PerfectWhelm with Eric Slivoskey: The Podcast That Helps Enhance Your Life

Join me in this episode as I take a walk back through one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century, Holocaust.  I am joined by a very strong woman who I have called a friend for more than 5 years now. Eva Schloss is the stepsister of Anne Frank, and a survivor of the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camps during World War 2. In this episode, we begin where Eva is 9 years old and living with her...

In today’s episode, I speak with professional basketball player Abby Beeman, who currently plays pro hoops in Iceland.  Abby was a dual sport all state athlete during her high school days at Frankfort High School in Ridgeley, West Virginia where she excelled at both basketball and track and field. We discuss Abby’s college playing career at Division 2 Shepherd University  and then later on in her...

My guest for this episode is Micah Beachy Gilkeson.  Micah is a storyteller, content creator, and marketing strategist passionate about authentic connection. She is the founder of M Creative Society , a boutique social media and content agency, and the voice behind Postcards from Micah , a lifestyle and travel brand that showcases hidden gems locally and globally. Micah’s work highlights a thought...

In today’s episode I am joined by Isabel Grueneich, a social advocate and graduate student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Field. Isabel and I discussed some of the larger social issues facing the world today and she shares her perspectives on the disconnect that often exists when our judgment of others overrides our sense of empathy and understanding for how an individual may have gotten...

Amanda Oster is my first ever Podcast guest interview, and I want to thank her for being a part of the show and sharing her thoughts, experiences, and some great stories with us. This interview kicks off this 8 episode series that I’ve named “Women In The World: Voices and Perspectives In Their Own Words.” This is Part 2 of my interview with Amanda. In this episode, she shares more about her exper...

Amanda Oster is my first ever Podcast guest interview, and I want to thank her for being a part of the show and sharing her thoughts, experiences, and some great stories with us. This interview kicks off this 8 episode series that I’ve named “Women In The World: Voices and Perspectives In Their Own Words.” In this episode, Amanda shares about her experiences with Community. Specifically, she dives...

Welcome to this truly exciting Preview Episode. In this chat, I will discuss my very first series of Guest Interviews. This kickoff to Guest Interviews will be centered on Women’s Perspectives, Voices, and Experiences In the World.  In fact, I’m calling the series “Women In the World: Voices & Perspectives In Their Own Words.” One of the intentional aims of the PerfectWhelm Podcast is to flip...

In this second part of my discussion on Contrarian Philosophies and Nonconventional Thinking, I delve into 3 more ideas associated with swimming upstream and challenging mainstream patterns. First, I dive into the principle that we should give what we need. This is counterintuitive for sure.  I discuss how giving first offers connection to others and ourselves. It offers a pathway for human flouri...

In this episode, I explore the first three of six principles that I will discuss on unconventional ideals and guidelines that don’t get neatly wrapped into mainstream thinking. The idea here is to consider some contrarian points of view.  A contrarian is someone who opposes or rejects popular opinion and reasons independently from the ground up… resisting the pressure to always conform. The first...

In my shortest episode to date, I talk about the intentional decision we can make to be more present in our lives. One of the most impactful ways to enrich our daily lives is to choose to be present with our circumstances, our thoughts, and our interactions with ourselves and others. When we allow ourselves to stay in the moment, it can help us reduce our human tendencies to be in a continual stat...

This is a story-form episode concerning the role that struggle and pain plays in personal growth. The setting is a classroom at the U.S. Army Academy of Health Sciences building on the grounds of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. It is the middle of July in 1991. I am one of 62 soldiers who meet for the final academic session of our 20 week training course in Behavioral Sciences. With one la...

In the third and final segment of this mini-series on Personal Resilience, I offer 6 specific tools and strategies for helping us when we face difficult times, challenging circumstances, and life altering traumatic events. The 6 strategies include: -         Discover your resources and ask for help -         Tune in to your situation & educate yourself  -         “Aim small, miss small” is all...

In this solo episode, I talk about 3 separate tragedies that showed up in my youth, significant events that all happened in the first ten years of my life.  I share how these situations laid the groundwork and a sort of foundation for me to cultivate a resilient mindset, even as my life was swirling with grief, deep loss, pain, fear, and uncertainty. Some of the early building blocks of resilience...

In this episode, I begin by using visual imagery to define the word resilience. The dictionary definition of resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties, and the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape. I discuss how important a role mindfulness plays when it comes to gaining a better understanding of how impactful resilience can be in our liv...

Today I talk about an experience I had while filming one of my early guest episodes this past week. I had what I would describe as a social anxiety panic attack. I experienced these reactions frequently in my teens and twenties, and although they became less common in the past 25 years or so… they can still appear without any notice. For me, the onset of one of these attacks has been closely relat...

Building and growing a business can be tough when dealing with the challenges of hiring great staff, promoting your products, and managing costs. Being profitable when people are stealing from you on a daily basis or when curious customers turn into scam artists who want to destroy your business makes it even tougher. In this episode of the podcast, I first share about how a busy and profitable ni...

Building and maintaining a business and working a side hustle can often be difficult. There is sometimes lots of hours and very little yield or pay for the efforts and energy expended. Promotions don’t always work, marketing strategies often misfire, and the sacrifices required to get the job done are often unrecognized and underestimated.  We must ask ourselves if we’re willing to make the necess...

What are some factors that lead someone down the path towards entrepreneurship? In this episode, I discuss the work culture in America and how it’s not set up to help us experience longevity, nor does it contribute to human flourishing. Many of us are working our whole lives and sacrificing tremendous parts of ourselves to make others’ dreams come true and to make large corporations even more prof...

What if you were to gain life altering clarity around the idea that overcoming your self-limiting beliefs is key factor in helping you to make significant progress towards your goals and become a better and more confident version of yourself? In this episode, I’ll share where self-limiting beliefs come from, and how they hold us back, and why they are so difficult to shake. Do you want to learn ho...

Models and Systems give us a structured way to create the results we seek. In this episode, I discuss what is perhaps the most logical and simplest Model that I’ve ever come across in the area of Personal Development. This framework is easy to understand and straightforward in terms of implementation. In this information packed discussion, I offer a deep dive into the Model including definitions o...

Real growth starts when you stop overthinking and start taking action, and that’s exactly what coaching can help you do. In this episode, I discuss how coaching empowers people to break free from limiting beliefs and take action toward meaningful goals. I walk through the GROW model, a powerful framework for setting goals, assessing where you are now, exploring options, and committing to a plan. P...

What if the only thing standing between you and success was your own beliefs? The way we see ourselves and the world around us shapes every decision we make, sometimes pushing us forward, sometimes holding us back. In this episode, we’re diving into the power of values and beliefs, why they matter, and how they quietly influence the direction of our lives. I’ll share the incredible story of a 61-y...

Are you feeling stuck, either drowning in overwhelm or bored in underwhelm? In the very first episode of PerfectWhelm, I dive into the concept of finding your perfectwhelm…that sweet spot where real growth happens. This idea was first introduced to me in 2018 when I noticed how easily we swing between burnout and stagnation. My friend and instructor, Chris Robertson, helped me realize we could fin...

Welcome to the PerfectWhelm podcast! I’m Eric Slivoskey—an educator, former pro football coach, writer, stand-up comedian, military veteran, and personal development coach. After traveling to all 50 states and more than 50 countries, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges people face and the universal desire to thrive. That’s why I created PerfectWhelm—to help you find the balance between underwhelm a...