The Kevin Miller Podcast

When you read messages on spirituality, you will find many references on the dangers of what we are attached to. I grew up on the Bible which I feel taught attachment to nothing but God. In recent years I’ve followed the works of Anthony de Mello and Dr David R Hawkins on the dangers of attachment, from a spiritual standpoint. Now however, someone came to focus on attachments from a clinical psychology perspective. Dr. Bob Rosen holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and serves as faculty in George Washington University's School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Bob is Founder and CEO of Healthy Companies and has advised over 500 CEOs across sixty countries. He previously authored the New York Times bestseller "Grounded" and Washington Post bestseller "Conscious." His new book is, Detach: Ditch Your Baggage to Live a More Fulfilling Life, and in it his research led to 10 categories of attachments that most hinder us. My interest in this is acute and personal, as I’ve come to realize how much I imprisoned myself with all the duties, roles, and achievements in my life that I directly attached to my identity. And in this, I was more and more at threat. If I couldn’t retain control over all the attachments, the very root of my identity was at threat. And it nearly wrecked me. Someone once asked me who I was if you took away all I’d done and all the titles and labels in my life. And, I had no answer. As you will hear Bob state, it’s not that all attachments are bad, the question is how severe is the attachment? He says, “The more we identify with our attachments, the more we suffer.” But Bob’s focus on detachment is not about disconnecting from the world, but connecting to ourselves. Which I now feel is the root of our security. If you go to bobrosen.com you can take an attachment assessment and other resources. 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’m bringing back a conversation on the power of reading. Now, this isn’t something you haven’t heard of, but I think we forget the gravity of it, and I want to give quick focus to some new research I’ve done recently. My conversation here is with Jeff Brown, host of the Read To Lead podcast and author of the book, Read To Lead. As you’ll hear, we don’t want to simply read and expose ourselves to messages, we want to actually digest the messages and take new actions in our lives. Jeff is an expert on the topic and I was really eager for this conversation. And I want to add something I’ve realized and given focus to. We spend much of our day reading social media and news snippets and an unrelenting amount of information all around us. But you aren’t digesting it. Your brain is in entertainment mode. Think about your mindset when you sit down for entertainment vs your mindset when you sit down to participate in a class. Completely different psychological mindset. With entertainment, your mind is turned on for a dopamine hit. In a class your mind is turned on to learn. This is the difference I see when we spend all day reading from all the different sources around us, vs when we are still and we read a non-fiction book, even if we are listening to it. The concept has further elevated the importance of reading books to me. I think you’ll be further inspired by this conversation with Jeff Brown. 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

Our focus is, intuition. When is the last time you even heard that word, much less gave it any attention. When a book on intuition came across my desk, I was hooked. As I studied it, my focus turned toward trust, and faith. What do you put your trust and faith in? For all those who immediately say God, I’m going to ask you to stop, and really consider. God may be one of the things you put trust in, but everyday you are putting trust in other people, other ideas and opinions, other institutions, and you argue and defend them, and spend time online looking for information to trust. The question of this show, from my perspective, is how much do you trust yourself? And if you do believe in God, do you believe that God made you with no value or skill and just wants you trusting everything outside of yourself? Or is there anything in yourself worth listening to? My guest and expert on the topic is Elizabeth Greenwood. She is the author of EVERYDAY INTUITION: What Psychology, Science, and Psychics Can Teach Us About Finding and Trusting Our Inner Voice. She is a prolific researcher and writer and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, GQ, The Atlantic and more. We had an in depth and candid conversation about what intuition is and how it is utilized by everyone from scientists and pastors to yes, psychics.Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevinGo to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I would like to be measured by what the people who learned from me taught other people.” This is what my guest said, and I’ve never forgotten it. Seth Godin is one of the premier voices of business in our generation, and he was one of my first guests when I was host of The Ziglar Show, and this was the second time I had him on a show. Seth is well known for his innovative thinking and insight into what I’d cite as business and vocational reform. He’s a true leader in that he’s attracted a massive following of the business world who look to him daily for commentary on what’s most relevant for successful business practices and ethics we can all benefit most from in our professional and personal lives. In this conversation, Seth talks about why the core tenants of morals, values and personal relationships that Zig Ziglar upheld are still what is most important for our success in today’s marketplace. A marketplace that changes daily, but principles that do not. So coming up I bring this talk with Seth Godin and Tom Ziglar, Zig’s son and CEO of Ziglar, from the archives because it’s worth it. He sees his legacy as...you. 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

Would you like to be better at getting yourself to move? When you have an overall desire, but find yourself struggling to take the first step and just get going? I think we all do in certain areas of our lives and from what I experience it is getting worse. So I’ve brought on an expert and we’re going to exaggerate the point to help us better conceptualize what is happening when we don’t move and progress, and some different ways to go about it. Michele Rigby Assad was a normal person like everyone else. But through some circumstances you’re about to hear of, she became a CIA operative and spent a decade working in the Middle East. She took part in the high-stakes missions you would expect from working in the CIA, where your life or other’s lives are literally on the line. The place of danger they referred to as the X, and their training was that no matter what, they had to be able to get off the X. Michele has outlined the concepts with some intriguing stories, in a new book titled, Get Off The X: C.I.A. Secrets For Conquering Obstacles And Achieving Your Life’s Mission. In this conversation, we don’t spend time talking about the CIA, if you want to view that, she says go watch Homeland or The Agency. We talk about how the concepts of getting off the X relate to all of us. We live lives that feel high-stakes for us, and we need to…move. Progress. Get off the X’s we are stuck in. I found Michele’s guidance helping me not feel I needed more motivation or inspiration, I just needed to have some pragmatic tools and perspectives to employ. 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

Notice I said “spirit” and not “spirituality.” To me they overlap, but this is not a faith based message. Our focus is, your spirit, which I think of like your energy and your “vibe” if you will. Thinking on spirituality, I grew up in a religious construct where many people who were devoted to their spirituality, had very poor and lacking spirits, in my experience. Think of people in your life who you enjoy being with. Really enjoy. How would you describe their spirit? Their energy? Their attitude? A few years back a book came across my desk, The Full Spirit Workout: A Ten-Step System to Shed Your Self-Doubt, Strengthen Your Spiritual Core, and Create a Fun and Fulfilling Life. The author is Kate Eckman. Kate had success as a competitive swimmer. Then she did stints as a model, a tv anchor and an international broadcast journalist. Then in a short span of time, two very close relationships in her life committed suicide and Kate found herself in tears at the pharmacy counter grasping for antianxiety meds and knew things were just not right. This began a significantly new trajectory of her life with a focus on our spirit. If you want a fit, strong and resilient body you nourish it, exercise it and allow it time to recover. How about your spirit? Your mindset, emotions and very soul? Are you working it out daily in order to keep it fit and resilient? In this conversation I walk with Kate through the pitfalls we all encounter in being strong and at peace with our self worth, confidence , self doubt, comparing ourselves to others and the struggle between our external and internal life. As you’ll hear, Kate has much wisdom to offer, but in a very compassionate and raw...spirit. We hit some profound points and laughed...and cried. You can find Kate at kateeckman.tv and her podcast, Rawish. 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

When COVID hit we all wore masks, so as not to infect each other or get infected. I and many others perceive that a more dangerous virus is among us, and it’s a victim mindset, which results in a victim identity. So how can we protect ourselves? My guest is Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., a cognitive psychologist who is among the top one percent most cited scientists in the world for his groundbreaking research on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. He is the host of The Psychology Podcast, which is frequently ranked the #1 psychology podcast in the world. He is a professor of psychology at Columbia University and director of the Center for Human Potential. Dr. Kaufman’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, Psychology Today, and Harvard Business Review, and he is the author of eleven books, the latest of which is called, Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your True Potential. We dig into this issue of victim mindset and identity in a candid, and likely not very PC discussion. As you’ll hear, I’m just as susceptible as anyone at falling to my own victim mentality, so as usual, I entered into this with a student mindset. And…I was schooled. I think you will be too.Sign up for your $1/month trial period at shopify.com/kevinGo to shipstation.com and use code KEVIN to start your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What began as a discussion on whether our work must really be so important ultimately came to our need to know ourselves and what really fulfills us individually. And while yes, having meaningful work is profound to the joy of our lives, it’s also not meant to be the end all to our purpose and calling, but a tool. For this conversation I brought on Dan Miller, celebrated career leader and author of the classic tome on work, 48 Days To The Work & Life You Love. And also, my father. He passed away suddenly in January of 2024 and his work continues to inspire so many lives. We had a conversation at a high, and deep level, regarding how we all perceive the value and importance of our work. I wanted to speak specifically to those who may be feeling stress and anxiety about finding the ultimate work opportunity. The “holy grail” and culmination of their life’s purpose and calling. That can be so daunting and in this episode I feel we did justice in taking some of the pressure off the work and putting the impetus on us having a bigger view of our overall life focus. Find Dan’s guidance at 48days.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’ve given focus to how we perceive our stories. We’ve also looked at toxic positivity and the damage of just trying to paint a pretty picture. We all encounter circumstances and events in our lives that challenge us. From massive traumas and tragedies to just disheartening disappointments. They all matter in regards to how we go forward in life. Following is a conversation that does not culminate with a formula. There is not contrite quote to sum it up. My guest is Karena Kilcoyne, who is a former trial lawyer who specialized in criminal defense, including complex white-collar and civil litigation in federal and state courts. Later in her practice, she worked as in-house counsel for a publicly traded worldwide manufacturing company. She was a success. But Karena started life as a kid. A kid who saw her dad taken to prison, and her mom succumb to mental illness. It’s as hard of a story as they come. And it took its toll on her and drove her to succeed in the world and keep dying inside. Until, she gained a new vision of possibility. No fairy godmother or self-help epiphany, just a real, raw story, that I feel we can all relate to, and find hope and equipping with. She wrote a book about it titled, Rise Above The Story: Free Yourself from Past Trauma and Create the Life You Want. 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

A book landed on my desk a few years ago called, Ask - The Bridge from Your Dreams to Your Destiny. And lo and behold the author was Mark Victor Hanson and his wife Crystal. Mark is cited as one of the bestselling authors of all-time, as he is credited along with Jack Canfield for the entire Chicken Soup For The Soul franchise which has sold over half a billion books. I took the opportunity to talk about…asking. Asking for help, guidance, insight, wisdom, direction and more. We used to be a culture that lived in community and part of the normalcy of life was asking. It was the only way you learned anything. Today, we find ourselves very isolated. We “ask” google. We have few friends, teachers, guides, mentors or anyone who is speaking to us personally. People are turning to AI and a collective conscious instead of anyone who actually knows them personally. And I think we continually suffer for it. At 54 years old I find myself asking people for help and guidance and insight more than ever, and I’m finding more valuable direction for my life than ever. I’m also fulfilling the role of teacher, trainer, guide for others more than ever. So following is my conversation with Mark and Crystal where they lay out the grand opportunity we can all claim for ourselves if we will learn how and when to ask for guidance and direction in our lives. We dig into the concept and discuss why we don’t ask anymore, and how we can get comfortable and proficient with asking and get past our fear and pride and I feel misled independence. You can get the book at Amazon and then Mark & Crystal invite you to join them at Askthebookclub.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