It's the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hello, everybody. How we doing? I don't use the word inspiring a lot, largely, because I think that word has been overused, you know, ground down into near meaninglessness through wrote repetition. But I genuinely do find my guest today inspiring.

Rich Roll is a guy who found himself at midlife, overweight, unhealthy, and unhappy in his legal career. He then took a huge risk and walked away from it all and became an ultra-endurance athlete. To be very clear, right from the jump here, I am not planning on becoming an ultra-endurance athlete. I'm not recommending you become one. But I do love the idea of pushing my body for

as long as I have it. And the fact that Rich was able to achieve so much is hugely motivating for me,

especially at age 53. What makes me like Rich even more is that even though he's taken fitness

to some pretty serious extremes, he has lots of thoughts

and strategies for how any of us at any age and with whatever goals can get ourselves moving.

And unlike many fitness influencers, Rich is actually very thoughtful about the pitfalls

of what psychologists call orthorexia, the unhealthy obsession with being healthy.

In this conversation, Rich and I talk about how to harness the power of momentum and the importance of intrinsic motivation.

What being, quote unquote, in shape means, who exactly sets the standards for what the shape should be and the toxic effects of trying to look a certain way,

why so many people hate vegans and why you should eat more plants anyway,

riches experiences with addiction, recovery, and healing from childhood wounds.

And toward the end of the conversation, we delve into more esoteric subjects, including psychedelics and non-duality.

Just a few things to say before we dive in here.

First, we recorded this at Rich's studio in Los Angeles, where he records his own show, The Rich Roll Podcast.

Big thanks to Rich and his team for letting us do that.

His team is awesome, by the way.

Second, this episode is part of our month-long Get Fit Sainly series where we talk about how to

take care of your body without losing your mind. And third, every episode this month comes with

a companion guided meditation for my friend, the great Dharma teacher, Kara Lai. Today's meditation is all about resilience and endurance, staying centered when things get

physically or emotionally challenging.

...