Not Another Mindset Show

Does focusing on what you want actually bring it to you? Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas holds manifestation, the reticular activating system, and subconscious reprogramming up against the research to see what still stands. The science these ideas borrow from is real, but the claims built on top of it are a different story.

In this episode, she covers:

• What a study of over 1,000 people found when researchers compared manifestation beliefs to objective markers of success
• How manifestation borrows terms like quantum entanglement and the observer effect, and what they actually mean in physics
• What the reticular activating system really does, and the frequency illusion behind the red car theory
• A 1991 study that swapped the labels on subliminal self-help tapes, and what people reported afterward
• Why beliefs still matter enormously, and why self-efficacy gets built by taking action first
   

If you’ve ever taken something showing up everywhere as a sign you were meant to go for it, this episode is for you.

Episodes Referenced:

• Is NLP a Legit Method for Coaching? | EP 115
• Why Vision Boards Don't Actually Work | EP 113

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Sources:

• Dixon, L. J., Hornsey, M. J., & Hartley, N. “The Secret” to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 51(1), 49–65 (online 2023) 
•  Greenwald, A. G., Spangenberg, E. R., Pratkanis, A. R., & Eskenazi, J. (1991). Double-blind tests of subliminal self-help audiotapes
•  National Academies of Sciences review on subliminal self-help audio

In this Q&A episode, Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas answers your questions, from the fixed mindset belief she’s struggled with most to what to do when a client can’t picture a better future for themselves. She also gets into the ripple effect of 6 years of running a certification business for health and fitness professionals, mindset basics for parents, and one conspiracy theory she can’t believe she talked about on the podcast.

In this episode, she covers:

• The fixed mindset belief Dr. Kasey Jo has wrestled with most and how she talks herself through it in real time
• How one certified coach’s impact spreads to hundreds of clients (and how one Instagram post can change a check-in that same day)
• The question to ask when a client says they can’t visualize a better future
• Why positive visualization on its own can actually backfire
• How to praise effort instead of ability and give people real choices, with takeaways that carry right over to coaching clients
   

If you’ve ever had a client who couldn’t see themselves reaching their goals, this episode is for you.

Episodes Referenced: 

• Why Vision Boards Don't Actually Work | EP 113

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When a client skips check-ins or falls off track for a few weeks, a lot of coaches decide it's time to deliver some tough love. Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas breaks down why being hard on your clients and challenging your clients are not the same thing, and why the harsh version usually costs you the follow-through you're trying to get.
 

In this episode, she covers:

• The two very different things that get lumped together under "tough love"
• What the righting reflex is and how it shows up in both harsh and helpful-sounding coaching
• Why confronting a client makes them argue for staying exactly the same
• The confrontation, labeling, and expert traps and what they do to client ownership
• How to keep a high standard while getting curious before you get corrective
  
  

If you've ever had a client nod along to a hard conversation and then stop checking in altogether, this episode is for you.

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Sources: 

• (Moyers et al. 2009)
• (Miller, Benefield, & Tonigan 1993)
• (Moyers & Martin, 2006)
• (Miller & Rollnick)

A popular coaching software just rolled out AI that promises one coach can manage hundreds of clients, with check-ins that write themselves. Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas breaks down what that pitch is really selling, where AI can truly help coaches, and the line she thinks the industry is starting to cross. She also gets honest about how she uses AI in her own business, and why it still gets things confidently wrong.

In this episode, she covers:

• The contradiction hiding in the "scale to hundreds of clients" pitch
• Why managing 200 clients isn't the same as coaching them
• What happened when her own AI, trained on six years of coaching material still came up with claims that weren't true
• Why some coaches reach for AI because of a confidence problem, not a time problem
• How HMCC is building responsible AI support for coaches (meet Mindy, the Mindset Co-Coach)

If you've ever wondered whether using AI in your coaching is helping you or slowly replacing you, this episode is for you.

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"So, are you analyzing me right now?" Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas gets asked this all the time, and the honest answer is kind of... yes. In this personal episode, she connects her Spanish lessons to what it feels like to learn mindset and behavior change coaching (like learning a "language"), and shares how that "fluency" shows up in her friendships, dating life, and relationships (for better and for worse).

In this episode, she covers:

• How HMCC alumni underestimate what they know because they forget how hard it was to learn
• What happens when a question she asks strangers at a bar tough questions
• Why framing matters so much in hard conversations, and why it's easy to blame the other person for getting defensive
• The moment she has to tell herself to stop being a researcher and just be a partner

Episodes Referenced: 

• EP 57: Tips from a Mindset Researcher: Dating and Hiring People 
• EP 62: How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome: Mindset Shifts to Try 
• EP 66: Things I Say to Myself in the Mirror

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Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas breaks down exercise science research showing that even experienced lifters chronically underestimate how many reps they have left, and the further they are from failure, the more wrong they usually are. She connects it to a coaching principle that goes way beyond the gym: discomfort is not the same thing as your actual limit.

In this episode, she covers:

• Why even experienced lifters underestimate how many reps they actually have left
• The research on anchoring and how saying a number out loud becomes your ceiling
• Why discomfort gets mistaken for your true limit, and what that means for how you coach
• How the GROW model's optimization pillar applies to unrecognized capacity, in the gym and with clients
• Why chronically underestimating your capacity isn't a skills problem, it's a perception problem
  
  

Episodes Referenced: 

• #92: The Science of Not Giving Up (And How to Coach It)

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Sources: 

• (Halperin et al., 2022)
• (Zourdos et al., 2019)
• (Armes et al., 2020)

Most coaches think a bigger promise sells better. Dr. Kasey Jo sits down with marketing expert (and real-life friend) Dr. Matt Shiver to make the case that it's actually setting clients up to fail.

They dig into a question most coaches never ask: what does "success" even mean for your offer? Is it the client hitting the exact number you promised on the sales call, or something more honest? 

In this episode:

• Why firing "uncoachable" clients is a red flag, not a flex
• How to define success so you stop overpromising and underdelivering
• The 3 psychological needs behind every client who stops following through
  
  

Whether you've ever lost a client who was actually getting results, or you're the one who's fired a few "uncoachable" ones yourself, this episode will change how you think about both.

Connect with Dr. Matt Shiver on Instagram

Connect with Dr. Kasey Jo on Instagram

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For years, coaches have asked Kasey the same thing: does the Health Mindset Coaching Certification teach neuro-linguistic programming, also known as NLP? Short answer: No. But there's nuance to the "why not". She finally sat down, outlined the research, and provides her perspective about NLP this episode.

In this episode, she covers:

• Where NLP actually came from and what it claims
• The one theory the whole system is built on, and what happens when it's tested
• What a review of 315 NLP articles actually found
• The parts of NLP that do actually work, and where they really come from
• Three questions to ask before buying into any coaching methodology
  
  

Whether you're curious about NLP or have your own perspectives on it (positive or negative), you will enjoy this episode.

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Sources: 

• Sturt et al., 2012
• Witkowski, 2010
• Passmore & Rowson, 2019
• Norcross & Koocher, 2006
• Wiseman et al., 2012

Gratitude journals and gratitude meditations get talked about like a cheat code for happiness, but the research tells a more complicated story. Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas breaks down a massive new analysis of over 140 studies and 24,000 people to show what gratitude practices actually do, and what they don't.

In this episode, she covers:

• Why the popular claim that gratitude rewires your brain and boosts happiness is bigger than what the research actually supports
• What a 2025 analysis of 140+ studies across 24,000 people and 28 countries found about the real effect size of gratitude practices
• Why gratitude practices lose their edge when compared to other reflective practices like journaling or acts of kindness
• What the research says about relying on gratitude practices with clients dealing with depression or anxiety
• How to help clients choose the practice they'll actually stick with instead of chasing the "perfect" one
   

If you've ever told a client to start a gratitude journal because it seemed like the obvious thing to recommend, this episode is for you.

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Most vision boards end up collecting dust by mid-year. In this episode, Dr. Kasey Jo Orvidas shares a research breakdown that explains why vision boards are fun, but maybe not very effective for actually achieving your goals. "Manifesting" and fantasizing about what you want, might actually be the reason you haven't seen success yet.

In this episode, she covers:

• The difference between expecting something and fantasizing about it, and why the research shows they lead to almost opposite outcomes
• Why picturing a goal as already achieved can quietly lower your energy and motivation to go pursue it
• How the effect gets stronger the more you actually want the thing you're fantasizing about
• Why a fixed mindset makes the downside of positive fantasizing even worse
• The WOOP framework and mental contrasting, and why pairing visualization with a plan for the obstacles is the version that actually works

If you've ever made a vision board that ended up gathering dust, this episode explains why, and what to do differently.

Episodes Referenced: 

• EP 29: Evidence-Based Strategy to Help Clients Achieve Goals (The WOOP Method)

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Want me to answer your questions on my next Q&A episode? Send a voice note or drop your questions here

Sources:

• Kappes and Oettingen, 2011
• Kappes, Oettingen and Mayer, 2012
• Oettingen and Mayer, 2002
• Kappes, Stephens and Oettingen, 2011