#47 - The Full Spirit Workout: Kate Eckman on Confidence, Presence & Letting Go
Today’s guest is Kate Eckman
Closing the gap between external achievement and inner stability—teaching high achievers how to build trainable confidence, presence, and resilience so performance isn’t hostage to fear, perfectionism, or other people’s opinions.
In today’s conversation Kate Eckman explores how to develop “inner fitness” with the same intention we bring to physical training. She shares her swimmer-to-broadcaster-to-coach journey, how early beliefs fueled achievement yet amplified anxiety, and why true confidence means trust—in your preparation, process, and timing. Kate unpacks her “Five Ps of Confidence” (presence, patience, purpose, preparation, practice) with two bonuses (pause, person), then describes “surrendering the outcome” so you can be all-in without gripping. The episode lands on practical rituals—journaling, stillness, breath, and values-driven action—that make composure repeatable.
You will learn a repeatable framework for confidence (the Five Ps), how to engineer presence (be where your feet are and bring your energy), and how a short pause protocol prevents reactive emails and bad decisions. You will learn why trust—not theatrics—sits at the core of confidence, and how “surrender the outcome” actually improves execution. You will also learn simple inner-fitness reps (sit-and-stare time, emotion labeling, journaling prompts) that lower anxiety and align action with your values.
You will discover that the gap between stimulus and response is trainable—and that letting go of rigid timelines often unlocks faster results.
Feeling stuck in self-doubt, over-attachment to outcomes, or performative perfectionism; Kate offers a playbook to trust, loosen the grip, and show up fully.
Key take aways:
Confidence means trust—in preparation, process, and timing.
Presence: be here, and bring your energy.
Pause before you press send.
Purpose powers action when motivation fades.
Surrender the outcome; execute the process.
“Being okay if it happens and okay if it doesn’t is a very powerful place to be.”
Today’s Expert Guest - Kate Eckman
Kate Eckman is a coach, keynote speaker, and author who helps high-achieving leaders “master the inner game.” An Academic All-American swimmer at Penn State, she later earned a master’s in broadcast journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School and graduated at the highest level from Columbia University’s executive & organizational coaching (3CP) program. She is ICF-certified, an NBI® consultant, and integrates training from Yale’s Science of Well-Being and Stanford’s Love as a Force for Social Justice.
Kate blends neuroscience, positive psychology, and whole-person coaching to operationalize inner fitness—turning concepts into friction-free daily practices that leaders and athletes can actually do. Her method focuses on building an inner core (mind-body-spirit) so performance and wellbeing rise together, not at each other’s expense.
Adopt the Pause → Trust → Proceed routine: when triggered, pause for three breaths, name the emotion once, re-anchor in your why, then take one small, prepared action—and release the outcome. Repeat daily to turn composure into a default setting.
Follow Kate Eckman on Instagram & Linked In.
Check out her website.
The Full Spirit Workout:
A 10-Step System to Shed Your Self-Doubt, Strengthen Your Spiritual Core, and Create a Fun & Fulfilling Life
In this book, executive leadership coach and author Kate Eckman serves as a spiritual personal trainer to help readers develop a strong inner core, giving them the resilience to handle the obstacles and upheavals that they experience, as well as the courage to create the fun and fulfilling life that is their birthright.
This podcast contains advice and information relating to health and wellness. It should be used to supplement rather than replace the advice of your doctor or another trained health professional. If you know or suspect that you have a health problem, seek your physician’s advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. All efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this podcast / interview / article as of the date of publication. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any medical or other outcomes that may occur as a result of applying the methods suggested in this material.
