Your mindset controls your confidence. Step out of your comfort zone.

Have you ever tried swimming backstroke while balancing a cup full of water on your forehead?

I hadn’t. Until recently.

When our Master's swim coach introduced the challenge, my first thought was immediate: I’m so going to mess this up.

I hadn’t tried it yet. I hadn’t failed. But my mind had already decided the outcome.

And still, I tried.

After a try or two, I swam the entire length without any problem. The cup stayed put.

The real challenge wasn’t physical. It was mental.

The moment the coach said, in so many words, “step out of your comfort zone,” my inner critic stepped in first. Loud. Too loud.

This is not unique to swimming.

In work and leadership, this shows up all the time:

• “I’m not ready yet.”

• “I’m not that kind of leader.”

• “This isn’t my strength.”

• “Others can do this better than me.”

Research in psychology shows that our brains are wired to predict outcomes based on past experience, not current possibilities. Carol Dweck’s work on mindset explains how a fixed mindset leads us to avoid challenges, not because we can’t succeed, but because failure feels like a threat to identity.

As she puts it:

“The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.”

In other words, mindset doesn’t just shape how we feel. It shapes what we attempt.

In leadership and business, this quiet self-talk often goes unnoticed. Yet it has real consequences:

• Leaders hold back ideas.

• Managers avoid difficult conversations.

• Executives stay in familiar patterns instead of experimenting.

• Talented people wait for permission they don’t actually need.

  
  

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks openly about this shift, saying that the company’s transformation began when they moved from a “know-it-all” culture to a “learn-it-all” one. That shift required leaders to notice when certainty and fear were blocking curiosity.

The same applies on a personal level.

My mindset almost blocked me from trying something new and different. Not because the task was impossible, but because the story I told myself was.

What Helps Remove the Block?

Awareness is the first step. Noticing the moment your mind jumps to a conclusion.

Then comes choice.

Research on cognitive flexibility shows that when we pause before reacting, even briefly, we give ourselves access to better judgment, creativity, and learning.

This is where coaching often plays a role, not by giving answers, but by surfacing assumptions.

Instead of: “I’ll mess this up.”

The question becomes: “What if I tried, just once?”

That small shift is often enough to move from avoidance to action.

Reflection

• Where in your work or leadership are you opting out before you begin?

• What assumption are you treating as fact?

• And what might happen if you tested something? What's that?