The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
The Confidence Shortcut is your permission slip to start before you’re ready. Hosted by actor, comedian & producer Niki Sterner, each episode is packed with honest conversations, mindset tools, and practical shortcuts to help you silence your inner critic, develop a growth mindset, and get unstuck.
Designed for high-achieving creatives, performers, visionaries, and entrepreneurs, this podcast helps you build the habit of courage in the face of fear—so you can finally share your voice with the world.
If you’ve ever wondered how to build confidence, overcome self-doubt, or stop overthinking and start taking action, this show is your weekly boost of momentum. Whether you’re battling imposter syndrome, stuck in perfectionism, or simply afraid to take the next step, you’ll leave each episode with real-life tools and the confidence to move forward—one bold (and sometimes messy) step at a time.
Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the show wherever you’re listening, and grab your free “Confidence Kickstart” in the show notes.
The Confidence Shortcut with Niki Sterner
#23: Niki Sterner | From Foggy Dreams to Fierce Clarity | How to Craft Your Wildest YES Life
What if the thing holding you back isn’t a lack of talent, time, or luck—but a vision that’s still too blurry to move you? We walk you through a clear, practical way to turn foggy goals into a vivid plan you can see, feel, and act on, even while you’re still nervous. This is about crafting your Wildest Yes Life, not the safe, watered-down version you’ve been settling for.
We start with a quick recap of the Confidence Shortcut framework: the four-area life audit (health, relationships, career and creative expression, fun and adventure) and the three lists that change everything—STAR (role models to reverse engineer), SCARED (opportunities you’ve dodged that point to your true path), and SUCCESS (receipts proving you can do hard things).
Then we anchor it all in core values, the compass that saves you from achieving goals that drain your soul. When your choices honor what you value—family, freedom, authenticity, joy, connection, growth—you stop overthinking and start moving.
From there, we model what a fully claimed vision sounds like: a present-tense, sensory-rich narrative that engages all five senses and teaches your brain what to look for. You’ll hear how to reframe fear as fire, using that charge to accelerate instead of stall.
We give you guided prompts to name your calling, design daily feelings across health and relationships, and speak your future as if it’s here now. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s fidelity between who you are and what you do.
By the end, you’ll know your what and why—and you’ll have a first next step that feels brave and specific. Courage comes first; confidence follows. If this conversation sparks something, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review with the one bold yes you’re taking this week. Your clarity creates momentum—let’s go.
If this conversation sparked something, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, then subscribe and leave a quick review so more creatives find their courage faster.
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Welcome to the Confidence Shortcut, the podcast for ambitious creatives and entrepreneurs who are ready to stop overthinking, take bold action, and finally step into the life they've been dreaming about. I'm your host, Nikki Stirner, mom, actor, comedian, and producer. After years of playing small and waiting to feel ready, I went on a courage quest and found a shortcut to confidence. Each week, I'll bring you real stories, simple steps, and conversations with experts in mindset, courage, and confidence. Plus, heart to hearts with fellow creatives who are turning their dreams into reality. It's time to get unstuck and start showing up. Let's dive in. And this season we've been walking step by step through the confidence shortcut program. And here's where we've been so far. Week one, we were dream detectives, identifying what lights you up in four different areas. We talked about health, relationships, career, and creative expression, as well as fun and adventure. We looked at where you are now versus where are you desiring in your life. Week two, we looked at the three lists. We were being dream detectives again. We were looking for clues. We looked at your star lists, which it stands for someone to admire and reverse engineer. So who have you looked up to in your past, as well as who do you look up to now and who would you want to model your career after? There's also the scared list. So what have you said no to in the past? And this is a great one because often what we've said no to is actually our true path. So we find out what scares us, and then we build the courage to actually do that in our life. And that's when things start to really shift and change. The third list is your success list. Now, your success list is your proof. These are your receipts, this is your evidence to let you know when things get tough that even if it's tough, you actually can do something that you say you want to do because you've done it in the past. Whether it's a skill that you've built. For me, it was playing basketball. I knew that I could learn a skill because I didn't know how to play basketball when I started, but I had coaches that taught me and I worked hard. I had a concrete patio in our backyard with a hoop. And so I'd go back there every night and I'd practice my shooting drills and my free throws. And so when you put in the effort, you have success. And these are your receipts. In week three, we talked about the success star model, which is where you find someone to admire and reverse engineer their path. So for me, this is like Mel Robbins. She has a number one podcast. She has delivered keynote speeches all throughout the world. She's had a radio show, she's been on TV, on CNN, and many other places now, obviously. But what steps has she done? She's given a TEDx talk, she's written multiple bestseller books. So who in your life do you look up to that you could reverse engineer their path and give you clues for what you actually truly could be doing today? In week four, we talked about core values. And these are your compass for your clarity. Because if you're doing something and even if you're having success in it, but it doesn't align with your core values, whether that's family, whether that's freedom, whether it's authenticity, joy, connection, growth. If you're doing the same thing and you're not growing every day, you'll have that longing for something more. And so figuring out what your core values are so that you can align with those helps you to become the person you say you want to be because then you know and trust who you are. You know yourself, you know what you value, and you make sure that is what you're doing. Now in week five, it's time to take everything you've uncovered, your desires, your fears, your values, your inspirations, and use it to build your wildest, yes, life. Now, I didn't always know how to dream specifically. For years, my vision was vague. I wanted more, but I couldn't define it. I knew I wanted to make an impact, to perform, to feel lit up, but it all felt blurry and out of reach, like up in the clouds. Like it was up here and I was down here, and I didn't know how to get there. And it wasn't until I started really looking at my life, the way we've been doing over the past four weeks, that things began to sharpen into focus. I found clarity once I looked at the four areas of my life: health, relationships, career, and creative expression, and fun and adventure, and asked for what I had and asked about what I had versus what I desired. I began to see where I was starting from. Then when I made my three lists, the people I admired, the things that scared me, and the successes I'd already achieved, I started to recognize patterns. I saw clues, evidence of who I'd always been and what I was meant to do. Looking at my success star models, people like Issa Ray, Brene Brown, Ed Sheeran, Mel Robbins, people like that helped me see what was possible when I stopped waiting and started creating. And finally, when I asked myself what I truly valued in life, joy, connection, and growth, I realized something big. I didn't want to chase success that would make me miserable once I got it. I wanted a life that was aligned with my joy, my purpose, and my truth. And that's when everything clicked. That's when I started dreaming specifically, not in vague ideas anymore, but in vivid, sensory-rich, fully aligned detail. Your wildest yes life is the movie of your divine destiny. It's the full expression of your desires, multiplied by a hundred. This isn't the reasonable version of your dream. This is the version that feels too big, too bold, maybe even a little unrealistic. But remember, your brain's job is safety, not success. So if your dreams make you nervous, that's a good sign. That's your signal that you're on the edge of expansion. My new book, The Confidence Shortcut, is almost here, and I want you to be among the first to know when it goes on sale. This isn't just a book, it's also a journal and a calendar that walks you through the exact process I used to go from over-preparing and stuck in perfection to finding my voice and using it on stage in relationships and in business. When you sign up, you'll get early access updates, behind-the-scenes bonuses, and first divs when the book goes live in December. Don't wait. Sign up at the link in the show notes and be the first to know when the confident shortcut is available. Now I'm going to share my wildest yes life with you so you can hear how detailed and alive it can sound when you stop censoring yourself and start claiming what's truly meant for you. Okay, so in my wildest yes life, in my career and creative expression, I am a best-selling author, a global speaker, and creator of the confident shortcut TV show, a transformational series that helps people face fear and use its energy to go pedal to the metal toward their dreams, because that fear energy is fire inside. It is hot. And if you move with it, you can go so much further, so much faster. I star in, I write and produce a hit TV series where I am the showrunner. It's been adapted from my one woman show, blending humor, truth, and transformation on screen and on stage. I perform stand-up, sketch, and musical comedy with two unforgettable characters. One becomes a national sensation, like flow from progressive. My bold, hilarious content goes viral, and my creative voice becomes a cultural force. I deliver keynote speeches around the world. I host a top-ranked podcast that reaches millions. I write best-selling books that change lives. Every project I create empowers others to find their voice and use it. For my home environment, I wake up in a stunning, light-filled home by the ocean. One of two properties I own. The other, a beautiful home on a golf course near our kids, surrounded by family and community. My mornings are peaceful and purposeful. I warm up my voice, lift weights in my sun-soaked gym, light a candle for meditation, and record guided audios that thousands of courage questers listen to around the world. I feel grounded, rested, and radiant, fully alive. For my relationships and connections, my family life is sacred and alive. We laugh, play, explore, and make magic together, hiking waterfalls, trying new restaurants, traveling spontaneously. My romantic relationship is full of laughter, play, and truth, connected through deep conversations, laughter, and shared joy. My friendships are full of creative souls who love deeply, dream boldly, and celebrate often. We host backyard concerts, group trips, and creative retreats that leave us lit up for weeks for my creativity and adventure. I perform sold-out shows across the country. My One Woman show wins awards and gets adapted into a major network series. I write it, produce it, and star in it. Meanwhile, the confidence shortcut becomes a global movement. The book, the podcast, the show, the programs. Each one helps people rewrite their stories and live with courage and clarity. And when I'm not working, I'm adventuring, kayaking turquoise waters, writing songs under palm trees, or taking my kids to Broadway shows. My life is filled with laughter, beauty, movement, music, and meaning. I am magnetic, visible, nourished. And I will never again play small. When I speak those words, I feel so alive. I feel so here on purpose, doing and saying everything that I'm meant to do. Because dreams that are put inside of me are different from dreams that are put inside of you. So when you begin to realize that what's for you is in your mind, then you start to realize even if I'm scared of something, if I'm feeling it and if I'm seeing it, if I'm hearing it in my head, it's for me. Regardless of how my feelings are right now, as long as I allow myself to feel whatever comes up, I can move with it. It's when we avoid feeling that we avoid our life and we get stuck in our dreams. We get stuck in what we actually want to do because we aren't acknowledging, we aren't feeling, we're avoiding. It's the avoidance that kills us. It kills our dreams when we avoid them, kills our feelings when we avoid them. We have to get used to feeling and being present and being connected because that is where we truly live our dreams. My book, The Confidence Shortcut, is almost here. Want to be first in line when it goes on sale in December? Sign up at the link in the show notes to get early access, bonuses, and launch day alerts. Don't wait. Be the first to know. Courage. On purpose every day. Okay, now I want you to reflect on everything we've talked about so far. It's your turn. So grab your journal and walk through this process with me. The first question I want you to reflect on. Write about your career or calling. What is it that comes up for you? Because what comes up for you is meant for you. It's there because it's for you. So as soon as you start to acknowledge that this is my life. This is what I'm meant to do. If it's in my head, it's in my heart, it's mine. You get to grab it. You get to name it, you get to claim it. So we're naming it. What would you be doing if fear, money, or time weren't in the way? What is the magic in your life? What is your career? What is your calling? Write it down. Acknowledge it. Name it. Claim it. It's time. You can pause this if you're listening to it on the podcast. The second question is: I want you to then explore your health, your relationships, and your fun and adventure. I want you to list all three of those categories because I want you to talk about what it is that you actually truly want to feel like when you wake up. Do you want to feel energized? Do you want to feel alive? Do you want to feel excited about what you're doing today? Do you want to feel like you are living in your purpose? Do you want to feel like your relationships are so connected, deeply connected, in a way that your heart feels open? You're open to love. You're open to connection. You're open to everything that's coming your way. And your fun and adventure. Do you feel like you're playing today? Do you feel like you need to play? Do you feel like you need to get outside? Do you feel like you need to go and do something, an adventure? Do you feel like you need to have fun? You need to laugh with somebody. You need to go to a movie. What do you need to do? I often check in with my inner child. I have a picture of myself at four years old, or not four years old, in fourth grade, when I had a mullet. I had a mullet, I had clip-on pink earrings and a yellow watch, and I was standing there with the school background and I had the fluffy, furry pedestal thing that my hands are on. And I look at that every day and I ask her, what is it that you need? What is it that you need today? And some days she needs love. And other days she needs connection. Other days she just needs to play. Some days she needs to perform. She needs to sing. She needs to dance. What is it that your inner child needs today? Okay, now the third part of this reflection is I want you to describe it in the present tense. Like it's already true. Like you are already living this wildest yes life. What is it that you are doing? It is already here. It's present tense right now. I am doing this. I am on stage. I'm giving my TEDx talk. I'm talking to people. I'm talking to millions of people. My I am doing a book tour right now. I am on stage performing. My show's on Netflix. What is it that your life is the future life? But let's talk about it in the present. You're doing it right now. And I want you to use your five senses. This is the fourth part. Use your five senses. What do you see? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you touch? And what do you hear in this wildest yes life? Do you see the golden sunshine? Do you feel that warmth on your skin? Do you see someone bicycling past your house? Do you smell a delicious breakfast that you've been cooking or someone's cooked for you the eggs and the sausage and the potatoes? Do you taste the saltiness of the sausage? Cheesy eggs. The fifth part is go big. If it feels too big, good. You're getting close. This is a good thing. I want you to go bigger than you've ever been before. Because this is where your wildest yes life comes to life. This is where you name everything you've ever wanted. This is where you get to go bigger than you've ever gone before. And the more specific you are, the faster your brain starts believing it's possible. This is the magic part of it. So when you start to speak about it and see it in your mind, your brain says, Oh, that's for me. That's what I'm doing. That's what we're doing. And then it starts to align with that. It starts to attract opportunities and you magnetize those things that you say you want toward yourself and your life. Okay. So in closing, I want you to know that you don't have to know the how. You just need to know the what, which we've talked about today, and the why. Why do you want this? Because clarity creates momentum. And once you know where you want to go, the path starts to appear. And next week, we'll write your day in the life, the detailed, sensory-rich version of what it feels like to live your wildest yes life every single day. Because once you see it and you feel it, you become it. Until then, keep dreaming. Keep writing and keep saying yes before you feel ready. Because courage doesn't wait for confidence. Courage creates it. I'm Nikki Stirner and this is the Confident Shortcut Podcast. Courage. On purpose every day. Thanks so much for listening to The Confidence Shortcut. I hope today's episode woke something up in you, reminding you that your dream matters and you can start now. If this sparked something, share it with a friend who needs it too. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Nikki Stirner and join our Facebook community at The Confident Shortcut. Ready to take the next step? Check out my free guide, The Confidence Kickstart, linked in the show notes. Keep showing up. Keep taking action. And remember, the shortcut to confidence is courage.