The Mindset Advantage

What if confidence isn’t where you start?

What if confidence is where you arrive?

Athletes often believe they need to feel confident before they can perform at their best. But in this episode, DJ challenges that belief and breaks down where confidence actually comes from.

You’ll learn why action comes before confidence, how keeping promises to yourself builds self-trust, and what to do when pressure makes you forget just how prepared you really are.

DJ also breaks down three things every athlete can control when confidence disappears — body language, focus, and self-talk — and shares practical strategies you can use immediately in competition.

In this episode:
• Why you don’t need confidence to compete
• The relationship between action, competence, and confidence
• Why “confidence comes with receipts”
• How to build trust with yourself
• The three controllables: Body Language, Focus, and Self-Talk
• How to turn “What if?” into “Even if”
• Why the work nobody sees ultimately creates the moments everybody sees

If you’ve ever found yourself waiting to feel confident before taking action, this episode is for you.

Stop waiting for confidence.

Start building it.

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Sarah Martin is currently the starting goalkeeper and captain for the women’s soccer team at the University of Minnesota.

During her three years as a starter for the Gophers, Sarah has consistently been one of the top performers in goal. She’s recorded numerous shutouts, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, and worked her way into the Minnesota record books, where she currently ranks third all-time in career saves.

Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard Community

Follow DJ on Instagram

Purchase DJ's book Push the Sled

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Join DJ in this solo podcast as he breaks down how perspective can become your superpower!

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

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Brody Brecht is a right-handed pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization and one of the top arms in their system. The former two-sport Iowa Hawkeye left as the program's career strikeout leader and was taken 38th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, the highest any Iowa player has gone since 1990. He throws a fastball that has touched 100 and a slider scouts call the best in the system. He's a husband, a father, and open about how his faith shapes the way he competes.

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

Join DJ as he concludes a three part series on lessons learned from the greatest coaches in the country! 

In case you missed it!

Part 1: How Great Coaches Give Feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mi-fit-podcast/id1420211275?i=1000775596549

Part 2: How Great Coaches Handle Winning and Losing: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-advantage/id1420211275?i=1000776542586

NO FACTOR STORE: https://shirt-werks-promotionals-inc.printavo.com/merch/2026-mindset-advantage-store

Cori Close has been the head coach of UCLA women's basketball since 2011. In 2026 she led the Bruins to the program's first NCAA national championship, beating South Carolina 79-51 to cap a 37-1 season. She's the only coach in program history with 300-plus career wins, and after 15 years being mentored by John Wooden, she's become one of the sport's clearest voices on coaching people rather than performances.

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

7x National Champion Coach Valorie Kondos Field and I catch up and talk about my latest book and all things coaching!

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

Join DJ for the second episode of this special series breaking down the major lessons he's learned from interviewing hall of fame coaches!

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

Greg McKeown has written two New York Times bestsellers: Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, voted by Goodreads as the number one leadership and success book to read in a lifetime, and Effortless, Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most. Together, they've sold more than three million copies and been published in over 40 languages. Greg is one of the most sought after public speakers in the world, having spoken to hundreds of organizations across more than 45 countries. His clients include Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Nike. 

Topics

-What Essentialism really is

-How coaches can apply essentialism

-The hidden performance killer of confident misunderstanding 

-How to become a signals

-Parenting, pressure, and radical gratitude

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com

Join DJ as he unpacks 12 communication patterns from elite coaches!

Download my FREE Coaching Beyond the Scoreboard E-book www.djhillier.com/coach 

Download my FREE 60 minute Mindset Masterclass at www.djhillier.com/masterclass

Download my FREE top 40 book list written by Mindset Advantage guests: www.djhillier.com/40books

Subscribe to our NEW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MindsetAdvantage

Purchase a copy of my book: https://a.co/d/bGok9Ud

Follow me on Instagram: @deejayhillier

Connect with me on my website: www.djhillier.com