How to Commit to the Path of Sobriety | Rich Roll

Named one of the “25 Fittest Men in the World” by Men’s Fitness and the “Guru of Reinvention” by Outside magazine, Rich shares his inspirational story of addiction, redemption, and athletic prowess in his bestselling memoir, Finding Ultra, and in the cookbooks/lifestyle guides The Plantpower Way and The Plantpower Way: Italia, which he co-authored with his wife Julie Piatt.

Rich is a graduate of Stanford University (where he was a member of their dynastic, multiple-NCAA-championship men’s swimming program) and Cornell Law School. He has been featured on CNN and on the cover of Outside and has been profiled in The New York Times, Forbes, ESPN, and many other prominent media outlets.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system.

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep! Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at the perfect temperature. It pairs dynamic cooling and heating with biometric tracking to offer the most advanced (and user-friendly) solution on the market. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. It also splits your bed in half, so your partner can choose a totally different temperature.

This episode is brought to you by Tonal! Tonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the most advanced strength studio on the market today. Tonal uses breakthrough technology—like adaptive digital weights and AI learning—together with the best experts in resistance training so you get stronger, faster. Every program is personalized to your body using AI, and smart features check your form in real time, just like a personal trainer.


About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

Connect with Tim Ferriss:

[AllansStation]

Drinking from age 16 to 65, been through the whole gambit. Too painful to remember. Made the final decision to quit. Did just that, at the age of 65.Guess it was that or l was on the final downward track.
Now aged 93, and never looked back. In perfect health, no medication.

[aroofthemountain]

4 years and 5 months today no booze!!! thanks yall. much love

[BeYourUniquePotential]

I totally respect anyone who can find the courage to give up alcohol. You can do this, whoever you are. Thank you for interviewing so sensitively here Tim. This is a very real huge topic. Marie-Louise

[ninefotimbo]

I am 23 months sober rn--can't wait for 2 years on 20 May! Thanks for the video--I stopped at 27 years old

[ChrisG-xz]

I am 5 months alcohol free today and have no plans to ever drink again. I spent most of my 30's in a spiral of depression and drinking to cope with it. I thought I could hide the drinking and boy was I wrong - got to the point where family and friends couldn't stand to be around me. I am going to be 40 next month and am so happy I made the decision to cut booze from my life for good. My relationships for the most part have started to heal, I feel like I have so much more control of my life and my entire mentality about alcohol has changed to the point where it almost grosses me out to look at it. If you are struggling please know you have the power within you to get better - it is tough at first of course and involves a drastic lifestyle change but once you want it - and want it for yourself and not just others - you will eventually find yourself wondering how you ever even lived like that. Trust me when I say I thought I was hopeless - I wasn't and you are not either.

[westcoastkidd]

Man I've been struggling the past decade with alcoholism. I'm sure sobriety will result in many positives in my life, but the thought of permanently removing it and my ego believing I can tame alcohol, has led me to desperately wanting sobriety, but constantly relapsing. I'm on sobriety attempt and I hope I can maintain it because there's so much I want to do and accomplish which alcohol is preventing.

[Zelo-mx]

Week 1 of sobering from alcohol and drugs 🎉 finally taking up my life head on with no alcohol especially I knew I had a problem from the beginning when I wasn’t using it for fun more so to cope with my past and my current life.

[relaxo]

I fortunately never been addicted to alcohol but I hated drinking and the way it made me feel… I was only drinking due to strong peer pressure… I have made the decision on New Year to stop completely drinking. I lost my best friend over this choice as she only socialise with drinking and I realised that I could not deal with her while sober…Being Sober really changed my life for the better and happier… good luck to you all and stay strong…

[timothymccoy]

Day 160 –

Dropped 15 pounds
2 ½ inches off the waist

Significant improvements in:
• Reflexes
• Eyesight
• Inflammation
• Joint swelling
• Sleep
• Energy level
• Brain functions
• Articulation
• Memory – long and short term
• Eye-hand coordination
• Eliminated the jitters

Wake up in the morning with no body aches, head aches or muscle stiffness!

[jpa]

Quit drinking one year two months ago. I never imagined being in this position, but easily the best descision of my life. Thank you, very powerful video Thanks. You can do it, One day at a time 🙏🏻 God bless

[jamesotoole]

2 days…ashamed of my relapse but I am looking forward to getting back to it.

[Paul-thes]

I can go to the bar or dope house to try to impress unimpressive people, or go to NA, AA or healthy places where I dont need to impress very impressive people. Recovery for life.

[funniful]

To anyone reading this, don’t give up. Keep trying, ask for help, pray to God.

[JoJo-qqil]

Everything he said is my exact experience at 41 minus the DUI and losing my job. So many days I missed worked due to being hung over. Letting my family down daily. Feeling like hell on a daily all trying to medicate my childhood trauma and any other depressing events along the way. I ruined my son’s birthday with my Alcoholism and woke up the next morning with blood in my mouth. This is the day April 30th I said I’m done. I cried and cried thinking of all the disappointment I have caused myself and my family and my friends. Zero recollection of what and said and did the night before. Too many nights waking up in the care of other peoples homes, cars etc. my rock bottom happened and I didn’t stop drinking. I thought to myself I’ll just manage it. Black out after black out I didn’t manage anything. Woke up after a mild event in my historic patterns and said today is the day. I will not drink anything ever again. I can’t control it and I’m not happy and everyone has had to hold so much space for me and tolerate my behavior and even try to minimize it to comfort me. Im only 8 days sober and I know this will be a journey. I’m just so thankful and looking forward to the new person I always wanted to be ❤

[marshafairfieldtv]

Tim, thank you for this interview! Rich's story is amazing. By the grace of God, I made the decision to get clean 3/29/2022. Coming up on my 3 years clean in a few days. Feeling so grateful. Honestly and thoroughly working the 12 steps with a sponsor and being involved in a 12-step fellowship has changed everything about me for the better. It's also kept me clean without relapse. The therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel! We need one another. Giving back to other addicts & encouraging them through their journey is a gift.... "it's never too late to make the choice to get and stay clean and sober." Life is so good now. Thanks again!

[treyjohnson]

She left me today bc I can’t stay sober she is perfect. She gave me chance and chance again . I’ll see u someday again Alyssa 😢😢

[asleepcloud]

I could of listened to this guys story for hours really wish this were longer.

[lelandb]

I’m a year late to this video. But I finally made the decision yesterday to surrender and admit that I’m powerless over alcohol. The lonely and desperate feeling is soooo accurate. And cycling back and forth between drinking and not drinking is so obnoxious: because I’d get a few days, weeks, and even months but the disease would trick me into thinking I’m better or I can a few but it always goes back to benders and feeling miserable 24/7. But going into 2024 I’m so hungry or thirsty to abstain from alcohol. I know it’s gonna be a lifestyle change from now on which is sad to me now, but I’ll thank myself later the deeper I get in my path of sobriety. Also I’m currently 26 going on 27.

[scratchwhiplash]

I’ve been tapering off for the past two weeks. Today was my target date to stop completely. I had a couple shots of vodka to stop the shakes and it worked. Tomorrow I will try again to abstain. I’ve got this!

[JohnSmith-ucku]

I work day and nights, drinking 30 years or a bit more, starting to get the mother of all hangovers, I think it's that time in life to give it up no fun in it anymore I want to be sober, sound like I'm bitching but I know it's time might be hard to do but got to get wide