The Line with Dr Kristen Holmes Dr. Shadé Zahrai: 4 Ways Anyone Can Become More Confident and Beat Self Doubt
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Feb 26, 2026 
Dr. Shadé Zahrai, a behavioral researcher and performance educator who wrote Big Trust, breaks down four drivers that fuel self-doubt. Short, practical tools like posture tweaks, breathwork, mental contrasting, and reframing language get attention. Expect concrete tactics to boost agency, calm anxiety, and separate identity from performance.
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Use Pre Mortems And Post Mortems To Neutralize Failure
- Do a pre-mortem and post-mortem around any important action: list what could go wrong, mitigate it, then analyze outcomes to turn failures into data.
- This reclaims attention, activates prefrontal control, and reduces threat-driven reactivity.
Michael Phelps Visualized Everything That Could Go Wrong
- Michael Phelps visualized every possible race problem and his recovery responses so he felt prepared for anything during competition.
- In Beijing 2008 his goggles filled with water, he swam 175 meters blind, won gold, and set a world record.
Map Obstacles And Recovery To Increase Agency
- Do mental contrasting: write your goals, list obstacles (including social judgment), then create 'if this happens, then I'll...' recovery steps to boost agency.
- Map boredom and setbacks too, then track actions (showing up) not immediate progress.
