John R. Miles

Each week, I sit down with changemakers, creators, scientists, and everyday heroes to decode the human experience and uncover the tools that help us lead with meaning, heal what hurts, and pursue the fullest expression of who we're capable of becoming.

Whether you're designing your future, developing as a leader or seeking deeper alignment in your life, this show is your invitation to grow with purpose and act with intention.

Because the secret to a life of deep purpose, connection and impact is choosing to live like you matter.

Welcome back, friends, to Episode 761 of PassionStruck.

I'm so glad you're here.

Whether this is your first episode or your 200th, thank you for being part of this global community committed to living intentionally, leading with purpose, and creating a world where every person feels like they matter.

And today we arrive at the final interview in our monthly Purpose by Design series, where we've been exploring a simple but profound truth.

Purpose isn't something you stumble upon.

It's something you design through your choices, through your identity, through your relationships, and through the stories you tell yourself about what is possible.

Throughout this series, we've explored purpose through multiple dimensions.

With Arthur Brooks, Harvard professor and bestselling author, we explored meaning and why fulfillment is something we cultivate.

With Claude Steele, Stanford social psychologist and pioneering research on stereotype threat, we looked at identity and the hidden forces that shape who we become.

With Diana Hill, clinical psychologist and teacher of wise effort, we explored how directing energy toward what matters most becomes a design principle for living.

And earlier this week with Nicholas Epley, University of Chicago professor and one of the world's leading social psychologists,

we explored how even small acts of connection shape belonging, happiness, and meaning.

And perhaps there was only one place left to end this series, with how we design hope itself.

Because if purpose is shaped through meaning, identity, effort, and connection, it is also shaped through how we relate to possibility.

That's why I wanted to bring Deepika Chopra onto the show.

Deepika is a clinical psychologist and author of the great new book, Real Optimism, a practical science-based guide to staying resilient, curious, and open, even when life is hard.

Deepika challenges one of the biggest myths in modern self-help,