New Mindset Pathways – The Inner Work

Companioning for the inner work
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You did the work, you stayed sober, and something still isn't settled. On The Inner Work, Eric Miller sits with the ache nobody asks about, and what it takes to find real peace, real meaning, and your own footing again. https://ericmillerus.substack.com/s/new-mindset-pathways ericmillerus.substack.com

  1. 3d ago

    Doing Nothing Is the Most Important Part of My Day

    Episode 4 of New Mindset Pathways – The Inner Work podcast Somebody handed me this practice years ago and I threw it out inside of an hour, and I was so sure I was right about it that I didn’t pick it back up for a long time. That cost me something, and I can tell you exactly what. That’s most of what this episode is. Where it came from, why I refused it, and what it took to go back. The first three episodes named the thing, told you it was real, and gave you your own words for it. This one gives you somewhere to put it, and it’s small. Ten minutes, same chair, same time, one week. If you’ve tried something like this and quit, I’d start here rather than at the beginning. Get the latest episodes here: https://www.newmindsetpathways.com/podcast Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 14

    Episode 3, Season 1: Reclaiming God on Your Own Terms · Segment 1

    You can say higher power all day long and it doesn’t cost you anything, and you can say the universe, and you can say something bigger than me, and nobody at that table so much as looks up. But there’s a short one, 3 letters, and that one catches somewhere between your chest and your teeth, and when somebody else drops it into a sentence you feel yourself tighten up a little. Nobody sees it. You know it happened. And you’ve probably decided that means you don’t believe. It doesn’t. That’s what this one is about. There’s a man in here with 19 years on him, and a 24-year-old asked him one honest question out on a trail, and he answered it the way he’s answered it 400 times. Kid was satisfied. He wasn’t. Six weeks later he’s sitting across from me, and he still can’t put it down, and what he finally worked out about his own answer is the thing this whole episode hangs on. There’s a practice at the end. 4 minutes, one piece of paper, and 4 rules about what you’re not allowed to write down. Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 31

    The Inner Work– Episode 2 — Starting From Zero – Segment 1

    There’s a thing that’s happened to you that you’ve never told anyone. Not because it’s a secret — because you don’t have a name for it. You were doing something ordinary. Doing dishes at midnight. Driving home from a meeting. Watching your kid sleep. And for about two seconds, the moment got bigger than the moment. Something stirred. Then, flash, it was gone, and you were back at the sink calling it weird. In Episode 2 – Start From Zero – Segment 1 of The Inner Work, Eric Miller sits with the story of a man he calls Alex — two years sober, did the full step work and it took, sponsors others, chairs meetings. By every measure he made it. And still, standing in the life he prayed for, there’s a room in him with the lights off. This one is for the men who thought getting sober was the finish line and found out it was a door. If you check the “none” box on the religious-affiliation form, if church burned you, if you’re unchurched or de-churched and still sense there’s something more — you’re not starting behind. You’re starting from zero. And zero is a fine place to start. A big part of this episode names something the program doesn’t always have a lane for: who do you even tell? Your sponsor’s lane is how not to drink, working the steps, accountability to the program — an important lane, and not this one. This is where a trained spiritual director comes in, and it’s worth being clear on the difference. A sponsor helps you stay sober. A director is educated and formed to help you tell the difference between a psychological event and an actual movement of your higher power — to help you notice where God is showing up in ordinary life, and what action the moment is inviting, without ever directing you into something you don’t believe. Eric points to the Twelve and Twelve itself, pages 58 and 60, where the term “Spiritual Advisor” already lives — and cautions that anyone can call themselves a director, so ask about training and formation before you trust one. You’ll also get a practice you can start this week. Notice one moment that felt bigger than it should have — but don’t go hunting for it, because you won’t catch it that way. Just stay awake to it. And when you believe it’s happening, ask one of three questions: Is there an invitation in this for me? Where do I sense God in this? Do I feel alive, grounded, and connected right now? Then do the thing recovery already taught you — take it out from under the bench and say it out loud to one safe person who doesn’t have a stake in your answer. Conscious contact isn’t a bigger feeling. It’s a door. Getting sober was the beginning of a meaningful life — it was never supposed to be the whole thing. Eric Miller is a trained spiritual director and ICF-credentialed coach who works with men who are unchurched, de-churched, or in recovery. New Mindset Pathways: newmindsetpathways.com Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 17

    The Disconnection Underneath

    You can read a room in two seconds — but you can’t read yourself. You’re the one everybody leans on, and somehow no one really knows you. On paper you’ve got the job, the relationship, the whole setup you were supposed to want, and you still feel like you’re standing outside your own life, looking in. In this first episode of New Mindset Pathways, spiritual director and coach Eric Miller names the thing most men carry and never call by its name: disconnection. Not depression, not a bad week — a slow drift away from yourself, from the people around you, and from anything bigger than your own head. Eric walks through the three kinds of disconnection, why good men miss it for years, and the honest first step back — no pulpit, no filter, just real talk. If you’ve been numbing the quiet instead of listening to it, this one’s for you. This week’s practice: Name one thing you’re disconnected from, out loud, once a day — then take one step toward one person you trust. Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

    The Disconnection Underneath

  5. Jun 25

    You Got Sober. So Why Does Something Still Feel Missing?

    You got sober, you did the work, and you’ve got the people who helped you get here. So why does something still feel unfinished? It’s quiet, and it tends to show up late at night, or on an ordinary afternoon when nothing’s technically wrong, and you still feel like you’re missing something you can’t name. A lot of men reach that gap once the crisis is behind them, the space between staying sober and actually wanting to be here, and it’s exactly the place where this work begins. At New Mindset Pathways we sit with men in that gap. It isn’t therapy and it isn’t a sponsor, it’s a different kind of companionship, the kind that helps you pay attention to how meaning and purpose are responding to the life you’re actually living. And you don’t have to have your faith figured out, or use the word God at all, to start. If that’s where you are, the first conversation is free, thirty minutes, no pressure and no pitch. https://www.newmindsetpathways.com/ Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

    You Got Sober. So Why Does Something Still Feel Missing?

  6. 09/25/2025

    A Leader Shaped by Unhealed Wounds

    Some men lead by fear, demanding loyalty and punishing dissent. On the surface, it looks like strength. But dig deeper and you often find something else: a boy still carrying the wound of a father who wasn’t there. That wound doesn’t vanish with age. It grows into a hunger for control, a need to be untouchable, a refusal to appear weak. Left unchecked, it can twist leadership into authoritarianism. Teams become subjects. Homes become battlegrounds. Respect turns into fear. For many men, the father gap explains why they follow “strongmen” leaders or become one themselves. It feels familiar. It feels safe. But it’s not. It robs both the leader and those led of what healthy masculinity can actually be. There is a better path. One that heals instead of hardens, builds instead of breaks, and leads with presence, not power. Find out how to heal and lead differently—watch Episode 15. Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 09/15/2025

    Burnout doesn’t always look dramatic.

    Sometimes it’s snapping at people you care about. Sometimes it’s feeling exhausted before the day even starts. Sometimes it’s staring at your goals and realizing you’ve lost the drive to chase them. I’ve been there. Pushing myself past healthy limits, thinking discipline meant never stopping. In racing, in the gym, even in life, I thought grinding harder was the answer. But the truth? That mindset doesn’t build strength, it drains it. It leaves you brittle, not resilient. That’s why I’ve learned the importance of setting a resilience goal. It’s a simple commitment you make to yourself that protects you from reaching that breaking point. It might be taking a walk when stress spikes, unplugging at night, or moving your body to reset your mind. Small, intentional choices that help you recover before burnout takes over. In Episode 14 —The Mirror Lie—I share how to create a resilience goal that fits your life and strengthens you where it counts most. Watch Episode 14 and discover how resilience can turn pressure into power. Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 09/14/2025

    I still remember lining up at races and thinking more about my weight than the course ahead of me.

    The numbers on the scale felt heavier than the bike beneath me. Every ounce mattered… or at least, that’s what I told myself. I wasn’t just competing against other riders; I was competing against my own body. Meals weren’t meals; they were calculations. Long rides weren’t freedom; they were punishments for not being lighter, leaner, faster. On the outside, I looked committed. On the inside, I was consumed. The truth is, I wasn’t self-aware back then. I confused obsession with discipline. I thought control meant strength. But looking back, I can see how fragile it made me… physically, mentally, and emotionally. It took a long time, and a lot of painful lessons, to realize that strength isn’t about perfection. It’s not about punishing your body into submission. It’s about knowing yourself, your limits, your needs, your purpose and training in a way that serves life, not shrinks it. That shift toward self-awareness changed everything for me. Watch Episode 14. Get full access to Eric Miller at ericmillerus.substack.com/subscribe

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You did the work, you stayed sober, and something still isn't settled. On The Inner Work, Eric Miller sits with the ache nobody asks about, and what it takes to find real peace, real meaning, and your own footing again. https://ericmillerus.substack.com/s/new-mindset-pathways ericmillerus.substack.com

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