Entrepreneurs face self-sabotage more than most people. We can also experience powerful self-confidence when we have the right strategies. I discuss how to overcome self-sabotage and replace it with life-altering self confidence in this episode with my guest, Dr. Robyn Lynette.

Dr. Robyn is an executive strategy partner who has spent nearly two decades working privately with CEOs and founders during the highest-stakes moments of their professional lives.

Drawing on business and sport psychology, she identifies the hidden patterns that can quickly undermine decision-making and leadership at the top, where the pressure is high and the margin for error is thin. The leaders she works with aren’t looking for help; they’re looking for an edge.

She’s also the author of the memoir I’d Like to Thank the Cartel for Getting Me Out of a Cult.

We dive into topics including:

Why playing competitive sports helped form Robyn’s mindset for success in all areas of life.
How your brain can either help or hinder you.
Specific examples of the best way your brain can help you.
The unfortunate reality of our “Fight or flight” response and how to overcome it.
The power of intuition and what it really is.
Examples of what happens when you ignore your intuition.
Where self-sabotage comes from and why it’s there.
How to recognize self-sabotage and stop it in its tracks.
What your logical brain needs to do to step in and “save the day” on bad days.
How to build mental habits to automatically break your stream of self-sabotage.
Why people stay stuck in self-destructive or self-sabotaging habits.
The definition of self-confidence.
Where building self-confidence starts and what it looks like.
Examples of confident behaviors and how to develop them.
The all important role of self-talk in your life, especially when it comes to self-confidence.
The origin of self-fulfilling prophecies and how to create good ones.
How to change negative emotions when you realize you’re feeling them.
How to maintain self-confidence over time even on the “down days”.
The role your logical brain plays when combined with your emotional brain.
The one thing, above all else, that you need to do to end self-sabotage and boost self-confidence.

…and other golden nuggets of advice!

Robyn’s Introduction to Self-Sabotage and Self-Confidence

Robyn’s story goes back to when she used to play competitive beach volleyball. There were some days when she could get on the court and just nail it; she felt like a phenomenal volleyball player. And then there were other days when she would get on the court and her partner would hold out a volleyball and ask, “Robyn, this is a volleyball. Have you ever seen one before?” Robyn wondered, “Where did my game go?”

Because of that, Robyn’s interest was sparked. She had the opportunity in college to study high performance people and how and why they achieve more than the general population. The thing that she noticed was that across all professions, whether you’re in business, sports, or the military, is how your brain can either help you or hinder you. She likes to joke and say, “Whether you’re using your brawn or your brain, your brain is still gonna be in the way.”

Your Brain Can Help or Hinder You… It’s Your Choice!

Obviously, your brain can help with critical thinking. For example, we can manage stress and override our fight or flight response. You probably know that in the modern world; we’re constantly in fight or flight mode. Because of that we have all hormones that are constantly flooding our brains; for better or worse.

If you’re going to succeed, you must be able to set that mode aside and realize, “I know I’m not being chased by a saber tooth tiger; I can do this.” Doing that starts to help. The hinder part, or problem, is if you’re constantly overcoming fight or flight and pushing down that fear, you’re also eliminating your gut instinct and your intuition. Things like those that can help you get pushed down because you’re in fight or flight mode.

Which leads us to intuition…

Entrepreneurs and Intuition

Intuition is an interesting phenomenon. There’s a lot of science around it that talks about how intuition is your sunconscious picking up on patterns before your logical mind recognizes them. Which means your emotional brain is the part of your brain that makes you think of the perfect thing to say 20 minutes after the argument.

That’s the part of your brain that was overriding things. If you want that intuition to come through, you must listen to your emotional, or subconscious part of your brain. So many of us are ignoring it, and we’re all in critical thinking mode most of the time. That’s what keeps us awake at 3:00 AM because we’re thinking of all the things that we didn’t share when we had the opportunities to do so during the day.

You should make time during the day to listen to that part of your brain. There are many ways you can do that. It could be meditation. Robyn believes meditation is an excellent practice. But she gets a lot of people telling her that they don’t have time to meditate.

Connecting with and Listening to Your Intuition

Maybe for you it’s when you’re driving in the car, you leave the radio off, so you don’t have that extra input. Then your subconscious brain has a chance to bubble to the surface. Maybe for you, it’s working with someone, whether it’s a coach, therapist, strategic business partner or someone like that who talks through that stuff with you. That can trigger the part of your brain that brings up with intuition. At the end of the day, it comes down to making time to actively listen to your thoughts.

Then there’s the other side of the coin. You’ve probably had this happen to you. You have an intuition (or gut feeling), you ignore it, and then you wonder “Why did I ignore that?” It’s when you’re walking out the door and you’re thinking, “I know I’m forgetting something”, and you get 10 minutes down the road, and your brain reminds you about what you forgot. Then you have to turn around and go get it.

That happens when you’re not making time for your subconscious, emotional brain to bubble to the top. Your intuition can actually speak to your logical brain and prevent problems like that.

That is just the beginning!

Watch or listen to the interview for the rest of the story and more golden nuggets of advice!

You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”

About My Guest

8 Unedited Minutes with Dr. Robyn Lynette

Dr. Robyn Lynette, an executive strategy partner, has spent nearly two decades working privately with CEOs and founders during the highest-stakes moments of their professional lives: funding rounds, major exits, board crises, fraud inside the leadership team, restructuring, and the quieter weight that comes with making decisions no one else can make.

With a background in business and sport psychology she works with leaders to identify the hidden patterns that undermine decision-making, relationships, and performance at the top —where the pressure is high and the margin for error is thin.

The leaders who work with Dr. Robyn aren’t looking for help. They’re looking for an edge: the ability to think clearly under pressure, communicate with authority, and lead with greater influence and self-trust.

She is also the author of the memoir I’d Like to Thank the Cartel for Getting Me Out of a Cult, which explores the personal experiences that shaped her approach to resilience, leadership, and human behavior.