786: 12,000 Skydives and Still Afraid: How to Act Anyway with Melanie Curtis, World Record Skydiver, Speaker, Author, & Peak Performance Coach
Release Date: 10/19/2026
786: 12,000 Skydives and Still Afraid: How to Act Anyway with Melanie Curtis, World Record Skydiver, Speaker, Author, & Peak Performance Coach
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What is fear telling you that you can’t do? World record pro skydiver Melanie Curtis has made more than 12,000 jumps over 30 years, and she still feels fear. In this episode she shares how her first jump at 18 rewired how she relates to fear. She explains why the fear of humiliation is so powerful in modern life, and she tells the story of getting hypoxic on a world record jump at 200 miles per hour. You’ll learn practical tools for facing your fears, and why confidence is the result of action, not the requirement for it. In this episode you’ll learn: Why fear and anxiety don’t...
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785: 3 Ways to Separate Your Worth From Results
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
You Are More Than Your Performance. How much of your self-worth is tied to your performance, accomplishments, or the success of people you care about? It's easy to attach our identity to our careers, relationships, achievements, and even our children's success. When things are going well, we feel good about ourselves. When we experience setbacks, we start questioning our worth. In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff joins Seth Toupal to explore why tying your identity too closely to performance can leave you feeling vulnerable and how to build a stronger sense of self. You'll learn: Why...
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784: Why Resolutions Fail and How to Start Again with Intention with Jobert E. Abueva, Author, TEDx Speaker, and Global Marketing Executive
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What if the key to achieving your goals isn't pushing harder, but taking time to reflect on where you've been? In this episode of The High Performance Mindset, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff sits down with Jobert Abueva, author, TEDx speaker, and global marketing executive, to explore why traditional resolutions often fail and how we can create meaningful, lasting change through intentional reflection. Jobert shares his personal experience with burnout, the lessons that transformed his approach to success, and the six-step framework from his book, The Janus Plan. You'll discover how looking back with...
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783: How to Stop Letting Other People’s Opinions Control You
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
Have you ever held back from sharing an idea, taking an opportunity, or making a decision because you were worried about what other people might think? That fear has a name: FOPO, or Fear of Other People's Opinions. And it can quietly influence your decisions, hold you back, and undermine your confidence. In this episode of the High Performance Mindset Podcast, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff joins Seth Toupal to explore why we care so much about other people's opinions and how to stop giving them so much power. Drawing from her own experience as a college runner, Cindra explains how we often create...
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782: 3 NeuroHacks to Quiet Your Brain Under Pressure with Dr. Izzy Justice, Sports Neuroscientist, Best-Selling Author, and Peak Performance Coach
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What happens in your brain when pressure rises, and how can you quickly get yourself back into a calmer, more focused state? In this episode, Cindra talks with Dr. Izzy Justice, Chief Neuroscience Officer at Neuro580 and author of Life Explained: Chasing 10 Hertz. Drawing from thousands of live EEG brain scans with athletes, executives, and other high performers, Dr. Izzy explains what happens in the brain during high-pressure moments and why mental noise can make it harder to access skills you already have. He also shares practical NeuroHacks you can use in real time to reduce tension, shift...
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781: How to Stop Fear of Failure From Holding You Back
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What would you do today if you weren’t afraid to fail? Fear of failure can keep us from applying for the opportunity, speaking up, starting something new, or having the difficult conversation. But failure doesn’t define who you are. It’s an event that can give you feedback, information, and a chance to grow. In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff explains why confident people still experience fear and how to keep that fear from making your decisions. She shares how redefining success around what you can control can take power away from failure and help you move forward with more courage....
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780: How to Silence Self-Doubt and Build Confidence with Jenn Donahue, Retired Navy Captain, Keynote Speaker & Bestselling Author
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What if the voice telling you that you’re not ready, not good enough, or not capable is actually trying to keep you safe? In this episode of the High Performance Mindset, Cindra Kamphoff talks with Jenn Donahue, Ph.D., a retired U.S. Navy Captain, international keynote speaker, business coach, and author of Becoming the Warrior: Harnessing Your Inner Strength to Silence Self-Doubt. Jenn shares how a difficult leadership experience in the military shattered her confidence and ultimately led her to develop the Warrior Framework: Perceive, Assess, Ready, and Act. She explains how to recognize...
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779: How to Stop Fear From Controlling You
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
Fear has a way of making future events feel like they’re happening right now. What if I fail? What if I embarrass myself? What if people judge me? In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff shares a simple reminder: future events aren’t reality. She explains how fear can influence our decisions, why confidence doesn’t require being fearless, and three ways to keep fear from controlling your next move. You’ll learn how to catch the “what ifs,” return your attention to the present, and “do it afraid” by taking courageous action even when fear is still there. Power phrase: “I can feel...
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778: Your Performance Is Not Your Identity with Quinn Harwood
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What happens when your performance becomes tied to your identity? Coach Quinn Harwood knows that struggle firsthand. After a professional basketball career marked by injuries, setbacks, and broken goals, Quinn learned that his performance could not be the foundation of his self-worth. Today, he helps leaders and professionals navigate personal growth, limiting beliefs, fear, and the pressure to constantly perform. In this episode, Quinn and Cindra talk about why separating your identity from your performance matters, how to recognize the beliefs that keep you stuck, and what it really means to...
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777: Collect the Evidence that You can Trust Yourself
High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset
What if confidence doesn’t come before action, but because of it? In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff explains why waiting until you feel confident can keep you stuck, and how taking small actions creates the evidence your brain needs to trust yourself. Cindra shares the idea of building a Confidence Bank, where every courageous action, follow-through, recovered mistake, and small win becomes another deposit. Over time, those deposits change the way you see yourself and help you face future challenges with greater confidence. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why confidence often follows...
info_outlineWhat is fear telling you that you can’t do? World record pro skydiver Melanie Curtis has made more than 12,000 jumps over 30 years, and she still feels fear. In this episode she shares how her first jump at 18 rewired how she relates to fear. She explains why the fear of humiliation is so powerful in modern life, and she tells the story of getting hypoxic on a world record jump at 200 miles per hour. You’ll learn practical tools for facing your fears, and why confidence is the result of action, not the requirement for it.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- Why fear and anxiety don’t mean you’re not ready
- What type two fun is and why the hardest things in life are worth it
- A simple breathing tool for when fear shows up: make your exhale longer than your inhale
- How to spot the hidden ways fear shows up in your body
- Why confidence is the result of action, not the requirement
- How to find the goal-setting sweet spot between bored and paralyzed
- Why the fear of humiliation feels so mortal
- Four ways to keep facing your fears: support, intuition, habits and deeper healing
- How to identify as a brave person
About Melanie Curtis
Melanie Curtis is a keynote speaker, world record pro skydiver and peak performance coach with more than 12,000 jumps and 30 years of experience leading and coaching worldwide. She has appeared on Good Morning America and is the author of How to Fly: Life Lessons from a Professional Skydiver. Melanie teaches clients and audiences to take intentional risks so they can reach the far edges of their potential, personally and professionally.
Resources mentioned:
Melanie’s website: melaniecurtis.com
The How to Fly Challenge, a chapter of her book a day for 132 days, and the 31-day Gratitude Challenge: melaniecurtis.com
Melanie’s books: melaniecurtis.com/store
Melanie on Instagram: @melaniecurtis11
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Steven Kotler’s work on flow state
Links:
Learn more about Melanie https://melaniecurtis.com/
Mentally Strong Institute: https://mentallystronginstitute.com/
Request a Free Mental Breakthrough Call: https://freementalbreakthroughcall.com/
Download the National Confidence Research Study: https://confidencestudy.com/
Order Cindra's new Book: https://www.confidencetools.com/