EP #161: Recovering On Purpose with Adam Gunton
Addiction is terrible. It’s hard to recognize at first. It’s threatening. It’s taboo. It’s confusing.
Today’s guest is an addict - a recovering addict with a heart for helping others do the same as he. Adam Gunton is the founder of Recovered On Purpose. He is an excellent communicator and someone who knows the value of focus. All of his efforts have turned to building an organization focused on helping addicts heal by finding purpose.
This episode will give you a sense of empowerment like no other. Adam’s ability to inspire anyone to use their gifts and skills to make the world a better place is more than just a motivational tool - it’s a system for recovery.
What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:
How Adam came up with the name Recovered On Purpose
The calling people in recovery have
Adam’s definition of insanity
Why being gifted feels better than giving
How helping one person makes you want to do it more
When Adam found his purpose
How many people are suffering from addiction
Jarring statistics about addiction
Adam's thoughts on the medical community's work on addiction
About the community of people who suffer from addiction
What it was like for Adam to see his dope dealer after becoming sober
About Adam’s younger years
How Adam became an addict
A story about Adam’s friend’s suicide
About the success of Recovered on Purpose
Adam’s gratitude to God
How Adam sees challenges
What’s next for Adam and Recovered On Purpose
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“I love the recovery community with all my heart.” - Adam Gunton
“You can recover from that thing.” - Adam Gunton
“I don’t have time to think about using drugs. I’m thinking about serving people too much.” - Adam Gunton
“There are double the number of people suffering right now in the United States than there are in recovery.” - Adam Gunton
“If you help one that’s good. That’s not true. It’s garbage. Each of us in recovery has a call to help hundreds, or thousands of people that are suffering because every single day there’s another kid that’s using drugs for the first time.” - Adam Gunton
“We get this freedom that is incredibly powerful.” - Adam Gunton
“There’s somebody out there right now…that needs your message.” - Adam Gunton
“We have reached to the entire world now in the palm of our hand.” - Adam Gunton
“Those that are trustworthy with helping one person will be given more and more blessings to help way more people.” - Adam Gunton
“When you get that feeling of helping someone you genuinely want to do it more.” - Adam Gunton
“On day twenty-six of my sobriety I knew this was my purpose.” - Adam Gunton
“The reality of the situation that we’re facing is not everyone’s gonna get it.” - Adam Gunton
“Somebody dies in the United States every 4.86 minutes from a drug overdose.” - Adam Gunton
“You just jump in.” - Adam Gunton
“The solution comes from within the community.” - Adam Gunton
“Nobody can talk to and reach an addict who’s suffering like an addict who has suffered.” - Adam Gunton
“We have this tunnel vision effect.” - Adam Gunton
“There was never anything mentioned about triggers originally.” - Adam Gunton
“He would give me daps on having a couple of years of sobriety and my book and stuff.” - Adam Gunton speaking about his old dope dealer
“We can’t be afraid of the world because we have this disease.” - Adam Gunton
“People are so valuable to me.” - Adam Gunton
“When your focus is totally on someone else and you’re not thinking about yourself, you are truly in a different place in life.” - Adam Gunton
“The power that comes that makes me be able to do all of this stuff is God.” - Adam Gunton
“I don’t believe it’s possible for me to fail.” - Adam Gunton
“I was cool with all my dope dealers.” - Adam Gunton
“I was just talking to him as a human being - not as a dope dealer.” - Adam Gunton
“While behind closed doors I was using drugs every week.” - Adam Gunton
“And I hung up on him. And he shot himself.” - Adam Gunton
“I began consciously selecting to use drugs and alcohol to change the way that I felt.” - Adam Gunton
“Once I was addicted to oxycontin and realized that I couldn't stop, from that moment on, I realized that I was an addict.” - Adam Gunton
“I believe 100 percent that every single human here has a unique special gift that they're supposed to bring to the planet. I believe they have a much higher potential than they are capable of perceiving.” - Adam Gunton
“I burn the ships. I took away plan B.” - Adam Gunton
“Everything is in me to help others.” - Adam Gunton
“I would imagine there are some dark places in an addictive journey.” - Bob DePasquale
“In a lot of cases you don’t even know the difference you made in someone’s life.” - Bob DePasquale
Resources In Today's Episode:
Adam Gunton - LinkedIn
Recovered on Purpose - Website - LinkedIn - Facebook - Instagram - YouTube
Adam’s Book: From Chains to Saved
Bob’s Book - Personal Finance in a Public World
This week’s E-Impact Blog Entry
Episodes Referenced:
EP #99: Working Hard and Treating People Right with DC Glenn
