What if the approval you’ve spent your life chasing is actually keeping you from becoming who you were created to be?

In this episode of Genuine Life, I sit down with former professional baseball player, coach, author, and performance expert Ricky Scruggs for a deep conversation about identity, perfectionism, people-pleasing, competition, faith, and what Ricky calls “approval addiction.”

Ricky shares how his own drive to achieve began on the baseball field and followed him long after his playing career ended. As he puts it, “Pride was my dealer and approval was my drug of choice.”

We talk about why achievement can never permanently answer the question “Am I enough?”, why we shrink ourselves to keep other people comfortable, and how discovering who you really are can free you from constantly measuring your worth by someone else’s opinion. Ricky also shares how faith, truth, love, and surrender changed the way he approaches performance, relationships, and success.

Ricky is the author of The Champion Within: Overcome Approval Addiction and Compete With Greatness, a book using the framework of baseball to explore identity, purpose, faith, and freedom from approval.

Learn more about Ricky and his work at RickyScruggs.com

Who Are You When Everything Falls Apart with Samantha Norman (Ep. 196)

What happens when the life you built, the success you achieved, and the identity you worked so hard to create suddenly begin to fall apart?

In this episode of Genuine Life, Samantha Norman, creator of the Who Before What framework, joins us for a conversation about identity, authenticity, faith, leadership, loss, and the courage to stop performing.

Samantha shares how she built a successful coaching career around a version of herself that wasn’t truly her—and the devastating series of losses that eventually forced her to confront a much deeper question: Who am I when the things that defined me are gone?

We talk about people-pleasing, imposter syndrome, control, addiction, surrender, emotional health, authentic leadership, and why success can still leave you empty when it is built on a false identity.

Samantha also shares how losing her mother, marriage, home, and dream job ultimately led her back to God—and how sitting in the silence helped her rediscover her voice, her gifts, and her purpose.

If you’re walking through a transition, questioning who you are, or watching an old version of your life fall away, this conversation is a reminder: don’t be afraid of the messy part. It may be where your real life begins.

How Many Versions of Yourself Have You  Created? Austin's Journey from Addiction to Identity (Ep. 195)

What if addiction isn't just about drugs or alcohol? What if it's really a search for peace... acceptance... and the feeling that we're finally enough?

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Austin Rampt, author of One Last Hit, to explore the deeper issues beneath addiction, shame, people-pleasing, and the lifelong search for identity. We discuss how childhood wounds, false beliefs, and the need for approval can shape our lives long before unhealthy behaviors ever appear.

Austin shares his remarkable journey from addiction, relapse, and unimaginable loss to discovering that true healing isn't found in success, sobriety, or striving—it's found in honesty, vulnerability, authentic connection, and learning to embrace who God created us to be.

Whether you've struggled with addiction, anxiety, perfectionism, unhealthy relationships, or  the feeling that you're never enough, this conversation offers hope for anyone longing to break free from old patterns and experience lasting transformation.

You'll discover why vulnerability is a strength, why connection is essential to healing, and why your past doesn't have to define your future. Most importantly, you'll be reminded that your greatest wounds can become the very place where God begins writing a new story of hope, purpose, and redemption. 

Why Do I Keep Losing Myself in Relationships? | Finding Your Way Out of Survival Mode with Amanda Hill

Why do so many of us keep repeating the same painful patterns?

Maybe you struggle to say no. Maybe you feel responsible for everyone else's emotions. Maybe you constantly question yourself, walk on eggshells around certain people, or wonder why healthy relationships feel so...uncomfortable.

The truth is, these patterns don't come out of nowhere.

In this conversation, licensed mental health counselor Amanda Hill joins me to unpack what happens when we spend years living in survival mode. We explore how childhood experiences, trauma, unhealthy attachment, and people-pleasing quietly shape our adult relationships—and why so many of us lose sight of who we really are along the way.

You'll learn:

One of my favorite moments is when Amanda explains that healing doesn't begin by fixing everyone around us—it begins when we slow down long enough to understand ourselves. We also talk about grieving the family we wish we had, learning to stop taking everything personally, and why you can't want someone else's healing more than they do.

If you've ever wondered, "Who am I beneath all these survival patterns?" this conversation is for you.

Guest: Amanda Hill, LMHC, NCC, BCC

🌐 Connections of Hope: https://connectionsofhope.com

📖 Book: Making Sense of Dysfunction: How to Heal, Take Control, and Move Forward (Available on Amazon)

🎙️ Podcast: Mental Health with Amanda

📧 Contact Amanda: Visit https://connectionsofhope.com for counseling services, podcast links, and contact information.

What does it take to break the cycle of addiction, trauma, and incarceration? In this powerful episode of the Genuine Life Podcast, I'm joined by author, speaker, and prison minister Kelsey Harris for an honest conversation about recovery, redemption, and the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

Kelsey shares her remarkable journey from a childhood marked by addiction, violence, and chaos to years of meth addiction, homelessness, and incarceration. She opens up about the deeper wounds beneath addiction, the moment she encountered God during her recovery, and how faith transformed not only her sobriety but her identity.

Why addiction is often rooted in unresolved trauma.

The difference between sobriety and true freedom in Christ.

How changing your thinking changes your life.

Why healthy relationships and boundaries are essential for recovery.

How God replaces shame with purpose and hope.

Practical encouragement for anyone struggling with addiction or supporting someone who is.

📖 Book: Touching Fire

🌐 Website: https://kelseyjharris.com

The Day I Chose Recovery Over Death — and Never Looked Back (Ep 192)

In this raw and deeply inspiring episode of Genuine Life Recovery, Sean Beem shares the powerful story of how he escaped a life shaped by trauma, addiction, violence, depression, and hopelessness — and found lasting freedom through recovery, faith, and purpose.

Raised around alcoholism, drugs, biker culture, and chaos, Sean’s life spiraled into years of partying, arrests, anxiety, and self-destruction. By age 27, despite living in beautiful Hawaii, he found himself sitting on a beach contemplating suicide, convinced he could never escape addiction or the pain inside his mind.

But one decision changed everything.

Sean opens up about the moment he walked into his first AA meeting, the people who helped save his life, and how over 26 years of sobriety transformed him into a mentor, husband, man of faith, and correctional officer helping others trapped in addiction and trauma find hope again.

This conversation dives deep into mental health, childhood wounds, recovery, faith, prison culture, healing, codependency, renewing the mind, and the life-changing power of helping other people. If you feel stuck, broken, overwhelmed, or beyond redemption, this episode is proof that healing is possible — and your story is not over yet. 

The Slow Fade Nobody Talks About (Ep. 191)

What happens when addiction slowly rewires your identity, relationships, thinking, and sense of self — and grace still finds you anyway? 

In this powerful episode of Genuine Life Recovery, author, speaker, and ministry leader Nikole Thompson shares her raw testimony of surviving methamphetamine addiction, pornography, destructive relationships, sexual brokenness, shame, and emotional chaos before discovering lasting healing through faith, recovery, and transformation.

Nikole and her husband have spent years serving in ministry across the country — from church planting in New Orleans to Celebrate Recovery leadership, prison outreach, and helping people rebuild their lives after addiction and trauma. In 2021, she released her book 50 Shades of Truth, a deeply honest account of her journey from darkness to freedom.

Now celebrating nearly 20 years free from methamphetamine and the destructive lifestyle surrounding addiction, Nikole speaks openly about mental wellness, identity, recovery, spiritual healing, toxic influences, and the slow compromises that can quietly pull people away from themselves and those they love.

This episode is honest, emotional, hopeful, and deeply encouraging for anyone struggling with addiction, shame, anxiety, codependency, pornography, identity confusion, or hopelessness.

No matter how far gone you feel, healing is possible. Find out more here! 

You Don’t Have a Mental Health Problem… You Have an Identity Problem (Ep. 190)

What if nothing is “wrong” with you—but something deeper is off? In this episode of Genuine Life, I sit down with Dr. Eric Moyer and we go straight to the root of what so many of us are dealing with right now—the identity piece underneath anxiety, addiction, burnout, and people-pleasing. Because a lot of us have spent years trying to fix behaviors without ever asking who we’re actually operating from, and if your identity has been shaped by trauma, approval, fear, or survival, then even when you’re doing everything “right,” it’s still going to feel unstable.

We talk about the Four P’s—principles, perspectives, purposes, and priorities—and how they quietly drive everything in your life, why so many people feel stuck in the same patterns, and what it actually looks like to begin changing from the inside out without forcing it or beating yourself up.

This isn’t about saying something is wrong with you—it’s about finally understanding why things haven’t been working and how to rebuild something solid. If you’ve ever thought “why do I keep ending up here?” this one will hit home.

Website: https://redeemingidentity.com

Book: Redeeming Identity: Restoring the Heart of God’s Design

How to Live the Serenity Prayer - Step By Step (Ep. 189)

This short (blast from the past) solo episode is being shared between guest episodes as a quick, meaningful pause for reflection. It’s based on one of the most-watched and most-resonant videos on my YouTube channel, and I wanted to make it available here as a Genuine Life episode for anyone who may need it. In this conversation, I talk about the Serenity Prayer, acceptance, courage, and the power of focusing on what we can actually change. If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or weighed down by trying to control things that aren’t in your hands, this episode is for you. Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is slow down, let go, and take one honest step forward. I hope this short episode gives you encouragement, clarity, and a little peace in the middle of your day.

God Doesn’t Plant Seeds He Doesn’t Intend to Grow: Breaking Approval Addiction & Learning to Lead (Ep. 188)

What if the reason you don’t feel loved… is because the real you has never been fully seen?

In this powerful episode, with relationship coach and author Lionel Moses, we unpack the connection between approval addiction, imposter syndrome, and leadership—and how so many of us are showing up in life, relationships, and even faith from a place of insecurity rather than identity. When we don’t truly love or know ourselves, we perform. We people-please. We lead reactively. And deep down, we wonder why love never quite reaches us.

But here’s the truth: God doesn’t plant seeds He doesn’t intend to grow.

Through honest conversation and real-life insight, we explore what it means to stop striving for approval and start leading from authenticity—rooted in who God says you are. This episode dives into healing the fear of not being enough, breaking cycles of over-performing, and learning to trust that what God has placed inside you is intentional, purposeful, and meant to flourish.

If you’ve ever felt like an imposter, struggled to feel truly loved, or questioned your ability to lead—this conversation will meet you right where you are and gently call you higher.

This episode features relationship coach and author Lionel Moses, whose book The Marriage Seed: How to Cultivate Relationships You Desire and Deserve explores how to build deeper, more authentic connections in every area of life.