Podcast · 328 episodes
Passion Struck with John R. Miles, page 3
by Passion Struck Network · English
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.
All episodes, page 3
The Communication Mistake Almost Everyone Makes (And How to Fix It) | Greg McKeown - EP 778The “understanding gap” in relationships—how people often hear something different than what was said—driven by “confident misunderstanding” and amplified by emotional noise, polarization, and social…9 Jun 2026 · 1 h 12 min · 25 chapters
Why You Feel Invisible in a Connected World | John R. Miles - EP 777Solo episode (EP 777) arguing that people feel “invisible” in a hyper-connected world because institutions and modern life optimize metrics over human trust, creating a “mattering gap.” It links…5 Jun 2026 · 27 min · 11 chapters
Why Living Indoors Is Making You Sick, Tired, and Burned Out | Dr. John La Puma - EP 776The “indoor epidemic”—how spending about 93% of life indoors (plus screen-heavy wind-down) disrupts circadian rhythms, sleep, focus, mood, metabolism, immunity, and contributes to burnout, fatigue,…4 Jun 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 20 chapters
Why Good Companies Lose Their Humanity | Eric Ries - EP 775Eric Ries argues that “good” companies lose humanity through mission drift and corruption driven by financial gravity and shareholder primacy.2 Jun 2026 · 54 min · 20 chapters
How to Make Your Struggles Meaningful | John R. Miles - EP 774Forged in Adversity series finale on how struggles become meaningful through contribution—small, steady actions that move outward, plus the “three chapters” of a meaningful life and the practice of…29 May 2026 · 18 min · 7 chapters
Why You Need to Say It Now Rather Than Regret It Later | Walter Green - EP 773The “Say It Now” movement—why people should tell others specifically how they mattered while they’re alive, not wait for funerals or regret.28 May 2026 · 1 h 12 min · 38 chapters
Why Lasting Change Happens One Small Choice at a Time | Eric Zimmer - EP 772Lasting change through small repeated choices, not “big bang” reinvention.26 May 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 21 chapters
Why Success Won’t Save You: The Alchemy of Real Change | John R. Miles - EP 771Episode 771 of PassionStruck (John R. Miles) argues that real transformation isn’t “modification” (tweaking routines or rebuilding the old self) but “alchemy”: the painful breakdown of survival armor…22 May 2026 · 21 min · 10 chapters
The Courage to Believe You Are Enough | Blake Mycoskie - EP 770Blake Mycoskie (founder of Tom’s Shoes) discusses how “being enough” can erode over time despite external success, and how healing began when he stopped tying worth to performance.21 May 2026 · 55 min · 25 chapters
Amy Purdy on Resilience, Adversity, and How to Bounce Forward | EP 769Amy Purdy discusses resilience and adversity across two major medical crises (losing both legs at 19; later a blood clot and second round of surgeries), arguing that hardship isn’t something to…19 May 2026 · 1 h 13 min · 20 chapters
The Prison of Protection: Why Your Armor is Blocking Your Life | John R. Miles - EP 768Survival “armor” (defensive identities) that once protected people from rejection, disappointment, betrayal, and chaos can later harden into a prison that blocks joy, connection, rest, and…15 May 2026 · 29 min · 8 chapters
What to Do When Work Hijacks Your Life | Dr. Guy Winch - EP 767Work burnout and stress recovery—how work “seeps” into home life through autopilot, rumination, emotional exhaustion, and boundary failures; includes challenge vs threat mindset and ways to…14 May 2026 · 57 min · 24 chapters
How to Rebuild Mental Health and Heal Emotional Wounds | Dr. Paul Conti - EP 766Dr. Paul Conti argues mental health should be rebuilt like physical health—through curiosity about “what’s happening inside of you,” not fear-based diagnosis labels.12 May 2026 · 1 h 11 min · 26 chapters
Why Does Adversity Reveal Character Instead of Building It? | John R. Miles - EP 765Solo episode (PassionStruck EP 765) launching “Forged in Adversity.” Core claim: adversity doesn’t build character; it reveals it.8 May 2026 · 20 min · 7 chapters
Regrow Your Hippocampus: The Science of an Invincible Brain | Dr. Majid Fotuhi – EP 764How to “age-proof” the brain and reduce dementia risk by treating reversible contributors to brain atrophy. Dr.7 May 2026 · 1 h 14 min · 23 chapters
From Passenger to CEO: The Mindset That Can Save Your Life | Kathy Giusti - EP 763Kathy Giusti discusses “becoming the CEO” of your own healthcare during cancer and other crises, using her 12-step framework from her book Fatal to Fearless.5 May 2026 · 57 min · 22 chapters
How to Design a Life You Don’t Need to Escape From | John R. Miles - EP 762Designing a life you don’t need to escape from by stopping “audience” living and performance-based belonging; shifting to authorship, resonance, and return to yourself after hard moments.1 May 2026 · 22 min · 7 chapters
How Real Optimism Helps You Thrive in Uncertainty | Deepika Chopra - EP 761Real Optimism—how to stay resilient, curious, and open during uncertainty by treating optimism as a trainable skill grounded in uncertainty, not forced positivity.30 Apr 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 25 chapters
The Science of Connection and Why We Underestimate Others | Nicholas Epley - EP 760Social connection is essential for happiness, health, and belonging, yet people consistently choose silence and avoidable isolation.28 Apr 2026 · 59 min · 22 chapters
The Identity Gravity Trap: Why We Snap Back to Old Habits | John R. Miles - EP 759Identity gravity—the psychological “tether” that pulls people back into old habits/roles after they cross a life threshold—explained via neurobiology (default mode network vs task-positive network),…24 Apr 2026 · 27 min · 7 chapters
How to Manage Energy Not Time: Dr. Diana Hill on Wise Effort | EP 758Managing “energy” rather than “time” by using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to avoid unwise effort.23 Apr 2026 · 57 min · 20 chapters
Nobel Laureate Alvin Roth: How Incentives Shape Your Life | EP 757Markets as moral systems—how incentives, legality, and “repugnant transactions” shape who gets access, what society tolerates, and whether bans push activity into black/gray markets.21 Apr 2026 · 56 min · 25 chapters
Why We Circle Change (And How to Finally Step Through) | John R. Miles - EP 756The “gap” between knowing what to change and being unable to act—arguing people circle the wall of burnout/fear/identity handcuffs instead of crossing the threshold into presence.17 Apr 2026 · 18 min · 11 chapters
How Do You Design a Meaningful Life | Bill Burnett & Dave Evans - EP 755Designing a meaningful life through action, prototyping, and “wayfinding” amid uncertainty; meaning arises in micro-moments and through belonging/mattering, not from finding a single passion or…16 Apr 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 32 chapters