High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 708: Rewriting the Voice Inside Your Head

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

In this episode, Dr. Cindra dive into one of the biggest barriers to confidence and high performance: the inner critic. You know that harsh voice that nitpicks, second-guesses, and drains your energy? Learn how to recognize it, challenge it, and replace it with empowering self-talk that fuels your purpose and potential.   Dr. Cindra shares a real coaching story of an NFL kicker who learned to notice, name, and swap his inner critic — transforming his mindset and performance. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to calm your body, reframe your thoughts, and strengthen your belief system.   Key Takeaways: Everyone has an inner critic — it’s human, not a flaw. The three steps to manage it: Notice it, Name it, Normalize it. Use The Truth Meter to test your thoughts: “Is this true? Is it serving me? What’s a more empowering thought?” Small, consistent mental reps create lasting confidence. Remember: your inner critic is loud, not accurate.   Power Phrase of the Week: “My self-talk builds me, not breaks me.”   Quote to Reflect On: “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” — James Allen   To  Request a Free Breakthrough Call with a Mentally Strong Coach, visit: http://www.freementalbreakthroughcall.com/ To learn more about the Mentally Strong Institute, visit: https://mentallystronginstitute.com/ To learn about Dr. Cindra Kamphoff's speaking and coaching, visit: https://cindrakamphoff.com/ To follow Dr. Cindra on Instagram, visit: Cindra Kamphoff, PhD (@cindrakamphoff) • Instagram photos and videos

Hi, friends. My name is Dr. Cindera Campoff, a national leader in the field of sport and performance psychology. Every week, I'm on the local radio sharing my top tips on exactly how to develop the mindset of the world's best so you can accomplish all your dreams. Get ready for a jammed, packed episode, focus on practical tips to help you get after your goals and step out of your comfort zone. Let's go. It's time to check in with Cinder Campoff today, and I love these chats. We're talking about rewrecking. writing the voice that's in your head, Cinder, start us off with a quote. James Allen said, you are today where your thoughts have brought you.

You will be tomorrow where your thoughts tape you. And so what are we exactly talking about? Well, so today we're talking about your inner critic, and that's your harsh voice that second guesses, nitpicks, and generally drains confidence. And Lisa can sneak into your thoughts, your emotions, your behaviors, and it can run the show,

and definitely limit your potential. And so can you tell us a little bit of a story to go along with this? You always have a good story. Yes, I will definitely tell you a story. So last week I was coaching as his mental performance coached an NFL kicker who missed an extra point. And in his words, you know, the voice inside of his head was like brutal after he missed it. And so before the next game, we built a simple plan where he would notice the critic, name it, and then swap it. And so he wrote the critic script, which was like, don't miss again.

And then he replaced it with something that was a believable few. So a few that really helped him perform, like a full swing and follow through. And this week, he stuck to his routine. He made his kicks. And most importantly, he felt in control of his mindset. So I think about how this was like the same athlete, but different inner voice. All right. What do you exactly mean by inner critic?

Well, what I mean is really this disempowering voice inside your head. head that can sound scared or angry or really judgmental. And the thing is that your inner critic isn't the truth, right? It's just your thoughts. And so when we treat it like truth, our confidence drops and we are disconnected from our purpose and really why we're here. So what is the first step that we have to take in order to quiet that inner critic? I would say the first step is to notice it. And awareness is really the entry point in the first step. And just ask yourself, like, what am I actually saying to myself right now? The second step is to name it, we know that kind of labeling the voice, like maybe like it's a bully or the doubter, naming it actually creates distance from the voice, or maybe it's just like, hey, that's just my inner critic.

And we also want to normalize that Lisa, you know, like everyone has this voice. I used to think that I was the only one. This voice, particularly when I was a teenager, right? But it doesn't mean that you're broken. It just actually means you're human. And so the more control you get over it, the better you're going to do, more successful you're going to be, and the more confident you are going to be. Okay, so we've got the steps to quiet it. What do we do to transform it into something else? So to transform it, I would encourage people to use my tool called the Truth Meter that I wrote about in Beyond Grit for business.

This is just a great tool to examine the thoughts and poke holes in the thoughts. And the truth meter is just three-click questions that you ask yourself in a moment. The first question is, is this thought true? And mostly, Lisa, the thought typically is not true? Second question is, is it serving me? Like, is it helping me the best be the best version of myself? And usually that answer to that question is absolutely not. And so the third question is, what's a more empowering thought I can choose right now?

And I think the powerful part about that is that, you know, it's likely that you can choose a different thought that's going to allow you to be your best in that moment. Is there anything else that can help us? Sure. When we think about rewriting the voice inside your head, I would say like body first is one option and kind of what I mean by that is just calming your body to calm your brain. So just even taking four counts in, four counts out, you know, into your nose out through your mouth can and counting is powerful because you can't think about the thing that you're anxious about and counting at the same time. I'd also say like your language really matters. So statements like I am and I can is what your brain tends to believe. And then just know that a belief is a thought you repeat. And so reps on powerful thoughts is the consistent way to get ahead and consistent reps win. So how would you summarize today for us? I would say your inner critic is loud, but it's not accurate. And so we want to name it and notice it and normalize it and then use the truth leader to speak to yourself like a great coach.

And so Lisa, I would say the goal is not to have zero thought. It's just faster recovery when you have that inner critic and the more, you know, truthful, empowering self-talk you can choose is the way to get ahead. All right, Sandra, what is this week's power phrase? My self-talk builds me, not breaks me. All about self-talk. It's good to know that we all have that inner critic and give us some tools to kind of quiet that down a little bit, maybe transform it. If people want to read more about this, though, is there a place we can go to learn more about what you do in your coaching? Absolutely.

you can head over to the Mentally Strong Institute and over there you can learn more about our speaking and our one-on-one coaching with leaders and athletes and you can always check out my book Beyond Grit where I talk about these tools. Way to go for finishing another episode of the high-performance mindset. I'm giving you a virtual fist pump. Holy cow, did that go by way too fast for anyone else?

If you want more, remember to subscribe and you can head over to Dr. Sindra for show notes and enjoy my exclusive community for high performers where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can add over to Dr. Cyndra. That's dr.cindra.com. See you next week.