Conscious Change vs. Unconscious Drift

You’re changing—whether you want to or not.

The real question is: Are you directing the change, or just getting dragged along for the ride?

In this episode, Justin Wenck, PhD, breaks down the difference between unconscious change (which leads to frustration, limitation, and repetition)… and conscious change (which leads to growth, possibility, and enjoyment).

You’ll explore how to identify the changes you actually want, how to stop focusing on what you’re running from, and how to become the active creator of the next version of your life.

🌟 Key Points & Takeaways

• 🔄 Change is constant—but how you change is up to you.
• 🚫 Why “I don’t want this” keeps you stuck exactly where you are.
• 🎯 The importance of choosing a destination instead of “not here.”
• ✈️ How travel mirrors the personal transformation journey (and why the best outcomes are often surprises).
• 💥 Why unconscious change creates limitation, fear, and stagnation.
• 🧭 How conscious change opens new beliefs, identities, and possibilities.
• ✨ The hidden desires underneath your “problems” 
• ⚙️ Practical tools for conscious change—from Engineer to Love, from LEAP, and from Justin’s upcoming events.

✨ Experience the LEAP Practice → JustinWenck.com/LEAP

Join the waitlist or check for an upcoming live experience.

📘 Grab Justin’s Book: Engineered to Love: Going Beyond Success to Fulfillment

(Perfect for exploring identity, belief shifts, and conscious change.)

💬 Share your biggest insight:

Tag or DM @JustinWenckPhD on Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

🎧 Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts—your support helps the message reach more people who need it.

Watch the full video episode at Justin Wenck, Ph.D. YouTube Channel!

Check out my best-selling book "Engineered to Love: Going Beyond Success to Fulfillment" also available on Audiobook on all streaming platforms! Go to https://www.engineeredtolove.com/ to learn more!

Got a question or comment about the show? E-mail me at podcast@justinwenck.com.

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Transcript

Justin Wenck: 0:00

Today we're talking about change. Now there's often the saying that the only constant in life is change. And I think I want to add to that and say that, yes, change is constant. How you change is your choice. Now you're trying to stay the same. Then basically you're turning that choice over someone else, or some other ideas of how the change needs to be, how the change is going to happen. So the real choice when it comes to change is, are you going to change consciously or unconsciously? So that is what we're going to be dipping into on today's show. Are you ready to live a life with enough time, money and energy, have relationships and connections that delight you. Are you ready for the extraordinary life you know you've been missing? If so, then this is the place for you. I'm a best selling author, coach, consultant and speaker who's worked in technology for over two decades. I'm a leader at transforming people and organizations from operating in fear, obligation and guilt to running off joy, ease and love. It's time for engineering emotions and energy with me. Justin Wenck, PhD, do want to, like talk about some really cool updates and fun things that have been going on. Some changes for me. I've gotten a chance to do a couple couple events. If you caught the last episode where we were talking about self sustainability, for global sustainability, I got a chance to give a talk on that topic, live to a group of people in the bay area here a couple weeks ago, it was a really great to get to speak to people and connect and share with them some ideas and ways of thinking about global sustainability that they really, many people hadn't thought of before. And I think, you know, it's one of these things like, really it is from the inside out, is how our world kind of comes out where we kind of look, oh, what can I do? And it's more about internally, then things just start to really shift, or the shifts make more sense and are more likely to happen outside of us. And at the worst case, you're at least enjoying your life while you're making whatever the changes to the outside world you were going to do anyway. So that was really cool. And the other thing was on the day after Thanksgiving, which is traditionally called Black Friday, which I wanted to become known as light Friday, where we just do things that light us all up, or create a lot of lightness and levity and joy and all these other great things that aren't about. Oh, I gotta try to save money, or I gotta try to get something, or I need to consume, or I need to get away from the people that I was forced to be around with the day before, whatever it is, like, it should be a day of like, Joy. And this is great to help contribute to that. I did a an event over zoom called the four level recharge, which was really, really incredible. In just 30 minutes, took people through my life energy activation process. And was really cool was we had some people that I've, I've taught this to, you know, long time ago, some more recently than some other people. They've they've never even heard of this experience this they just were like, Hey, I just want to, I just want a little bit of a break on Black Friday from all the madness going on with, you know, the holiday and all that other stuff. They didn't even know what they're going to experience. And so I took them through my life energy activation process or LEAP, and they had such an amazing experience. They felt calm, they felt grounded, they felt at peace afterwards. So it was just really awesome to get to do that. And part of why I'm sharing this is because some of this has to do with being able to consciously change, because a lot of times we don't even necessarily know where it is we want to go, let alone how to get there. And part of this is figuring out where you want to go, because so often, many of us are fixated on trying to just get away from where we are, but the more we're fixated on not being here. The focus still is here, and we get more here. And when you want to go there, you got to know where there is so you can start to get on the journey. Like today, I purchased the return ticket the last part of, like, a really big trip that I'm planning next year. So we're going to be going to South America, going to be going to Europe as well, and so booked, basically all the other flights and transportation parts, hotels are booked and all this stuff. Still going to figure out what to do at each of these locations. And. So it's part of the fun. And one of the things that I now, I now trust and kind of let go a lot of, is like, you know, yeah, maybe there's some things I want to figure out before I show up, but a lot of things I can just decide and get into once, once I'm somewhere, I don't have to hyper plan everything. Like, trust me, if you would have seen the first big trip I took after I started working. It was ridiculous, the spreadsheet I had and all the plans and just every, just about every minute of every day, almost hyper planned. And now it's a lot less like that. And I feel like this is like a really good metaphor for life, because I've been on many trips, and maybe you've been on trips, and one of the things is, often, what gets us to go on the trip is one thing, and what we end up getting as a result of going on the trip is often so much more, because it's, you know, if it's a tropical trip, maybe it's just like, oh, I want some sunshine, and I want some some cool Drinks and time and some nice water. Yet, there's more part of it is you're getting that more relaxed culture, right? And maybe there's going to be some hiccups and things like that that don't go your way, and so learning to deal with that while still enjoying things. So there's ends up being all of these things that come along with the journey that gets you to where you want to be, but there's a little bit of like, where is it you want to be and what's going to make it worth you starting the trip right? So we're not just talking about, you know, going to South America or going to Europe. We're talking about what's going to let you become the person you really, really want to be, is the person that's having the relationships, the friendships that you really want to have, that's having the impact in the world, that's having the adventures, that's having the the abundance, the comforts, the physical health. So there's, there's, you know, what is it that's going to get you to maybe take those steps, and you don't even necessarily know what all you're going to get. And so it's important to note that, you know that, that I don't want to be here, which is like, Okay, I want something to change. But again, it's, it's, it's a clue as to figuring out where you want to go. You know, it's like, oh, I don't want to be here in Northern California the entire winter. That's, that's my, that's my, oh, this is something I don't want yet. There's no knot here that doesn't exist, that it's, I got to pick a place. And sometimes it's okay to just pick a place, like I've recently been having some issues with with my elbow, where I've had a lot of pain and my elbow. And it's like, yeah, I don't want my elbow to hurt, but what is it I really want? And it's like, you know, I have a lot of people to help me, you know, I've got massage therapists, acupuncturists, Chiro network, spinal chiropractic. And it's like, you know, I'm having this and I want to, like, you know, work it out. And even went to a, you know, medical doctor and and they finally got a referral to person called an osteopath, which somebody had never gone to before. And it's like, Ah, this person told me a completely different way of thinking about how my body moves, relaxes and eases with different movements and shifts and things like that. And it's like, Oh, that's really what I was wanting, was a better understanding of how my my body and my nervous system function, so that I can be part of allowing the pain in my elbow to go away, right? So there's, there can be these things that come up, and it's like, it's an invitation for you to consider what more you want out of your life. So that's part of what happens when you start to change consciously. Because when you're changing unconsciously, when you're just like, I just want thing to go away, then there's probably something deeper you want that you're not getting, and then you're just masking the don't want, right? Like, it's like, if you just take pain medication or you just stop doing movements that do that, like you're being more limited. You're changing, you're changing, but not in a way that you truly desire. You're changing in ways that your external environment is causing you to change, and this is coming from unconscious beliefs, identities, energetics, things like that. And when you can start to make these unconscious these unknowns known, and you can start to kind of go, Oh, what is it I want? And again, it might not be something that you necessarily know before you're going to start the trip, start the journey, like I was just willing to try something different. When it came to my elbow, I didn't know. Know that, whoa, I really just want this different relationship with my body and my nervous system, and how, how my my body moves, relaxes and forms physical habits. You know, it's like one of those things, like, I know way about mental habits, but I don't think I really have this deep and fundamental understanding of the physical habits that our body can have and how we allow and how our body allows ourselves to move and relax and tense and ease and those things and some of those, like, on some level, I knew I wanted that. But if somebody said, like, Hey, do you want this? I would have been like, I don't think so. I don't think, I don't think I want that, which is kind of like when I'm doing one of my offerings, it's like nobody, nobody wants the life energy activation process. Nobody wants that. But that is the thing that's going to allow them to get what they want, which is feeling calm, feeling connected, feeling grounded, feeling a different sense of energetic connection to themselves and this surrounding environment and possibly beyond. And so there's a little bit of when you're trying to become conscious, becoming open to just trying some different things, and seeing what, what maybe is, is this next step on this journey, on this travel into becoming someone who consciously creates and changes your world, instead of being in the passenger seat, being passively changed by The world around you, which really is still it's you, but it's you, and all of your beliefs, your energetics, your identity, your structures that got put on you when you were weren't conscious, and they've been conscious, been unconscious, until you allow them to become conscious, and then you can change them. That I think is, like, a really cool thing, especially this time of year when it's about, okay, maybe what do I want for some of these holidays, where you can ask for something you want, or maybe you're going to give something, or there's like, options of how to spend your time. And then there's the new year, and it's like, oh, what do I want to do? How do I want to be? How do I want to change so it really is. It's an invitation to look at these parts of your life that are like, Hmm, this isn't working. I want this different, but not focusing on just saying I don't want this, but like, oh, what's something I could go towards? What's something I could bring in and starting to allow that to go, Oh, okay. Well, what comes up for me when I say, like, I want to go on a trip for several months, or I want to, I want to move to a different place, right? Like, Oh, what if? Yeah, yeah. What's that like? If everything just worked, and I had somebody great to, you know, do the maintenance, and they were on top of everything, like, what, what is? What does that bring up? I might, might bring up some senses of a belief about yourself, what you deserve, what it takes, and how big of a hassle that is, or how easy that is, all these things. That's where the real journey is. That's where the real shift, the real change, happens. And there's lots of ways to do this change. You know, there's there's things I have in my book, engineer to love, going beyond success to fulfillment. There's the LEAP practice that I that I teach, that's very potent. It just takes five minutes to practice. I recently just taught it over zoom in 30 minutes. So it's one of those things, like, if you missed it, you know, definitely make sure you let me know that you want to do do this again. Or we can set up something one on one, or get a small group, because I'm starting to, you know, look at booking out future things like that. Really excited, because people just loving the amount of peace, clarity, connection they get. Yeah, and soon, going to have some opportunities to teach them, some teams at some some big companies. So love it. If you know you're interested. Definitely, definitely, let me go, no, because I want you to change the way you want to change the way that is good for you, because I know you're going to do good stuff for you, the people around you and your world is which is our world. And change doesn't have to be scary. Change doesn't have to be awful. Change can be simple. Change will require some effort. It will require going through some experiences. Yet, part of the change can be changing all that to be a good thing, and if that's all you get out of it. Isn't that? What more could you want? Because then everything becomes possible when going through change becomes enjoyable, and something that's fun and something that you're in the driver's seat on again, you know it's like just, just because you're in driver's seat doesn't mean it's always smooth sailing. Yet, that's part of the fun, part of the adventure of going out sailing, flying, whatever is, is like, oh, gotta pay attention, because something might happen. And really, that's the spice, the spice, the spice of life. So I think that's about, that's about all I got for this episode. I really do hope that you're enjoying the winding down in this year and the winding up of the rest of your life, whenever, wherever you're listening to this. Because really now is the time to start the changes that you want to make, and to start being curious about what it is you really want, how you want to get there, and figuring out who you might get to become, and start, in some ways, being your own, your own sales person, your own marketer in the product of your life, instead of being the passive product. Because again, that's so much of what we experience nowadays is where we're the product, right, with our attention being the commodity that is getting sold off to the highest bidder and social media and television and billboards and even like you go on a plane and they have the backseat entertainment thing, and you're watching ads there. So instead of being passive and you're being used as the product, you are the CEO of your life, and you are the product creator. You're you're selling your team on creating this product, and the team is you. It's your your thoughts, your internal family systems. It's your beliefs, your identity, and figuring out who needs to stay, who needs to do what, who needs to be improved, and that is what is going to allow it to be a really fun journey in creating the most amazing, most incredible life that is you, and coming up with the energetic connections, the human connections, finding the skills and the techniques, and changing the beliefs and shifting the identity, all that stuff and all that stuff is like, I don't know about all that stuff, it's great. That means that you got so much to enjoy learning and doing. There's so many great people out there with so many great ways, and the key is to just be open. And it's so much more fun to do it with other people. And if you, if you're like, I think I want to like, do some of the stuff with Justin again, contact me, get my book. Keep listening to the podcast. Check out some former episodes, and then do Be on the lookout for, you know, the my events and my offerings and things like that, because love for all of us to just just have fun creating, like, amazing lives where it was just like, where do we want to go? What do we want to experience? Like, who do we want to be around? And it's about creating and collaborating and fun and amazingness. That's the world that I'm actively creating for myself and for anyone around me and love to meet other people that would like to enjoy that. So with that, thank you so much. Appreciate it, and good day. Thanks for tuning in to engineering emotions and energy with Justin Wenck, PhD, today's episode resonated with you. Please subscribe and leave a five star review. Your feedback not only supports the show, but also helps others find us and start their journey of emotional and energetic mastery. You can also help by sharing this podcast with someone you think will love it just as much as you do together, we're engineering more amazing lives. You.