Exciting journey from drinking hole to becoming the fittest man in the world

- Talk-Think-Shishir Ramavat

- 'There is nothing like a good mood, right time or good coincidence. Just start doing the work that you strongly want to do without thinking twice. The mood will come automatically.'

There is an American gentleman. He was a corporate lawyer in the past. Currently he is a bestselling author, popular public speaker, number one bestselling author, podcaster and most notably an ultra-endurance athlete. His name is mentioned in the list of twenty five fittest people in the world. In 2008 and 2009, he participated in the Ultraman World Championships. This is the toughest endurance race in the world, which lasts for three days. Only elite athletes should be allowed into it. Swimming a distance of 9.97 km in the sea on the first day. After that, immediately cross-country cycling 144.8 kilometers (90 miles). Day two: 273.5 kilometers (170 miles) of cycling, and day three: 83.6 kilometers (fifty-two kilometers) of running two full marathons back-to-back, that too in scorching heat.

Now listen to another American. It is a number one gun. Lying in a dung-smelling room. He has been in a de-addiction center three times for months. His parents don't want to see his face. His wife leaves him before the honeymoon is over...

If you are told that the two persons described above are one and the same? But this is the truth. This fifty-five-year-old man's name is Rich Roll. He is a man of extremes. Live in constant intensity. It is his life story and success story that makes you turn pages after reading.

Rich Roll was a national-level swimmer as a child. He took admission in a world-renowned university like Stanford because of swimming, but he became addicted to alcohol during his college days and his life began to decline. It started with 'social drinking', but gradually he became an alcoholic. Their day starts with alcohol and the night also dissolves in alcohol. As a result, he neither progressed as a swimmer nor became a good student. After completing college, he started his career as a lawyer, but there was a situation where he almost had to be fired from his job. One by one the friends drifted away, familiar faces turned away. Parents don't have to worry. He admitted his son to a rehabilitation center twice to get rid of alcohol, but nothing changed. The son came out of the center and was back like that. One day the parents sat him down and told him clearly: Son, you are very dear to us, but we cannot walk with you on the path of destruction that you are moving towards. If you really want to get better, this house is yours, but if you want to stay drunk, we don't want to see your face anymore...

Richbhai, left alone, lived alone in a stinking-gobra flat. Not a single piece of furniture in the house except a mattress. Stay immersed in alcohol day and night. In such a condition, Rich got married at the age of 30, but alcohol had made his personality so ugly, so unbearable that on the honeymoon, his wife got absolutely clear in her mind: there is no life with this man. Their marriage ended before the honeymoon was over.

'This was the culmination of my decadence,' says Rich Roll in an interview, 'the most painful phase of my life. Divorce broke me on an emotional level. The pain was so intense that I used to drink alcohol to avoid it. This period lasted for six months. At that moment I became acutely aware of what I had become. I couldn't recognize myself... and it was at this point that I decided that enough was enough. Don't live like this. I have to take the reins of my life in my hands.'

After that, once again staying in a drug addiction center for months and then slowly, piece by piece, putting life back together. Rich resumed advocacy, creating stability enough for people to rely on themselves. There was a re-contact with the friends who had been separated and especially in the eyes of the parents there was a sense of being able to talk. A decade of 30 to 40 years was spent in re-arranging a life that had been scattered.

Rich Roll was lucky that in this decade a wonderful woman named Julie entered his life. Julie stood by Rich's side like a strong rock, giving him plenty of moral strength, instilling confidence in him. He married, became the parents of four children. Life took another turn, on the fortieth birthday. 'The booze was gone, but I was eating a lot of junk food,' says Rich. He did not believe in exercise. He became extremely obese. I remember, it was the night before my fortieth birthday. I was going from the ground floor of my house to the first floor and while climbing the stairs I gasped. My back and knees started to hurt. Several men in my family have died of heart attacks. I realized that if I don't pay attention to my body, I am bound to die this way.'

...Ne Rich now started focusing on fitness. He was a swimmer in his childhood. So he started swimming again. Before two years were up, he made a splash by competing in the gruesomely grueling Ultraman World Championships he mentioned at the beginning of the article. No, the matter does not end here. In May 2010, Rich Roll achieved a truly extraordinary feat. He completed the Aryanman-distance triathlon five times within a week. Also find out what an Aryanman-distance triathlon entails. It involves swimming 3.9 km, then cycling 180.2 km and then running a full marathon of 42.2 km. Do these three actions in the same order, back-to-back. Covering a total distance of 226.3 km in about 16 to 17 hours. This is considered to be the toughest spotag event in the world. Imagine, Rich Roll completed this triathlon five times in seven days! This is an event known as the Epics Challenge and on a human level it is almost impossible, even impossible, but Rich Roll and his partner Jason Lester have done it. His name did not appear in the list of the fittest people in the world. How old was Rich Roll when he achieved this feat? 44 years!

Whenever it comes to straining the body or starting something new, our mind immediately begins to wander. What Rich Roll says is something we should all take to heart. He says, 'It is very easy to say that I will do so-and-so when I am in a good mood, or that I will start when the 'right time' comes, or that I will do it when the coincidence arises. This good mood, right time or coincidence never comes. Action comes first, then mood. Start working, the mood will come automatically. Take the first step without second-guessing something you desperately want to do, or when you know something is right. Even if you don't know where this step will ultimately lead you. Don't confuse the matter with unnecessary thinking. Just start! It is not necessary to have the whole map ready in front of you. Initially expected results may not come. Never mind. You should be happy without worrying about the consequences. Don't assume anything in advance. Keep your heart and mind open and just keep walking.'

Rich Roll continues, 'Another thing to remember is that life is too short. You never know where life will take you. The right time to do anything you want to do is today, right now.'

Rich Roll's autobiographical book 'Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Man, and Discovering Myself', which has been number one on the American bestseller list, is worth reading.