Why I Spent So Much of My Life Chasing Success When What I Really Wanted Was Meaning — The Spiritual Awakening That Helped Me Discover My True Purpose and Live a Life of Inner Abundance
Episode of We! · October 22, 2026 · 1 h 13 min
Joe Mittiga reflects on trading the pursuit of external success for meaning and purpose, drawing on 32 years of sobriety and promoting the Dads in Recovery podcast.
Summary
In this solo episode of the WE Podcast, host Joe Mittiga argued that chasing money, recognition and external achievement cannot produce inner abundance, which he said comes instead from awareness, emotional healing and living a higher purpose. He described purpose as becoming the "grandest you possible" and taking action in service of others.
Mittiga recommended the podcast Dads in Recovery, created by Cliff McDonald of recovery.com and Brandon Purcell, and the divorce-support app Divorce Post, saying he trusted them because their founders appeared to be motivated by passion rather than need. He recounted a story heard on Dads in Recovery of a father who got sober after an arrest without losing his family or job, contrasting it with the recovery culture of the 1990s, when people typically arrived in Alcoholics Anonymous after losing everything.
Mittiga recounted his own sobriety beginning in February 1994 with what he called a "burning bush" experience that removed his compulsion, followed by seven years of solitude, and his later entry into AA. He continued his series on guidance systems, describing how to write down "glass empty" fear-based voices, distinguishing guilt-based and shame-based voices, and sharing them with a fellow traveler rather than a partner. He also discussed his practice of "sacred silence," the podcast's growth, his goal of reaching 100 million people, and plans to fund his nonprofit Project Smile, which supports caregivers of orphans in Uganda.
He closed with a story about his 19-year-old son being the designated driver among friends, which he presented as evidence that his own recovery had changed the next generation.
Chapters
- 0:27
Chasing success versus finding meaning
Mittiga reads his introduction arguing that external achievement cannot provide the meaning and inner abundance he was truly seeking.
- 6:30
Recording early to share Dads in Recovery
Mittiga explains he recorded ahead of schedule to promote the Dads in Recovery podcast and previews the guidance-system series.
- 9:51
Podcast growth and humanity waking up
Mittiga describes the WE Podcast's international rankings and his belief that humanity is collectively awakening, including his view on outgrowing partners and Divorce Post.
- 15:44
Sacred silence and discovering Cliff McDonald
Mittiga describes his practice of sacred silence while working puzzles and how he found Dads in Recovery through LinkedIn.
- 21:43
Defining purpose and the first conscious thought
Mittiga defines purpose as growing into the grandest self and urges listeners to identify when their spiritual path began.
- 28:17
Internal abundance and the 30-day question
Mittiga argues external rewards do not create inner abundance and challenges listeners on drinking and marijuana use as numbing feelings.
- 32:16
Mittiga's sobriety story
Mittiga recounts his 1994 awakening, burning-bush experience, seven years of solitude, and eventual entry into AA.
Linked moment · 37:05Skip to 37:05 using a listen link in the info box.
37:05How recovery has changed
Using a story from Dads in Recovery, Mittiga contrasts today's earlier interventions and online support with recovery culture 30 years ago.
- 43:06
Giving back, keynotes and Project Smile
Mittiga discusses speaking plans, the podcast's audience goals, income from books, and funding Ugandan caregivers through Project Smile.
- 55:54
From glass-empty to glass-full voices
Mittiga explains writing down fear-based voices, distinguishing guilt and shame voices, and sharing them with a fellow traveler.
- 1:02:35
The driver, not the drinker
Mittiga closes with his son being the designated driver, framing it as the priceless result of his recovery and generational change.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga predicts that divorces from partners outgrowing each other spiritually will increase over the next decade.
“if your partner's not growing emotionally, spiritually, like you are, the likelihood of your paths staying together is less and less”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga describes sacred silence as sitting without outside stimulus, observing thoughts and listening for the quieter voice of a higher power.
“You sit with you, observe your thoughts and then listen for a quieter voice. And that quieter voice is your higher power”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga recommends Dads in Recovery, arguing its creators act from higher purpose because they do it despite full-time jobs and families.
“the last thing in the world these men need to be doing after their full-time jobs and everything I just mentioned is a new thing”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga defines purpose as living and growing into the grandest version of oneself, and identifies higher purpose with serving others.
“is to live and grow and shift and heal expand and live as a grant the grandest you possible that's your purpose”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga argues that the belief that more external success will create inner well-being is false.
“if my external world has more money, has more success, has more rewards, has the perfect wife, blah, blah, blah, then I'll internally feel better. It's a falsehood”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga says internal abundance comes from awareness, awakening and living it.
“Internal abundance comes from awareness and awakening and then living it”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga argues that alcohol and marijuana numb the feelings through which people experience love and a higher power.
“Well, where is love? In your heart. How do you experience love? Through your feelings. What happens when you drink? Oh, that's right. We numb our feelings”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga recounts that his addiction compulsion was removed in a single spiritual experience and he stayed dry for 15 to 16 months before attending AA.
“A tear comes down my face and all compulsion is gone. I didn't walk into an AA meeting for 15, 16 months later”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga says that 30 years ago most people entering AA had lost everything, unlike many people getting sober today.
“the people that actually came in there were people that had lost everything. People on the eighth DUI, people that lost their jobs”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga argues that with online support, emotional and spiritual growth that took him months can now happen in weeks.
“the emotional growth and spiritual expanding that took me months and months and months people can do now in two weeks three weeks four weeks”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga predicts the WE Podcast will grow to 100 million downloads a month over the coming years.
“What do you think it's going to be in three years, five years, 10 years? It's going to be up to 100 million downloads a month”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga says most money earned from the WE Podcast will fund Project Smile's Ugandan orphan caregivers.
“So most of the money I make here at the week podcast will be going to fund that”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga advises writing down fear-based glass-empty voices, likening it to the 12-step first step.
“You write down the glass, empty voices for you. 12 steppers out there. That's called a first step”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga distinguishes 'he/she' voices as guilt projections rooted in abandonment and 'I' voices as shame rooted in neglect.
“Guilt voices were created from abandonment. Shame voices were created from neglect, all based in the inner child stuff”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga says people should share their written voices with a knowledgeable fellow traveler rather than with their partner.
“it's not your partner's job folks. to hear your dump. It's not. Your partner gets your overflow”
- Joe Mittiga
Mittiga describes his son being the designated driver rather than a drinker as the priceless result of his own recovery.
“My son Joseph is the driver, not the drinker. I was the drinker. And because of me living the generation of change, he's not”
People
In the conversation
- Joe MittigaHost of the WE Podcast, author of Filling the Void, and recovering alcoholic who speaks on emotional and spiritual growth
Discussed
- Cliff McDonaldRecovery.com executive and co-creator of the Dads in Recovery podcast
- Brandon PurcellCo-creator of the Dads in Recovery podcast
Topics
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From the publisher
What if everything you've been chasing isn't what you truly need to feel fulfilled? In this episode of the WE Podcast, host Joe Mittiga shares his personal journey of spending years pursuing success, money, recognition, and achievement, only to discover that what he really wanted was meaning, purpose, and inner peace. Drawing from more than three decades of sobriety, emotional healing, and spiritual awakening, Joe explores why true abundance comes from within, not from external accomplishment...
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 23, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.