John McAvoy: From Life Sentence to Life of Purpose

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture

4.8 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2022

⏱️ 173 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’re someone who actually believes that people don’t change, prepare for a major mindset shift.Meet John McAvoy. Returning for his 2nd appearance on the podcast, John is positive transformation rendered in human form—and his story is one of the most compelling, improbable, inspirational, and cinematic tales you will ever be privileged to hear. The McAvoy name might ring a bell for longtime listeners. He first appeared on the show a little over four years ago on episode #379—a conversation that ranks among the most memorable and impactful in the ten-year history of the show. For those unfamiliar, John is a former high-profile armed robber, one of Britain’s most successful career criminals and most wanted men. His reckoning was delivered in the form of a double life sentence (the 2nd of 2 prison stints) on the notorious Belmarsh high-security wing—a space he shared with extremist cleric Abu Hamza and the 7/7 bombers. To the rational outsider, John’s future was bleak. But a chance encounter with prison gym indoor rowing machine would ultimately change his life forever. In short shrift, John ended up breaking a cluster of British and World indoor rowing records while incarcerated, and upon parole, began forging a new life as a professional endurance athlete. Today, John is a Nike-sponsored Ironman athlete living in the Alps, a vegan (not my doing—I promise), and a stalwart mouthpiece for prison reform who has testified at 10 Downing Street. But above all, he’s a staunch advocate for the inherent power we all possess to course correct the trajectory of our lives, no matter how dire the circumstances. I was in London recently and couldn’t resist the opportunity to reconvene with this legend. This episode is old school—no video, just two guys vibing across a kitchen table. We pick right up where we last left off four years prior and dive even deeper into John’s remarkable story to further mine the extraordinary, latent potential we all hold to better ourselves. Watch: YouTube. Read: Show notes. Today's Sponsors: Whoop: WHOOP.com Birch Living: birchiving.com/richroll. Express VPN: expressvpn.com/RICHROLL. Daily Harvest: dailyharvest.com/RICHROLL. Seed: seed.com/RICHROLL. As you’ll soon discover, John’s greatest heist isn’t a bank—it’s his life. Peace + Plants, Rich

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're struggling with your diet, just can't sustain those healthy eating habits you're not alone.
0:05.7	Might I suggest the plant power meal planner.
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0:20.5	To learn more and sign up, visit meals.richroll.com.
0:24.7	Do it now, okay, let's do the show.
0:30.4	Legacy to me is about helping people realise their own potential, and when I'm dead,
0:36.6	because that person's had an interaction with me or something I've been part of, it's positive, their life is better.
0:42.3	Like you can achieve things of your life, you can turn your life and you can be positive and a beacon of hope, and it isn't the end.
0:48.7	Just because you make one bad decision in your life, you can always come back from it and achieve something with your life.
0:53.5	You've got to look at other people's lives and look at them and go, if they've been able to do that, I'm able to also do it.
0:59.3	It's not jealousy, it's not looking at other people and thinking that I'm wired, they've got that.
1:03.2	There's people that achieve things that I don't really find interesting, but it motivates me, because I think they're living what they want to do, they achieve what they want to achieve.
1:10.9	And it makes me realise that I'm also able to do what I want to do with my life.
1:15.4	But just being open to experiences and opportunities and knowing that you're not going to be here forever,
1:21.4	and just make the most of the short time that you've got and act on stuff.
1:25.1	Don't put stuff off to tomorrow, to next week, to the week after that, because those weeks might not ever come.
1:30.3	And don't be that person at the end where the doctor might say, you've only got a couple of months left to live,
1:35.6	and you think I'm not done anything with my life.
1:37.6	The Rich Roll Podcast
1:50.0	People don't change.
	...

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