice versa into the other person? What would happen?

What would that impact? That's interesting to know. I thought it had actually been done with humans. I didn't hear the mice thing. I heard actually it had been done with human beings. Well, they've done sort of anecdotal, like in terms of like a peer-reviewed hardcore study or whatever right the mice thing that's very cool anyway interesting did we answer that question i'll be excited to hear more about that did we answer dallas's question we did all right we'll do one more um this is kind of interesting.

This is from Lisa. Her question has to do with what she calls the fundraising oxymoron. And I think you'll like this question. It's like this idea that, you know, we have all these sort of fundraisers to raise money and awareness around certain ailments and diseases and tragedies, et cetera. and awareness around certain ailments and diseases and tragedies, et cetera. But the methods for doing this are sometimes kind of, you know, inherently conflicting, right? So she raises a case in point is the Komen Foundation, which I think is a breast cancer foundation, selling junk donuts to raise money for a cure for breast cancer, you know, or a fun run in her city that she's talking about against animal abuse that's giving away hot dogs at the fun run. It's like

weird stuff like that with McDonald's, Ronald McDonald House, you know, trying to promote health care, but serving food that puts children in the place that needs it. You know, you could take that all the way down to Girl Scout cookies, I suppose, right? But this idea that, that in order to get people interested in whatever it is your cause is, that we have to, that the way to do that, the way to attract that, the way to kind of dangle the carrot is to, is to do it with like all kinds of unhealthy food. Yeah, that's really, that's quite interesting. I mean, we've seen it, we've seen it at different, you know, heart foundation benefits where they serve like huge thick pieces of bloody steak.

Yeah. I mean, Garth Davis is always talking about it. So is Joel Kahn. They go to these conferences that are all about, you know, health or whatever, all these doctors are there and they're serving them like the worst food ever, you know, or just look at what they serve, you know, patients in hospitals. Like this is just a huge problem that's cultural as much as anything else. And I think with respect to these, you know, well-intentioned, of course, you know, nonprofits, etc., that, you know, I'm sure at the bottom of it is a belief like, well, this is just what people want. You know, we need people to show up. Right. Give them what they want. Well, they're just trying focused on the money rather than looking at the entire organism as one whole energetic, which I think, you know, misses the mark in a huge way.

Because you're missing an opportunity to expose people to, you know, healthier alternatives and things that actually can prevent these diseases or support people in healing. So, but it's kind of lazy. You know, it's just, it's that thing. Well, you know's kind of lazy, you know, it's just, it's that thing. Well, you know, no, you know, my uncle loves, you know, tri-tip. So that's what I mean. It's, I just think it's not even thought about. It's just, it's just about how many tickets can we make or what can we sell to make money? There's, there's obviously a disconnect between the method of fundraising and why they're fundraising, why they're even there in the first place. Yeah, I mean, this person's frustration has to do with kind of the stuff that happens at her kid's school as well, like where, you know, it's all about the junk food,

right? Peddling the junk food around kid's school activities. And her question is, when or what will make society stop seeing junk food as a way to open our pocketbooks. And, you know, I don't, it's not like I have the miracle answer to that, but I think it, you know, it has to start with your own example in your own home, right? I mean, what else can you do? Yeah, exactly. And, you know, and at birthday parties and, you know, as you, as you venture out into the landscape of children's nutrition, children's food and what's available. And, you know, again, it's an opportunity to raise the bar and to try to do better and try to raise awareness to those things. I mean, it's ridiculous. It makes no common sense. It's not even logical, you know.

I think it's just, you know, it's not that they're not aware of it. They just think that if they don't do it, no one will come. Right. So what's behind that? Well, if there's a fear or a sense that, you know, it's important to have those kinds of foods because that's what people want. And that will, that will like improve their ability to actually, you know, raise the money that they're looking to raise.

Well, it goes back to, you know, entertaining in your own house. Like in the early years, you know, you were like, you know, are you going to make chicken? Are you going to make, you know, meat? Because they eat meat. And I was like, no. Right, we did have this discussion early on. I was like, no, as a matter of fact, I'm not. Like I would get, we were in the beginning stages of our plant-based adventure.

And friends would be coming over. You know, friends that, you know, oh, we'll come over for a barbecue. And I'd be like, well, you got to cook something that they like. I want them to feel comfortable. And you were like, no, they're in our house. They're going to eat what I want. And that made me initially very uncomfortable. So now I don't think about it. It's like, of course, when you come to our house, you eat what we eat. There's no compromising on that whatsoever. That's just the deal. And every, and you're such an amazing cook that, you know, it's people happily do it, but I know what that feels like, you know, so you

got to kind of take that journey on yourself. So, you know, I had a discomfort with that initially. And I'm sure that's the discomfort of these companies, right? So, you know, but, but in truth, you know, the more that you can, you can, you know, it's like what Gene Bauer always says, like, how do you align your actions with your values? So if the values of your organization are to cure breast cancer or cure pediatric cancer, whatever it is, are the actions that you're taking to raise awareness and money and sort of create a cure or whatever it is that your goal is, are those in alignment with the mission statement. And to the extent that there is a, there is like a, even seemingly like harmless, uh, lack of alignment. I think the more that you can bring that alignment in, you know, kind of, kind of dial in that alignment, then ultimately that is going to people know, you know, it's like it, it goes to authenticity. Right. It's going to empower you and make you much more successful. Do they mean what they say? Exactly. Or do they just, you know, they just want some money. You know what I mean? Like. That's right. Do they mean what they say? Or do they just, you know, they just want some money?

You know what I mean? That's right. And I mean, a lot of charities too, it's the same energy that inhabits the actress who wants to be famous is the same energy that inhabits, you know, a charity worker who wants everybody to know that they raised all this money for X, Y, Z. So it's the same. It looks different, but if you look at it more deeply, it's actually the same vibration. So again, it's about taking responsibility,

being authentic, knowing what your, you know, what is your mission and, and expressing that in every area of your organization. So if you're not seeing it, I would gently and compassionately just bring it up and point it out. But I know that can be challenging sometimes. Yeah, I know. I think the best thing to do, though, is just clean your own house. You know what I mean? How are your, you know, where are there areas?

Rather than pointing your finger and going, why aren't they doing it like this, whatever, just like point the finger at yourself and go, where are my actions and my values out of alignment? And how can I improve that? You know, and just be the living example. It's true. You know, so, all right, I think we did it. Is that it? That's it for today's edition of Ask Me Anything. Did you ask me anything? I asked you something. Did you ask me anything? I don't know. I don't remember. Did I ask you anything? Yeah, I said, what do you think? I hope you guys listened to the episode that just preceded this with Jeff Casteles. He is the guy behind the Pavlov Foundation. Speaking of foundations and nonprofits, they do a great job at raising awareness and finding a cure through research and programs that,

that are helping kids that are struggling with cancer. And they just started their Pablo of across America bicycle ride, which is a fundraiser that they do every year. This year they're, they're riding from Los Angeles to San Francisco. So check out that conversation. It's very heartfelt. He's an amazing guy.

And if you're interested in, in, in what they're doing, go to pop love.org and you can learn more about them. It's very heartfelt. He's an amazing guy. And if you're interested in what they're doing, go to poplove.org and you can learn more about them. It's very cool. And what else, man? I think we did it. If you are in the Los Angeles area or your travels take you near here or through here, you guys should definitely go check out a restaurant that we're partnered with. It's called Joy Cafe. It's our organic plant-based and gluten-free eatery in Westlake Village. We partnered with Joy and Nick, who are there every single day, running this amazing cafe. They do such an amazing job.

Fueling and nourishing our community in an incredible way. They've been open for a year now. It's been really cool. Yeah, they're amazing. And they also just have a new dish on their menu. Actually, they're changing their menu very soon, but there's a new dish that I just had today, and it's a spaghetti squash with lentil meatballs in the most amazing marinara sauce ever.

And it is one of their recipes, incredible, and you shouldn't miss it. So if you get a chance to go by, order that up. We eat there often, although we're going to be in Europe for a little bit. So we won't be there for the next couple weeks. But when we're in town, you can definitely find us there eating lunch or dinner a couple nights a week, a couple days a week at least. We're also partnered with the Karma Baker, which is a vegan and gluten-free bakery also in Westlake Village. And what's cool about these two businesses is that it provides Julie and I an opportunity to not only kind of spread our

message globally, which we do through the books and the podcast, but locally as well, you know, to kind of be part of shifting awareness and consciousness and behavior habits and patterns within our own community, which has been really, really cool. And definitely Celine and Eric, who are the owners of the Karma Baker, they're amazing artists and they do amazing desserts. And she's now branched out into gluten-free breads. And she's just, they're doing amazing stuff. So if you have a need for any birthday cake supplies or you want to try some amazing breads, check her out.

All right. So I want to thank today's sponsors, Bonobos. Go to bonobos.com forward slash rich roll and get 20% off your first order. And also the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Go to myusatrainer.com for a free 14-day free trial of their Fast and Fun online program. Hopefully we'll connect with some of you guys out in Frankfurt or in Boston and keep sending in your questions for future Q&A podcasts to info at richroll.com and go to richroll.com

for all your plant-powered nutritional needs. And we got online courses at mindbodygreen.com, The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition and The Art of Living with Purpose. Julie and I are looking at doing another course pretty soon. We'll talk to you a little bit more. We're still formulating what exactly it's going to be, but we'll have announcements about that pretty soon.

So thanks so much for supporting the show, for telling your friends, for sharing it on social media. Keep using the Amazon banner ad at richroll.com for all your Amazon purchases. If you want to connect with Julie, the best place to do that is srimati.com, S-R-I-M-A-T-I.com. And she's killing it on Instagram right now with all these amazing food photographs and recipes. So I would check that out as well, at Srimati there and also at Srimati on Twitter and her music, which you can find on her website. And you're going to take us out with a song.

I'm going to take us out today with a song I wrote for you called My Man. I like that one. That might be my favorite. Oh, thank you. Yeah, because I'm a narcissist and it's about me. I never knew that. It is about you.

It's another one about you. You're my muse. All right, cool. So it's okay. All right. Until then, peace. Blance. Namaste.

Underneath your pain I feel your song beating my heart The image reflected in your eye In your eyes Says it all If this is an illusion Why can't I be Deluded in you an illusion why can't I be deluded in you I'm desperate to break through

these frozen walls but I can't see through. It's the chain of all keeping you from yourself. Your expectations chisel into stone. They form yourself. If this is an illusion, why can't I be deluded in you? I'm desperate to break through these frozen walls but I can't see through You walk in

feeling fine You walk right in There's a magic in your smile I feel your touch once more For the first time My babe Once more for the first time My man My man La, la, la, la, la, la, la Thank you. Just shut your eyes and fall into my dream

Take my hand Take my hand Take my hand Take my hand My man