Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Inner Excellence: How to Build Inner Stability Under Pressure | Jim Murphy – EP 721
27 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is inner excellence and why is it important for performance?
Coming up next on Passion Struck.
Fear is where you're in self-protection. You're concerned with other people are thinking and will I fail? And so that life diamond is saying, look, the default is if you don't do anything, you're going to go towards fear. That's human nature. You're going to start thinking about yourself. You're going to think about everything you want but can't control.
You're going to start comparing yourself to others. Your subconscious mind is going to remind you of all your failures and weaknesses, and you're going to move towards anxiety and fear. So you need a clear, intentional plan and path. to live an extraordinary life. And that path is based on the three most powerful resources, I believe, in the universe is love, wisdom, and courage.
Welcome to Passion Struck. I'm your host, John Myles. This is the show where we explore the art of human flourishing and what it truly means to live like it matters.
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. Hey friends, and welcome back to episode 721.
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Chapter 2: How does fear impact performance under pressure?
We're continuing our series, The Meaning Makers, an exploration of how meaning is formed, tested, and sustained under pressure. In recent episodes, we've been tracing how performance environments shape the inner life. With Alex Emis, we examined the winner's curse, how success under competitive conditions and quietly distort judgment and long-term decision-making.
Last week with Shanna Pearson, we explored invisible ADHD and how unseen cognitive strain erodes self-trust, identity, and emotional regulation over time. And then last Thursday with Robin Kaslowitz, we return to the family system, where regulation, safety, and belonging first take root. Today, we move into a different but essential structure, the inner discipline of excellence.
Now, if you've been following me for a while, you know I'm a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan. And like many of you, I was watching that playoff game last year when A.J. Brown, one of the best wide receivers in the leagues, was shown sitting on the sidelines reading a book. That book, Inner Excellence, Crane Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life by Jim Murphy.
I was fascinated. What kind of book captures an athlete's attention? the middle of a playoff game. So I picked it up. And what I found wasn't just a book about sports performance. It was a guide to living with courage, wisdom and love framework for aligning who you are on the inside with how you show up when the pressure is on. That's why I wanted Jim Murphy on the show.
Jim is a performance coach to professional athletes, Olympians, and top executives.
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Chapter 3: What role does ego play in destabilizing performance?
In this conversation, we explore why the greatest battle you face isn't out there. It inside, how fear, the critic, and the monkey mind sabotage performance, why the heart, not the mind, is the true source of extraordinary results, and how to align your life with the three pillars of inner excellence, love, wisdom, and courage.
If you've ever felt stuck, anxious, or you're like the ball in the game of pinball, Today's episode is for you. Before we begin, a brief note. If you're interested in this broader work around visibility, worth, and mattering, including how these ideas translate across generation, you can learn more about my upcoming children's book, You Matter, Luma, at youmatterluma.com.
And if this episode resonates, please consider sharing it or leaving a five-star review. Your support helps these conversations reach the people they're meant for. Now, let's continue The Meaning Makers with Jim Murphy. Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin.
If you're focused on living more intentionally this year, start with what you breathe. We spend 90% of our time indoors, but the air inside our homes and at work can be up to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. That blew my mind. Especially with pets, I knew I had to do something about it. That's why I use Air Doctor.
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Chapter 4: What are the three pillars of inner excellence?
Head to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code PASSIONSTRUCK to get up to $300 off today. Air Doctor comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, plus a three-year warranty and $84 value free. Get this exclusive podcast-only offer now at airdoctorpro.com, A-I-R-D-O-C-T-O-R-P-R-O.com, using code PASSIONSTRUCK. I'm absolutely thrilled today to have Jim Murphy on Passion Struck. Welcome, Jim.
How are you today?
Thanks, John. Great. Thanks for having me.
For those of you who aren't watching this on YouTube, Jim immediately hit a bond with me when I saw the jersey he was wearing. And at first I thought it was a Cub jersey. Turns out it's a Phillies jersey and being from around that area and loving the Phillies, immediate bond. But you're wearing it because you just had the opportunity to do something I could only dream of.
You just got to do what for the Phillies?
Throughout the first pitch last week, it was quite an honor.
Man, that is awesome. Who were they playing?
The Mets. Yeah, big game, big series.
Big series.
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Chapter 5: How can love, wisdom, and courage create inner stability?
I'm hoping the Phillies go the whole way. They are not well liked here where I'm in Tampa because the Rays fans feel like they cost us our best opportunity of winning a World Series a while back when the Phillies beat us. But not only do I love the Phillies and spring training and everything else, but I live right by their spring training facility.
So it's such a treat to get to have that part of the year with them. Well, being a huge fan Philadelphia sports fan, I, like every single Eagles sports fan, was completely blown away by the whole A.J. Brown sideline effect that happened. How has your life changed from that moment?
John, it's changed a lot, a lot of travel. So it's funny because I traveled Before January 12th of this year, when it all started, the last two years, I went to 23 different countries, I think. So that's a fair amount of international travel.
And so this year, I've only been to a couple of countries, but I've been to a different city every four or five days or so since January 12th, except when I'm in Spain. Yeah, a lot more travel, speaking and workshops and retreats. But it's just an honor to be able to share the message that selfless is fearless.
That's awesome. And for those of you who are have not been watching TV or following the news or sports or anything for the past couple of years. Jim is the number one bestselling author of Inner Excellence. Train your mind for extraordinary performance and the best possible life.
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Chapter 6: What strategies do elite athletes use to stay grounded?
And I'm holding a copy of it here. But man, I plowed through this book in, I'm telling you, about four hours, four and a half hours. It just was such a fantastic read. And I had heard about it Even before seeing it with A.J.
Brown, because we share another common person between us, and that's Sean Foley, who had told me about this book a while back, and that it was one that I should eventually read. How do you know Sean?
Oh, well, I've known Sean for, let's see, he's actually a big part of my life. Well, Sean's Canadian, as am I. And Sean was coaching a golfer a few years ago that was quite talented, Tiger Woods, and
sean read inter excellence contacts me when he's coaching tiger and said that he had a wanted me to he read inter excellence and wanted to see if i could work with one of his clients and so that's when i met sean yeah this was 2011 i believe yeah not only was sean working with tiger but he happened to be working with tiger right after
All those terrible things happened in Tiger's life. So not only was he trying to help him become a better golfer, he was trying to get him to take back his life again. So what a challenging time to be any superstar's coach. One of the things that I really liked about the book right from the beginning is how you bring in your own story.
And you said this quote, those destined for greatness must first walk alone in the desert. You literally sold most of your possessions and lived in solitude for years. What did that season of your life teach you about yourself and also about life?
Well, I don't think you can live an extraordinary life without solitude. I just don't think it's possible. At least I don't know how to do it.
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Chapter 7: How can inner excellence be applied in everyday life?
Now, you don't have to go to the desert like I did, and you don't have to go for two and a half years. I wasn't in complete solitude. I had a couple of friends there, and actually my parents and sister ended up moving in with me, although I rarely saw them because I would leave early in the morning and come back at night when they were asleep. But being in the desert was in front of who I was.
what I really wanted in life. And I went there to figure out what I can do to devote my life, to find something that I can devote my life to and be willing to live and die for. And that's what I found in the desert.
And I know you're a faith-based person like myself, but when I was reading this and when I thought about my own life, and periods of time where I've really done deep self-awareness. I think back to even Jesus's journey of how he spent 40 days alone and would look for solitude when he was contemplating big events in his life as well.
So I really do think there's something about this need for solitude and for rewiring ourselves and coming back to ourselves. Did that sort of play into it for you?
Well, I think he's the wisest, most confident, joyful, passionate, compassionate person that's ever lived and the best model. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, this whole podcast is all about human flourishing. And I am a huge fan of Abraham Maslow. And again, early in the book, before we get into the Maslow chapter, you write about What any of us really want is to feel truly alive. And it's interesting because if you look at the work of
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Chapter 8: What creates excellence that endures without burnout?
Palliative care people like Bronnie Ware or even scientists who've studied tons of lives, what they all come back to is that most people end up living the life that they feel they should and they end up settling instead of living the life that they could, which is one where they flourish in all aspects of it. Why do you think it is that so few people find that fullness?
Fear is the biggest issue. And fear in your excellence comes from self-centeredness in general. It comes from, we get in our own way. That's the biggest challenge that we face. And through three main areas, overthinking, negative thinking, or judgmental thinking, and self-consciousness. And it all comes from a self-referential self-centeredness that's inherent in human life.
We need to think about ourselves in order to get through the day, in order to do something great. We have to think about ourselves, but that comes with a self-consciousness and a subconscious mind that's always in protection mode. And so it creates this unease and that leads to fear when we think about ourselves. And that's why selfless is fearless.
I think it's a really important aspect that you cover throughout the book and really uses the foundation. I remember I was an executive at Lowe's Home Improvement. I was a VP at the time and I was on the staff of the CIO and I had four fantastic peers, all of them extremely talented themselves, but we had a lot of infighting amongst us.
And I remember one day our boss, Steve Stone, comes into this conference room where we would have our weekly meetings. He was not a person who would really get aggravated. He was a person who used intellect, but I remember him just slamming his fist on the table and said that we have the opportunity to do so much, but there are three letters that are getting in the way of us achieving greatness.
And he said it was ego. And at the time, I was in my early 30s, and I didn't really understand the enormity of what he was talking about. But you really do a good job of connecting ego with self-centeredness. Could you talk a little bit more about it?
Sure. I think of ego as the part of our mind that's always threatened, always comparing, and never satisfied. It may not be how anyone else defines it, but in order to make a difference in someone's life, you've got to be clear in your communication. And so I try to define all the terms that I use.
And so we all have a mind that has this concern, this threat, and it leverages our deep need, our deepest need, which is for love and acceptance. And so it says, it's that voice in your head that says, hey, if you screw this up, if you fail, not only you're not going to be loved and accepted, but you're going to get the exact opposite, which is your greatest fear.
In general, the greatest fear of humans is for rejection. And when I think of inter-excellence, I think of self-mastery. And when I think of self-mastery, I think of mastering the ego. When I think of mastering the ego, I think of three things, actually. Being unembarrassable, unoffendable, and unirritable.
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