181. Feed Your Good Wolf. Eric Zimmer of The One You Feed Podcast on Fighting Heroin Addiction with Creativity.

Eric Zimmer (@etzimmer) was living in a van. He had Hepatitis C and weighed 100 pounds. Then he got arrested and lost his job. He was facing up to forty years in jail time. He had a $300-a-day addiction to heroin.

Today, Eric is host of the popular podcast, The One You Feed, which was named one of the best podcasts on iTunes in 2014, and has more than 10 million downloads. The One You Feed is based upon an old parable about a good wolf and a bad wolf at battle inside each of us. The one who wins is the one you feed.

Eric straightened out his life and has overcome addiction. He helps others not only through The One You Feed, but also through behavioral coaching work.

How did Eric go from a $300-a-day heroin addiction to 13 years clean and sober? We’ll find out today.

We’ll also talk about:

• The delicate relationship between creative pursuit and self image. How can creativity become a scapegoat for self-destruction, or a vehicle for self improvement?
• How was Eric able to integrate friendship and his love for music into his podcast? The One You Feed helps him feed his “good wolf.""
• Why is Eric grateful that he was drawn to heroin? Counterintuitively, the victory of a ""bad wolf” can spring the “good wolf” into action.

• One You Feed Podcast
• The Two Wolves parable
• Keith Richards
• Kurt Cobain
• Vincent van Gogh
• Leonard Cohen
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
• Arthur Ashe

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Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/one-you-feed-podcast-eric-zimmer/