10 ideas from the book "Ultra" on how to dramatically change your life (+ audio version of the material)

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Konstantin Smygin, the founder of the service containing key ideas from business literature, shares with the readers of Lifehacker the conclusions from the book "Ultra" - the autobiography of the famous American athlete and popularizer of a healthy lifestyle, Rich Roll.

The Finding Ultra book, published in Russia under the name Ultra, is a story about the transformation of a person who has reached the bottom of alcohol addiction and gained 20 extra pounds at fast food, into an athlete who overcame two intense Ultraman triathlons and the unique Epic 5 challenge, which includes five triathlons in one week. Each of these sports challenges became for Rich Roll not just a competition, but a fight with himself.

In addition, Rich Roll, contrary to his initial skepticism, became a supporter of a vegan diet, that is, a diet that excludes not only meat and fish, but also any other animal products, including milk and eggs.

However, perhaps the most impressive fact about Rich Roll's biography is that he made this transformation when he was in his forties.

The book of a person with such an inspiring story could not but become a bestseller, which is confirmed by the ratings and reviews of most readers.

Although this book is mainly about describing the life events and transformation of Rich Roll, it has enough ideas to inspire you to change for the better.

Idea # 1. Believe You Can Do More

Even if you are not young and it seems that all your successes are behind you, if you have harmful addictions and excess weight, if others put an end to you, you are able to change your life for the better, to achieve what you could not even dream of.

This is proved by the story of Rich Roll and his transformations: from a frail and insecure boy, he turned into a promising swimmer, who was ready to accept the best US universities. Then, abandoning training, the promising swimmer became addicted to alcohol, so much so that each day began with several cans of beer. After undergoing treatment and rethinking his path, he gave up alcohol and became a respectable family man, and then, completely abandoning junk food, went in for sports and became an outstanding athlete who went through several difficult triathlons.

Rich Roll managed to radically change his life. What is his secret? In the book, the author does not give advice in the spirit of "do this and do not do that", but his story teaches a lot.

Change begins with the belief that change is possible.

Embarking on a new path, Rich Roll believed that he would be able to go through it to the end. Self-confidence helped to open a second wind and not give up when problems arose that would force many to quit what they started. The tests that the author endured led him to the conviction that it is not the body that limits us, but the mind. In the book, Rich Roll describes several cases when it seemed that his strength was running out, and when he was about to surrender. But as soon as he pulled himself together, he just started to move, and he did what seemed impossible before.

Faith alone is not enough. Changes take a lot of effort. And as obvious as this idea is, many people are simply not ready to face the challenges that will surely arise on a new path. As Rich Roll writes, one of his qualities is the inability to be content with moderation. This character trait often leads people to complete self-destruction. However, as the example of the author shows, it can also be directed towards a creative channel.

Rich Roll's story makes you wonder whether we believe in ourselves, whether we direct our passion and energy there, whether we are destroying life with our own hands. She clearly shows that retreating from growth above oneself is a path into the abyss.

Idea # 2. Pay attention to alarm bells

Did you have a sense of a turning point, when you felt that there are two paths before you and that your whole life depends on which one you decide to follow?

Basically, the choice arises between leaving everything as it is, and living in a new way. The first decision is easier to make, the second seems too difficult, but most likely, internally, you think it is the right one.

Which path will you choose? Simple or complex? But what if this is the only possibility and there will be no other?

Rich Roll is convinced that moments like these define our lives. They can be the beginning of a transformation, or your life will go downhill with a vengeance. Such insights happen very rarely, and as time passes, it seems as if fate gave a chance. Rich Roll urges you to use it, otherwise it will disappear without a trace. As the author himself admits, he was lucky enough to experience two insights and make the right choice twice.

Once - in a rehabilitation center, where Rich finally realized that he was an alcoholic and that he did not want to be one, and the second time - on the eve of his fortieth birthday, when, after climbing several steps of the stairs with great difficulty, he realized that he had turned into a flabby ruin and that it's time to change your lifestyle.

Idea number 3. If you are on the path of change, you need a concrete plan

Change is a big and difficult job. This is not a discovery, but many retreat at the first difficulty. Rich Roll turned out to be different: he literally trained like an obsessive, combining his own business and playing sports.

In many ways, the author was helped by the fact that he set himself ambitious, but tangible goals and had a concrete plan to achieve them. Moreover, as the story of Rich Roll shows, it doesn't matter if new goals arise in the process, the main thing is that they exist.

So, Rich Roll initially wanted to participate in the Ironman triathlon, but then decided to test himself in an even more difficult Ultraman triathlon, where he showed the best result among athletes from the United States. The next goal was to overcome five triathlons in five days - Epic 5, an unprecedented challenge that Rich went through with a friend - an athlete with a paralyzed arm. True, due to a number of difficulties, including incredible physical exertion, the trial had to be extended by two days.

Rich Roll's example shows how important goals and a plan for achieving them are. Only in this way can you correctly calculate your strength and time, and not act at random and hope at random. If you want to change for a long time, but it does not work, perhaps the reason is that you have not clearly defined for yourself what exactly you want to achieve. Then, following the example of Rich Roll, it makes sense to develop your own clear strategy and adjust it as new data becomes available.

Idea # 4 For Change, You Will Have to Make Sacrifices and Overcome Doubts

Here we are not only talking about the fact that you will need to give up what used to be a pleasure: from fast food - to someone who wants to lose weight, or from Internet surfing - to someone who wants to become more efficient. It's about more serious sacrifices.

Rich Roll had a specific goal of making it to the finish line of the Ultraman Triathlon, but he didn't have much time to get ready.

To do this, he had to sacrifice a lot.

• Finding the time - to give up part of the clients, see his family less, since his wife understood his hobby.
• Revise the diet and lifestyle, and the author approached this radically.
• Due to the fact that the author began to devote a lot of time to physical development, his income has significantly decreased.
• Overcome inner doubts. Many times on the pages of the book, Rich Roll shuts up an inner voice that says to him: “Come on, drop it, who needs it, don't be ridiculous. You are already old, you need to feed your family, and you run marathons."

What helped Rich Roll to continue his chosen path, despite internal doubts and external obstacles? Of course, the support and understanding of loved ones, but no less important factor is the inner confidence that what he is doing is right.

Idea # 5. You will need help and support from other people

Rich Roll was lucky: his wife and children supported him in all positive changes. But this is not the case for everyone: often the environment pulls us down.

The simple truth that Rich Roll emphasizes in the pages of his book is that no matter what the right things you say, no matter what positive example you set, you will never make anyone change.

But this applies not only to others. If we ourselves do not want to be helped, no one will be able to help us. Rich Roll recalled: despite the fact that his usual day began with a few cans of beer, despite multiple penalties for drunk driving, despite the fact that he ruined his swimmer's career and did not take advantage of the unique opportunities that gave him an elite education, despite despite the fact that he despised himself and his way of life was disgusting to him, he did not want to part with it at all. Only by sincerely wanting to change his life, he was able to do it.

Rich Roll's story shows that on the path of change we cannot do without other people: understanding loved ones, experienced mentors, friends with similar interests.

Having gone astray, a person often denies the obvious. So, for a long time the author did not admit that he became an alcoholic. His healing began only when he realized his problem and asked for help from other people.

Idea # 6. You may find yourself falling in love with something that used to be ridiculed

Rich Roll has radically revised his attitude to nutrition. As the author himself admits, earlier he considered vegans to be exclusively something like religious fanatics and did not take the arguments about the benefits of a plant-based diet seriously. However, when it came time to ditch the old lifestyle, he decided to try a plant-based diet and liked the results of his experiment so much that he became a staunch supporter of a vegan diet with a focus on whole, low-processed plant foods.

The author notes that this nutritional system gave him a clear mind and a healthy body. He also ditched gluten-containing foods, noting that they made him drowsy. Rich Roll came to the conclusion about the relationship between well-being and what a person eats.

Nevertheless, the author does not agitate readers to abandon animal food, but rather suggests that they also conduct an experiment on themselves in order to make sure from their own experience whether the new nutritional system will improve their well-being or not. But taking into account the fact that the diet should be thoughtful and healthy. So, french fries or toast with jam may be technically vegan products, but they clearly will not improve physical condition.

Idea # 7. Physical activity can help you in personal transformation

Many parallels can be drawn between Rich Roll's descriptions of athletic challenges and spiritual practice. And this is no coincidence, because sport has twice helped the author change the direction of life: first by giving self-confidence while studying at school, and then during the transformation in adulthood.

Somehow, in the midst of one grueling ordeal, Rich Roll felt what he called a state of oneness, wholeness, out-of-body. Despite the fact that the author does not delve into this topic, it can be concluded that testing his physical capabilities helped him to experience a truly mystical experience.

Many people find that exercise helps them feel better mentally, that jogging brings them to their senses, and walking can help put their minds in order.

A number of studies show that the human brain works better while moving. This means that there is a connection between body and mind.

Even if you are not going to run a marathon and become an athlete, bring more physical activity into your life. You don't have to buy a gym membership or sophisticated gadgets, just move more.

Idea # 8. Often times, you need to slow down to be faster

As Rich Roll's story shows, even experienced athletes may not know how to train properly.

The author was fortunate enough to find a coach who was not embarrassed by his ambitious goal of testing himself with the Ultraman triathlon and who helped him get in shape.

Rich Roll made a common mistake among triathletes during training: he overloaded his body, exercising and running until exhaustion. But the trainer explained to him that a triathlete who needs to train endurance needs to focus not on training the anaerobic energy-burning system, but on training the aerobic system.

• The anaerobic system runs on sugar, is activated during extreme extreme loads and can be loaded for no more than an hour and a half.
• The aerobic system, on the other hand, works on oxygen and fat, and an endurance athlete must first of all increase its efficiency.

To train an aerobic energy-burning system, an athlete needs to literally slow down: exercise so that the heart rate does not exceed 130-140 beats per minute. Usually, beginner athletes train in the "twilight zone", where they do not develop either aerobic or anaerobic abilities. While such workouts can improve well-being, they do not help train endurance, and over time, they can even harm the body.

The gradual increase in the volume of aerobic training, as well as the method of periodization - alternating several weeks of intense training with a week of rest - allowed Rich Roll to confidently withstand the most difficult triathlon tests.

Rich's coach taught that in endurance tests, the reward goes not to the one who can run the fastest, but to the one who advances to the last. And as the author admits, it is quite possible that this rule applies in real life.

Idea # 9. Pay attention to achieving the right state of consciousness

When Rich Roll began treating alcoholism, he realized that his illness was a disease of perception and that its causes were rooted in unresolved psychological problems: fear, insecurity, an inferiority complex.

Defeating alcoholism for him meant not just "quitting" - it was necessary to change the perception of reality, to listen to the inner demons. Learning to find meaning and a source of joy in something other than alcohol, Rich Roll returned to a sober life.

The correct state of mind is also necessary for sporting achievements, as Rich Roll was convinced from his own experience. If an athlete is in the grip of negative emotions, meaningless experiences, regrets, then he wastes his precious energy, which affects his results. In endurance tests, this is tantamount to failure, so the athlete must be able to stop negative internal monologue and restore mental balance, for example, through meditation.

Idea # 10. When you follow your heart, the universe does everything to help you

Of course, for many, this idea will seem too mystical. Indeed, in the book she is voiced by the wife of Rich Roll, who is fond of esoteric teachings and alternative medicine. Nevertheless, her words and support in a moment of doubt helped the author to realize that a life of regret about unfulfilled dreams is much worse than temporary financial difficulties, and that usually people worry about the wrong things.

The belief that they were on the right track helped Rich Roll and his family to rally and see obstacles not as insurmountable difficulties, but as opportunities.

Final comments

Rich Roll's book is both simple and complex. Many people say that it is as addictive as a detective. The author does not read lectures, but at the same time, an attentive reader will note in the book a lot of deep ideas that will help you think about your life and, possibly, change it for the better.