My Life's Pursuit: Peak Mindset Performance

It was homecoming night. A crisp fall evening, the desert air cool and electric. The lights were bright, the stands were full, and it was a tough matchup against the Lovington Wildcats. Early in the first quarter, he was locked in, pass blocking an all-state defensive lineman who outweighed him by nearly 60 pounds, when a teammate crashed directly into his right knee. He felt a pop, dropped to his knees, and was overcome by an immediate wave of nausea. Something’s wrong, he thought, but he stayed in.

“I had always told myself I would never be carted off a field,” Dr. Weckel says. Adrenaline took over, masking the pain just long enough to finish the drive. When he finally limped to the sideline, the doctor began moving his knee in ways no athlete ever wants to see. That was when reality hit.

That night, instead of the homecoming dance, his new girlfriend (now his wife of more than 30 years) drove him home to a sobering truth. Two surgeries followed. Pain. Months of rehab. Doubt. Uncertainty. He fought his way back his senior year, earning Comeback Athlete of the Year and All-District honors.

Though he recovered physically, his athletic career was all but over.

“What I didn’t realize,” Dr. Weckel reflects, “was that the injury didn’t just take away a season – it transformed my identity. And that’s when the deeper work began.”

What was born on that football field was tenacity, a refusal to quit, and a drive to understand what allows people to rise after loss, pressure, and pain. As sports ended, a new obsession emerged: Why do some people adapt and grow while others get stuck? What allows someone to regulate under pressure, rewrite their story, and move forward with purpose? What truly fuels resilience and peak performance?

Those questions became a lifelong pursuit to study the human experience from every angle – psychology, neuroscience, biology, philosophy, and faith. Over time, this pursuit resulted in four graduate degrees and decades of clinical and performance work, all centered on one mission: helping people learn to regulate their nervous system, rewrite limiting stories, and boldly reengage life with intentional purpose.

That pursuit is the heartbeat of Peak Mindset Performance.

Today, through Peak Mindset Performance, Dr. Weckel works with athletes, students, professionals, and leaders who want more than symptom relief or short-term success. He helps people build the skills to recognize what matters most, regulate their inner world under pressure, rewrite the stories that shape identity, and fully engage in an abundant, values-driven life.

“Peak performance is available to anyone willing to pursue an excellent life,” he says. “It’s about learning how to return to center – again and again – with freedom, courage, and joy.”

“I had always told myself I would never be carted off a field,” Dr. Weckel says. Adrenaline took over, masking the pain just long enough to finish the drive. When he finally limped to the sideline, the doctor began moving his knee in ways no athlete ever wants to see. That was when reality hit.