The Kevin Miller Podcast

To make this statement, which is subjective, we need to clarify what we mean by self-worth. I have nine kids. Did they have any worth as infants? Or no, because they hadn’t earned their self worth  yet? How about as toddlers? Kindergartners? My belief is they were born with self worth. They deserve to have value in the world just because they exist. I think of the Rocky Mountains I live in. I don’t perceive that anything I observe has to earn its worth. They have worth because they are. Now us as humans, we may want to do some things. Grow and test ourselves. I get that and still look to behave in ways I respect as good choices and efforts. But like Viktor Frankl in a Nazi concentration camp, I want my self-worth not to rely on anything. I wish I’d understood this earlier in my life, as I’ve spent most of it working to earn my errant concept of, or ignorance toward, my self-worth. So in this episode I bring on a wonderful guide for this topic. Michelle Maros  is the cofounder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, a non-profit that has inspired a global community dedicated to mental health, mindfulness, and emotional well-being, and she co-hosts the popular podcast Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, alongside her mom, Barb, where they have heartfelt conversations blending personal stories, spiritual insights, and practical tools for navigating life’s ups and downs. Michelle has devoted herself to extensive training in meditation and mindfulness and has a deep passion for helping people cultivate happiness, fulfillment, and inner peace. She has become a leading voice of her generation— reminding people that inner peace isn’t found in perfection, but in showing up each day with intention, compassion, and authenticity. She just came out with a book, Dear Friend: Daily Notes for Contemplation, Connection, and Clarity. I relate it to a daily devotional, and have been inspiring and reminding myself with her daily insights. As you’ll hear, I’m gifting some people in my life with this book for Christmas. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I continue to research human communication and find the vast majority of everything we communicate is subjective. We are seldom discussing facts and right, wrong, black, white issues. They may feel so to us, but if pressed we’d need to admit that what we are arguing or advocating for is not fact. The topic or issue is not unanimously proven. But it’s efficient to just cite our perspective as truth. It takes time and effort to really understand and consider all sides. So I sat down with an expert on this concept. Wendy K. Smith has a PhD in organizational behavior from Harvard and is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at University of Delaware. She is an expert on organizational paradoxes, exploring how leaders and individuals effectively respond to contradictory, yet interdependent demands. She spends her time continually working to better manage the paradoxes of life that we all face. Wendy is co-author of the book,"Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems.” This topic is of utmost importance to me as I continue to see our world in conflict and people more isolated. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In your younger years, you may have thought about your future self. I always wanted to be 30 and I would envision what it would look and feel like. I ultimately became 30. There I was. But I did not arrive and become the ultimate “Kevin” at that point. Five years passed and I became 35 and thought about how far I had come since 30. And this continues happening. As of this recording I just turned 55. Five years from now I’ll be 60 and likely be amazed at how much I have grown and evolved past the 55 year old I am now. This is the focus of this episode.  I am back with Dr Benjamin Hardy. I have had Ben on this podcast six or seven times. His personal story is the lead in the first chapter of my book, “What Drives You.” Ben’s books on willpower, personality, and personal transformation have put him at the top of the human potential movement. Here I give focus to Ben’s book,  Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation. It was through Ben that I first heard the concept of, “End of history illusion”, where as I led off with, we look back with amazement at how far we have evolved from who we used to be, but we think who we are now is…who we are. Ben takes us through his research to see how we can open up our personal transformation if we will engage with the future self we are going to become and not only conceive of who we are today. Ben Hardy is an organizational psychologist and has devoted significant research to this issue and become a leading expert on the application of Future Self science. Ben’s new book, Be Your Future Self Now, can be found everywhere and you can connect with him at benjaminhardy.com.  Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve likely heard the parable of two brothers with an alcoholic dad. One brother becomes an alcoholic, blaming his father and stating, "What else could I do?” While the other brother becomes a teetotaler, blaming his father and stating, "I watched my dad, and don’t want to end up like him.” We all have things that happen in our lives, and we create a story about it, based around a perspective we think is true. We attach meaning, and we believe it. Even though we often change our perspective later. What would it be like if we questioned our perspective to begin with? A few years ago I sat down with Kindra Hall to discuss this. Kindra is a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, international speaker, and the former Chief Storytelling Officer of SUCCESS Magazine. She wrote a book titled, Choose Your Story, Change Your Life: Silence Your Inner Critic and Rewrite Your Life from the Inside Out, which was my muse for our conversation. As you’re about to hear, this isn’t some Pollyanna positivity motivation. The point is to reveal how we are not writing about facts, but perspectives, and if we accept this, we can free ourselves. Find Kindra’s book anywhere and connect with her at kindrahall.com. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we talk a lot about running. But I want to expand it to all of you who spend a good amount of time outside in the elements. This isn’t a discussion to should on anyone, but just to share the value we’ve found in going outside, year around, braving the elements and the discomforts of our own bodies. What we gain, what we learn. So if you ride a bike, hike, swim, even walk, I think you’ll resonate with this discussion and possibly expand your joy in getting outside. My guest is Nicholas Thompson, well known as CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. I’ve had multiple writers for The Atlantic on this podcast, such as Arthur Brooks and Charles Duhigg, both of whom have appeared here twice. Before joining The Atlantic, Nick was the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and a contributor for CBS News. Nick has long been a competitive runner and in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race. Nick just came out with a new book, The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports. In it, Nick shares his relationship with running, pushing himself, overcoming a challenging father, the death of his father, his own bout with cancer, dealing with obsessions, and why in the hiring process he looks for people’s ability to suffer for an end goal. I took the opportunity to commiserate with Nicholas on the joys of our devotion to going outside pretty much every day, to exert ourselves, and how the effort gives us a different experience of life. I think more so in today’s culture than ever where we tend to both stay inside more, and avoid any discomforts more. Again, I think those of you who do such things will find this talk confirming, and for those of you who don’t, I hope it will give more breadth to your thoughts about getting out and getting your heart rate up. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s culture I feel we have conflated beliefs with facts. I view us as a culture at war with our perspectives. We are seldom arguing about literal facts. Look at the news headlines, social media, and any reporting entity and you find great polarization and emotion around issues. And what is generally being debated is again, not fact, but belief. Belief we grow to thinking is actually fact, even when it can’t be. Why? My guest cites how we so often attach our beliefs to our identity. Then if the belief is questioned, your very identity is being questioned. Think about this. Have you ever heard someone say, “I tend to vote for Democrats, I align with a Catholic faith, I eat vegan, and I run a lot for exercise.” No. Listen to how we say it; “I’m a democrat, I’m a Catholic, I’m a vegan, and I’m a runner.” I am. It’s not my belief, it’s who I am. So let’s talk about what this is doing to us. My guest is cognitive scientist Andy Norman. Or let me rephrase that. My guest is Andy Norman who works as lot in cognitive science. Andy is an award-winning author of Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think. His research is on the emerging science of mental immunity as the antidote to disinformation, propaganda, hate, and division. Andy strives to help people develop immunity to bad ideas. As you’ll hear, my focus is really on the harm we do to ourselves and others when we are so rigid in our beliefs we won’t consider anyone who differs. As I already mentioned, Andy showcases how many, if not most of our beliefs, are more tied to our self-image than truth, and how this hurts us and everyone else. It’s ok to have strong beliefs, but if you feel strong in them and it’s not just to support your personal bias, then wouldn’t you be strong enough to allow someone to explain their differing beliefs and actually seek to understand them? My interest is around connection and peace instead of the conflict we continually see in our culture. Andy directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University and you can find him at andynorman.org. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surveys show there are more people in therapy than ever. On one hand I feel there is more benefit in talking with someone than not. And on the other hand I’m concerned whether all the therapy is paying off. Statistically, mental health continues on a decline. So when I heard about SFBT therapy, I intrigued myself. SFBT is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, defined as a goal-oriented, short-term approach that focuses on identifying a client's strengths and resources to find solutions to their problems, rather than dwelling on the problems themselves. My guest today is one of the foremost experts on Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Elliott Connie is a respected author, top psychotherapist, and thought leader in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), takes a fresh approach. He has a book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Future: Overcome Challenges and Create a New Vision for Your Life Using the Principles of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. In his book, Elliott challenges readers to rethink their questions and the thinking behind them, and I resonate with the concepts very much. The idea is using powerful, forward-focused questions that are designed to help you shift your mindset and create meaningful change. The highlights for me were the realization of how much more powerful it is when we think for ourselves and ask questions, rather than be told something. When we are told something by someone else, we can often push back against it. When we consider and come up with an answer to a question ourselves, we listen. We also got deep into the power of knowing and living in accordance with our core values. But not the “big picture core values,” as Elliott points out. We tend to think of beliefs and morality, but where he finds it most powerful is in the day to day values that actually support who we are and want to be. Elliott’s book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Future, is available now, and you can connect with him and SFBT at elliottconnie.com Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2022 I was deep into therapy regarding my marriage and myself. My counselor at the time recommended a book, “​​I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression,” by a therapist named Terry Real. I read the book and opened up a whole new level of understanding about myself. Terry then released a book titled US: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship, which my therapist also recommended. Shortly after I was contacted by an agency about having Terry on this podcast. He was being touted as actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite relational therapist and was being praised by actor Bradley Cooper, psychotherapist Esther Perel, and the forward to the book is a candid, vulnerable story from Bruce Springsteen where he shares, “At age thirty two I hit an emotional wall and realized I was lost in a deep dark forest, largely of my own making, without a map. So began forty years of trying to find my way through the shadowed trees, down to the river of a sustaining life. Terry Real has been a guide and this book is a map through those trees.” For me the book revealed much about how I perceived a separateness in my relationships that was not helping create connection and intimacy. In Us, Terry showcases how we culturally live as “you and me” when the bedrock of our being is us. I agree. Find Terry at terryreal.com. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If I asked you why we communicate with others, what would your reply be? I think my mind initially went to sharing information. But as you will soon hear, my guest cites that only 15-18% of our daily communications are about mere information. What is the primary reason we communicate then? We communicate to connect with others. My interest then is considering how much of my communication actually results in true connection. I have a world expert with me. Charles Duhigg. Charles is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on bestseller lists is my favorite book on habits. In February of 2024 I had him here on the show for the first time to talk about his then new book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. The book has already sold over a million copies and I brought him back on to talk further about my own evolution in connecting, and to celebrate the release of the paperback version of Supercommunicators. Charles also writes for The New Yorker magazine and previously wrote for The New York Times and is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School. You can connect with him at charlesduhigg.com. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I find it rare for anyone to make a big deviation from their normal routine. We work hard to get ourselves to a place where we are managing our lives with stability. We get routines and schedules that feel comfortable, safe, and efficient. I’m growing to appreciate seasons of this lifestyle. And yet, I find a danger of getting into a rut that is hard to break out of, and our minds can get lazy. Breaking out in small, incremental steps may work for some people. But I’m a fan of some hard resets. As I record this intro for the podcast I’m nearing the end of a 72 hour fast. The reason, even though I greatly appreciate the mental clarity and acuity I experience, the reason was mainly to give my body a chance to fully recover and reset itself from the constant barrage of food. In a similar concept, my guest today invites you on a 12 hour walk. In 2018, Colin O’Brady became the first person in history to complete a solo, unsupported, fully human-powered crossing of Antarctica’s landmass. Dragging a 375-pound sled for 54 days across 932 miles of ice. Colin holds 11 world records as a renowned explorer. As this podcast goes live on November 21, 2025, Colin is back in Antarctica on a quest called FURTHER that started on Nov. 5th. Further is a 1,780 mile, 110 day solo, unsupported, and fully human-powered crossing of Antarctica. From ocean to ocean, the route spans not only the continent itself but also nearly 1,000 miles of frozen sea — the ice shelves that flank Antarctica’s edge. I sat down with Colin a few years ago after he had been homebound by COVID, and then up and told his wife he was going for a walk. And right then and from his home, he walked for 12 hours. What resulted was a reset of his mind. Of his motivation. Of his perspective on life. He impacted himself so much that he wrote a book about it, The 12-Hour Walk: Invest One Day, Conquer Your Mind, and Unlock Your Best Life. We talk about our inclination to go from kids, youth, and even young adults with big dreams and ideas, and relegate ourselves to the mundane. But I’m not out to promote you, just do it, go bigger, and do more. I’m not even that interested in talking about how we are all capable of more. I interest myself with how we can be different. Maybe better, but different. And maybe that different is actually…going smaller. Doing less. The idea is more about doing something to shake us out of our mold and get a reset. And from this, consider new possibilities for ourselves and our lives and our overall life experience. Connect with Colin and even watch a live, interactive map of his current expedition, at colinobrady.com. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are plenty of rags to riches stories, that while I honor greatly, don’t specifically stand out to me. But this one…this one did. Andre Norman wasn’t just in prison. And maximum security prison at that. He ran the prison. He was king of the inmates and ran gang activities from within the prison walls. He was granted immunity from most all the rules and regulations by the guards. Then on his way to yet another of 10+ attempted murders, he got a wake up call and realized he was king. King of…nothing. Thus began his journey to educate himself, work out of a 100+ year prison sentence, and become an acclaimed motivational speaker on hope. That is a dramatic life transformation to me. An incredible identity shift. And I wanted to understand the dynamics of his experience. Most of my guests are authors, but I seldom read the books completely. Andre’s book, Ambassador Of Hope: Turning Poverty And Prison Into A Purpose Driven Life, I read cover to cover. His childhood story…I just broke my heart with. He went from prison king to Harvard. Literally. But even amongst the success he pursued, he still struggled. I dig into his story and he brought me to a discussion on the salvation he cites of accountability. And our propensity as humans to get involved in a pursuit out of a strong why, but then lose it to the what of what we are doing. And get lost, or as he did, come back to the why. I think you’ll find this discussion convicting and sobering, as I did. Find Andre at andrenorman.com Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are all aware of the primary categories of our emotions, such as joy, trust, fear, surprise, happiness, sadness, surprise, anticipation, anger, and disgust. But I grew up thinking some of those were good and desirable, and some were bad and to be avoided at all cost. You are either being positive or negative. Now that I’ve let myself freely allow and marinate in so-called “negative” emotions, I feel I missed out on so much. I actually find joy in feeling sad. I don’t let it overwhelm and control me, but I get value from the feeling. I was thinking about movies and found out the most popular movie categories are Adventure 24.8%, Action 23.2%, Drama 14.10%, Comedy 14.01%, Thriller/Suspense 7.3%, Horror 6.4%, and Romantic Comedy 4.3%. Which shows me that we pay money and choose to watch movies that fulfill the wide range of emotions. A few years ago I sat down with an expert on the topic. Susan Cain. In 2013 Susan Cain published her book, QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. It was beyond a best seller. At the time the book had spent seven years on the New York Times best seller list. Her follow up book however, is called Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, and it was an instant New York Times best seller as well. Susan helped me realize the most beautiful and joyful experiences of my life have also held an ache and a longing, and this is what Susan is speaking to. She gives focus to the four Hippocratic temperaments of sanguine, melancholic, choleric, and phlegmatic. Most of our world’s greatest creativity and art comes from a melancholic temperament, but Susan writes, “We’ve organized American culture around a sanguine-choleric outlook (forward leaning and combat ready), while Freud labeled melancholic as narcissistic and the main stream culture often views sorrow and longing as clinically depressed.” Susan asks, “How did a nation founded on so much heartache turn into a culture of normative sunshine and enforced positivity?” What you’ll hear is a candid discussion that gives us permission and inspiration to feel the feels and allow sorrow and longing in, in order to more fully experience joy and beauty. You can connect with Susan at susancain.net Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As humans, we are governed by our core beliefs, many of which we aren’t even aware of. There are so many things we believe to be true and so many foundational concepts of our perception we never question. So in this episode, we’re going to question them. Ram Dass was an American Spiritual teacher, psychologist, and writer. He gained popularity in the early 1960s by bringing concepts of consciousness and spirituality from India, to America.  His book, "Be Here Now" is a spiritual classic selling over two million copies. He began as a professor at Harvard before being fired along with Timothy Leary for experimenting and advocating the use of psychedelics. Now, as a proper Christian, I was fairly unaware of Ram Dass. That is until the winter of 2024 when my Dad, Dan Miller of 48 Days To The Work & Life You Love fame, was diagnosed with cancer. During the six weeks between his diagnosis and ultimate death, he had little interest in any topic other than spirituality. And one of the people he tuned into was Ram Dass. My brother Jared and my Dad would pull up YouTube videos of Ram Dass and I got my first real exposure. My spiritual journey since then has been nothing short of revelatory. And such was my delight when the giant publisher, Harper, contacted me about doing a show on a new book from Ram Dass. What it ended up being was a new book compiled from over 50 talks Ram Dass conducted, compiled and edited by Parvati Markus, who was at the right hand of Ram Dass since the beginning of his spiritual leadership. Parvati is an author of multiple books on spirituality and one of the closest long term friends to Ram Dass that ever existed. In this episode Parvati joins me to talk through key issues Ram discusses such as our human propensity, especially in western cultures, to think in terms of “us” vs “them.” We discuss Judgement vs appreciation. Then attachments and the danger of what we cling to. And we spend a lot of time talking about the dangers of identifying with our roles, which for much of humanity, again, I think exaggerated in our western culture, is all that we know to identify with. The new book, which I’ve read front to back twice now, is There Is No Other: The Way to Harmony and Wholeness. Connect more at ramdass.org. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have a daily plan that includes a routine of productive habits. Sometimes the plan happens. And you have a few days, maybe even a week of things running smoothly. Then there is an interruption. And all of the sudden days have gone by and your plan hasn’t happened at all. At the top of this list is often our habits regarding eating and exercise. In all our areas of life where we seek to develop good habits and get better results, there is new information that the areas of diet and exercise don’t work like the others and are the areas we most fail, because, life happens. This new information is brought to us by Dr Michelle Segar who sat down with a couple of years ago. Michelle takes our cultural concept of habits to task. We’re going to talk about her groundbreaking, decision-making framework—and the science behind it—to give hope to the millions of what she calls, “unhabiters,” who are frustrated with their failure to keep up all the good habits they intend to engage with, and discuss a behavior-change solution designed for them. We are enamored with creating habits in our lives that will give us the success we want, but what you’re about to find out is the normal framework and perspective of habits we have doesn’t work for…a lot of us. But there is a solution that will, and it’s why I have Michelle on the show. Michelle is an award-winning, National Institute of Health funded sustainable behavior change researcher at the University of Michigan and a lifestyle coach. For nearly three decades, she has pioneered methods to create sustainable healthy behavior changes that are being used to boost patient health, employee well-being, and even gym membership retention. I’m pulling info from her book, The Joy Choice: How To Finally Achieve Lasting Changes In Eating and Exercise. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever had an emotion from a past trouble or trauma resurface out of nowhere? I feel we talk about it often, that you encountered something and out of nowhere it seems, you felt overcome with sadness or anger or nostalgia from something you had forgotten about or thought you were over. My guest today explains a theory that the unresolved emotions actually exist as wounds of energy in our bodies. And they can block us, with the worst result being a blockage of our heart. And we start off discussing research on the literal intelligence contained in the heart that I found very intriguing and enlightening. My guest is holistic physician Dr. Bradley Nelson who is one of the world’s foremost experts on natural methods of achieving wellness. He is the creator of The Emotion Code®, The Body Code™ which I previously had him on the show for, and The Belief Code®.. His bestselling books include “The Emotion Code,” and “The Body Code,” and his newest book and our muse for this conversation is, “The Heart Code” which comes out Dec. 2, 2025 and is now available for preorder with special gifts if you go to drbradleynelson.com. Some of you may feel some of the concepts shared are a bit far reaching, but I think you’ll find this discussion very down to earth and will gain insight for yourself into how you can find more capacity in regards to your heart and emotions. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are in a culture where it seems success is about being in the spotlight. Everyone must be a content creator. Everyone must become a known personality. Everyone must grow a platform, be on stage, and perform. But I don’t find this strategy tenable or reasonable. Not for everyone. I feel we are treating business like baseball and telling everyone they must be the pitcher. Baseball works because of the value of the entire team, not just one position. So I’m bringing back a conversation with Tim Schurrer. Tim spent a decade working as COO with renowned spiritual author and now business leader, Donald Miller, who I’ve had on this podcast multiple times. Tim helped launch Storybrand and then Business Made Simple, with Don, and while Don had the spotlight, Tim ran the business and built and led the team that made it all possible. Before that Tim worked at TOMS as well as Apple Inc.. Tim authored a book titled, The Secret Society of Success: Stop Chasing The Spotlight And Learn To Enjoy Your Work [And Life] Again. He hosts the Build a Winning Team podcast, where he offers listeners actionable advice as he interviews some of the top leaders in business. We talk about the far greater opportunity for success and fulfillment, outside the spotlight and off the stage. Find Tim at buildawinningteam.com/ Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I continue to interest myself with the concept of “attachments.” How and why we attach to anything. In this episode, I’m focusing specifically on relational attachments again.The concept is that in our childhood, we learned how to best attach to our primary caregivers and others. As no parent or caregiver or person is perfect, we have to hypothesize that nobody learns how to attach in perfect health. We adapt and cope. And unless you have given specific attention and done the work to understand yourself, chances are high, if not 100%, that you have some attachment styles and habits that are not serving your relationships best today. I start off questioning how attached we should be, at all, and looking first at how we attach to ourselves. My expert guest is Jessica Baum. Jessica is a renowned psychotherapist who has specialized in trauma, attachment theory, and interpersonal neurobiology. Jessica feels that connection—to ourselves and others—is at the heart of healing, and she uses a range of modalities to help individuals and couples find wholeness. She is the founder of the Relationship Institute of Palm Beach, a private group practice, and she leads a global coaching company offering support to clients worldwide. Jessica previously authored the bestselling book, Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love, which established her as a trusted voice in the healing of attachment wounds and building secure, fulfilling relationships. Her new book is, Safe: An Attachment-Informed Guide to Building More Secure Relationships, which was the catalyst for the conversation you are about to hear. Type “Jessica B-A-U-M” in anywhere and you’ll find her. If you buy her book she has some free gifts at her website Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How will you age? Whether you are in your late twenties, fifties, or late eighties, everyone feels they are getting older. Of course we are chronologically getting older, so is a child, but we view children as growing older and better. Earlier and earlier these days however we view every day getting older as a negative and we expect to be less capable. Should this be the case? And how is the negative view of aging hurting us all, no matter what age you are as you hear this. This is a big topic of interest for me. I’m 54 and feel as capable as ever, and want to maintain this as long as possible. So I brought on an expert. Dr. Becca Levy, Ph.D., is an award-winning professor of Epidemiology (Social and Behavioral Sciences) at Yale School of Public Health and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She has given invited testimony before the United States Senate on the effects of ageism, contributed to briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in age-discrimination cases, and participated in United Nations discussions of ageism. She is credited with creating a field of study that focuses on how positive and negative age stereotypes affect the health of older individuals. She is the author of Breaking the Age Code: How Your Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long & Well You Love. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s marketplace, it seems the best teachers, trainers, and guides must also become performers. We call it “content creators” and if you’re not devoting half or more of your time on camera or writing and posting memes, you just won’t get any traction. And I find many of the best teachers, trainers, and guides are not naturally the performing type, and they don’t want to be. And if they try, it might be embarrassing. So the gap grows between them and the performers who are grabbing the spotlight, getting the attention, and quite possibly selling an inferior offering. What do we do? My guest today is an expert in the world of personal branding. Rory Vaden. I’ve known Rory for about a decade and watched him become one of the greatest influencers to the world’s greatest influencers. His expertise is in studying the psychology of influence – which he defines as the ability to move ourselves, and others, to take action. He’s become a personal advisor to many of the world’s biggest personal development influencers including: Lewis Howes, Ed Mylett, Amy Porterfield, Trent Shelton, Jasmine Star, Eric Thomas, Dr. Caroline Leaf, John Maxwell and more. He is a very in demand speaker and best selling author. His business, Brand Builders Group, has grown to be a powerhouse for personal branding. But you are about to hear a very sobering conversation. You will hear Rory admit that much of the marketing game today disgusts him. And, if we have something of value, we don’t need to become something we are not or do things we don’t agree with, but we do need to care enough about helping people that we are willing to play the game to a degree. Even if it’s not totally comfortable for us. His new book is titled, Wealthy And Well Known: Build Your Personal Brand and Turn Your Reputation Into Revenue. We talk through some of my frustrations, talk about options and solutions, and in the last quarter of the show talk about the necessity to be primarily known for…one thing. And how he believes you are most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were. You can get Rory’s book, Wealthy & Well Know, totally free, if you’ll go to freebrandaudiobook.com/kevinmiller Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I revere people who have made a significant transformation to their identity. We like to celebrate people who have make huge accomplishments out in the world. But people who actually transformed who and how they are are now my heroes. Now my guest has some big, worldy accomplishments, but I invited him onto this podcast because of his personal transformation. Josh Peck is an actor, comedian, YouTuber, and social media star. He rose to fame in a lead role in the Nicleodeon sitcom, Drake & Josh, from 2004-2007. More recently he starred in the Disney+ Series, Turner and Hooch and I actually saw him a few weeks ago in an episode of HBO’s original series, The Last Of Us. But his story comes from a troubled home. Josh became…fat. The fat kid. To offload the teasing, he turned to being funny. His run on the Drake & Josh show as a childhood actor was literally as the funny fat kid. The show got cancelled, he turned to drugs and alcohol. Lost all his fat. And didn’t know who he was. He finally wrote about it all in a book titled, Happy People Are Annoying. You’re about to hear about Josh’s journey first hand. You can find Josh anywhere you type in Josh Peck. When we talked here he had 13.3 million followers on Instagram and I saw he now has almost 17 million. Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevin Go to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices