Finding Ultra.
By Rich Roll
Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
I began listening to the Rich Roll podcast years ago, in 2018. I still remember the first episode I listened to, where he interviewed Ross Edgley, who had just swum around the entire coastline of Great Britain without setting foot on land. He covered roughly 2,860 km over 157 days, swimming in six hour shifts, followed by a six hours for rest and eating, and did not deviate from this pattern for all 157 days. Aside from being fascinated by Ross’s incredible accomplishment, I remember really enjoying Rich’s interview style and way of speaking, and so became a regular listener to his podcasts.
Rich Roll himself has an interesting and inspirational story. Just before his 40th birthday he found himself overweight, unhealthy and unfit, as well as unhappy in his job as a corporate lawyer. He made the decision to radically transform his life, took a leap of faith and embarked in a whole new life direction. Already years into recovery from alcohol addiction, he adopted a plant-based diet and began endurance training, eventually becoming an elite ultra-endurance athlete. He began his podcast and built an audience of more than 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube alone. Like me, his followers appreciate his authentic style of interviewing and his wide ranging choice of topics that cover recovery, health, endurance training, resilience and purposeful living; and a features a hand-picked array of interviewees that are either experts in their fields or have personally navigated and circumvented great challenges.
In this book, Finding Ultra, he chronicles his transformation, and his athletic accomplishment of completing the EPIC5 Challenge—five Ironman-distance triathlons on five Hawaiian islands in under a week.
I made these notes way back when I read the book in April 2019. Seven years later, I’m still listening to many of his podcast interviews, and I recently reviewed my notes and found value in revisiting them. The book itself is worth the read, as it weaves his personal story around his learnings, and the anecdotes convey his messages in a way that rings true and makes them hard to forget.
What follows are the excerpts from Rich’s approach and philosophy that I found, and still find, meaningful.
When your heart is true, the universe will conspire to support you.
There is great power in relentless perseverance, and unwavering persistence.
Have a commitment to being a little better today than you were yesterday.
Embark, and embrace your own unique journey.
Inspiration is easy, but transformation is hard.
Set aside your mind, and open your heart.
Remember that there is a reason it is called a practice.
Failure to deal with the psychology behind what drives us is a roadmap for failure.
Attempt to confront and overcome behaviours and thought patterns that do not serve you.
Begin within; and reflect:
Why is this personally meaningful to you?
What do you hope to learn about yourself?
How is it helpful to others?
Frame the story we tell ourselves (and others) about ourselves.
Be aware of everything that holds sway over the soundness of your everyday decision-making.
Change your relationship with food. Food is a powerful portal in the quest for self-actualisation. Purify your plate, and begin to operate with maximum vitality, and a broad awareness of health.
We are spiritual beings. Acknowledge something greater and more potent. Act from a place of joy, devotion and service. Connect with nature and your fellow humans, and better understand yourself and your place in the world.
The stories we tell are:
Compelled by memory, a self-selected series of events that we have decided our formative and important. Through this perspective, objectivity becomes reality.
Your story, good or bad, is just a story. It’s an illusion, because that’s not necessarily who you are.
We are the son of an almost infinite number of constantly occurring interactions, exchanges, events, actions thoughts and reactions.
We hold the power to change the story.
Morning routines
“It begins at dawn. Pen and paper hold magical powers. Be patient. The process cannot be rushed. Give it time… and an improved mental roadmap will emerge.”
Set your stage in mood for how your day will play out.
Approach it (precious time) mindfully… which will focus your intention, marshal the days energies, improve how you negotiate challenges, enhance your interaction with others, and enhance your life experience.
Honour this time. Take it seriously. Pause, reflect, and be present. Engage with your creative mind. Set intentions.
Enough sleep, tea, meditation, writing and journaling, morning smoothie, movement.
Setting goals
Set the right goals: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time bound. Add service oriented.
When constructing the road map, use your calendar to help with decision fatigue.
Realise the power of environment.
Create a community, and trust the benefits of going public with your goal.
Just act. Begin.
Mood follows action.
Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.
There is no failure, only opportunity.
Above all, service. When you give, you receive tenfold in return.
Embrace the journey. Good things take time. Rejoice in the struggle. Fall in love with the process. Show up for life with enthusiasm and commitment.
Connect with spirit, be patient, go gently, give freely. Because it’s the journey that truly gives you path meaning.