
My Wakeup Call with Dr. Mark Goulston
I’m Dr. Mark Goulston, and this is My Wakeup Call. Everybody has personal wakeup calls, but not everybody wakes up. In this podcast, we speak to people who did. In fact, they not only woke up, but their wakeup calls changed their lives, often helped them discover their purpose and then changed how they would spend the rest of their life. In most cases, the wakeup call was not pleasant, sought-after, and often shook people to the core of their being. But in every case, it made our guests more authentic, better at life, better in life and better human beings. I hope you will listen in and become as inspired as I am from every episode. I also hope it will help you persevere if you are going through a wakeup call and haven’t yet gotten through the pain of it, or landed in your future as the better person you’re meant to be, with the better life that you’re meant to have.
DISCLAIMER: Any information or advice I give is purely based on my own experience. Comments made are as a coach- this is not medical or psychiatry advice. There is no guarantee as there are many variables that will impact outcomes. Everything stated should be taken as opinion.
Latest episodes

Aug 30, 2022 • 17min
Ep 384 - David Meltzer
In this episode I speak with David Meltzer, Co-Founder of Sports1 Marketing whose wakeup call was the suicide of one of his daughter's close friends and which caused him to pivot to a mission of empowering OVER 1 BILLION people to be happy! https://dmeltzer.com/ @Davidmeltzer

Aug 28, 2022 • 54min
Ep 383 - Dada Gunamuktananda
In this episode I speak with yogic monk and author of: "Consciousness: The Final Frontier," Dada Gunamuktananda whose wakeup call was dropping out of medical school to begin a lifelong journey to discover and experience consciousness and oneness with the cosmos. http://consciousfrontier.org

Aug 25, 2022 • 53min
Ep 382 - Judy Gaman
In this episode I speak with Judy Gaman, author of, "Love, Life and Lucille," and CEO of Executive Medicine of Texas whose through line has been always caring about people and making their lives better and whose wakeup call was realizing there's a better way to practice medicine that puts patients above red tape. https://www.judygaman.com/

Aug 23, 2022 • 30min
Ep 381 - Hugh McTavish
In this episode I speak with Minnesota Gubernatorial Candidate, Hugh McTavish, inventor of Jury Democracy whose wakeup call was seeing the damage done by the long term pandemic lockdown which has spawned more morbidity (1 in 5 teens feeling depressed and hopeless) than Covid. https://www.mctavish4mn.org/

Aug 21, 2022 • 35min
Ep 380 - Simon Leslie
In this episode I welcome back return guest, Simon Leslie, Founder and CEO of Ink Global and author of, "Equanimity: Diary of a CEO in Crsis," whose wakeup call was having his $150 million business supplying inflight magazines to most of the airlines go away in light of the pandemic when nobody want to touch contaminated magazines and how he survived that and turned it around. https://www.amazon.com/Equanimity-Diary-Crisis-Simon-Leslie/dp/1916105130/

4 snips
Aug 18, 2022 • 36min
Ep 379 - Chris Voss
In this episode I speak with Chris Voss, author of "Never Split the Difference," top Masterclass course instructor and CEO and Founder of the Black Swan Group whose through line has been always wanting to fix things and just figure out what works to improve any negotiations people have. https://www.blackswanltd.com/ and watch this episode on video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCBnToEl2cE

Aug 16, 2022 • 31min
Ep 378 - Stay Alive
In this episode I interview my partners in our suicide prevention documentary, "Stay Alive," including Golden Gate Bridge suicide attempt survivor, Kevin Hines; suicide prevention advocate and Japanese pop singer, Rayko; executive producer and co-creator, Frank Kilpatrick and co-creator/moderator, Mark Goulston. We share how suicide prevention has come to be so important to each of us and give tips to help people thinking of it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B09KDXDF36/

Aug 14, 2022 • 41min
Ep 377 - Christie Hunter Arscott
In this episode I speak with Christie Hunter Arscott, Rhodes Scholar and author of "Begin Boldly: How Women Can Reimagine Risk, Embrace Uncertainty, and Launch A Brilliant Career," whose wakeup call was having confidence when she was younger and losing it when she became a consultant for a big company in New York and her determination to get her courage back. https://christiehunterarscott.com/

Aug 11, 2022 • 49min
Ep 376 - Wendy Smith
In this episode I speak with Wendy Smith, co-author of "BOTH/AND THINKING: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems" and Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware whose through line and wakeup call was growing up in Montreal when there was so much political strife and seeing that as an opportunity to bring people together. https://lerner.udel.edu/faculty-staff-directory/wendy-smith/

6 snips
Aug 9, 2022 • 50min
Ep 375 - Michelle Segar
In this episode I speak with Michelle Segar, NIH-funded researcher at University of Michigan and author of, "The Joy Choice: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise," whose wakeup call was seeing how many people were failing to take care of themselves by following conventional - and wrong - wisdom. https://michellesegar.com/