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One thing we all have in common as human beings, is the fact that life has its ups and downs. Emotional struggle is part of life—no one is spared. Whether it’s circumstantial challenges like losing a job, arguing with your partner, or worrying about a tax audit, life can often pound us with challenges. But sometimes, it’s not life challenges that hammer us, it’s our self-imposed challenges instigated by projections of insecurity or pessimism.  In this Self-Coaching episode, I offer a visual that can help you understand the wave-nature of struggle. When caught up in one of life’s “waves,” —whether externally imposed or internally generated by insecurity— it’s not only important for you to know how to get through each struggle, but how to extend the serene life that exists in between the ‘waves’ of emotional chaos. I offer four Self-Coaching suggestions that will help you, not only handle life’s inevitable challenges, but also how not to create “false waves” of suffering that contribute to anxiety and depression.

Intuitively, we all have a sense of what’s normal and what isn’t. For example, if all of a sudden you feel your tooth aching, you certainly would feel that’s not normal—something’s wrong (abnormal). Same criteria can be applied to psychological disturbances. If, inexplicably, you begin to feel anxious and depressed, you would feel somethings wrong—not normal. Bottom line: emotional suffering is not normal In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore this concept of normalcy by describing psychological disturbances as occurring on a continuum ranging from mild to moderate, to severe symptoms. Understanding how emotional struggle can progress helps us understand the need for not reinforcing the habits of insecurity that underlie neurotic struggle. Once you understand what perpetuates your struggles, you’ll be in a position to “unlearn” that in you which has become neurotic.

Ruminative, worrisome thinking can lead to emotional friction, unwanted stress, anxiety, and depression. In this Self-Coaching episode, I discuss a simple ABC technique that will teach you to liberate yourself and your life from the burden of worry and stress.

In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore the emotional triggers and ingrained behaviors driving overindulgence. You can begin to retrain your brain, along with simple self-coaching techniques proven to break self-sabotaging cravings, compulsions, and emotional eating. These strategies will turn healthy eating into an effortless process of ongoing weight mastery. You’ll learn about the 3 enemies of weight loss: adverse circumstances; harmful emotions; destructive habits

Whether you have chronic or occasional difficulty falling asleep, it’s important to understand why falling asleep and staying asleep can become…well, a nightmare in itself. Have you ever wondered why our thoughts at night seem to come unhinged? Whether it’s fears, worries, or what-if thinking, nighttime can leave us feeling defenseless and victimized by our own thoughts. In this Self-Coaching episode learn how to quiet your mind, turn off stressful thoughts, and allow peaceful, restful sleep to find you. And what about dreams? Should we pay attention to our dreams and if so, how can we make sense of the messages dreams may have for us? Let me suggest a simple format for interpreting dreams that will allow you to profit from them in your daily life.

I believe it was Pascal who said that there is one true love and a thousand different copies. In this Self-Coaching episode, I attempt to explain the different manifestations of love while doing my best to get to what we call true love. And yes, I believe that true love isn’t a myth. It helps to think of love as an evolutionary engineered progression that begins with a hormonal, carnal desire we often refer to as lust, which can progress to what is often called romantic, infatuated love and eventually, if you are fortunate enough, winds up with committed, life-long love. Join me during this Valentine week to explore the psychology as well as the chemistry as to why human beings were designed to fall in love.

In this Self-Coaching episode, I introduce the notion that emotional suffering stems from psychological immaturity, preventing us from living up to our full potential. I realize this may feel insulting, especially if you suffer from anxiety or depression, however, I’m not talking about someone who acts immature, I’m specifically referring to someone whose psychological resources has been thwarted by regressive habits of insecurity. My contention is that emotional “maturity” requires that we transcend the strangle hold that insecurity has on our emotional evolution. The habits of insecurity, which were acquired during our developmental years, have inadvertently prevented us from developing adequate self-confidence and self-trust. Instead of emotionally maturing and handling life from a place of strength, we become reliant on defensive strategies of control. And that’s the rub! We’ve learned to use controlling strategies to handle life rather than by developing our own, innate, capacity for self-empowerment.

Are we hardwired to stimulate our brains? Think about it…do you ever just do nothing? If we’re not watching TV or paying bills, we’re either texting or eating…we’re always doing something. And doing something is more pleasing to the brain than doing nothing. The reason behind this is because of a neurotransmitter in our brain called dopamine. Dopamine is the ‘feel good’ chemical that creates reward-seeking habit loops in our brains causing us to repeat pleasurable behavior. In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore the ups and downs of our technical world of computers, TVs, and smart phones, delivering to us an ongoing source of dopamine release. But, is this a good thing?

If you’re human, you’ve experienced fear. As a protective mechanism, fear has been pivotal to our evolutional survival. In our everyday world, the stakes are much lower, it’s not so much about survival from physical harm, but more about our emotional, “what-if” concerns and anxieties. But what if these emotional anticipations are, in fact, reality based, like getting fired, sued, audited, or finding out that your spouse is cheating on you? Although these aren’t actual survival threats, they are valid, and our psyche doesn’t know the difference. In this Self-Coaching episode, I try to establish that fear, legitimate or neurotic, has a basis in insecurity. By understanding the actual source—that which fuels our fear—we can begin to implement a Self-Coaching strategy to alleviate needless, ruminative fear and anxiety in our lives. We will never eliminate the instinctual fear response (nor should we ever want to), but at the very least, we can eliminate neurotic fears and restrain the fears connected to life’s more legitimate threats.

Anyone growing up knows the pain of not being picked for a game of kick ball. It really is no different when you find out you weren’t invited to a wedding or when you didn’t land that job…you feel rejected! And rejection is painful. In fact, the pain of rejection is processed in the same part of your brain that processes physical pain. A broken heart isn’t far removed from a broken arm when it comes to the brain. In this Self-Coaching episode, I discuss why some of us have such a hard time recovering from perceived rejection. No question about it, rejection really hurts. And if you happen to have a fragile ego, rejection can be a paralyzing experience. Join me as I discuss various strategies to fortify yourself from life’s inevitable rejections —warranted or unwarranted.

Clearly, situational challenges can cause stress and friction—losing a job, the loss of a loved one. It's important to understand that circumstantial challenges are tethered specifically to a challenge or struggle, they are NOT self-induced. The question you need to ask is whether or not you're reacting to life—as it is—or to life contaminated by the doubt, fear, and negativity of the ‘Child Reflex’ or the guilt and expectations of living up to the internalized ‘Parent Reflex.' In this Self-Coaching episode, you will learn how to extricate yourself from the reflexive habits of the past that are preventing you from the real ‘you’—the uncontaminated, unsullied potential that resides within you.

It’s a fact, some people are just plain annoying. Right? But do you really know if you may inadvertently be annoying others? In this Self-Coaching episode join me as I explore what psychologists call affective presence. Essentially, affective presence refers to our ability to influence and affect people around us. Learn the tell-tale signs of when people might be finding it difficult to be with you. To become more effective—and less annoying—you’re going to have to learn to read the psychological tea leaves. And although it helps to read other’s body language and non-verbal clues, the real secret is learning how to engage others by being socially present and not distracted by insecurity or unconsciousness.

Are you tired of holding yourself back, dreading the challenges you face each day, tip-toeing through life fearful of making mistakes or being embarrassed? Rather than swimming in self-doubt and lack of confidence, this Self-Coaching episode will offer you a plan that will enable you to engage your innate resources without your usual hesitations and fears. You’re going to learn an important, life changing lesson from a very determined frog.

I hate getting a cold! There, I’ve said it. Yeah, I’m a bit of a baby especially comparing myself to my wife who is much more stoic and accepting of such viral inconveniences. In my defense, through the years I’ve grown more tolerant—well somewhat more tolerant. But, hey, at least I don’t complain any more. Join me in this Self-Coaching episode as I explore a few ways not to let the common cold keep you, as they say, under the weather.

In this Self-Coaching episode, I offer you a self-coached, self-directed path that will allow you to begin the process of liberating yourself from needless emotional struggle. Whether it’s anxiety, depression, anger management, or simply embracing a more productive life, if you’re willing to embrace just three Self-Coaching techniques then, I can almost guarantee that you will be on your way to ‘unlearning’ the habits of insecurity that have inadvertently been ruling and ruining your life. After listening to this podcast, you will have a format for change—liberated, self-directed change. Whether or not you implement and practice this format depends on your motivation to change. If you supply the motivation, Self-Coaching can show you the way.

In this Self-Coaching episode, I explore the nature of psychological maturity. Although psychological maturity is a relative concept, understanding the elements that go into enhancing and advancing your own personal maturity will serve to help you have less stress, more happiness, optimism and the quality of life you’ve been missing. You’ll be introduced to various strategies, such as becoming more flexible, responsible, resilient, and more emotionally balanced as you begin to self-coach your way toward relinquishing the reflexive insecurities that erode true maturity. Keep in mind that psychological immaturity will inevitably lead to emotional struggle and unhappiness.

I don’t know too many people who enjoy the approach of winter. I know even less people who loath the process of setting our clocks back to standard time—the dreaded end of daylight savings time! Aside from the abrupt disruption to our lives, schedules, and circadian rhythms, resetting our clocks twice a year has become a real pain in the keister. Join me in this Self-Coaching episode as I explore simple ways to make your transition to the darker days ahead less stressful. You might even want to employ ‘hygge,’ a strategy the Scandinavians, who endure months of total darkness, use.

In this Self-Coaching Halloween episode, I talk about the importance of embracing the transient nature of our lives. Paradoxically, we do this by becoming more present, embracing life more intimately without allowing ourselves to become contaminated by the abstract fears of change. Halloween, since it’s Celtic origins six hundred years ago, has been a celebration of the harvest and the winter to come. A time where we don masks and disguises to thumb our noses at life’s darker realities. Yet, it’s also a celebration that we are here! We are alive and we have the option to live life more courageously in the moment without anticipation of the ‘winter’ to come.

In this Self-Coaching episode join me as I explore your innate psychological tendency to actualize your true potential for a richer, more satisfying life. Like homeostasis, which is the body's way to maintain balance, your psyche can do the same--if you remove the impediments of insecurity. Whether it’s a shrink, a guru, a shaman, or a pill, at some point you need to realize that you are in the best position to heal yourself. Essentially, this episode will teach you to self-coach yourself from identification with impotence and frustration, toward an empowered step-by-step method geared to unleash your instinctive capacity to claim the life you deserve.

Einstein once said that God doesn’t play dice with the universe. I’m no Einstein, but when in comes to emotional struggle, well, in my humble, Self-Coaching opinion, God doesn’t play dice with our emotional survival. Translation: Whether it’s anxiety, depression, panic, or everyday emotional struggle, these problems don’t just happen, they aren’t random afflictions. Just as Einstein believed in the mathematical laws of nature, similarly, I feel that if you understand the “laws” of emotional struggle, you can understand, not only why you struggle, but what you can do to liberate yourself from needless emotional distress. And you can begin the process today!