I spoke to Rich Roll, author of Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself and host of "The Rich Roll Podcast", about the corporate wellness craze, how healthy eating habits allowed him to change career paths, the connection between health and productivity, how he stays motivated and his best career advice.
Rich & his wife Julie Piatt published the bestselling cookbook and lifestyle primer, The Plantpower Way: Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes And Guidance For The Whole Family. Named by Men's Fitness Magazine as one of the "25 Fittest Men in the World", Rich participated in the EPIC5 Challenge, a journey where he completed five ironman-distance triathlons on five different islands of Hawaii in under a week.
Dan Schawbel: There's been a whole movement around wellness and well-being in and out of the workplace. Why do you think people care more about where their food comes from, and what they eat, now more than a decade ago?
Rich Roll: That’s a great question — I think the answer is the result of a few inflection points. First, people are waking up to the extreme gravity of our rapidly declining health. The United States is arguably the most prosperous nation on Earth, and yet we have never been more sick as a society. 70% of Americans are obese or overweight. Heart disease, America’s #1 killer, claims one out of every 3 lives. And by 2030, experts estimate that 50% of us will be diabetic or pre-diabetic. These statistics are staggering. Chronic lifestyle illness is the true epidemic of our times. And it’s wrecking havoc on our economy, accountable for 75% of all health care costs . We are waking up to the reality we have created, fueling a new found desire to identify a better way forward — for individuals and employers who realize the future well being of their companies is very much contingent upon the well being of their work force.
Second, the internet has provided unprecedented access to information. People have never before had the ability to be as informed as we are today. With that comes an interest and even an expectation of transparency when it comes to the companies we patronize. This is particularly true of millennials, who were raised to care more deeply about issues like sustainability, health, and the environment. The idea that food companies can legally obscure their means of production is no longer acceptable. And we have been burned too many times by savvy marketing campaigns specifically designed to entice us into eating foods that do not serve us. This raise in awareness — buttressed by greater understanding about the relationship between food and health — is changing the game.
The convergence of these two trends has resulted in a more mindful consumership — a desire to not only understand where our food comes from but also an interest in patronizing providers that are transparent about their practices and espouse a more virtuous ethos related to the promotion of personal and planetary health.
Schawbel: What made you pivot from being an entertainment attorney to focusing your time on building a platform around nutrition? What did you learn as an attorney that has been useful to you in your current career path?
Roll: Changing my relationship to food transformed my life wholesale. In a relatively short period of time, I went from a 40-year old semi-depressed couch potato to a successful plant-fueled ultra-endurance athlete, conquering physical challenges I previously thought impossible. It was a very personal journey I embarked upon to explore hidden reservoirs of potential. But the media took notice. People seemed inspired by how I could turn my life around so dramatically, and suddenly I was inundated with e-mails from people sharing the intimate details of their personal struggles with health and finding purpose in their lives. This led me to share my story in my first book, Finding Ultra, which gave me a broad platform to speak more publicly and openly about the challenges I faced and overcame. The response to that book made me realize that I could be of service to people in a very profound and meaningful way — something I was not experiencing in my career as an attorney. So I took a leap of faith, walked away from my legal career and set my sights on how I could be of service to others. It took many years of intense struggle to create a legitimate business out of my advocacy, but my legal skills definitely helped.
My strength is writing. Understanding how to communicate — become a storyteller — through the written word is something I honed daily as an attorney. As a litigator, I took countless depositions, which taught me how to ask questions, and more importantly how to listen. This has benefitted me tremendously as a podcast host. And the ability to think analytically has been a huge benefit in creating a career path out of thin air without a template or roadmap.
Schawbel: How does a healthy diet and exercise impact work productivity and business success? Can you share some examples from your own life?
Roll: As entrepreneurs, bosses, and employees, we live in our minds. We rely on our intellect to advance our careers. As a result, we prioritize our physical well-being as secondary, tertiary or even irrelevant. But the idea that we can separate our mental well being, our intellectual capacity, from our physical health is an illusion. These two things are not only interdependent, they are truly one and the same. Adopting healthy habits around food and exercise sharpen the mind, enhance energy, increase focus, create more mindfulness, improve sleep and thus exponentially benefit productivity. But even more than that, living well is an esteemable act. When you invest in yourself, you have more value to give. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better. When you are mindful, you are less reactive and volatile.
Investing time in your well-being seems like it would take time away from productive work hours. But it doesn’t work that way. Instead, it creates enhanced efficiency. When I began taking care of myself, I began to care more about my work. I could get more done in less time. Without that mid-afternoon lull in energy that used to follow lunch, I could get more done in less time. I became less easily distracted. I made better choices about how I allocated my time. And ultimately my business flourished as a result.
Schawbel: You've had many highs and lows in your career. What keeps you focused and motivated as they occur?
Roll: Service. I know what it’s like to be broken. I know what it’s like to have nothing. I know what it’s like to not be able to pay my mortgage. I have faced and overcome many difficulties along my path. But I have come to understand that when my focus is keenly placed on service — how can I be of maximum benefit to others and society without thought of return — that things ultimately always work out. Service gives my life purpose, personal meaning and fulfillment. It is a renewable fuel source that has allowed me to weather the trials and maintain motivation in the face of adversity. If you love what you do — and what you do provides your life and the life of others with meaning — then you can weather any storm. Giving is the ultimate secret to success.
Schawbel: What are your top three pieces of career advice?
Roll:
1. Do what you love. You have to find a career that gives your life personal meaning. Focusing on something that deeply engages you is far more important than financial recompense. Find it, and as the adage goes, you will never work a day in your life.
2. Live lean. If you are not emotionally fulfilled in your career, you are likely to compensate by overspending on things like cars, clothes and rent until you wake up one day imprisoned by your lifestyle. Living well below your means creates the opportunity to make choices about your career independent of circumstances. This is particularly true for young people just beginning their careers.
3. Mentors. Seek out people you admire. People living lives you aspire to have. It doesn’t have to be Elon Musk or Tony Robbins — it can be someone in your office or a neighbor. The point is to create a board of advisors for your life — people who can help guide your decisions, help you navigate your career path, call you on your BS and provide objective feedback. Nobody is successful in a vacuum. Entrust others to help you. Then pay it forward.
4. Invest In Yourself. I know you only want three, but I can’t resist making this point. We think of investing in ourselves as selfish. But you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. To be the best servant you have to be your best self. Things like self-help, therapy, diet, exercise, meditation, and community service can sound like a time-draining distraction for the type-A businessperson but long-term it’s the secret to success.
