5 Things I Learned From The Joe Rogan Podcast

The Joe Rogan Podcast 

The Joe Rogan Podcast is an absolute podcasting juggernaut. The download and viewing statistics of Joe’s shows are mind-bending.

Joe has amassed his robust audience by consistently putting out long-form, value-rich content with an assortment of intriguing guests. 

While The Joe Rogan Podcast can be fun and entertaining, I have personally been impacted in a positive manner from Joe’s show. 

There are many areas of my life that have been influenced by the podcast and I am grateful for all of the inspiration from the show. 

In honor of Joe and his guests, I have compiled some thoughts to detail some of the life lessons and wisdom I have gathered through the years of consuming Joe’s show.

Here are 5 Things I Learned From The Joe Rogan Podcast:

5. Seek A Diversity Of Opinions

This is an area that Joe Rogan often catches some heat online but it is an area I most value and respect about his show. 

Joe is open to bringing on a wide and diverse range of opinions onto his show and he allows the time and space for those guests to share their perspectives in a free-flowing and open dialogue.

Joe has been ridiculously branded as an alt-right sympathizer or chastised for giving a platform to the hard right but I just do not see merit in those mischaracterizations of Joe and his podcast. 

He has absolutely welcomed guests like Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro to his podcast and for myself, as a left-leaning progressive individual, I am grateful for the exposure to differing perspectives.

While I disagree with much of the politics of conservative thought leaders like Ben Shapiro, I actually found him to be level headed for much of their discussion. 

It is also clear that fundamentalism in his Jewish faith is also the main driver of certain points of contention I vehemently disagree with, like gay marriage. 

While I can not ever get to a place of agreement on his philosophy, I was able to listen and at least understand the place he is coming from. 

I can wholly admit that I am typically stuck in a left-leaning echo chamber when it comes to consuming news content. 

I am not comfortable with being continually barraged with opinions and talking points from only one side of the story. 

While I am certainly not looking to start consuming content from Fox News to balance out my news sources, Joe’s show does give me a healthy dose of different backgrounds and perspectives that I value and want to seek out in life.

Even better than the tired and trite format of a compact cable news segment, Joe allows these guests to fully articulate their views in a long-form discussion with no fear of being interrupted by a commercial segment or an overbearing host looking to stamp the discussion with their own egos. 

4. Limit Or Quit Drinking Alcohol

OK, so you may be saying right now, “wait a minute, Joe talks about drinking from time to time on his show and actually drinks alcohol with guests now and then too, so how did this guy learn about quitting drinking from the Joe Rogan podcast?”

Those would be some legitimate observations by you, kind reader, and a fair question to ask. Please allow me a moment to explain. 

I had been a fun-loving partier starting in my senior year of high school, certainly in my college years, and peaked in partying madness in my mid to late twenties. 

In my thirties, I hung up my party pants, retired from the nightlife scene, and got into a serious relationship, but still routinely consumed alcohol.

My drinking pattern shifted from crazy weekends to a glass or two of wine with dinner, but that glass or two was happening just about every day. 

I was not an alcoholic, I suffered no negative consequences from my drinking, and the amount I was consuming was hovering right around the documented “healthy” amount of alcohol for an adult male.

When I became a father to a young son and especially when I turned 40, everything began to change with my relationship with alcohol. 

It no longer delivered the promise of relaxation I was accustomed to relying on it for and the mild hangovers and headaches began to increase with frequency of recurrence. 

The hangovers got to be so frequent and so debilitating from just 2 glasses of wine, they also started to emotionally cripple me as well. 

I was growing despondent over the physical and emotional toll that my seemingly healthy routine of casually drinking has been reaping for me.

Around this time, there were two specific episodes of The Joe Rogan Podcast that jumped out and resonated with me on a deep emotional level. 

It was a certain appearance by Duncan Trussell, who I proclaim as the Joe Rogan Podcast’s best recurring guest ever, and then an appearance by retired MMA fighter Kyle Kingsbury.

Both Duncan and Kyle detailed how they had quit drinking alcohol. 

Kyle talked about how alcohol felt like it became a physical liability to his optimal performance in life and Duncan expressed some similar sentiments and jokingly referred to beer as fermented wheat juice. 

While I did not drop the bottle immediately upon viewing either of those episodes, they both absolutely planted a major seed of inspiration for my now current 4+ years of being completely free from alcohol.

They both showed me that not only can you quit drinking but there can be a life of fun and fulfillment awaiting you on the other side of alcohol. 

Sometimes in life, we have an inkling in our guts that we should try and do something to better our lives but we just need that extra inspiration or proof of concept from a 3rd party testimony. We need to be shown by another that it is not only possible to do but incredibly rewarding for your life as well.

I received that independent message and inspiration to quit drinking alcohol from The Joe Rogan podcast.  

3. Value Relationships Not Things

While this is an approach to living life that has certainly been touted well before the Joe Rogan podcast, Joe and his robust circle of friends reinforce the wisdom behind this philosophy in the fun-loving way in which they care for and support each other. 

Money is practical and allows us the freedom to do certain things and acquire a certain level of comfort in life but our relationships and the love we experience and exchange with people is truly what drives an engaged and fulfilled life. 

Joe is constantly referring to people as his brother or friend on the show and I do not think Joe does this with flipped regard. 

I think Joe truly seeks out and tends to a wide array of personal relationships and enjoys incredibly genuine and rewarding connections with them all.

When Joe does his Sober October episodes with Ari, Bert, and Tom, they appear to have such admiration and love for each other, putting the whole drug dosing situation with Ari aside, and it is a reminder for me to be grateful for my friends and to make sure I am actively tending to those relationships. 

People over things all day. 

2. Eat A Clean Diet & Exercise 

I began my journey of trying to eat a cleaner, Paleo lifestyle a little bit prior to becoming a diehard Joe Rogan podcast consumer, but the continual stream of diet-conscious guests that Joe brings on, not to mention Joe’s own contributions to the topic of diet, are a continual source of reinforcement and inspiration for me.

Past guests like Mark Sisson, Ben Greenfield, Dr. Shawn Baker, and the recurring Dr. Rhonda Patrick, have all influenced my dietary strategies in one way or another.

I have since moved on from the Paleo lifestyle and have adopted a more Keto approach to my eating. 

Regardless of the specific strategy, just the positive emphasis that Joe places on diet and how the foods we eat impact the way we feel physically and emotionally is a steady reminder to stay the course with a lifestyle of clean eating habits. 

Along with diet, comes the recurring discussions of physical fitness and active lifestyle from Joe and his guests. 

The discussions around physical fitness are also typically never about becoming a swole bro dude or creating sick gains. 

Instead, Joe is constantly harping on physical activity as being a direct conduit to managing mental health and keeping stress and anxiety at bay.

I give Joe a ton of respect for constantly linking mental health to physical activity as it is a discussion that does not seem to take place enough from the general medical community. 

I try to keep my physical activities varied in order to prevent boredom or even worst disinterest in getting moving each day. 

From yoga to brisk walks, to kettlebells or weights in the gym, I recognize I have to keep moving and picking up heavy things, especially being in my mid-40s now. 

The critical benefits I receive are far beyond any ties to appearance, although I can readily admit I am driven to want to be as physically fit and attractive as possible for my wife and my own self-confidence. 

There is nothing wrong or shallow in wanting to be physically appearing your best, but well above and beyond the vanity aspects are the critical ties to an improved mental well being. 

The days I do not workout or at the very least begin my morning with a brisk 20-minute walk are noticeably lacking in energy and just feel slightly off overall. 

I place a high, non-negotiable value on staying active and picking up heavy things, and Joe Rogan and his guests are often a positive source of influence for me to keep pushing onward. 

1. Work Hard And Work Consistently 

Joe Rogan is all about showing up, consistently, day after day, and putting in the work. 

No matter what your job is or whatever type of creative or entrepreneurial work you are pursuing, your number one priority in life is to show up early and often and be prepared to work.

There is a book that Joe mentions quite a bit to guests on his show and that book is The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. 

On an aside, I have to give props to another podcaster who has also been a virtual influencer on my life, and that is Pat Flynn from the Smart Passive Income podcast. 

Pat had recommended The War Of Art to his listeners and that was the very first time I heard a mention of the book. 

That book literally changed my life upon reading the simple yet highly profound theories and bits of wisdom that Pressfield imparts upon the reader regarding work, the pursuit of worthwhile ventures, and overcoming resistance.

The resistance piece of The War Of Art was mind-blowing. It resonated greatly with me. Pressfield explains that resistance is that critical inner dialogue or that negative emotional response we may feel in our guts at the onset of pursuing something that would ultimately be a worthwhile and fulfilling accomplishment in our lives.

Pressfield goes on to explain that resistance is so daunting and such an evil force that it sometimes completely masks the most important and worthy pursuits we should be focusing our work on. 

The greater the possible fulfillment from a worthy endeavor the greater the resistance can be felt at the mere thought of pursuing that goal. 

Rogan brings up this concept often with guests and remarks on how he used to have a stack of The War Of Art books to give as gifts to his guests. 

Just having the awareness of the concept of resistance can start to create a powerful paradigm shift in how you go about chasing down dreams in your life.

Getting beyond the awareness and then applying the method of overcoming resistance, which is done by simply showing up and putting in the work, despite the pangs of procrastination or urges to self-sabotage, is where the true magic in life begins to happen.

Rogan values hard work and suggests that everyone should be consistently putting in that type of diligent, disciplined effort. 

He has clearly not just talked the talk either, as his multifaceted career is a stark testament to what hard work and discipline can reap after years of consistently showing up and putting in the work each and every day.

Closing

On face value, the Joe Rogan podcast may appear to be a platform built by a comedian for the purpose of having laughs and lighthearted conversations with a wide range of interesting people.

While those types of conversations do take place and there are certainly opportunities for cracking up along with Joe and his guests, there are also countless moments from the Joe Rogan Podcast that can have a considerable impact on a person’s life. 

There is a continual stream of inspiration and actionable advice flowing through the long-form conversations that Joe shares with his guests. 

From tending to personal relationships to dietary strategies, I have been consistently reminded and informed by The Joe Rogan podcast to strive to live a consciously thoughtful, and productive life.

I am grateful for Joe and all his intriguing guests who populate the impressive back catalog of 1,400+ shows representing countless hours of discussion and debate. 

Please Comment

What is one conversation or piece of advice from The Joe Rogan Podcast that made an impression on you personally? Please leave a comment. We want to hear from you.