John R. Miles - Founder and CEO of Passion Struck ™

Why We Need to Feel Like We Matter (and What Happens When We Don’t)

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

There is a quiet question that follows us through childhood, adulthood, achievement, relationships, and even aging: Do I matter? Feeling like you matter is more than a comforting thought. It is a psychological foundation. When people experience a consistent sense of mattering, they develop resilience, confidence, and emotional stability. When that foundation weakens, something far […]

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The Mattering Mirror: How to Reclaim Intrinsic Worth in a Performance-Obsessed World

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

In this special solo episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles introduces The Mattering Mirror, a powerful framework for ending performance-based self-worth and reclaiming intrinsic value in a culture obsessed with metrics, productivity, and external validation. From the schoolyard to the boardroom to the algorithm-driven world of social media, we are taught to see ourselves

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How Attraction Really Works: Paul Eastwick on Bonded by Evolution – The New Science of Love and Connection

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

What if the way we pursue love has been shaped more by cultural scripts than by science? In this episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles sits down with Paul Eastwick to explore how attraction really works and why lasting connection grows through bonding, emotional safety, and shared experience rather than performance or ranking. Drawing

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How to Feel Loved: The 5 Mindsets That Change Everything | Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

Many people know they are loved, yet still feel unseen, disconnected, or emotionally distant in their closest relationships. In this powerful episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles sits down with happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky and relationship scientist Harry Reis to explore why feeling loved is different from simply being loved. Drawing on their new

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The Mattering Instinct: Why Our Deepest Longing to Matter Drives Us and Divides Us – Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

What if the quiet question shaping our lives isn’t “Am I successful?” or “Am I happy?” but something far more elemental: “Do I matter?” In this deeply moving episode of the Passion Struck Podcast, John R. Miles sits down with MacArthur Fellow philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein to explore her powerful new book, The Mattering Instinct

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Healing Childhood Trauma: Why You Still Feel Invisible and Don’t Matter as an Adult

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

Many adults spend their lives achieving, producing, and performing, yet still carry a quiet, persistent feeling of being unseen. Healing childhood trauma often begins when we recognize that this sense of invisibility didn’t start in adulthood—it was learned early, in moments when our presence wasn’t mirrored, protected, or fully received. In this special solo episode

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Strength with Heart: A New Model of Masculinity for a Lonely World | Daniel Ellenberg

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

In this episode of Passion Struck, I sit down with Daniel Ellenberg to explore why so many men feel isolated, overwhelmed, or empty despite outward success, and how the traditional scripts of masculinity often leave men emotionally undernourished and unsure how to ask for more. Drawing from decades of clinical work and men’s groups, Daniel

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Why Choosing Wisely Requires More Than Rational Choice Theory

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

Choosing wisely has become one of the defining challenges of modern life. In a world filled with options, metrics, and algorithms, decision-making often feels heavy rather than freeing. In this episode of Passion Struck, renowned psychologist Barry Schwartz joins John R. Miles to explore why choice feels so exhausting today and how recovering judgment restores

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Where Does Worth Actually Live?

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

We spend much of our lives searching for meaning through work, relationships, contribution, and purpose. But beneath that search lives a quieter, more fragile question, one we rarely say out loud: Do I matter even when nothing is being made of me? In this solo episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles explores the question

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Alzheimer’s Research Fraud: Charles Piller Exposes the Truth Behind Doctored

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

For decades, Alzheimer’s research promised breakthroughs that always seemed just one study away, one drug away, one discovery away. Families held on to hope while funding poured in, careers were built, and a single theory quietly shaped nearly every major decision in the field. In this episode of Passion Struck, investigative journalist Charles Piller joins

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The Cost of Conviction: Deepest Values, Taboo Tradeoffs and Better Thinking | Steven Sloman Interview

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

We like to believe we make decisions by weighing evidence, considering outcomes, and thinking things through. But in reality, most of our choices are guided by something far more powerful and far less examined: our sacred values. In this episode of Passion Struck, I interview Steven Sloman, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists and

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Why the Architecture of Significance Matters More Than Success

Leave a Comment / Top Episodes / By John Miles

Many of us reach major milestones, such as the promotion, the dream house, or the moment the last child leaves home, and expect a surge of fulfillment. Instead, a strange quiet often settles in. This hollow feeling is not ingratitude or burnout. It is structural feedback. The ladder of success has reached its limit, and

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John Miles

The Mattering Mirror: How to Reclaim Intrinsic Worth in a Performance-Obsessed World

How Attraction Really Works: Paul Eastwick on Bonded by Evolution – The New Science of Love and Connection

How to Feel Loved: The 5 Mindsets That Change Everything | Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis

The Mattering Instinct: Why Our Deepest Longing to Matter Drives Us and Divides Us – Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Healing Childhood Trauma: Why You Still Feel Invisible and Don’t Matter as an Adult

Strength with Heart: A New Model of Masculinity for a Lonely World | Daniel Ellenberg

Why Choosing Wisely Requires More Than Rational Choice Theory

Where Does Worth Actually Live?

Alzheimer’s Research Fraud: Charles Piller Exposes the Truth Behind Doctored

The Cost of Conviction: Deepest Values, Taboo Tradeoffs and Better Thinking | Steven Sloman Interview

Why the Architecture of Significance Matters More Than Success

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