Jedi Mindsets for the Anxious Achiever with Shirzad Chamine

11 snips

Mar 3, 2026

Shirzad Chamine, founder of Positive Intelligence and author of Positive Intelligence, shares quick mental fitness tools. He explains 'saboteurs' and how overused strengths backfire. Short practices like PQ reps help shift from stress to calm clarity. Conversations cover tunnel vision under pressure, the five Sage powers, and turning setbacks into opportunity.

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INSIGHT

Ten Saboteurs And The Universal Judge

Saboteurs are ten recurring mind patterns that emerge from survival instincts and undermine performance when overused.
The Judge is universal and also judges others and circumstances, creating a lifelong "I'll be happy when" trap that fuels shame and stress.

ADVICE

Intercept Saboteurs With A 10‑Second PQ Rep

Thank your saboteurs and reassign them a new job: when they show up, catch them and do a 10‑second PQ rep instead of following their advice.
This interrupts the survival brain, quieting negative emotion and energizing your sage for clearer choices.

INSIGHT

Use The First Second Of Negative Emotion As A Wake‑Up

Negative emotions are useful as a one‑second wake‑up alert but staying in them causes tunnel vision and sabotage.
After the initial alert, shifting to the sage enables calm, clear‑headed problem solving and better performance.

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What if the biggest obstacle to your performance isn’t your workload or your leadership challenges, but your own mind? In this episode, I sit down with Shirzad Chamine, founder and CEO of Positive Intelligence, to talk about the habits many anxious achievers rely on to succeed (i.e. hypervigilance, perfectionism, control, and constant striving), but that can drain energy, clarity, and confidence over time. Shirzad breaks down how overused strengths turn into self-sabotage, and the 10-second practice that helps you shift from stress and reactivity into calm, focused leadership. Get ready to learn how to work with your mind instead of against it.

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In this Episode, You Will Learn

00:00 Why your mind can feel like your greatest ally and your biggest obstacle.

06:15 The 3 ways you judge yourself, others, and circumstances.

12:00 What's the difference between helpful emotions and self-sabotage?

14:15 Can anger and stress ever be productive?

18:00 The biological reason stress creates tunnel vision in high-stakes decisions.

20:00 What’s the real cost of overusing your strengths as a leader?

26:15 The shift that turns a leader’s vigilance from a strength into a liability.

31:15 The 5 Sage powers that improve wellbeing and results.

38:30 A 10-second PQ rep to calm anxiety fast.

41:00 Active grounding practices for restless or anxious minds.

48:00 How the Sage perspective turns any circumstance into a gift or opportunity.

56:45 Why hyper-achievement disconnects self-worth from success.

1:00:30 The shift from conditional to unconditional self-acceptance.

Resources + Links

Take the FREE Positive Intelligence assessment HERE

Get your copy of Shirzad Chamine’s book Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours HERE