Who Are You Becoming? The Question Achievement Can't Answer

Life gradually gives us identities - leader, parent, partner, executive, veteran, entrepreneur, high performer - but those roles don't necessarily tell us who we are. Marvin explores what happens when we're so focused on the next milestone that we never question the person we're becoming along the way, and why knowing yourself is essential to creating success that actually feels like your own.


Marvin has reinvented himself across dramatically different worlds: from a challenging childhood in Chicago to Green Beret, MBA graduate, Wall Street professional, entrepreneur and coach. Those transitions forced him to confront the difference between what you do and who you are - a distinction he now helps others explore when their old identity no longer fits where they're going.

About Marvin Mikle

Marvin Mikle, podcast guest

High Performance & Resilience Coach | Founder of Chaos Development

Green Beret Former U.S. Army Special Forces10+ years Army Special Forces service6 Special Forces deploymentsMBA MBA graduate, moved on to Wall Street

Marvin Mikle is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, performance coach and founder of Chaos Development whose life and career have been shaped by one question: How do you perform at a high level without losing yourself in the process?

Growing up amid instability in Chicago, Marvin learned to operate in chaos early. He went on to spend more than a decade in Army Special Forces, completing six deployments before being medically retired. He later earned his MBA and transitioned to Wall Street - moving from one intense, high-performance environment into another.

A period of profound personal loss, combined with his own experience of burnout, eventually forced Marvin to confront something achievement had allowed him to avoid: being exceptionally good at pushing forward doesn't always mean you should.

That experience helped shape Chaos Development, his coaching practice for capable, driven people navigating pressure, uncertainty, burnout and major transitions. His work helps people step out of the noise, see what is actually happening and make clearer decisions without losing the ambition and drive that got them there.

Drawing on lessons from Special Forces, business, coaching and his own lived experience, Marvin brings a distinctive perspective to conversations about high performance, burnout, resilience, identity, flow, spirituality and personal development.

View profile →

Book Marvin Mikle for your show

Request an interview →