Small, progressive steps create lasting change. "I allowed myself to be imperfect and to fail."-Rich Roll The Cheat Sheet: Are you on The Window Diet? Junk food vegetarianism: what is it? Rich explains the problem with our "hacking" culture. What forges true character? How to master your monkey mind. And so much more... Allowing ourselves to be imperfect, to fail and to ask for help are not widely accepted in our culture, but they are key to creating lasting change and a fulfilling life according to our guest for today's show. Rich Roll is an ultra-athlete, podcaster and the best-selling author of Finding Ultra. Today he joins us to talk about his book, how he overcame addiction, created lasting, healthy habits and changed the mental story he was telling himself. We cover all of those topics, and more on episode 366 of The Art of Charm. Click Here to Support The Show and get 10% off Onnit! More About This Show: Rich Roll is a man who doesn't do anything halfway, he admits to going "all in" when he commits to something and his history proves as much. He was a talented athlete in high school, becoming one of the best swimmers in his state and went on to pursue swimming in college at Stanford. But he went down the rabbit hole of alcohol and drug abuse, sidelining his athletic pursuits and his entire life. At the age of 31 he got sober and began repairing the damage he had done. It took him years to do so, but he eventually got back on track. By 39 he was on the fast track to becoming a partner at his corporate law firm in Los Angeles, he was building his dream home in Malibu Canyon and was a happily married father. On the outside everything looked perfect, but in reality he didn't feel fulfilled. He loved his wife, his family but those were the only bright spots for him. His work and his health were exhausting him, and something needed to be done. His first order of business was simply to experiment. He did a 7-day juice cleanse and gave his body a fresh slate to work with. From there he went vegetarian, and relied on his wife to be a sounding board and guidepost. She'd always been a healthy person so she helped him experiment to find what worked best for him. Originally he just wanted more energy to play with his kids, but Rich doesn't do anything halfway and he went on to become an elite ultra-endurance athlete and health advocate. He doesn't call himself an expert because he doesn't claim to have all the answers, he just shares his journey and his findings on that journey. And we go in-depth on many of those findings, including how to create lasting change and how to stop allowing the story we tell ourselves to run our lives. Rich has created long-term change, in any area of his life, through incremental shifts. He suggests making one change, like buying almond milk instead of cow's milk, and cementing that change before moving on to something else. Small shifts over time create habits, which last. The same holds true with the stories we tell ourselves. If we create a small shift by noticing our self-talk, over time we can become aware of how this self-talk and our own stories are running our lives. With that awareness we can shift out of our "monkey mind" and take the reigns of our own lives, instead of allowing our programming to run us. Rich and I also talk about inspiration vs implementation, what's wrong with our hacking culture and so much more. Have a listen to get all the insights and wisdom Rich has to share on this episode. Thanks to Rich for joining us and as always, thank you for being here. We'll see you next time. THANKS RICH ROLL! If you enjoyed this session of The Art of Charm Podcast, let Rich know by clicking on the link below and sending him a quick shout out on Twitter: Click here to thank Rich on Twitter! Resources from this episode: Rich Roll's web site Finding Ultra, Rich's best-selling book The Rich Roll PodcastRich Roll on TwitterThe Art of Charm bootcamps You'll also like: -The Art of Charm Toolbox-Best of The Art of Charm Podcast Wanna leave a comment? Too bad! Email me instead (we read everything)! HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! If you dug this episode, please subscribe in iTunes and write us a review! This is what helps us stand out from all the fluff out there. FEEDBACK + PROMOTION Hit us up with your comments and guest suggestions. We read EVERYTHING. Download the FREE AoC app for iPhone Email [email protected] Give us a call at 888.413.7177 Stay Charming!