JOHN R. MILES - You Were Born To Live Your Passion

JOHN R. MILES - You Were Born To Live Your Passion John R. Miles is a leading authority on the psychology of mattering and intentional leadership.
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He is the founder and host of Passion Struck, the world’s #1 alternative health podcast and author of Passion Struck and You Matter, Luma.

I've noticed something about the moments when I feel most grounded.They rarely happen when I'm achieving something.They ...
06/05/2026

I've noticed something about the moments when I feel most grounded.

They rarely happen when I'm achieving something.

They happen when I'm walking without a destination, sitting quietly with someone I love, watching the sunrise, or simply allowing myself to be present without trying to improve, fix, or optimize anything.

Modern life trains us to believe our value comes from what we produce. The result is that many of us carry an invisible pressure to justify our existence through constant motion.

But some of the most important moments of life ask nothing from us except our presence.

06/03/2026

One of the most subtle ways we lose ourselves is through repetition.

In my conversation with Eric Ries, we explored a powerful idea: the behaviors we practice consistently eventually become the values we live by. Most of us assume our values shape our actions, yet the reverse is often true. What we repeatedly tolerate, prioritize, and conform to slowly rewrites who we become.

I've seen this happen inside organizations. A team starts with a clear mission and a strong sense of purpose. Then little compromises begin to appear. Someone says, "The market might not like that." Another says, "Investors probably want something different." Before long, decisions are being driven by assumptions about what powerful people might think rather than by the values that inspired the work in the first place.

The danger is that these shifts happen gradually. We adapt. We justify. We move on. Then one day we look around and realize the culture, the mission, or even our own identity feels different than it once did.

Flourishing requires more than growth. It requires the freedom to choose consciously and the courage to stay connected to what matters most. Every decision we make becomes a vote for the person we are becoming and the culture we are creating.

What values are your daily actions reinforcing right now?

For a long time, I thought transformation was about getting through the hard part.Making it through the setback. Recover...
06/02/2026

For a long time, I thought transformation was about getting through the hard part.

Making it through the setback. Recovering from the disappointment. Finding my footing after life forced me to let go of who I thought I was supposed to be.

What I've come to realize is that those moments are only part of the journey.

The deeper transformation happens when the lessons we fought so hard to learn begin creating value for someone else. A difficult season teaches us compassion. A failure teaches us humility. A loss teaches us presence. Over time, the wisdom we gain stops being something we carry alone and becomes something we can share.

That's how adversity becomes significance.

That's how pain becomes purpose.

And that's how our hardest experiences create a ripple that extends far beyond our own lives.

It continues through every life you encourage, every person you support, and every reminder you give someone that they are not walking through their struggles alone.

What lesson from your own journey has become a gift you can pass along to others?

06/01/2026

One of the things that struck me most in my conversation with Walter Green was the realization that some of the most important people in our lives have no idea how much they shaped us.

Years later, we can still remember the teacher who believed in us when our confidence was fragile, the friend who stayed close during a difficult season, or the mentor whose advice quietly changed the direction of our lives. Yet so often those stories remain trapped in our heads, carried as private gratitude instead of shared as a gift.

Walter challenged me with a simple question: What would happen if each of us reached out to one person and told them, specifically, how they changed our lives?

Not with a quick "thank you," but with the actual story. The moment. The conversation. The act of kindness or encouragement that became part of who we are today.

The truth is that many of the moments that shaped us most were so natural for the other person that they may not even remember them. Meanwhile, we've carried their impact for decades.

Before this week ends, think about someone whose influence still lives in your life. Then take a few minutes to tell them exactly why they matter to you. It might become one of the most meaningful conversations you'll ever have.

Some of the hardest seasons of my life felt like they were breaking me apart.Plans unraveled. Identities I had built my ...
06/01/2026

Some of the hardest seasons of my life felt like they were breaking me apart.

Plans unraveled. Identities I had built my life around no longer fit. The certainty I once relied on disappeared, and all that remained was the uncomfortable work of figuring out who I was underneath it all.

Looking back, I can see that those moments weren't meant to destroy me. They were refining me.

Fire changes whatever it touches. It burns away what is unnecessary and reveals what can endure. The same is true of adversity. The struggles we face have a way of stripping away the masks, assumptions, and defenses we've accumulated over time, leaving us face to face with what matters most.

The real gift comes when we stop asking, "Why did this happen to me?" and start asking, "How can what I've learned help someone else?"

That's when pain begins to take on purpose. That's when hardship becomes wisdom. That's when the lessons forged through adversity become something we can pass along to another person who needs hope, guidance, or simply the reminder that they're not alone.

What is one lesson your hardest season taught you that could help someone else today?

05/27/2026

One thing I’ve realized about myself is that I’m always trying to improve something.

Fix it.
Optimize it.
Push it forward.

And while that drive has helped me build a meaningful life, it can also make it hard to simply be present with where I already am.

This conversation with Eric Zimmer really hit me because we talked about how even our greatest strengths can quietly become our greatest weaknesses when we only see life through the lens of change.

Not every hard moment needs to be turned into a project.

Sometimes peace begins the moment we stop trying to constantly reinvent ourselves.

A strange thing happens when the identity you spent years building finally stops working.The ambition that once drove yo...
05/26/2026

A strange thing happens when the identity you spent years building finally stops working.

The ambition that once drove you begins to feel empty. The emotional armor that once created safety becomes exhausting to carry. And somewhere beneath the performance of holding everything together, you start realizing your soul has outgrown the life your survival instincts created.

Real transformation begins when life stops asking you to perform and starts asking you to become honest. Honest about the pain you carry, the validation you chase, and the emotional patterns that once protected you but now keep you disconnected from yourself.

The fire of adversity has a way of separating survival from truth. And in that process, many people discover that the breakdown they feared was actually the beginning of becoming someone far more grounded, open, and alive.

05/22/2026

What I loved about this conversation with Blake Mycoskie is that he took something as simple as a bracelet and turned it into a reason for people to actually check in with each other again.

Inside the box are two bracelets. One is for you to wear, and the other is meant to be given away to someone who may need the reminder that they are enough exactly as they are.

Blake talked about how the real transformation happens in that exchange. You hand someone the bracelet and suddenly there’s permission to have a conversation most people avoid. “How are you really doing?” becomes easier to ask. And maybe even easier to answer.

That part stayed with me because so many people are carrying things silently right now. Anxiety. Pressure. Loneliness. The feeling that they have to keep performing just to feel worthy.

Sometimes all a person really needs is someone who makes them feel safe enough to stop pretending for a minute.

That’s what makes this movement feel different to me. It’s less about the bracelet itself and more about what it opens up between people.

And honestly, I think we need a lot more of that right now.

In a world that often teaches children to measure their worth by performance, achievement, or how much space they take u...
05/20/2026

In a world that often teaches children to measure their worth by performance, achievement, or how much space they take up, stories that remind them they matter simply because they exist feel more important than ever.

This beautiful review captured the heart of You Matter, Luma, perfectly:

“Courage, compassion, and connection begin with believing they matter.”

That is the message at the center of this story.
When children feel seen, valued, and connected, they grow differently. They move through the world with more kindness, confidence, and empathy toward themselves and others.

Grateful for every educator, parent, librarian, and reader helping this message reach more hearts. 💜

05/19/2026

One thing Amy Purdy said during this conversation stayed with me long after we stopped recording:

“We’re always going to have adversity. There’s nothing more human than adversity.”

And honestly, I think that changes everything.

Because so much of our suffering comes from believing the hard season means something has gone wrong with our life, when in reality, challenge is part of being alive. The real question is whether we let those moments shrink us… or shape us.

What moved me most about Amy’s perspective is that she does not talk about resilience as returning to an old version of yourself. She talks about using pain as a catalyst to become someone deeper, wiser, and more purposeful than before.

That is what “bounce forward” really means.

This conversation with Amy Purdy is one I will carry with me for a very long time.

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