High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 767: Stop Waiting to Feel Ready

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

What if confidence doesn't come before action, but because of it? In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff challenges one of the biggest myths about confidence: that you need to feel ready before you take the next step. Whether you're considering a new opportunity, preparing for a difficult conversation, or pursuing a meaningful goal, waiting for doubt to disappear can keep you stuck. Cindra shares a simple mindset shift: Decide. Act. Feel. Instead of waiting for confidence to arrive, take one small courageous action and allow confidence to grow from the evidence you create along the way. In this episode, you'll learn: Why confident people still experience doubt and uncertainty How the Decide. Act. Feel. approach can help you move forward Why making your next courageous step smaller can reduce hesitation How taking action gives your brain evidence that you can do hard things A simple question to help you stop waiting and start moving Power Phrase: "I don't have to feel ready. I just have to take the next step." To watch the replay of The Confidence Summit, visit: theconfidencesummit.com(opens in new tab) To download our full study report, visit: confidencestudy.com(opens in new tab) To request a Free Breakthrough Call with a Mentally Strong Coach, visit: freementalbreakthroughcall.com(opens in new tab) To learn more about the Mentally Strong Institute, visit: mentallystronginstitute.com(opens in new tab) To learn about Dr. Cindra Kamphoff's speaking and coaching, visit: cindrakamphoff.com(opens in new tab) To follow Dr. Cindra on Instagram, visit: @cindrakamphoff(opens in new tab)

Hi, friends, Dr. Sindra here, and I'm so excited to announce that my new book, published by Simon and Schuster, is now available titled The Confidence Habit. Our national research study on confidence showed there is a confidence crisis in America today. One in two Gen Zers and young millennials feel like they are not enough. Women still scored lower on all markers of confidence compared to men. And this book provides the tangible research-backed strategies to grow your confidence, and I can't wait for you to read it. You can head over to Confidence Tools.com to purchase your copy where there's over $594 of bonuses over there.

Again, check it out at ConfidenceTools.com, and I can't wait to hear what to think about it. Today, I'd like to say you don't have to feel ready to take the next step. What are we talking about today? Well, Seth, I was talking with someone recently who I had an opportunity in front of her. like if it's something bigger and she said something to me that I hear all the time she said you know I just don't feel ready yet and she wanted to feel more confidence she wanted the doubt to go away and she wanted to know that she could absolutely do this and what I said to her Seth I said you know what if that feeling never comes before you start and I think sometimes we have confidence backwards

we think we have to feel confident and then we act but most of the time confidence actually works like this where we decide, then we act and then we feel. And you decide to move forward, you know, you decide to take action. And then the feeling of confidence starts to catch up after that. So you're saying confident people don't necessarily feel confident before they do something. Exactly. And I think that's one of the biggest myths of confidence. You know, we look at someone who's giving a presentation or maybe starting a business or applying for a promotion or having a difficult conversation and we think, you know, they must feel confident all the time. But maybe they don't, Seth, right? Maybe they feel nervous or they might be questioning themselves

or they might have the same voice in their head saying, you know, what if I fail or what if I'm not ready or what if I'm not good enough? And the difference is that they don't wait for the voice to disappear before they move forward. They decide confidence, no, to be confident and to act confidently before they feel it. I like that. But how do you actually do that when you're really nervous or you're doubting yourself? I would say you make the next step smaller. So let's say you've been thinking about applying for a new job, but you keep telling yourself, you know, I'm not qualified enough.

You don't have to feel completely confident that you're going to get the job. You just need to, you know, take one courageous step. Maybe that might be updating a resume or making just one phone call or submitting the application. And the same thing can happen in sports. An athlete might be standing on the sidelines thinking, you know, I don't feel like myself today. But they don't have to manufacture this huge feeling of confident. Confidence needs to decide, you know, I'm going to trust my training,

or I'm going to step on the field, or I'm going to play the next play. And so action gives your brain evidence. So every time you think, you know, you're going to do something difficult despite the doubt, right? You're just saying to yourself, I can do hard things. And that becomes evidence you can draw on next time. So confidence comes from doing, not just thinking. Exactly. We often think, you know, confidence is like a prerequisite. You know, once I'm confident, I'll speak up, or once I'm confident, I'll start, or once I'm confident, I'll take the risk. But confidence is often the result of doing those things. And so you don't need confidence to take the next step. And sometimes just taking the next step is how you create confidence. I think a lot of people can probably think of something right now that they have been putting off because they don't feel ready. Exactly. And so here's the challenge I'm going to give everyone who's listening. You know, think of one thing that you've been waiting to feel ready for. Maybe it's a conversation, an opportunity, a new goal, maybe a decision, something that you just want to start and then ask yourself, you know, what would I do today if I didn't need to feel ready first? And then just take that one small action. Maybe it's sending the email or making the call or raising your hand or just signing up, right? Start the first five minutes because call.

Confidence isn't something you have to wait for. Confidence is something you practice. I love that. Cindra, what is our power phrase for today? All right. Power phrase is I don't have to feel ready. I just have to take the next step. Because courage usually comes from confidence.

So don't forget, you know, decide and then act and then feel and stop waiting to feel ready. 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-I-N-B-R-A.com. See you next week.