
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

Sep 26, 2023 • 53min
Ep 554 - Scott Robertson
In this episode I speak with Scott Robertson, author of, "Just Stop It: Your Survival Guide to Marketing Myths, Mistakes and Misgivings," musician and long time successful marketing specialist who believes in serving and caring about his clients more than money and whose through line and wakeup calls have been his deep faith in God and Christianity. https://www.robertsoncomm.com/about-us/

Sep 22, 2023 • 1h 2min
Ep 553 - Beverly Parenti and Molly Kelly
In this interview I speak with Beverly Parenti, co-founder of The Last Mile (TLM) and Molly Kelly, returning citizen and now Partnerships Manager for TLM whose wakeup calls were seeing a way to dramatically reduce recidivism by training incarcerated individuals in technical skills that led to a job and most importantly led to self-worth and hope. And how appreciative vs. entitled these returning citizens felt made them wonderful hires. https://thelastmile.org/about/

Sep 19, 2023 • 52min
Ep 552 - Scott Osman, CEO, and Jacquelyn Lane
In this episode I speak with Scott Osman, CEO, and Jacquelyn Lane, President of the 100 Coaches Agency and co-authors along with Marshall Goldsmith of "Becoming Coachable: Unleashing the Power of Executive Coaching to Transform Your Leadership," and whose wakeup calls were realizing each of them were not coachable and how much value being coachable has been for them. https://amplifypublishinggroup.com/product/nonfiction/business-and-finance/leadership-and-management/becoming-coachable/

Sep 18, 2023 • 1h 7min
Ep 551 - Neil Cannon
In this episode I speak with Neil Cannon, bestselling author of "The Vitality Secret" and recent book, "The Vitality Code," authority in holistic health, vitality coach, podcast host, and speaker. Since 2015, Neil has been helping people become free from illness, pain and medication by balancing their bodies across the physical, mental, emotional and energetic “Pillars of Vitality” and whose wakeup call was the stroke of his father which could have been presented and his lifelong battle with eczema and how traditional medicine made it worse. https://vitalitysecret.com/

Sep 15, 2023 • 53min
Ep 550 - Quint Studer
In this episode I speak with Quint Studer, healthcare leader, teacher, coach, luminary, author of many books, most recently, "Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired, co-founder Healthcare Plus Solutions Group (HPSG), who overflows with compassion and kindness and whose throughline has been caring about healthcare workers so that they will care more about their patients and take better care of themselves. https://www.quintstuder.com/

Sep 13, 2023 • 58min
Ep 549 - Nina Szewczak
In this episode I speak with Nina Szewczak, a transformational change agent whose wakeup call was not realizing how much her childhood affected her and realizing that she had to unlearn what she had learned that wasn't true. https://themidliferevolution.com/

Sep 11, 2023 • 59min
Ep 548 - Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown
In this episode I speak to Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown , author of, "The Souls of Queer Folk: How Understanding LGBTQ+ Culture Can Transform Your Leadership Practice," Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Pneumos LLC, co-founder of MetaPrinciple™ and co-developer of Global Inclusion Praxis Model, whose wakeup call was being so loved and supported by his family that he could take on the challenges of being Black and LGBTQ as he navigated his way through life. https://www.pneumos.com/our-founder/

Sep 8, 2023 • 1h 2min
Ep 547 - Mark Matousek
In this episode I speak with Mark Matousek, speaker, author or eight books including his most recent book, "Lessons From an American Stoic: How Emerson Can Change Your Life," founder of, The Seekers Forum, whose wakeup call was coming from a traumatic and violent background and his seeking to understand what was going on the world that was much larger than his life which sent him on a lifelong journey of seeking. https://markmatousek.com/

Sep 6, 2023 • 48min
Ep 546 - Dennis S. Charney, MD and Jonathan M. DePierro, PhD
In this episode I speak with Dennis S. Charney, MD, Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine and President for Academic Affairs for the Mount Sinai Health System and Jonathan M. DePierro, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Associate Director of Mount Sinai’s Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth. They are the co-authors of "Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges, third edition," dedicated to their late third author, Steven M. Southwick, M.D., which is possibly the definitive book on the topic. Their wakeup calls came from violent traumas they each suffered and tested their resilience. https://www.amazon.com/Resilience-Science-Mastering-Greatest-Challenges/dp/1009299743/

Sep 4, 2023 • 54min
Ep 545 - Shannon Walker
In this episode I interview Shannon Walker, CEO and Founder of Northwest Battle Buddies, a non-profit organization on a mission to end suicide among our nation's military Veterans struggling with PTSD that currently has a 100% success rate and whose wakeup call was honoring her late father who served in the military and was her hero. https://northwestbattlebuddies.org/
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