Engineering Emotions and Energy with Justin Wenck, Ph.D.

Can gratitude and grief go together? I recently celebrated my birthday and was so grateful for all the people that helped me celebrate and the great experiences I treated myself to.  I also experienced the grief of celebrating my first birthday since my mom passed away. One of the things she used to always do on my birthday was to always sing me happy birthday, even if it was just as part of a voi...

Are you concerned about layoffs or the economy? My company just announced that they're planning layoffs. This is not the time to worry, this is the time to be prepared. It's time to go beyond the standard resume refresh and take it to the next level.  It's time to have your Ultimate Life Resume.  Often we think we're starting with so little that we fear losing what little we ha...

The effort to avoid being a disappointment is what sets you up for becoming a disappointment. Either to yourself or someone you care about. On this episode I'll be talking about the antidote to creating disappointment: vulnerability.  When you accept yourself fully, your strengths, weaknesses, desires, fears, all of your wonderful you and then express that openly then the path to disappointme...

Even though time is something we all get the exact same amount of each and every day, how come some people seem to have time to have so much impact and enjoy themselves while maybe it feels like your continuously short on time? What kind of Lumberjack do you want to be?   Now this may seem like an odd question, because maybe you don't even want to be a lumberjack, but I used to love watching...

Do you or someone you know often feel exhausted either emotionally, mentally, or even physically? Then this could be a case of burnout, which, according to Psychology Today , is more than just work too much or too long. It's also associated with not having control with how a job is carried out or having to complete tasks that conflict with a sense of self.  How to overcome burnout? That'...

You were 100% right…there's nothing you could have done differently, it's all on them….right! Right?  Did you check the game tape? That means review what happened with someone on your team and see all the moves that happened from different angles, different speeds, maybe even going frame by frame to see your part fully.  I just did this with my therapist to break down a text exchange wit...

I'm Publishing a Book!  I'm not thinking about it, it's been thought about. I'm not writing it, it's been written.  It's coming THIS YEAR and it's called:   Engineered to Love: Going Beyond Success to Fulfillment Using Practical Tools to Relax, Recharge, and Reconnect  My dream is that this book can help more people actually enjoy and love their life instead of f...

You can absolutely ignore your body! I did it for decades and got the benefits of pain, tightness, excess body fat, depression, anxiety…and these are just the benefits I experienced. Other people get even more benefit.  I have been playing around with paying attention to my body and it's definitely been strange in comparison….  This past weekend it was storming like crazy. With the wind and r...

Do you ever struggle to eat in a healthy way on a consistent basis?  Have you ever considered it's just the best strategy you have to handle what's happened in your life so far?  If you're ready to go beyond the what and how of eating, to the "Why" and how to work with it, then this latest episode is a must listen. My guest Jared Levenson and myself talk about eating in th...

What are the new things you want accomplish or change with this new year? Do you actually want to achieve them? Or just dream them? If you truly want to make your dream a reality then there's an important first step: Take your foot off the brakes! Just like having your foot on the brake of your car will make it really hard to get to wherever you want to go, there are verbal "brakes"...

If I had to sum up 2022 with one word it would be "Loss"  In addition to my mom who passed suddenly in August, I lost the relationship with my father. There's numerous friendships that have ended in either friction filled fights or just by disconnect. I've lost in romance with the finalization of my divorce, the breakup with a girlfriend at the beginning of the year, and the re...

What are the parts of yourself that you avoid, judge, or even downright hate? These can be considered our shadows, and when we avoid them they seem large and overwhelming. In the latest episode we shine a light on this topic which makes it all more workable.  My guest to explore this topic is Mariana Eguiarte. She's a bonding Counselor who works with water, emotions, the inner child, Chi Nei...

Would you enjoy getting gum tissue surgery? Even in Cancun, Mexico? Probably not. This might not be something you'll ever have to go through, but we all have things in life that we'd rather avoid, but I'm going to share some tips on how these types of experiences can be as enjoyable as possible using the Relax, Recharge, and Reconnect lens.  Relax - I knew I had to have this surgery...

How are you with going into the unknown parts of your life?  What if that unknown was a literal bat cave?  At a recent retreat the center I stayed at had a cenote, which is a freshwater underground pool connected by caves and below ground rivers. This cave had a part that was completely open to the air, but then towards the back was an area that you had to go below the water and come up into an en...

Thanks for Giving to Yourself (From Mexico) This Thanksgiving, did you have a chance to give thanks? Whether you did or not, I'm guessing you likely forgot to give thanks to one very special person: Yourself.  Without "You", you wouldn't be here today. There are so many things to you can thank yourself for:  Your Body for keeping you alive with pumping your heart, breathing you...

Loving Change with Abe Sharma How do you feel about "change"? That time in life when you start living in a ways that's different than your normal. Do you love change? Whether you love change or hate it, you'll get a lot of insights and great stories on how to roll with and enjoy change with today's guest, Abe Sharma. Abe is the author of " Shake The Cosmos Vision Acce...

Appreciating AND Asking for More Do you want more out of life because you don't like where you are? Or do you not dare to ask for more out of life because you appreciate what you have?  What if you appreciated where you came from, what you have, AND asked for even more?  I recently had a chance to go back to Folsom, CA where I lived for over a decade before moving to the coast in the bay area...

Stop Hiding, Show Up, and Love Yourself How easily do you express yourself? Would dress up however you like? Even on Halloween? Halloween is a time of year when we're invited to dress up in ways we wouldn't the other 364 days of the year.  In the past, even on Halloween, I'd usually be holding back. Worried about how others would perceive me.  This year was different: I went full ou...

Talking Body Image BEFORE the holidays!!!??? It's crazy! This is supposed to be a January 1st topic. I don't do things like everyone else, and I'm guessing you don't want to either. Let's talk game plan so that you can have fun AND feel great through the holidays. Today I talk with Jacqui Grant , Owner and Founder at Break Free Consultancy. We talk about how your thoughts,...

My father will hate this episode. I'm releasing it anyway and I do not apologize. I did not sign a lifetime contract of obedience to do what he says, when he wants it, and how he wants. And neither did you. We came here to live a unique life, different than any other who had come before or who will come after. That means that we will be different than our parents, and different than the socie...

How to Share Your Voice (Via Podcast) Do you have information, a skill, or insights that could change the world for the better? Even if it just helps one person, it completely impacts that person's world, which impacts all of us. We all have unique gifts to give, are you currently sharing yours?  If not, what's been holding you back? Sometimes it's that we don't know what to sh...

***The Passing of My Mom - The Power of The Moment***  Her hand was cold, not quiet like ice, but like stainless steel in chilly room. As I touched the hand of my deceased mother it was clear that her life force was gone, and it also really hit me that I would never, ever in my lifetime experience a moment like this ever again. Because in a couple day's my mother's body would be cremated...

***Quiet Quitting or Inflation Adjusted Effort***  How much of your life are you willing to trade for money?  The Great Resignation has morphed into Quiet Quitting or Inflation Adjusted Effort. Instead of just telling the boss "Take this job and shove it" one simply lowers the amount of effort or hours put in. I saw this article on CNBC where Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank says it&ap...

"Home" - What comes to mind when you see that word?  Safety, comfort, ease? Challenge, anxiety, shame? Or a mix?  Last week I visited my former Adult home in Folsom, CA for the first time in 9 months and it was definitely a mix. There are some old friends that I loved getting to see and it's great to know where I can go for just about anything, but then there's also the reminde...

***Make Your "Work" Worth It***  Unless you value hard work regardless of the fruit that it bears (which is a value I'd advising dropping), how do you know if your "Work" is worth it?  Like an investment of money, the expenditure of Physical, Mental, Emotional, or other types of effort are investments of our precious time and energy. When we invest money, we'd like to...