Passion Struck with John R. Miles

For weeks, The Adaptive Human has explored what it takes to navigate a world that keeps changing.

Angela Duckworth showed us that our environments shape who we become. Martin Seligman showed us the power of agency. David Epstein revealed how constraints can unlock better thinking. Cole Brauer showed us what happens when you keep moving forward after the world tells you that you can't. Alec Litowitz challenged us to lift our heads and make sure we're not swimming harder in the wrong direction.

But there's one question beneath it all: What happens when adapting to the world requires you to abandon yourself?

In this series finale, John R. Miles brings the lessons of ten conversations together and introduces The Great Erasure—what happens when a culture becomes so focused on measuring our utility, productivity, and output that we gradually lose our sense of being valued simply for who we are.

Because there is a difference between adaptation and compliance. You can change your strategy without changing your values. You can evolve without erasing your identity. You can become more capable without becoming more useful at the expense of your humanity. And ultimately, you can adapt to a changing world without surrendering your agency.

• Why modern culture has confused adaptability with compliance
• How the “marketplace of mattering” turns worth into something we constantly feel compelled to prove
• Why AI makes defining yourself by your productivity increasingly dangerous
• How we eventually begin treating ourselves like the systems that measure us
• Why agency—not compliance—is the foundation of true adaptation
• Why you need to anchor internally before you can successfully adapt externally
• How constraints, culture, and environment create the foundation for sustainable growth
• Why you cannot optimize what you refuse to value
• What happens when productivity, burnout, loneliness, and disconnection are treated as separate problems
• Why the deeper question underneath all of them may simply be, "Do I matter?"

And then comes the turning point: The Great Erasure is what happens when a world built to measure your utility begins to erase your sense of being valued.

The answer isn't to stop adapting. It's to adapt without abandoning yourself. And that is where The Mattering Effect begins.

Catch the full show notes.

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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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alec Litowitz learned this lesson during a mountain bike race in the Pyrenees, when hesitating before a blind downhill jump nearly sent him over the handlebars.

Years later, that same lesson became a framework for how he thinks about investing, leadership, AI, and life: You can't stay stuck between decisions when the environment is moving fast.

Alec is an investor, entrepreneur, and founder of Magnetar Capital who has spent decades making decisions in environments defined by uncertainty. In his new book, The Adaptability Quotient, he argues that the people who thrive in the next era won't necessarily be the smartest, toughest, or most resilient.

They'll be the people who can recognize when the map no longer matches the terrain—and update before reality forces them to. And that matters even more as AI changes not just the tools we use but the environment in which we think.

In this conversation, Alec and I explore:

• Why working harder can make failure worse when you're moving in the wrong direction
• Why intelligence and emotional intelligence aren't enough when the environment changes
• Why adaptability is a meta-skill that tells you where to point your other strengths
• How to recognize when your mental map no longer matches reality
• Why waiting for certainty can become its own form of risk
• Why AI isn't simply a tool—and how it could either expand or erode human agency
• Why your values should remain stable while your strategies evolve
• How to know when to change your mission without abandoning your purpose
• Why feedback loops are essential to making adaptive decisions
• How to stop swimming harder and start asking whether you're still headed in the right direction

Alec also shares a powerful distinction for the AI era: You can be a resistor, an adopter, or an adapter.

1. A resistor denies the change.
2. An adopter treats the new technology as a tool.
3. An adapter recognizes that the technology is changing the environment—and therefore changing the person using it.

That's the deeper challenge of adaptability. The question isn't simply, "How do I keep up with change?” It's: “Who do I need to become when the world I'm operating in has changed?”

Check out the full shownotes.

Get the Companion Digital Workbook

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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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the things we think are helping our children succeed are actually making it harder for them to become independent?

Dr. Peter Gray has spent decades studying childhood, play, education, and human development. In his new book, Restoring Childhood, he argues that childhood has a fundamental biological purpose: gradually learning to take charge of your own life.

But modern childhood looks increasingly different. More supervision. More structured activities. More academic pressure. More résumé building. Less unsupervised play, exploration, and freedom.

And Peter believes that loss of independence has consequences—not only for how children learn, but for their agency, mental health, ability to discover their passions, and ultimately the adults they become.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why childhood is biologically designed for independence
• Why free play teaches children skills adults can't simply teach them
• How we gradually took freedom and independence away from childhood
• Why turning childhood into résumé building can undermine agency
• How parenting and schooling can suppress a child's innate sense of agency
• The connection between autonomy, self-determination, and feeling that your life matters
• Why children discover their passions through curiosity and exploration—not planning
• How school pressure became a major source of psychological stress for young people
• Why Peter challenges the idea that smartphones alone explain the youth mental health crisis
• What parents can do today to give their children more independence

Peter also shares a simple question every parent can ask their child: “Are there things that you would like to do independently that you're not doing right now?”

Because restoring childhood doesn't necessarily require giving children unlimited freedom. Sometimes it starts by giving them one more opportunity to discover what they can do for themselves.

Get the Full Shownotes

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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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why What Matters Most Is Rarely the Loudest

What if the things getting the most attention in your life aren't actually the things that matter most?

We live in a world that rewards visibility. The viral headline. The impressive title. The dramatic turnaround. The big announcement. The person who creates the most noise in the room. But some of the most valuable things in life work differently.

They compound quietly.

In this episode of Passion Struck, John R. Miles explores why human beings are so easily drawn toward what is visible, dramatic, and immediate—and why that can cause us to overlook the people, decisions, relationships, and foundations that create lasting value.

The episode begins with the famous Joshua Bell experiment, in which one of the world's greatest violinists played a $3.5 million Stradivarius in a Washington, D.C., Metro station and collected just $32.17. The music hadn't changed. The context had.

John then connects this phenomenon to markets, workplaces, leadership, and his own experience at Dell, where a promising Android and cloud strategy was ultimately abandoned amid the company's dependence on Microsoft.

The deeper lesson is about salience: our tendency to notice what is flashy and immediate while overlooking what is subtle and important.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why visibility and value are often two very different things
• What the Joshua Bell experiment reveals about human attention
• Why intelligent people can still get pulled toward hype and spectacle
• How organizations can reward dramatic behavior while overlooking quiet contribution
• What John's experience at Dell taught him about confusing legacy value with future opportunity
• Why human trust, dignity, culture, and connection can be harder to measure—but enormously consequential
• How conformity can cause us to abandon our own judgment when everyone else agrees
• Why Alex Edmans' advice to “see the other side” is such a powerful decision-making practice
• How to use John's Signal Audit to separate external applause from intrinsic value
• Why real adaptability isn't always about moving faster—it can mean stopping, filtering the noise, and seeing what others are missing

The question to take with you is simple: Where are you giving your best energy to something loud while starving something quiet that actually matters?

Because the crowd will always react to what is flashy and immediate. Your job is to learn how to recognize the signal.

Grab the Full Show Notes

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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the question you’re avoiding is the one you most need to answer?

We often think courage means doing something difficult or frightening. But Scott Simon says the place people struggle most isn't physical courage—it’s having the courage to ask and answer hard questions.

In this episode, Scott Simon and Gregory Stock bring together two decades-long bodies of work: Scott’s exploration of courage and Gregory’s groundbreaking Book of Questions, which became a New York Times bestseller and sold millions of copies.

Their new book, The Book of Questions: Courage, is built around a simple idea: the right question can take you beneath the surface of your life and reveal what you actually believe, fear, want, and value.

And sometimes, one honest question can change the direction of your life.

• Why asking yourself a hard question can require more courage than taking action
• The question Scott says cuts directly to the core: What lie are you telling yourself to keep yourself safe that is actually holding you back? 
• Why great questions don't give you answers—they create space for self-discovery
• How vulnerability can make people feel more connected rather than more exposed
• Why one meaningful question can turn an ordinary dinner into an hour-long conversation that people remember
• Why we often avoid deeper conversations even with the people we know best
• What we're losing in an increasingly distracted, answer-rich world
• Which questions we should deliberately refuse to outsource to AI
• Why AI can provide information but still cannot tell us who we want to become
• The question Scott believes everyone should ask: What is something extraordinary you've done well before you felt ready or confident? 

One of the most powerful ideas in the conversation is that a good question doesn't close a conversation—it opens one. So before you move on with your day, ask yourself:

What is one question I've been avoiding because I already suspect I know the answer? That might be where your next chapter begins.

Get the full show notes

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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You're smart. You're informed. So why do you still make terrible decisions?

We like to believe that intelligence and information protect us from bad decisions. They don't.

Professor Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School and Fellow of the British Academy, returns to Passion Struck to reveal the psychological forces that can distort our judgment—from confirmation bias and anchoring to herd behavior, emotional decision-making, and our tendency to follow whatever information is most visible.

His new book, The Madness of Markets, uses financial markets to expose a much bigger truth about human behavior: the same biases that influence investors can shape the decisions we make in our careers, leadership, relationships, and everyday lives.

Even Isaac Newton wasn't immune.

In this conversation, Alex explains:

• Why being intelligent doesn't make you rational
• Why more information doesn't necessarily lead to better decisions
• How confirmation bias makes us see evidence that supports what we already believe
• Why we tend to overreact to information that's flashy, visible, and impossible to ignore
• How anchoring causes the first information we encounter to influence our later judgment
• Why millions of people making the same mistake can create collective irrationality rather than canceling one another out
• How compelling stories can overpower better evidence
• Why culture, human capital, reputation, and innovation can matter enormously even when they're difficult to measure
• Why AI may change the decisions humans make without eliminating human bias
• And the one question Alex believes can make you wiser: “What is the other side?”

Alex's advice extends far beyond investing. Before you change jobs, relocate, end a relationship, make a major purchase, or commit to an important belief, look for the strongest argument against your own position.

If you can't see it yourself, find someone you trust who disagrees with you and ask them to make the case. Because becoming a better decision-maker isn't always about knowing more. Sometimes it's about learning to see what you're missing.

Listen to the full shownotes

Download the FREE Companion 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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if the proof you're waiting for never comes?

The apology. The promotion. The recognition.

Someone finally admitting they were wrong about you. Someone finally telling you that you belong.

What if you're waiting for proof that you don't actually need?

After conversations with Cole Brauer and psychologist Marisa Franco, John R. Miles noticed a powerful connection between their work.

Cole was told she was too small to survive the Southern Ocean. A year later, she sailed solo, nonstop, and unassisted around the world—without ever receiving the apology or reversal she had been waiting for. Marisa's research reveals the other side of the equation: when we already believe we're unworthy, even love, success, compliments, and positive feedback can fail to change that belief. Sometimes, the evidence simply doesn't match the story we already carry about ourselves.

In this solo episode, John brings those two ideas together to explore The Verification Trap—the tendency to wait for external proof before allowing ourselves to believe we're capable, worthy, or ready to move forward.

You'll discover:

• Why a genuine compliment can sometimes make people feel worse instead of better
• How rejection can become part of the story you believe about yourself
• Why success and achievement don't necessarily resolve a deeper sense of unworthiness
• How your memories can become a database that filters the evidence you receive
• Why waiting for someone to reverse their judgment can keep you stuck
• The difference between being validated and actually believing you're worthy
• What Cole Brauer's story teaches us about moving forward without permission
• Why healing requires honesty rather than constantly trying to become a better version of yourself
• John's two-question Verification Check for identifying where you're waiting for external proof
• How to take the smallest possible step toward something you've been waiting for permission to do

And John gets personal, sharing a previously untold chapter of his own life and what rebuilding after divorce taught him about validation, action, and self-trust. He realized that the proof didn't come before he moved forward.

The proof came after.

Ask yourself: What specific proof am I waiting for before I let myself move forward?

Then ask: If that proof never arrives, is there a version of this where I go anyway?

Because sometimes you don't need the verdict reversed. You need to leave the dock.

Read the Full Show Notes

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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why do you still feel like you're not enough—even when your life looks successful from the outside?

You can have a successful career, loving relationships, and people who genuinely care about you—and still struggle to believe you're worthy of love, connection, or belonging.

Marisa G. Franco, psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Platonic, returns to Passion Struck to explore the deeper science behind self-worth in her new book, Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment.

Her argument challenges one of the most common ideas about self-esteem: you don't become worthy by achieving more, becoming more impressive, or convincing yourself that you're extraordinary.

Instead, worth begins with something much harder—and much more honest: learning to accept yourself as you are.

In this conversation, Marisa explains:

• Why achievement, compliments, and positive affirmations often fail to fix low self-worth
• How childhood memories can become the lens through which we predict rejection, abandonment, or failure
• Why trying to appear “secure” can actually disconnect you from your authentic self
• The hidden cost of making your worth dependent on achievement
• Why healing isn't becoming a better version of yourself—it's reconnecting with the parts of yourself you've learned to ignore
• What “open memories” are and why unresolved experiences can continue shaping how you see yourself decades later
• How attachment styles can be understood as adaptive responses rather than fixed identities
• Why we need to stop treating our emotions as problems to solve and start allowing them to move through us
• How memory reconsolidation may help us create new meaning around painful experiences
• Why sometimes becoming healthier means allowing a relationship to end rather than abandoning yourself to save it

One of the most powerful ideas in our conversation is this: The goal isn't to convince yourself that you're extraordinary. It's to recognize that you're worthy even when you're ordinary.

Marisa's work offers a different way to think about healing: not as a project of optimization, but as the process of coming home to yourself.

Click here for the full shownotes

Download the FREE Companion Digital Workbook here.

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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when someone tells you that you're too small to do the thing you've been working toward your entire life?

For Cole Brauer, that moment could have been the end of the story. Instead, it became part of the beginning. Cole was told she was too short to compete in the Southern Ocean. She was cut from a major team after traveling across the Atlantic and giving up paid opportunities to pursue the dream. A year later, she was sailing solo around the world.

But what makes Cole's story so compelling isn't simply the achievement. It's everything she had to become along the way.

Cole grew up in a small town on Long Island, moved across the country, changed academic and career directions, lived in a van, taught herself the mechanical, electrical, and rigging systems of a boat, and eventually found a community and a purpose through sailing.

Then came the ultimate test: more than 130 days alone at sea.

She talks openly about the loneliness and anxiety that hit her roughly two weeks into the voyage, when the team and community she had relied on suddenly disappeared. Instead of trying to suppress those feelings, she learned to understand them, participate in nature, take care of her body, and keep moving forward.

Cole also shares why she chose her boat over the possibility of winning when she encountered two massive storms near Cape Horn, why First Light became more than a vessel to her, and how that relationship ultimately became a mirror through which she learned to see herself differently.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What to do when someone else's definition of you becomes a limitation you start believing yourself.
• Why Cole sees rock bottom not simply as failure, but as a place from which you can begin climbing again.
• How purpose can sustain you when money, fame, and recognition aren't enough.
• Why Cole believes our lives aren't predetermined and that we can restart far more times than we think.
• What four months alone at sea taught her about loneliness, anxiety, self-care, and self-trust.
• Why nature became one of Cole's greatest teachers and helped make the unpredictable feel more understandable.
• How she learned to separate emotional reactions from the decisions she needed to make in moments of crisis.
• Why she chose to protect First Light rather than risk the boat for a chance at winning near Cape Horn.
• How gratitude helped her recognize the people who made the journey possible.
• Why the solo journey wasn't the end of Cole's transformation, but the beginning of discovering who she really was. 

Cole's story is ultimately a reminder that adaptation isn't always about becoming someone new. Sometimes it's about discovering who you were capable of becoming all along. And sometimes the people who tell you that you can't are simply showing you the limits of their imagination.

As Cole says, when someone tells you there's no way you can do something, sometimes the only answer is: "Yeah, okay. Just watch me."

Get the Full Shownotes

Download the FREE Companion 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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if having more freedom doesn't always make you more free?

We tend to believe that adaptability means having more options, more resources, more independence, and more control. But after conversations with Martin Seligman and David Epstein, I began to see a different pattern.

Sometimes unlimited freedom creates paralysis. Sometimes individual willpower becomes isolation. And sometimes our greatest breakthroughs happen not when we escape our constraints, but when we learn how to work intelligently within them.

That's the paradox at the heart of this episode.

David Epstein's Inside the Box shows how constraints can focus creativity and turn seemingly small problems into breakthroughs. Martin Seligman's Agency asks a deeper question: What happens when human beings believe their actions can actually change the future?

Put those ideas together, and a new definition of adaptability emerges.

Real adaptability isn't about controlling everything. It's about knowing where you have agency—and using it well.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why General Magic's enormous freedom became one of its greatest weaknesses—and how smaller, more focused ideas became eBay and the PalmPilot. 
• Why Mendeleev's breakthrough began with a textbook deadline rather than a magical dream. 
• The first question of the Agency Check: What constraint are you running away from that might actually contain your focus? 
• What my experience at Lowe's taught me about the danger of trying to solve enormous problems all at once. 
• Why UPS discovered that its routing challenge was ultimately a human learning and change-management problem, not simply a technology problem. 
• Martin Seligman's distinction between "I can" and "we can"—and why sustainable progress requires both individual and collective agency. 
• Why unlimited information can create a poverty of attention, and what Gloria Mark's research reveals about the cost of constant task switching. 
• David Epstein's Hemingway Principle for protecting tomorrow's most important work from today's urgent distractions. 
• How to conduct your own Constraint Check and Agency Check when you're feeling stuck or helpless. 

The question isn't whether you can control everything. You can't. The question is whether you can identify what is actually within your agency, stop wasting energy fighting what isn't, and then act with intention inside the reality you've been given.

Because adaptability isn't unlimited freedom. It's agency within reality.

Click for the full shownotes

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 professional medical or psychological advice.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.