Why Success Can Leave You Feeling Like You Don't Matter | John R. Miles & Linda Hurtado – EP 834

What happens when you achieve the life you thought you wanted, only to realize you no longer feel connected to it? For John R. Miles, that question became impossible to ignore. After years of executive success, demanding workweeks, and responsibilities that kept growing, a simple question from his young son stopped him in his tracks: “Dad, why don't you ever laugh anymore?” In this special live conversation from the launch of The Mattering Effect at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, John sits down with Emmy Award-winning Fox 13 anchor Linda Hurtado to explore the experiences that led him to investigate a question millions of people quietly carry: Do I matter? John explains why success and mattering are not the same, how the environments around us can reward what we produce while overlooking who we are, and how this gradual loss of connection can lead to what he calls the Great Erasure. In this conversation, you'll discover: Why achievement doesn't always lead to meaning or fulfillment. How the Great Erasure happens when systems extract our value without reflecting our worth. Why loneliness, burnout, and disengagement may share a deeper underlying cause. How the M.A.T.T.E.R. framework identifies six conditions that help people feel significant: Meaning, Autonomy, Trust, Time, Energy, and Reciprocity. What John learned from transforming a struggling employee engagement team at Lowe's. Why the Slow Fade can leave you feeling increasingly disconnected before you recognize what's happening. How to begin rebuilding mattering through personal choices, stronger relationships, and environments that support your well-being. What leaders and parents can do to help people feel seen, including the power of undivided attention and asking what support someone needs. How Linda's decision to leave a workplace where she no longer felt valued illustrates the importance of recognizing your own worth. The conversation also explores John's personal turning points, the experiences that prompted him to reconsider his priorities, and why rebuilding a sense of mattering starts with how we treat ourselves and the people closest to us. The central takeaway: You can climb the mountain you always wanted to climb and still discover it was the wrong mountain. Sometimes the next step isn't working harder. It's asking what kind of life you're actually building, and whether it allows you and the people around you to feel that you matter. This is a special episode about the ideas, experiences, and human stories behind The Mattering Effect: Creating a Life of Meaning and Worth.