EP 20 Below the Surface: Why High Achievers Doubt Themselves and What Actually Shifts It with Sabine Lehner

You have the track record. You have the experience. You have done hard things before. So why does that voice inside still whisper that you are not enough?

In this deeply illuminating episode of The Magic in the Middle, Sarah sits down with her friend, executive coach, and clinical hypnotherapist Sabine Lehner, founder of Turnaround Practice in Australia, for a conversation that goes far below the surface of confidence, doubt, and what it actually takes to change the tapes that have been running your life.

Sabine spent nearly a decade in finance before a single moment with a colleague in tears showed her that people mattered more to her than numbers ever would. She walked out of that office on a Thursday and never went back. What followed was a decade of deep study, corporate transformation work across three continents, and the creation of a coaching practice that does something most coaches never do: it goes straight to the subconscious source.

And while Sabine works with leaders and high achievers, everything she shares in this episode is for every single one of us. Because the subconscious mind does not care whether you run a company or a household, whether you are a CEO or a creative, a parent or a student. The old tapes run the same in all of us. The patterns formed in childhood do not check your job title before they show up. And the freedom that comes from finally understanding what has been quietly running your life belongs to everyone.

Because here is what Sabine knows, and Sarah knows from personal experience: you cannot think your way out of a subconscious pattern. And until you find the old tape that is running in the background, all the strategy in the world will only take you so far.

In this conversation you will discover:

• Why high achievers are often the most secretly insecure people in the room, and the surprising reason why their success makes the doubt louder, not quieter
• The difference between doubt that is undermining you and doubt that is actually your wisest informing agent, and why knowing which is which changes everything
• How Sabine combines clinical hypnotherapy with executive coaching to clear the window so you can finally see your situation, your strengths, and your path forward with total clarity
• Why an 18 minute guided hypnotherapy session can shift something that years of talk therapy never touched
• The moving goalpost pattern that keeps high achievers perpetually feeling like they are falling short, no matter how much they achieve
• How stress literally narrows your thinking and sends you straight back to a belief you formed at age 10, and what to do the moment you feel that happening
• Why unshakeable confidence is not the goal, and what emotional intelligence has to do with genuine, grounded success

Sarah speaks personally in this episode about her own experience working with Sabine, and what shifted in her when the old tapes finally stopped running. This is one of the most practical, science-grounded, and quietly transformational conversations The Magic in the Middle has ever hosted so far.

You are not your doubt. You never were. And there is a way through that is faster and more freeing than you might ever have imagined.

Grab Sabine's free confidence audio gift here: https://www.turnaroundpractice.au/confidence-audio

Book a free 30 minute consultation with Sabine here: https://book.turnaroundpractice.au/30-min-marrvelous-life

Find Sabine Lehner and the Turnaround Practice at https://www.turnaroundpractice.au/ 

Join Sarah's free Qigong practice group, Monday through Friday, 7 to 7:35am Pacific on Zoom. Learn more at marrvelouslife.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hi, I'm so happy to be here with everybody. You know, I love this community. I love seeing this community grow and I love connecting with everyone in this community. Um, and we're doing wonderful and beautiful things and learning about our brain and how we can be the greatest vision and version of ourselves and be more like a master of our own selves, which is not an easy thing to do. And so I have a really special guest with me, Sabine. I want to welcome you. So I've known Sabrine for three years, and I have um worked with her, and um she's absolutely just so kind. When I worked with you, Sabine, I just remember you have such a kind heart, your gentle voice, and Sabine is an executive coach and a clinical hypnotherapist, and um and you can find her at the Turnaround practice. And I'm gonna have all the links and everything for you in the show notes. But Sabine, I just want to welcome you and um thank you for being here. And so the magic in the middle for me, I started the magic in the middle because I love exploring the mind. And nobody teaches you how to use your mind and your energy for creating the life you want or being the highest and best that you want to be. So let's back up a little bit and talk about your background. Let's talk about your background and then let's get into talking about what you do because that's exactly what you do is you support people and leaders in being able to manage this great machine that we have. I don't know if that was the right way to say that. Totally. That's how I feel. I changed when I worked with you.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

So amazing. Uh yeah, Sarah, we really had uh have a long time together. Like we we actually met, I think probably five years ago or so. We know for quite a while. Yeah. Um, and it's like, yeah, you have such high energy, and it's so thank you so much for having me today on the podcast. It's amazing, it's so lovely to be here. So thank you. Um, and and yes, so I'm uh the founder and director of Turnaround Practice in Australia. I'm the executive coach and a hypnotherapist, and I work with leaders and especially female leaders and professionals to step into their confidence and to develop strategy and then execute that with impact. So it has a mindset piece, a strategy piece, and an action-taking implementation piece in the work that I do. And uh yeah, we um met in consulting. So um yeah, I worked uh in large-scale organizational transformations for over a decade across the globe, really, from uh Europe uh and the US to Australia, where I'm based now. And I've been coaching for the last 12 years, so since 2014, and I bring the corporate context that I worked with to the leadership coaching. So it's really what I the core of my work is to combine the best of the worlds. Yeah, so the mindset and the strategy patterned the coaching with the corporate transformation, the corporate work and the corporate corporate world. And um, I do that by strategic deep mindset work that enables my clients and the leaders to find the most effective solution. So it's um you can't think your way out of subconscious patterns, and mindset alone won't build your strategy, and that's why I combine the two approaches.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

See, and that's what I love. The subconscious is like what 90 or 95 percent driving us, right? And so what you do is you go deep in and help to be able to um what's a good word? You help just to go in deeper into the mind, into the subconscious to help change patterns, right? Maybe patterns that are not supporting us.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Um how I see I want to help you have your subconscious work for you, not against you.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

I love that. I love that. And today we're gonna talk about so the talk is called Below the Surface, why high achievers doubt themselves and what actually shifts it. And so, you know, it's kind of hard to believe sometimes hard that high achievers are doubting themselves, but that's just part of being a human in general, right? And so you help people to dig deeper and to find that confidence. So I want to talk about your story. So it didn't start in coaching, it started somewhere very different. So can you take us back to the moment you realize the path you were on wasn't actually yours? And I really love this because I feel like a lot of us go through this and we wake up one morning and what was it, Kevin's face in that movie, and we're like, hello, wait a minute, this is not what I thought I was signing up for, right? So tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Yeah. Um, Sarah, my store indeed didn't start in coaching. In fact, it started in finance. And I worked as a marketing and sales controller for nearly a decade across different industries from not-for-profit to um pharmaceutical, chemical industry. And for me, it was not the I woke up one morning morning and realized this isn't right for me. For me, it was really like a journey of probably one and a half years. So, um, and the last role that I was in really made this incredibly visceral and palpable and really just in my showed it to my face, and it was in my face, yeah. Um, and I realized back in the day was in sort of a company which was obviously very numbers-driven, as many companies are, but it was very crisis, ongoing crisis there. And the what I could what I actually could do, and I wanted to work with people, was sort of not so much on the agenda there. It was all about, you know, it's crisis, and we have this and the numbers and the production, and yada yada. And and then one day I had like this project manager in tears because she said, Well, we can't deliver that, and and I do not know how to do that in the business case, and the numbers and yada. And I said, Well, I come to you. Yeah, I come to you, we will look through this together, we're gonna work through it, I help you. And then the CFO, and she was she was a she was a good person, yeah. She was a good person, but just the the remark said, Well, you know, the project managers in tears and and stuff, and then she all she had to say was, Oh, that's not gonna be the last project that has a bad profitability. I was like, hang on a minute, that was sort of not the core of my message. We have here devastated people, yeah, get the numbers, but also there's a human um sort of element and an important human element, and that sort of was what showed me that I wanted to work more with humans than with numbers, and that was sort of one key moment, and then also another key moment for me was that the environment that I was in, so there was really a misalignment, and my role was a misalignment, but I was a high achiever, right? And it was like this has to be achieved, and I want to be CFO, and I have this I have this vision for my career, and this is what it has to be, and I'm so determined I'm gonna make it there, and it was like with a lot of inner pressure that I had put myself under, and that was also working on my brain, and then I trained for the half marathon and yeah yeah yeah, and I have to achieve and stuff, and then I had this sort of key moment after the project manager was in tears, right? And it was like a week later or so, and I went, wanted to go to my um um sports physician to like do tests for my running, and then I couldn't find the address, so I was really sort of my mind went completely blank, and I said, Okay, well, this is sort of what this whole thing is doing to me, like it's sucking me dry, it's it's depleting also my cognitive energy. I thought, okay, this isn't right. And then I left, it was a Thursday, and I left that office on a Thursday and never went back. And from there, then um, sort of six months of coaching followed, and I realized the path that I wanted to be on and a lot of reflection. I went back to uni and sort of did still the management piece of it, and master's in business administration, orc development, and how can we set up organizations better than we are doing it now. And the other big piece was I started with coaching, I started my coaching diploma, um, and then off the back of that did some um psychotherapy training as well and hypnotherapy training back in Austria, and then um yeah, started started in a consulting company where it was around change management and bringing people in a journey and large-scale transformations, and then I did that for 10 years, roughly like nine, nine years, um, and then started my own business, going back to that core of working with people and also having even more of a focus now on working with high achievers who type themselves.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah, I I I love that story, and I love how you're demonstrating how your brain can just short circuit and go, nope, we're we're not doing this. Yeah, and just and so for me, when that has happened, I know now through all the learning I've done and the growing and the podcast and all the different things working with you, I understand that better. But I remember in the beginning, for me, that was a real hit on my self-esteem because I thought something was wrong with me. Do you hear? Do you get a lot of people like that? Or, you know, because it does seem like what is wrong with me? I can't even deal, and I want to be this great high achiever leader. How could I do that?

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Yeah, yeah, and I do get that. And I was thinking the same. I thought I'm not good enough for this. Yeah, so it's quite, I do hear that a fair bit, and I was thinking the same thing, yeah. Um, that when a situation isn't right, we sort of don't always look at what are all the factors involved, but it's we take it on us. So if we can't get a job we want, or we can't get promoted, or we can't lead the team we want, or the project we want is not is not a success, it's more like what have I done wrong? And while there is always something to learn, yeah, and I'm not I'm not swiping it away by any means, there's always something to learn, but there are other components. So, yes, I have a component in this. And what are all the other factors like the role, the experience set, the skill set that you may need, and other people that are involved that might might work against something out of their very maybe valid reasons um and the economic situations, like there's so many factors involved, and that's also what stress does is it narrows the view, and then we revert to oh, it's wrong, it's something wrong with me. Well, there might be five other factors, and it's rarely that it's really just one factor and that's only you. Yes, there might be part of it, but what are all the other parts?

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah, yeah, and that really helped me when I learned that, and then stress, narrowing the view and learning tools and things to go, you know, step back, bring yourself back from it. Um so um, and you know, you work with high-achieving leaders who are capable and experienced, but still find the confidence is a daily battle. So what's going on underneath that paradox? Like, let's dig deeper into that. And like with what you do, maybe we could talk about kind of how you work with people and how how that helps them, like how that goes beyond that.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yes, so that's that's one of my core topics and people I work with who are experienced, capable, they have a great track track record, but they're still sort of insecure, and there's something getting in the way for them to see what they're actually capable of and what they are doing. And very often that goes back to patterns learned early in your life. Yeah, so that is a subconscious distraction that blocks your view on actually your experience and your skill set to be more realistic about that. So going back to like maybe primary school or school years or puberty or young years where somebody might have failed, or they were taught or told, uh, you can't do that. Then they develop this belief around I'm not good enough, or uh, I'm not sure if this is right, what I'm doing. And it's always what especially high achievers have is this horizon view or the moving goalpost, as I say, to achieve something, and then suddenly it becomes the new normal. Like, yeah, uh, well, that's normal now. There's nothing special, and other people are doing that too. So, but maybe I should be doing something else, and they're always comparing themselves to the next level up, and that's a sure way to make yourself feel as not achieving or as falling short of something, yeah. And what I do in my work is number one to interrupt the stress cycle because, as we said, that narrows the mind, and you revert to the shortcut of what you established at some state in your life, you're not good enough, um, you're not meeting targets, what you're doing is not meeting expectations, and all that is subconsciously running, yeah. And the more stressed somebody is and the more under pressure, the louder this voice gets and drowns out other things and blocks the view on um objective sort of assessment of a situation. Yeah, and sometimes you really just end up without being able to think. And so, what what I do really from very um free offers and and and and easily accessible tools that you can just find through my website to really working in one-to-one uh uh settings is uh to to number one find a relaxation point and just help the mind switch off from all this sort of what loops in the head and goes around in circles and ruminating, right? And interrupt this, and then actually go back to where did you learn that and review that situation based on your knowledge now as an adult, and from the viewpoint of people you work with, and what would they say to the situation you're in, and and and what would they say about your capability and about your experience and about your achievements and how you're a team lead and how you're leading an organization, yeah, and to open up this perspective from very um singular focus to like like a like a prism of what do other people think and what what do they see. Um and really um after, and that's typically an 18-19 minute session, after one session, people become clearer, they see outside of that limited view and see other angles to that situation. And often they say to me, I've never looked at it that way. Actually, not that I really see this now. And and really, one um client I was working with, she was very concerned. So she returned from maternity leave. She was very concerned around what are people thinking of her now, and what is the client thinking, and what I is what is her leadership thinking. And she was always she felt like people are watching her and she felt scrutinized, yeah. And obviously, she said, Yeah, well, I've talked to counselor, but then I talked with them and nothing ever changes. And it was really taking her back, and we did that in a guided, as you say, Sarah, guided meditation, yeah, it's a guided meditation, imagery work, you could say um in a hypnosis regression session, where she walked back back on her timeline to where actually she learned that people are talking badly about her, and it was a situation from school where there was where she was bullied, and then people talked badly about her back, and that created this fear of people are talking about me about my back and they're talking about me negatively. That and that's the core thing to understand that experience had really nothing to do with her actual experience she was in now as a leader in her company and in her project, but the situation she was in triggered that old reaction. So often we're exposed to situations and triggers, and we're not responding to what is but what we have once learned. And once you can um once you can pick that apart and you can differentiate that in what is old learning and what is the con the current situation, you open that space for sort of realism and for response and conscious choice and thinking and strategy rather than operating out of autopilots that were created maybe 20, 25, 30, however many years ago. Right, and that's the almost immediate benefit people walk away with is this oh hang on a minute, I used to think that, but I'm not thinking that anymore because actually things are different, and I know that from work myself because I have this sort of comparison. So I got compared a lot, yeah. I got compared in primary school a lot to the um other girls where the mums were with the primary school teacher all the time and brought the cake to school, and they were like all around that. The girls were like beautiful and great at maths and graded reading and graded sports and whatnot. And sort of I got compared to that or felt I got compared and always felt short. And then when I started my business, because you are in situations where you're in the pressure cooker and starting new roles, starting new projects, taking on a team, um, or starting your own business, you sit in the pressure cooker, and that leads to these things are coming out, and then you really meet yourself. And I was thinking, like, I'm doing this so much worse than others are doing it, and what not. And I work then on myself with my supervisor and said, Look, I'm I'm going nuts, like I'm losing it here. Yeah, and we went back to that situation of oh, this is where it comes from, and then the brain can differentiate, and then there was a situation where I saw somebody had something fantastically achieved, and I thought, What I'm doing so well, and I could like never do that, and then that then then it hits where the oh hang on one minute. I used to think like that, but I'm not thinking that anymore, and then for for like it for like a few weeks, you have this really where you see how the switch flips from this is what I used to think, I don't, but that's how it is, yeah, and then it becomes the new normal. And that's what I also hear from like clients in terms of they think I used to think that, but I'm not thinking that anymore because it's different. So that's that's one thing that really people report back, or um, they forget about it that that ever was a topic. So then I talk to the same client two weeks later for a strategy session. She was like, Yeah, look, I'm really doing well and has improved with the directors and with the client, and yada yada yada, and there's no mention about that she thinks that anybody's talking about her. Yeah. So either people really feel that shift, or it's just not a topic and they forget about it and they just move on and they move down other paths.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

And that's what happens to me. Actually, both um, because see, we could work together like five or six weeks or something, quite a long time. And for me, um I forgot about some of the things we were working on. I was like, no, but also I felt I didn't feel those feelings inside that I was feeling. Like I felt stronger and it just it wasn't an issue. And it's like, so if I hadn't met with you, I'd still I could be still trudging along, you know, but I feel like working with you, like you you take these big jumps over these giant rivers, you know, like you're jumping over the Mississippi River, and then you're taking this rocket and you're going to Australia, and you're, and it's not like you're um, I mean, you are bypassing things, but it's in a healthy way, and you're you're taking leaps and bounds where otherwise you might be just continuing struggling with this, like you're saying, like, you know, being compared to the other girls, and you're like looking at that comparison, or um it's I just think it's really powerful work and it's a great way to move quickly through things to the next step. And it gives you your it gives you so much clarity, like you're not um your mind isn't chewing away at that anymore, you're not ruminating at it anymore because it's gone.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Yeah. And you said that actually, it's like an old tape running. So that's that's not the phrase that I use now that actually you coined. It's just like an old tape running in the background, right? Um, and the clarities because there's not sort of the underlying pattern running and the inner voice that sort of keeps distracting and disrupting, and then you have your conscience thinking over that, but it goes on in the back of your head because once it's addressed, it becomes conscious, it's aware, and then the brain can differentiate and sort it out. Like it can, it can really um yeah, like put put it in the uh in the right context. And it becomes clear it's not a it's all not blurred together, but you have this train of thought. Okay, that's like my thinking or what I used to think, and then this is like my conscious choice, and really the paths get um differentiated. Yeah, like you can really recognize what's which, and that's what I'm

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, it's like changing the tape. It's like changing the tape in your boom box. You're like, I don't want to listen to that anymore. I want something more energizing. It is. Or it's not true anymore. Like you think actually isn't true. What I'm thinking is actually literally not true. It's not. It's not. And the realization of that is so empowering. And you know, for anyone, whether you're a leader or not, it's so empowering to be able to get beyond that and say, oh, that was just a place and time. My brain picked this up, but decided to store it and run it as a tape. And that's been running me, and I don't have to allow it anymore. And now I know the difference.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yes. You can tell the difference in you get back in the driver's seat.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Yeah. Yeah. In the driver's seat. I like that. Um I'm just looking at my notes. I my my podcast listeners know that I like to have my notes here. Um, yeah. So you make a distinction that I think a lot of people haven't heard before between the doubt that's undermining you and the doubt that's actually trying to tell you something. I love this. So can you walk us through that? Because doubt not is not always the enemy, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:23

No, no, sometimes it's your informing agent. So we've spoken before about the mindset and the past learnings that interfere and that distract, right? So that's one distinction. And for and sometimes you have all the experience and you're capable and and and you're still doubting yourself. That's a mindset first approach. And then it's the other thing that you might be in a role where there's a skill misalignment or an experience misalignment, or there's something a misalignment in the environment, or with the actual work you're doing. And then the doubt is very healthy and it can tell you, ah, hang on, there are gaps. And depending on what the answer is to the question, do I just doubt myself despite great experience and capability? Or do I doubt myself because there's actually something wrong? Is an important distinction to make because based on that the path forward is different. So either you work on your mindset first and then on the strategy and implementation, or you say, Well, actually, I'm not naturally underconfident. And that's what I also have sometimes in my business. I'm thinking, Notice is not underconfident speaking. I really like I'm missing things. There is a skill that I don't have or a capability I haven't developed yet. And that's the same for leaders, like in terms of leadership or technical capabilities or stakeholder engagement or the context they're in if it's corporate or government. Like those are all skill sets and capabilities that you need to develop. And this sort of doubt, I'm not sure I get this right, can actually open up the conversation for who can help me, what can I do? What um who can I shadow, who can coach me or mentor me, and how what's the topic I need to get on top of in order to progress.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

I love that and mindset. So that's a continual practice, so like working out and eating healthy, right, is our mindset, and you you support people in being able to do that with the work that you do with the coaching, hypnotherapy. Is that right? So that because you know, you can just go and take a wrong turn with your mindset, but then there's tools. I mean, we're all human, and then there's tools to go like like you were just saying, shift or looking at, oh, there's a solution. Yeah, I don't have that skill. I can do something else. Where can I find that? And and um being able to do that, right? So it's a practice, I guess is what I'm getting at, all that to say.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Yes, um, it is, and and that really informs the sh the most effective pathway to success. Well, I did say that before, like mindset alone doesn't write your strategy, right? And capability along with the right mindset might not get you there either. So it's really a first an assessment on what's what's actually getting in the way, and then determining that, and then it's either mindset we're first or capability, because capability I'm I'm not for confidence at all costs, because that might also be really unhelpful. Because if I'm just confident based on actually gaps that I really have, um, that would be overconfidence, and that's that makes blind. And I don't see then what I really need to adapt or what I do need to work on, or with my engagement being more straightforward, changing communication, like what is it? So it's about a healthy balance. I read about look from other coaches around this unshakable confidence a lot of the time. And I don't I think it's the other extreme, like self-doubt can really undermine you, but unshakable confidence isn't the solution either, because that can really this sort of deflect and get you off track because you're not seeing what you might have really to change. Yeah, so that's why I also work a lot with emotional intelligence and and assessments in that space and feedback and what how other people perceiving you. Is they do they really think you're great and you need to step into more confidence, or is it actually, well, hang on a minute, listen, you need to do this, this, this differently and be more concise in your communication and get your stakeholders differently, or build more subject matter expertise, or you know, so what is it that needs working on? So it's not an either or it's not mindset above everything or capability above everything. It's meaning and they're married to be successful, they need to be married with each other.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Yeah, yeah. And emotional intelligence, guy. I think that's podcasts. That's maybe that's our next one. Um, dive deeper into that. So many things we could we could talk about. I mean, we can probably be here for hours, you and I. Um, so but I do want to talk about this. So you combine executive coaching with clinical hypnotherapy deliberately because you believe conscious strategy alone has limits. So um when you talk about where falls short and what changes when you work at the deeper level, and I just want everybody to know like when you when I first saw your posts and I saw hypnotherapy, that was a lot of the reason I wanted to work with you because I I I knew it would bypass so many different things. So maybe I'll put that teaser out there and you pick it up now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

So it it is the base for calmness, for confidence, and for working through matters that are an impediment, like anxiety, like overwhelm, like rumination, like self-doubt. Um, and it's very similar to what we said before about mindset versus capability, it's the same as strategy. So you need to have a clear view on what are options, what's the assessment, what's my goal, what do I want to achieve, and then make a strategy to there. And the deeper thought processes can help here or hinder here. You can have the positive view of, oh, I can work this out, I I need to build this skill, get this person on board, do this, this, this, these are my measures, and then go through it and have a positive expectation and the positive belief that you can deal with bumps on the road that you're gonna run into. Or, and that's why I say that's a distinction. You can have, yeah, well, I'm not sure I can do this, and there are three things I can do, and then it could also be a very undermining belief. I uh you know, people might trick me up, or I can't do this, or anything that actually consumes a lot of mental energy that distracts. I always say self-doubt is learned self-distraction, it distracts you from your goal because you're so busy in your mind on what could go wrong that actually you are missing the path of what to do to get it right. And deeper patterns, we look at that like what's what gets you off track, and how can you get back on track? And it's the benefit of realizing what are learned experiences, what are patterns running in the background that are shortcutting the brain, distracting from the strategy work to dissolve that and have like a clear window. So I learned in my training what we're doing with hypnotherapy is clearing the window from automatisms and autopilots that are running that that may get us off track to what's not applicable here, what's old learning, to have a clear window, see clearly at what's at hand, what needs to happen, what are the measures, then put together your strategy. This is very, very practical. Like that's really executive coaching, yeah, or uh career coaching. What once we know what might get in the way, can compartmentalize that and understand, comprehend, say, okay, this has nothing to do here in an accelerated manner, like you said, to then go into that strategy, build that strategy and walk away with an action plan. And those are real building blocks in how I work. The first is the understanding of the mindset and um unhelpful patterns that are running, working through those, understanding, uh, building positive pathways, positive beliefs, updating the belief system, then build the strategy on assessment where I am, where do I want to go? What gets me there? What do I need to do? And then walk away with an action plan. And like in any coaching, really, it's about then holding clients accountable for that they're doing the actions that get them to success. And the unique approach is to combine the two. So I'm not only like hypnotherapist with working with anxiety or self-to-do something, but really put that into practice and put that to work for professional success and progression and strategy building, even up to organizational transformation. Because in organizations you also have a lot of doubt that may actually not originate from the situation from the organization, but from the um individual's mind.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Yeah, from those old tapes. Yes. And I remember when I worked with you, I had a lot of anxiety, and that yeah, like it was gone. It was gone. I remember I had a lot of, and it was just our old tapes running that I didn't even know were running. And then working with you, I it saved me. Like it just, it was so powerful because it's not fun to all of a sudden have anxiety hit you for like even no reason, or maybe there is a reason, and it's just a thought pattern that was programmed in. Like, you know, like if we think back to the days when we used to make mixtapes, well, the mixtape that I was programming that, um yeah, I and we got to take that tape out and put a new mixtape in that was supporting me. And so I don't have to just all of a sudden just be like, you know, um, yeah, because that's that's a terrible place to be. But also it opened up my mind to see things in a different way because, and I know you've been saying that, and it's it's so true though. I want our audience to know it is so true. You just start seeing, like we talk about seeing outside the box, but you do you see outside of your own box and you see different pathways and different um things that you didn't see before, you know, it's like you clean the glass and you see far more clearly, and you bring up out to the open things that are running in the background that you're not consciously aware of.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Like you said, I I wasn't the I didn't even know that the tape was running. Yeah, so you are steered and navigated by something in the background that you don't even see, and there is the the awareness below the awareness. So even things that you see that you perceive, but you don't really understand. So things, memories that you have. Ah, yeah, when I was like 10 or 12, 15, whatever, that happened. But what that really does subconsciously, and how that's rooted, and how that's really driving you that something that's a different process of uncovering that. And once you really understand and see, oh god, this is what this is what it does, you have this aha moment, and then you can build new pathways forward and also practice new behaviors um and moving away from the old tape that's running you, as you said.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

I think that's why it's so important to work with somebody like you, um, Sabine, because you get down to that and what is running you, and you're able to change those tapes, you know, quickly, and um you have that support. And to me, that's a comfort, and you're um such a kind giving person too. So um yeah, no, really, really. I I I love working with you.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Um so um it's it's also getting the other person back in the driver's seat. It's more like we just talk about it, right? We talk about it and I'm empathetic, but it's a stopped there. It's really okay. So, what can you do now? So you know what are you gonna do next? So, like we when you say, Look, I'm caring, yes, I'm I'm deeply caring about clients. And I'm oh thank you for that. You're saying I'm fine, yes, I hope so. But then it's also look, this what has happened, this is how you stored it, this is how how that's now sort of used to drive you in that way, and now you know that. And what is the next step? So, what do you want to do? And it's always sort of this moving forward rather than okay, we have explored now. We did sort of uh regression and and and then you have this understanding and this awareness, and then goodbye, but it is knowledge what are you gonna do differently now, and what's happening next. It's always this forward pull.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

That is right. I do. We meant the yes, yes, yes, and that was very powerful. It wasn't just over, it was like, okay, now we have this new tape. What are we gonna do? I I really, yeah. Um, and that brings me to like the change. So your clients, is it a moment? Is it many moments? Maybe it's all the above.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Um, you know, it is all the above. So that is not the average response or the average this is what changes immediately. Um for some clients, but it is not then suddenly not a topic anymore, like we say earlier. So they come with this problem, they say, look, I'm really worried, uh, I didn't get my promotion, and it really um, I don't feel good enough, I don't know how to recover from this. And then it's uh an understanding and a sort of uh um accelerated recovery, let's say, because the corn you then consciously aware of what drives that and um understanding that, yeah, and sometimes it's uh the shifting where you see, oh, I used to respond like that, but now I'm doing that anymore because now I'm thinking actually this, or what I used to think, oh, that's actually not right, that's actually wrong because things are different, and for some people it's the immediate from here to here, and for others, they are more steps in between where they go from I'm a worth this now, this is how I respond now, and then it's the new normal, or they go from here, well, this is how it was to this is the new normal, and actually I forgot about what the topic was. So do you have really those major three um pathways from understanding, working through things, moving forward, totally forgetting about it, and the in-between, I see how my brain and my thinking shifts.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Yeah, I feel like I experienced all of them. Yeah, I do, I do. Um, yeah, there was progression, there was forgetting, there was, but if and I felt really good, and I felt good about me. I felt really good about me. Um and yeah, which was really, really important and calm, calm now, yes, and confidence. Like, look at here we are at the podcast, and here you are, and doing the most amazing things, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

It's light that nothing is sort of dragging you down. So you're worried, you're stressed, the brain has a negativity bias, yeah. So you're not jumping right away off what could go wrong, but you put that to the side and say, Well, actually, calm, here's peace. I'm not on threat, I have time to think, and these are the things that could go right, and this is what I have to do to get there. Um yeah, so it is it is it is calmness, it is confidence, and what also clients report back is that they feel lighter. And I do have um three tools that I think also you are going to make available to your audience, where where it is about listening to an audio, and I also give you a few audio, yeah, for in-between sessions and they listen to the audio, and what people who are sort of new to this topic then sometimes think, Now how does an audio can how can an audio help me to be more confident? Yeah, but then they give it a go and then they see what all I can say. It's I felt lighter, I felt happier, I you know, and and it I felt calmer. And then also another client once said, It's at the end of the week, I had a big week, but it was like my brain tapped into a different frequency, and I would like my brain to tap into that frequency more often, and I can actually feel joy again, and it's not like that everything's dragging me down, but I have this lightness and this sort of beautiful spring in my step, and I feel calmer and I feel more on top of things, and it's sort of not, you know, whatever happens is doesn't matter that much. Yeah, it's not so serious, that that sort of thing. Yeah, it's really lightness, happiness, more confidence, calmness.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

And I think that's really important to acknowledge because if you're if you're looking at it like, you know, it's okay, everything's okay, and whatever happens, happens. But then solutions come that you didn't even think about because if you're stressed out, you're closing things out, like we're kind of coming full circle, right? So um, I mean, it's really important. So yeah, um, Sabine is giving to our audience, and it'll be in the show notes. Um, it's uh guided um meditation or exercise that shifts your self-doubt and confidence. And um so then the thing that I like about this too is that, and I asked her if she would give something to our audience because I want people to get to know Sabine. I want you to connect with her um and be able to understand what she does and also feel her energy because it's it's just it's beautiful. And um, the other thing that I'm gonna put is there'll be a link to her website, which is new. A new website with new stuff, right? Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

So for your audience, the free confidence audio is available for download. Uh 26 minutes in your own space, comfortable with your head supported, to really get into the calmest state first. So calm, no threat, everything is in peace. You can chill out, and then it works through effectiveness and confidence and seeing the picture of how you can confidently do go about your day and not be worried about getting anything wrong. But it's really how you learn and how you grow, and everything is good, and getting your brain into that peaceful, non-threatened state, and that's a big step, yeah. So that's one, and that's also where then the lightness and happiness comes from, and sort of more like you're more uh walking lightly in your steps rather than being sort of heavily and having a heaviness, that's what it does, that's what it shifts, and like you said, Sarah, very well so it builds the foundation for getting thoughts and ideas that you haven't thought of yet. And sort of how I announced the whole thing, it's part of my mindset series, and it is to give uh space to yourself, um, explore new opportunities and get new thoughts. Yeah, um, and some of them you might not have had before. So then it's really this oh my god, I think of this now. And also on the website, there's a section with three mindset tools. Uh, after heavy weeks, um, I talk about a what's called the grayscale technique, how to like leave um burdening stuff behind you by tuning down the colors in your main lie when you look at a situation. There is a short video with an instruction on how to do that, and also um for other difficult situations, um, stop and redirect, like techniques that also Sarah learned, um, where it's it's freely accessible. You can watch the video and it's 40 seconds to one minute, really short videos, and the tools get um added to you on a regular basis. So if you check today and then you check again in two weeks, there might be more stuff available. But my recommendation start with the free confidence audio, not to overwhelm anybody. Yeah, yeah, free confidence audio. Sarah has the link and start with that and really give you some sincere self some space, um, explore new ideas and come up with new opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

And do you think it's best to listen to in the morning, afternoon, evening, maybe all the above?

SPEAKER_00 43:53

All of the above. So typically I recommend seven days to give it a go seven days. Oh Week, yeah. If you can, you can also do three days. I mean, play it by ear. It's all you know how you feel, and you know how you feel best. Um, just general recommendation to give it a bit of time to sit, also depending on what other experiences you have. Um, um, it can be in the morning before your day to have this lightness going into your day, can be at the end of the day to reprocess if something was difficult, or during the day, whenever there's time. Just please be mindful, not when your operating machines are driving. So in a comfortable space with your head supported, could be on your couch, in your bed, on your chair, just that your um head is links again, leaning against something behind you that um it's comfy and your head is not falling down. So that's sort of all the practical instructions. And for the rest, really um any any time during the day in a safe space for three, four, five, seven days, and that should anchor this feeling of new spaces, lightness, happier, um, and and new opportunities, new spaces, new ideas.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

Thank you, thank you so much, Sabine. I so appreciate that. And um, the other thing is too, is Sabine. I'm gonna share her calendar so that if you want to have 20 or 30 minutes with her and you want to get to know her, um, you will be able to schedule time with her to get to know her. She's amazing, and I just can't say enough about what it's like to work with her. Um, you know, I've already said she supported me, I have more confidence. I like, look, I started this podcast and many other things that I'm doing, but also the panic is gone, and I can I think more clearly and I think speak more clearly. Um, and it's just nice to be around her. I just really it's always nice to be around Sabine.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Oh I'm so honored and humbled at the same time. Thank you so much, Sarah. Thank you for the feedback. Uh, thank you for working with me. Thank you for inviting me to your podcast. I think it's amazing. So I look through the podcast, the other episodes, everything you're doing. Like, you know, we we we regularly sort of touch base, and then I see from one to the next how you're developing what you're doing, and I think this is awesome. Like, it's really it's brilliant. And I think this was the best hour probably out of the whole week talking to you. Uh, thank you so much for having me, and I hope we speak again.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

I hope so. I hope we get to do this more, Sabine. I would love to have you, and we can, you know, approach some other things and maybe go a little bit deeper. But really, thank you so much for connecting with our community and our listeners and listeners. I just want to thank you for being here with us at The Magic in the Middle. And when I say at the beginning and the end of each podcast, I so mean it. I am so grateful for everyone who listens, for everyone who participates, for everyone who leaves five stars, for sharing. Like this is a really important thing that we're doing. And um, you know, it's allowing us to step into the greatest vision and version of who we are. And um, you know, I feel like at least I wasn't taught to do things like that, and it feels really good to feel good. And thank you, Sabine. You're part of that for me. Oh, thank you, Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Thank you, Sarah. All the best, and see you soon.