On Addiction, Recovery & Achieving Happiness Through Service

There are leaders and then there are followers. The best leaders engender devotion to a big, new idea. But only a few successfully grow their conceit into a thriving a enterprise that withstands the test of time. Fewer still scale to mainstream cultural impact. Then there are the charmed select who simply see the world differently. Not how it is, but how it could be. How it should be. The rare figure who infuses his or her vision with a contagion of enthusiasm and connectivity so infectious and powerful, it ignites a revolution – catalyzing a movement that penetrates the mainstream, hypnotizes the masses and forever alters the perspective and behavior of all who fall under its spell. This is the story of Brogan Graham — an irreverent, way-outside-the-box fitness fanatic who, along with partner-in-crime Bojan Mandaric decided to flip the fitness industry on its head and make the world a better place with a creation dubbed November Project. No gyms or machines. No fees or dues. Just two dudes, wide open public space and a fervent, gung-ho tribe of thousands taking over not just urban landscapes but the world, one city at a time. If you’re into fitness and live in a metropolis, chances are you've already caught wind of NP. Maybe you've even attended one of their infamous morning workouts. But for those unfamiliar, November Project started as a simple month-long workout pact between Brogan and Bojan, two former rowers who wanted to stay fit through the cold New England months. One by one, a burgeoning community of fitness freaks joined the party. And before long, the few morphed into a fanatical multitude, bonding around NP's free, open-to-anyone, frentic sweat revivals – the more ice, sleet, snow, and rain the better. Dubbed “the ‘Fight Club' of running clubs”, November Project has matured into a flashmob fitness revolution that now dominates the pre-dawn urban landscape of cities all across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and even parts of Asia. Thoroughly grassroots and populist to the core, it's a category-defying movement that is redefining how we think about and practice fitness by leveraging community, a simple sense of accountability and open public spaces to motivate and encourage people of all ages, shapes, sizes and levels — welcoming everyone from Olympic medalists and professional athletes all the way to complete fitness rookies and recent couch potatoes. The idea: use movement to turn strangers into friends and connect everyone to the city in which they live. The goal: world domination. This week I sit down Brogan — one-half of the beautiful high-energy, charismatic superhero duo that birthed it all — to find out how he did it, and why. I was super stoked to meet up with Brogan. From the minute he pulled into my driveway and gave me a bear hug (he's a big dude), I knew it was a bromance in the making. I have a strong feeling this is but the first of many future collaborations. This is an amazing conversation about the power of community and storytelling to drive positive cultural change. It's about the audacity to dream big, think different, and act outside the box. It's about the freedom and power of being you. And it's a conversation about unlocking untapped reservoirs of human potential to step into your best, most fully actualized self. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

6 Maalis 20172h

Julie Piatt joins me for another mid-week installment of the podcast — a twist on my normal format where we go deep on a specific topic. This is a conversation about how to best bridge the emotional landmines of our expanding cultural divide. It's about how to be insistent rather than resistant. It's about the power of devotion over emotion. And it's about inner strength and the importance of cultivating your inner Jedi warrior. I hope you enjoy the offering. #StayJedi! Peace + Plants, Rich

3 Maalis 20171h 6min

Close your eyes and imagine yourself 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco, swimming in the freezing cold, shark-infested waters famously dubbed the Red Triangle. No wetsuit. In the middle of the night. Most would call this lunacy. Kimberley Chambers calls this home. This week's guest is one of the most accomplished record-setting marathon open water swimmers in the world. Her story is incredibly inspiring, but not for the reasons you might imagine. Her story is inspiring because just nine years ago, Kim was not a swimmer at all, suffering a life-threatening accident that nearly claimed her leg and her overall enthusiasm for life. The morning started out like every other morning. The New Zealand born former ballerina and rower turned software executive left her San Francisco apartment and accidentally tripped, toppling down a treacherous flight of stairs. We saved your leg. But it’s unlikely you will walk again. The doctor's verdict presented Kim with a choice: accept permanent disability. Or prove them wrong. Needless to say, she chose the latter. After countless surgeries and an excruciatingly prolonged rehabilitation, a friend encouraged her to try swimming. Although foreign to the water, she immediately took to it. A ticket to freedom. But the real turning point came the moment she first jumped into the frigid San Francisco Bay. In an instant, she had found sanctuary. To this day, it's a love affair with cold water and the tight-knit community of like-minded souls who embrace it that changed everything about her life and how she lives it. An inner fire ignited, Kim began to channel her newfound passion into a series of death-defying, envelope-pushing open-water marathon challenges that have redefined the limits of human potential and transformed her into the elite athlete she is today. Among Kim's many accomplishments: * In 2014, she became the 6th person (and 3rd woman) in history to complete the Oceans Seven – the marathon swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge, with each of the 7 swims chosen for their treacherous water conditions and potential wildlife risks; * In 2015, she set a new world record becoming the first woman to swim 30 miles from the shark-infested Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco; * In September 2016, Kim attempted a non-stop 93 mile swim from Sacramento to Tiburon. However after swimming over 24 hours and 54 miles, sustained 30 knot winds rendered it unsafe for her to continue; * And just two months later, Kim led an international team of swimmers to complete an unprecedented historic swim across the Dead Sea to raise global awareness around the environmental deterioration of that critical body of water. This is a conversation about the boundaries of human potential. It's about the capacity to turn tremendous adversity into boundless opportunity. It's about finding joy and adventure outside the comfort zone. It's a conversation about reframing identity to step into and own — really own — our most authentic, fully actualized selves. And I suppose it's about how to not get eaten by a shark. Delightfully engaging, ever humble, and beautifully human, Kim embodies everything you seek in a modern day female super hero. It was a pleasure to spend time with her and it is my hope that our conversation will leave you deeply reconsidering the limits of your own potential. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

27 Helmi 20172h 6min

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have both survived more than fifty years of exile. Both have endured the soul-crushing violence of oppression. And yet despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet. How is this possible? And what can we learn from their example to cultivate more joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering? To answer this question, in 2015 Douglas Abrams united the two spiritual giants in Dharamsala, India on the occasion of the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday. During the course of what became a rare, five-day conversation on the nature of human happiness and suffering, the two Nobel Peace Prize recipients traded intimate stories, teased each other continually, and shared their spiritual practices. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy. A beautiful synthesis of this transcendent union, it's no surprise that Abrams' The Book of Joy* became an instant New York Times bestseller. It's a book that deeply humanizes an Archbishop who has never claimed sainthood and a Dalai Lama who considers himself a simple monk. It's a book that transports you deep within the intimate friendship that binds these two incredible souls. And it's a book that vividly probes the very nature of joy itself — the illusions that eclipse it, the obstacles that obscure it, the practices that cultivate it, and the pillars that sustain it. In addition to being a celebrated author, editor and literary agent, Doug is the founder and president of the creative book and media agency Idea Architects, where he works with true visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world. He is also the co-founder with Pam Omidyar and Bishop Desmond Tutu of HumanJourney.com, a public benefit company working to share life-changing and world-changing ideas. Doug has worked with Desmond Tutu as his co-writer and editor for over a decade, and before founding his own literary agency, he was a senior editor at HarperCollins and also served for nine years as the religion editor at the University of California Press. I wanted to know more about what my Stanford classmate learned spending so much intimate time with two of the planet's most conscious and revered spiritual leaders. What was his biggest takeaway? How did he synthesize their wisdom into such an extraordinary book? And what impact has the experience had on how he lives his life today? This conversation is the result. It's everything I was hoping for, and then some. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

18 Helmi 20171h 39min

Between 1982 and 1988, Mark Allen launched six attempts to claim the title of Ironman World Champion. Each year he was squarely defeated by his arch rival, the legendary Dave Scott. In 1989, the two titans of triathlon once again descended upon the white hot lava fields of Hawaii to reprise their annual duel in a spectacular showdown that would make history as the greatest race Ironman had ever seen. Dubbed The Iron War, Allen & Scott raced neck and neck at blistering speeds for 8 hours and would cross the finish line less than one minute apart — decimating the previous world record and redefining the limits of human endurance in the process. When the dust settled, Mark Allen finally emerged victorious. And over the next several years the man they call The Grip would become arguably the most successful triathlete in the sport's history with six Hawaii Ironman World Championship titles, 10 Nice International Triathlon titles and countless other victories across distances, terrains and fields of every variety. So how did Mark Allen go from perennial also-ran to an athlete ESPN dubbed “The Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time”?  The answer might surprise you. Because it has nothing to do with fitness, nutrition or gear. Instead, it has everything to do with spirituality. Without a doubt, Mark's embrace of shamanism unlocked hidden reservoirs of human potential. It's a devotion that broke the glass ceiling on his mindset and plateaued career and ultimately propelled him to staggering heights of athletic success. But how? And what does it all means to him now? I needed to know. So I jumped in my truck, drove to his house Santa Cruz and put a microphone in front of him. This conversation is the result. It's a conversation about Mark's remarkable life and his ongoing quest for expansion. It's about the importance of aligning yourself with nature's rhythms. It's about investing in yourself, cultivating self-understanding and honing a positive mindset. And it's about the crucial role humility — detaching from ego — plays in manifesting personal potential. Bottom line? If you really want to soar, look within. Deep within. It was an absolute honor to speak with Mark. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

13 Helmi 20171h 37min

We are all innately gifted with something called body intelligence — an intuitive sense of what best serves our mental, physical and emotional well-being. However, most of us disconnect from our bodies' persistent efforts to communicate, muting it out to favor the breakneck pace of our modern lives. Left unchecked, this leaves us at serious risk of what this week's guest calls chronic body depletion – a crisis of mind, body and spirit that can lead to everything from weight gain and chronic pain to high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, autoimmune disease and more. This week Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS, ABIHM joins the podcast to help us better cultivate our body intelligence, so that we can begin to properly treat the cause of what ails us and set a better trajectory for optimum healing and lifelong health. Dr. Abrams is a board-certified primary care, family practice physician, integrative health expert and author with over two decades of experience in preventive and comprehensive care medicine. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, received her medical degree from UC San Francisco, earned her master’s degree in Holistic Health and Medical Sciences from UC Berkeley, and has been voted the “Best Doctor” in Santa Cruz County every year from 2010 to 2016. In the scope of her dynamic practice, she works with many of the world’s most influential people, from CEOs to billionaire entrepreneurs to Nobel Peace laureates, and has spent countless hours addressing everyday patients with chronic health conditions. The author of several books on holistic health, relationships and sexuality, her latest offering, BodyWise: Discovering Your Body’s Intelligence for Lifelong Health and Healing*, skillfully and accessibly guides the reader on a journey of discovery towards creating the vibrant, balanced, healthy life you have always deserved. This is a fun and super informative conversation packed with knowledge nuggets and practical wisdom takeaways all designed to cultivate your own body intelligence. An intelligence that will help you take better responsibility for yourself, your environment, your behaviors, your relationships, and your health so that you can fuel your body’s natural predisposition to heal and thrive. Specific topics covered include: * the concept of chronic body depletion * reconnecting with our bodies/nature * mind, body & spirit connection * taking responsibility for yourself * the business of healthcare * sense, feel & discernment * the body’s natural predisposition to heal * the benefits of integrative medicine * link inflammation and disease * the importance of positive feedback loops * adaptogenic herbs & essential oils It was an absolute joy talking to Dr. Abrams and I'm delighted to bring you our conversation. I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Peace + Plants, Rich

6 Helmi 20171h 45min

This is a special mid-week episode of the podcast featuring a panel discussion that took place at the Miami Seed Food and Wine Festival in November 2016 between me and Marco Borges, the CEO of 22 Days Nutrition – a plant-based nutrition products and meal delivery service he founded in partnership with Jay-Z and Beyonce. If you are new to the podcast, I implore you to check out my first conversation with Marco, RRP #195 — it's great. Since that day Marco and I have become very close. The real deal with a huge heart, he's a man truly committed to educating people about health and fitness, while providing them with the best possible organic, plant-based meal service and nutritional supplements. This a loose, fun, unmoderated off-the-cuff conversation about many things, with a focus on nutrition, fitness and effective strategies for being the best living advocate of a thriving, vibrant lifestyle. Specific topics include: * practicing non-judgment & the vegan lifestyle * striving for growth & expansion * managing perfectionism in business * the power of conscious consumerism * living in alignment with your core values * to compromise or not to compromise * plant-based at your own pace NOTE: The audio is wonky (and I'm being kind). Apologies in advance, but this recording was captured on less than stellar audio equipment before a live audience. Nonetheless, I thought it valuable enough to share. I love this guy and I hope you enjoy our lively banter! Peace + Plants, Rich

2 Helmi 20171h 3min

A force in business, civic affairs, politics, and philanthropy in Los Angeles and beyond, Casey Wasserman is perhaps best known as the chairman and CEO of Wasserman — one of the world's largest, most powerful, and most successful sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing and management agencies, representing brands, properties and talent on a global basis. When he's not negotiating on behalf of Nike, ESPN, Andrew Luck or Russell Westbrook, he's either leading the charge to bring the 2024 Summer Olympic Games to Los Angeles as Chairman of LA 2024, or funding education, health, arts & human rights initiatives via his Wasserman Foundation philanthropic arm. Lovingly and painstakingly mentored throughout his childhood by his late grandfather Lew Wasserman — one of the most legendary Hollywood talent agents and studio executives of all time — Casey's love of business, sports and entrepreneurship was born early. By ten, he was a torch bearer during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. By twelve, he was officially employed in professional sports as a ballboy for the Cleveland Browns. And by 24 he would not only own his first professional sports organization — the Los Angeles Avengers Arena League football team — he was named Chairman of the entire league. I've known Casey very casually for a couple years. What impresses me most isn't the success and accolades. Instead, it's how he consistently comports himself — with grounded self-awareness, honest humility, and a very present sense of what is most important in life. This is a great exchange about Casey's remarkable life. It's a conversation about business, entrepreneurship and risk. It's about the indelible power of mentorship. It's about creating a legacy. But most of all, it's a conversation about that which is required to pursue a life of purpose and meaning. I have tremendous respect for this amazing man. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

30 Tammi 201749min