Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Winning the Wrong Game: Take Back Your Invisible Scoreboard | John R. Miles - EP 750
03 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the Invisible Scoreboard and how does it affect our lives?
You're doing everything right. You're showing up. You're producing. You're hitting the goals that on paper should mean you've made it. So why does it still feel off? Why does it feel like no matter how much you accomplish, something deeper isn't being met. What if the problem isn't you? What if the problem is the game you're playing?
Because most people aren't failing at life, they're succeeding at a game they never consciously chose to play. A game with a scoreboard that rewards speed, visibility, and constant output, but quietly ignores the things that actually make a life meaningful. And if you don't stop to question that scoreboard, you can spend years, even decades, Winning at something that in the end doesn't count.
Welcome to Passion Struck. I'm your host, John Miles. 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 change makers, 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 Passion Struck. This is episode 750, and today marks something important.
It's our first solo episode in a brand new series for the month of April, I'm calling Purpose by Design.
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Chapter 2: Why do high performers often feel disconnected despite their success?
And over the week, we've been building towards today's episode piece by piece. On Tuesday, we started with Arthur Brooks, exploring what he calls a growing crisis of meaning, and why so many people today are achieving more than before yet feeling less fulfilled in the process.
Then yesterday, we expanded that lens with Wharton professor Corinne Lowe, who helped us see that this isn't just an internal issue, it's structural. It's embedded in how modern life is designed, the expectations we carry, the roles we play, the invisible agreements we make with our work, our relationship, and ourselves.
Corinne calls it the squeeze, a life where every domain is asking more of you at the same time until you find yourself doing everything right and still feeling like something is missing. And if you step back and look at those two ideas together, Arthur's meaning crisis and Corinne's squeeze, they point to something deeper, not just a problem of fulfillment, but a problem of alignment.
Because what I've come to realize is both through those conversations and through my own life, is this. The metrics that drive your day are not the ones that define your life. We are rewarded for being responsive, being productive, being available, but very rarely are we rewarded for being present, being intentional, or being connected.
And over time, that creates a gap, a gap between how your life looks and how your life feels. And that gap is where invisibility begins. Before we dive in, a quick ask. If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who might need it. Ratings and reviews on Apple Podcasts or Spotify help more people discover these conversations and join the movement.
Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on creating a life that matters. Now, let the journey begin. I want to take you to a moment that changed everything for me, a moment that exposed the fraud of the scoreboard I was following. I was standing on a tarmac in Atlanta. I had just finished a three-week global tour.
At the time, I was reporting directly to the chief information officer and the chief financial officer of an internationally publicly traded multibillion-dollar company. I was at the absolute top. of the market production game. I had just come from Australia. That's 20 hours of flying, 20 hours of recycled air, layovers, and that deep bone-weary exhaustion that settles into your marrow.
But before I left Sydney, I sat down with the CFO and I asked him, do you have everything you need for the board meeting? He looked me in the eye and he assured me he did. I flew 9,000 miles. I landed in Atlanta. I was desperate to see my family, to finally be present for my son and daughter, to feel like a human again. I turned on my phone as the plane taxied, and there it was, a text.
John, we need you. Something came up. You have to fly back to Australia now. Less than eight hours later, I was back on a plane. Another 20 hours later. another 9,000 miles, 18,000 miles, and 48 hours because a multi-billion dollar machine needed me. And somewhere between those flights, I realized I couldn't remember the last time I had been fully present in my own life.
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