High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 716: Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

In today's episode, Cindra and Lisa talk about the timeless truth of high performance: You don't build confidence by eliminating fear. You build confidence by moving with it. Inspired by Dr. Susan Jeffers' classic book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (1987), this conversation explores why fear shows up, how it impacts performance, and how the world's best learn to step toward what scares them instead of stepping back.     What We Talk About in This Episode 1. Why Fear Is Universal — and Why This Topic Matters Fear is the #1 barrier to our potential. And as Dr. Susan Jeffers taught decades ago, fear never fully goes away. Instead, confidence grows when we act in spite of it. Courage isn't about being fearless—it's about moving forward with fear in hand.   2. A Story About Fear on the Court Cindra shares the story of a college volleyball player moments before a championship match—shaking hands, tight stomach, racing thoughts. She feared missing a serve. She feared letting her team down. And she walked onto the court anyway. That act of courage allowed her to deliver one of the best serves of her season. The lesson: fear doesn't disqualify you. It prepares you.   3. How Coaching Helps You Work Through Fear Every coaching client—executives, athletes, leaders—hits a wall of fear when they stretch themselves. Coaching helps you name the fear, normalize it, and learn tools to navigate it so you can keep moving toward who you're meant to become.   4. Where Your Mind Goes When You're Afraid Fear doesn't live in the present. It lives in the future. Fear is your mind projecting a worst-case scenario, pulling you out of the moment. Research shows that when we anticipate threats, our working memory, decision-making, and performance all take a hit. Your best performance? It always happens in the present moment.   5. Why Embracing Fear Is Important for Growth The things you fear often reveal the places you're meant to grow. And research backs this: studies from Harvard Business School show that when people reframe anxiety as excitement, they perform significantly better—whether in public speaking, singing, or even difficult math tasks. The goal isn't to eliminate fear. It's to choose courage anyway.   6. The Difference Between Fear and Courage Fear is a feeling. Courage is an action. You can't experience courage without fear—fear is the doorway. When Cindra wrote her first book, she was terrified no one would read it. But she knew she was supposed to write it. So she moved toward what scared her. That's courage.   Today's Big Takeaway: The world's best don't wait to feel fearless. They feel the fear—and do it anyway. Fear becomes a signal that they're doing something meaningful and important.   This Week's Power Phrase: "I lean into the fear — and let courage lead."   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. Time to check in with Cinder Campoff this morning. This is going to be a good one. Feel the fear and Do It Anyway. What inspired this topic today, Sandra? Well, it's the title of a classic book called Fear to steal the fear and do it anyway, which is foundational work in personal development and confidence psychology. It's written by Dr. Susan Jeffers. And her message would that fear never completely goes away, but we can ask in spite of it and that's how confidence grows. So as she would say, current isn't about getting rid of the fear. It's about moving forward with it. Now, can you give us an example of that? Yeah, I actually think that fear is the number one barrier to our potential. And we all experience it.

It holds us back. For example, when I was working with a college volleyball player recently, who told me about this moment just before the championship match and her hands were shaking, her stomach was twisted, you know, she could barely think straight. And she was just staring at the net and you know, what if I miss this serve and will I let my team down? Will my coach be mad? You know, what if I fail in front of everyone? But he steps into the court anyway.

she embraced the trembling and that doubt and that fear, and out of it she delivered what would be described as like the best serve of her season. So how do you think that coaching helps you address fear? Yeah, that's a great question. Lisa, I say like all of my coaching clients, whether it's executives in the boardroom or athletes in the field, like run into fear when they push themselves really hard and when they stay gritty and when they go after their goals. So fear is a part of us reaching our potential. And so most of us do need this one-on-one coaching to address our fear and really help

us step into our potential because fear doesn't discriminate, right? We can't grow into the person that we're meant to become without fear and moving through it. So what happens to us? When we're fearing something, like where is our mind? Well, our mind lives in the future when we experience fear. And when we feel fear, we're projecting forward. So we can't actually feel fear when we're in the past. And rarely when we're in the present moment.

And so typically we're imagining the worst-case scenario. But at least our highest performance comes when we're focused in the present moment. And when fear pulls us out of that, that's not how. helpful, right? And this is actually backed by research that people who anticipate threats or risks often experience impaired performance, their memory taxes, their attention narrows, and their ability to act really suffer. So why is it that embracing our fear is important to reach our goals? Well, everything in fear is actually self-created, but in a negative way. And so when we're doing something new, maybe launching a project or stressing ourselves emotionally or physically, we're going to

experience fear. So the very thing you fear can actually provide. you with the greatest growth. And there's actually a really cool research to show that when we reframe like our emotional state, when we turn anxiety into excitement, kind of viewing our challenges as opportunities, we perform better, not worse. One study, for example, found that people who reappraised their performance anxiety as excitement actually performed better in public speaking, singing, and even mass tasks. Right. So again, the goal isn't to eliminate fear, but to address it and choose courage despite the fear. Well, then the question. is like what what is the difference between fear and courage? Yeah, that's a great question. I would say

courage is feeling to fear and walking into it anyway. It isn't the absence of fear. You know, you can't actually feel courage without fear. And so the goal isn't to be, you know, fearless, but you know, completely lacking fear, but to fear less or fear differently. And so again, our fears happen when we try new things, when we take courageous actions. And I think about when I wrote my first book, Beyond Grit, Lisa, you know, way back when I was so, scared at first that no one would read it, but I knew I was meant to write it. And so I moved, you know, forward even without that, within that fear. And I moved courageously towards what was scaring me. And I know it's impacted, you know, thousands and thousands of people.

It always helps us to know that you've lived it as well. So how would you summarize today for us? I would say that the world's best, she's courage instead of fear. And they feel the fear, but they don't let it keep being to them from doing what they want to do or have to do or we're designed to do. And high performers know that when they feel the fear, it means that they're doing something important and meaningful. Do you have a move towards it? Do you have a power phrase for us this week? Yeah, I always do. It's like mean into the fear and let courage lead instead. Cinder, now if people want to read more about this, maybe grab that book you were talking about. Where do we go to learn more about your teachings?

You can head over to Mentallystrongintitude.com, and there's actually a place where you can sign up for a coaching call if you'd like to learn more about coaching and how it can help you your fear and there's information about my books Beyond Grit and Beyond Grit for business there as well. 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. Sindra, that's D-R-C-C-I-A. and d-a-a-com. See you next week.