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Passion Struck with John R. Miles

You built the life you were supposed to want. So why doesn't it feel like enough? Passion Struck is the #1 Health and Fitness podcast — and it exists to answer exactly that question. I'm John R. Miles — Navy veteran, former Fortune 50 executive, bestselling author — and I built this show because I lived the "successful but empty" version of life myself, and I wanted to find a better way. Each week, I sit down with the world's top voices in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and elite performance — including Angela Duckworth, Susan Cain, Robert Waldinger, Daniel Amen, and Ryan Holiday — to unpack what the research tells us about purpose, connection, and resilience, and how to apply it to your own life. Fridays, I share what I'm learning directly, in solo episodes built around the same ideas. New interviews every Tuesday and Thursday. Solo episodes every Friday.

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56 episodes
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Avg 49 min
English

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#841
Today · 59 min
Harvard Psychologist: College Students Have Always Struggled. So What Has Changed? | Alexis Redding – EP 838
Harvard developmental psychologist Alexis Redding explores what decades-old student interviews reveal about college mental health, the enduring need for belonging, and how we can better support young adults through life’s transitions.
#838
Friday · 24 min
3 Questions to Stop Letting Other People Define Your Worth | John R. Miles - EP 837
In this episode, John R. Miles explores how external scorecards become internal judgments and how to reclaim agency through self-compassion, intentional choices, and healthier environments.
#837
Thursday · 59 min
Why You Keep Doubting Yourself and How to Rebuild Your Confidence | Heather Monahan - EP 836
Heather Monahan, bestselling author, speaker, and former chief revenue officer, joins Passion Struck to explain how self-doubt, toxic environments, and other people’s opinions can undermine our confidence and limit what we believe is possible.
#836
October 20 · 59 min
Why Your Workplace Turns Colleagues Into Competitors | Dr. Nir Halevy – EP 835
Dr. Nir Halevy, Stanford professor and author of Level Up, explains how workplace hierarchies, forced rankings, and social comparison can turn colleagues into competitors, undermine trust, and damage performance and how leaders can redesign systems to build fairer, more collaborative teams.
#835
October 16 · 1 hr 6 min
Why Success Can Leave You Feeling Like You Don't Matter | John R. Miles & Linda Hurtado – EP 834
In a live conversation with Emmy Award-winning journalist Linda Hurtado, John R. Miles explores why success can coexist with emptiness, burnout, and disconnection, sharing the experiences behind The Mattering Effect and a practical framework for rebuilding meaning, worth, and connection.
#834
October 15 · 1 hr 2 min
Stop Being So Hard on Yourself. It’s Not Helping You | Dr. Kristin Neff - EP 833
Pioneering self-compassion researcher Dr. Kristin Neff explains how self-criticism and achievement-based self-worth can fuel shame and disconnection, and why treating ourselves with compassion can help us recover from setbacks, make intentional choices, and build a more meaningful life.
#833
October 13 · 54 min
Why You Keep Repeating the Same Patterns | Terri Cole – EP 832
Terri Cole, psychotherapist, relationship expert, podcast host, and author of "Father Wound," explains how childhood experiences can shape our self-worth, relationships, and drive to succeed.
#832
October 9 · 1 hr 14 min
How Your Beliefs Shape Your Happiness, Success, and Future | Shawn Achor – EP 831
Shawn Achor, bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and The Power of Beliefs, explains how our beliefs shape our happiness, performance, relationships, and future possibilities.
#831
October 8 · 1 hr
You Can Be Successful and Still Feel Like You Don't Matter | Mick Hunt & John R. Miles – EP 830
Mick Hunt interviews John R. Miles about his new book, "The Mattering Effect," and the hidden cost of being successful, needed, and productive while still feeling unseen, disconnected, or unsure that you matter.
#830
October 6 · 23 min
Do You Matter? The Question Behind Burnout, Loneliness, and Disconnection | John R. Miles - EP 829
John R. Miles explores the hidden question beneath burnout, loneliness, disconnection, and the feeling that you’re never enough: Do I matter?
#829
October 2 · 17 min
You’re Not Failing to Adapt. You’re Being Erased. | John R. Miles - EP 828
In the finale of The Adaptive Human series, John R. Miles reveals why true adaptation is not about working harder, optimizing more, or becoming more useful—it is about changing without losing your sense of agency, identity, and mattering.
#828
October 1 · 1 hr 11 min
You’re Not Stuck. You’re Swimming in the Wrong Direction | Alec Litowitz - EP 827
Alec Litowitz, investor, entrepreneur, and author of The Adaptability Quotient, explains why adaptability—not intelligence, grit, or emotional intelligence—may be the defining skill of the next era.
#827
September 29 · 1 hr 17 min
Your Kids Don’t Need More Achievement. They Need More Freedom | Dr. Peter Gray - EP 826
Dr. Peter Gray, evolutionary psychologist and author of Restoring Childhood, explains why children need freedom, play, and independence to develop agency—and how modern parenting and schooling may be undermining their ability to thrive.
#826
September 25 · 22 min
Why What Matters Most Is Almost Never the Loudest | John R. Miles - EP 825
John R. Miles explores why we so often confuse what is visible with what is valuable—and how learning to recognize the quiet signals can help us make better decisions, protect our agency, and invest in what truly lasts.
#825
September 24 · 57 min
The One Question You’re Avoiding Could Change Your Life | Scott Simon & Gregory Stock – EP 824
Scott Simon, founder of the Scare Your Soul Courage Movement, and Dr. Gregory Stock, creator of the bestselling Book of Questions, reveal how asking the questions we avoid can unlock courage, connection, and meaningful change.
#824
September 22 · 1 hr 2 min
The Psychology Behind Why Smart People Make Terrible Decisions | Alex Edmans – EP 823
In episode 823 of Passion Struck, Alex Edmans, professor of finance at London Business School and a globally recognized expert on behavioral finance, responsible business, and misinformation, explains why cognitive biases, emotions, and herd behavior can lead even smart, informed people to make terrible decisions.
#823
September 18 · 22 min
What If the Proof You're Waiting For Never Comes? | John R. Miles - EP 822
In this solo episode, John R. Miles explores how our need for external validation can shape our sense of worth, identity, and ability to move forward—and what it takes to trust yourself when the proof you're waiting for may never come.
#822
September 17 · 55 min
Why Nothing You Achieve Will Ever Make You Feel Worthy | Marisa G. Franco – EP 821
Psychologist Marisa Franco reveals why lasting self-worth doesn’t come from achievement, confidence, or validation from others, but from learning to trust yourself, process your past, and reconnect with the parts of yourself you’ve learned to ignore.
#821
September 15 · 1 hr 8 min
How to Believe in Yourself When Everyone Tells You “You Can’t” | Cole Brauer - EP 820
In episode 820 of Passion Struck, Cole Brauer shares how purpose, resilience, and self-trust helped her overcome doubt, adversity, and other people’s limitations to become the first American woman to race solo, nonstop, and unassisted around the world.
#820
September 11 · 22 min
The Agency Paradox: Why Real Adaptability Starts Inside the Box | John R. Miles - EP 819
In this episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles brings together two seemingly different ideas from his recent conversations with Martin Seligman and David Epstein to uncover what he calls The Agency Paradox: the belief that more freedom, more options, and more individual willpower will automatically make us more capable can actually leave us overwhelmed, disconnected, and unable to act.

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