Passion Struck with John R. Miles

Today's episode will change how you think about anxiety, fear, and the stories you've been telling yourself about who you are.Have you ever thought:
Why do I keep repeating the same patterns?
Why do certain memories still have power over me years later?
Or maybe you've convinced yourself that this is just who you are.
According to today's guest, that's not true.You can change your brain. You can change your emotional patterns. And you can become someone new without rejecting who you've been. Joining John today is Nick Ortner, New York Times bestselling author of The Tapping Solution and his new book, Rewired. For more than two decades, Nick has helped millions of people use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to overcome anxiety, release trauma, and create lasting change. In this episode, you'll learn:
How tapping calms the nervous system and interrupts fear patterns
Why painful memories continue to shape your behavior years later
The science behind rewiring beliefs that keep you stuck
How to overcome procrastination, self-doubt, and performance anxiety
Why we spend more energy managing fear than pursuing possibility
The surprising reason so many people no longer feel at home in their own lives
What it means to develop self-trust and reclaim your emotional freedom
Here's the powerful truth at the center of this conversation: You don't have to remain who you've always been.Your past may have shaped you. It does not have to define you. And once you understand how change actually happens, you can stop managing old wounds and start building the life you want.

Check the Full Shownotes Here
Download the FREE Digital Workbook

Pre-Order The Mattering Effect: https://matteringeffect.com/. Take the 90-second diagnostic to see if you're disappearing.

Explore the Show: https://passionstruck.com/starter-packs/. New to Passion Struck? Start with the best episodes curated for you.

Connect with John
Website: https://johnrmiles.com
Book John to Speak: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking/
Substack: https://www.theignitedlife.net/
Children’s Book — You Matter, Luma: https://youmatterluma.com/

Support the Movement: https://startmattering.com/. Every human deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they matter. Wear it. Live it. Show it.

Passion Struck — #1 Alternative Health Podcast. 85M+ downloads.

Disclaimer

The Passion Struck podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Passion Struck or its affiliates. This podcast is not a substitute for professio

What if flourishing isn't something you achieve someday—but something you practice in the life you're already living?In this episode, John R. Miles explores the first step toward becoming fully alive: presence. Drawing from three unforgettable conversations with Navy SEAL and Paralympian Dan Cnossen, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, and spiritual teacher Gabby Bernstein, he examines the questions that emerge when our old ways of living no longer work.If you've been waiting for life to settle down before you fully show up, chasing achievement in hopes that it will finally make you feel enough, or caring for everyone around you while losing touch with yourself, this episode offers a different path forward.In this conversation, you'll discover:
Why the life you're waiting to begin may have already begun
How to stop treating difficult seasons as interruptions instead of your actual training ground
Why success and achievement can never answer the question, "Am I enough?"
What it means to remain connected to yourself when the applause grows quiet
How self-compassion becomes the foundation for lasting transformation
The powerful question that can reveal whether you've become a safe place to come home to
Why flourishing begins not in some future version of your life, but in this ordinary, imperfect moment
At the heart of this episode are three questions worth carrying into your own life: What are you waiting to begin that has already begun? Who are you when there's nothing left to prove? Was I a safe place to come home to today?

Because becoming fully alive isn't about finding another life. It's about inhabiting the one that's already here.

Full Shownotes here
Get the Free Digital Workbook

Pre-Order The Mattering Effect: https://matteringeffect.com/. Take the 90-second diagnostic to see if you're disappearing.

Explore the Show: https://passionstruck.com/starter-packs/. New to Passion Struck? Start with the best episodes curated for you.

Connect with John
Website: https://johnrmiles.com
Book John to Speak: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking/
Substack: https://www.theignitedlife.net/
Children’s Book — You Matter, Luma: https://youmatterluma.com/

Support the Movement: https://startmattering.com/. Every human deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they matter. Wear it. Live it. Show it.

Passion Struck — #1 Alternative Health Podcast. 85M+ downloads.

Disclaimer

The Passion Struck podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Passion Struck or its affiliates. This podcast is not a substitute for professio

What if the guidance you’ve been searching for has been with you all along?

In today’s episode, you’ll learn how to stay connected to something greater than yourself—even during grief, uncertainty, illness, or life's most overwhelming moments.

If you've ever wondered whether you're truly alone, struggled to find peace in difficult seasons, or sensed that there is a deeper wisdom available to you, this conversation will give you practical tools to access it.

John welcomes Suzanne Giesemann back to Passion Struck. A former Navy Commander and aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff turned evidential medium and spiritual teacher, Suzanne shares insights from her new book, Always Connected, and explains why our connection to spirit is never lost—even when we forget it.

In this conversation, you'll learn:The overlooked practice that helps create a deeper connection to intuition and spirit
How to use Suzanne's three-minute "SIP of the Divine" method—even if meditation feels impossible
How to distinguish genuine guidance from fear, doubt, and imagination
Why adversity and physical challenges can become profound spiritual teachers
What evidence-based mediumship reveals about grief, healing, and life beyond death
Practical ways to navigate disappointment, self-worth struggles, and uncertainty with greater peace
Suzanne brings together military discipline, spiritual insight, and a grounded approach to the unseen. Whether you're exploring these ideas for the first time or have been walking this path for years, this conversation is a reminder that connection is not something you create—it is something you remember

.And perhaps the most important truth of all: even in your hardest moments, you are never alone.

For full show notes, resources, and Suzanne’s new book, visit the episode page.

Download the companion workbook.

If you liked this episode, go back and listen to Suzanne’s first appearance on Passion Struck (Episode 622).

Pre-Order The Mattering Effect: https://matteringeffect.com/. Take the 90-second diagnostic to see if you're disappearing.

Explore the Show: https://passionstruck.com/starter-packs/. New to Passion Struck? Start with the best episodes curated for you.

Connect with John
Website: https://johnrmiles.com
Book John to Speak: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking/
Substack: https://www.theignitedlife.net/
Children’s Book — You Matter, Luma: https://youmatterluma.com/

Support the Movement: https://startmattering.com/. Every human deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they matter. Wear it. Live it. Show it.

Passion Struck — #1 Alternative Health Podcast. 85M+ downloads.

Disclaimer

The Passion Struck podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Passion Struck or its affiliates. This podcast is not a substitute for professio

Today’s episode will change how you think about your body — and how you relate to yourself every single day.

Do you ever look in the mirror and feel immediate criticism or shame? Do you succeed in life but still feel at war with your body? Or maybe you’ve tried everything — diets, workouts, positive affirmations — but nothing seems to create lasting peace.

According to today’s guest, the problem isn’t your body. It’s your relationship with it. In this powerful conversation,

John R. Miles sits down with Whitney Otto — executive coach, former therapist, World Champion rower, and Olympic alternate. Drawing from her new book Body Image Inside Out (co-authored with Deb Schachter), Whitney reveals a revolutionary inside-out approach to body image healing.

In this episode, you'll learn:
Why body image struggles have almost nothing to do with how you actually look
How negative body image becomes a hidden container for overwhelming emotions like fear, grief, and loneliness
The real cost of being at war with your body — and why it affects every area of your life
The powerful BodySelf Muscles (awareness, curiosity, and self-compassion) that actually create lasting change
The Body Image Rotary framework and how to exit the cycle of self-criticism
How to turn jealousy into a teacher that reveals your deepest desires
Why relational mirrors shape how you feel in your body — and how to choose better ones
Simple daily practices (including what to do in the closet) that build a kinder relationship with yourself
Why high performers and athletes often struggle the most — and what actually helps
The one profound question that can shift everything: “What are you feeling?”

This conversation offers a compassionate roadmap for moving from self-judgment to self-understanding, showing that flourishing begins not by changing our bodies, but by changing the relationship we have with them. As Whitney reminds us, our bodies are often carrying stories that our minds have not yet found the words to tell.

Passion Struck is the #1 Health and Wellness Podcast and personal growth podcast dedicated to helping people live intentionally, unlock human potential, and create lives filled with meaning, purpose, and mattering.

Limited Time Offers:
Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at SHOPIFY.COM/PASSIONSTRUCK
Function Health: functionhealth.com/PASSION or use gift code PASSION25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
FODZYME: Get 30% off your first order at ICanEatAgain.com/PASSIONSTRUCK

Full Show Notes

Download the Digital Workbook

Learn more about Whitney Otto:
Website: https://www.bodyimageinsideout.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-otto/

Pre-Order The Mattering Effect: https://matteringeffect.com/. Take the 90-second diagnostic to see if you're disappearing.

Explore the Show: https://passionstruck.com/starter-packs/. New to Passion Struck? Start with the best episodes curated for you.

Connect with John
Website: https://johnrmiles.com
Book John to Speak: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking/
Substack: https://www.theignitedlife.net/
Children’s Book — You Matter, Luma: https://youmatterluma.com/

Support the Movement: https://startmattering.com/. Every human deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they matter. Wear it. Live it. Show it.

Passion Struck — #1 Alternative Health Podcast. 85M+ downloads.

Disclaimer

The Passion Struck podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Passion Struck or its affiliates. This podcast is not a substitute for professio

In this solo episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles explores perhaps the deepest form of disconnection we experience—not from other people, but from ourselves.

Every stage of life quietly asks us to become someone. Families, schools, workplaces, and culture reward certain behaviors and identities while discouraging others. Over time, the adaptations that once helped us survive can harden into identities we mistake for who we truly are. The result isn't failure. It's forgetting.

Drawing on the enduring story of Hook, John examines why Peter Pan's greatest tragedy wasn't growing up—it was forgetting who he had been all along. Through insights from psychology, attachment theory, identity research, and the remarkable conversations that shaped the Connection Crisis series, John explores how modern life pulls us away from authenticity and what it means to finally find our way home.

This episode challenges one of the biggest assumptions in personal development: that flourishing requires becoming someone new. Instead, John argues that flourishing begins when we stop performing, remember who we are, and trust ourselves enough to live from that place.

In this episode, you'll learn:
• Why adaptation is essential for survival—but dangerous when it becomes identity
• How childhood expectations and social environments shape the person we believe we must become
• What Hook teaches us about memory, identity, and the gradual process of forgetting ourselves
• The hidden difference between participating in life and merely performing it
• Why success often feels empty when it is disconnected from authenticity
• How perfectionism, people-pleasing, hyper-independence, and overachievement become emotional armor
• Why self-discovery is never a solitary journey—and how other people help us remember who we are
• The profound connection between belonging, mattering, and authentic identity
• Why courage is less about reinvention and more about trusting the person you've always been
• What it truly means to flourish: returning to the life you already have with a different heart and a renewed awareness of yourself

This episode is an invitation to stop chasing a better version of yourself and begin remembering the person who has been waiting patiently beneath years of responsibility, expectation, and adaptation. Because the life you've been searching for was never somewhere else—it has been waiting inside the person you've been all along.

Passion Struck is the #1 Health and Wellness Podcast and personal growth podcast dedicated to helping people live intentionally, unlock human potential, and create lives rooted in meaning, purpose, belonging, and mattering.

Limited-Time Offers:
Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at SHOPIFY.COM/PASSIONSTRUCK
Function Health: Visit functionhealth.com/PASSION or use code PASSION25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
FODZYME: Get 30% off your first order at ICanEatAgain.com/PASSIONSTRUCK.

Full Show Notes

Download the Digital Workbook

If this episode resonated with you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who may have forgotten a part of themselves along the way. Sometimes, the greatest gift we can offer another person is helping them remember who they have been all along.

Pre-Order The Mattering Effect: https://matteringeffect.com/. Take the 90-second diagnostic to see if you're disappearing.

Explore the Show: https://passionstruck.com/starter-packs/. New to Passion Struck? Start with the best episodes curated for you.

Connect with John
Website: https://johnrmiles.com
Book John to Speak: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking/
Substack: https://www.theignitedlife.net/
Children’s Book — You Matter, Luma: https://youmatterluma.com/

Support the Movement: https://startmattering.com/. Every human deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they matter. Wear it. Live it. Show it.

Passion Struck — #1 Alternative Health Podcast. 85M+ downloads.

Disclaimer

The Passion Struck podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Passion Struck or its affiliates. This podcast is not a substitute for professio