Champion Mindset Collective

Are you constantly saying yes when you really mean no?
People-pleasing can look like kindness, but over time it can leave you exhausted, resentful and disconnected from what you actually want.
In this episode of the Champion Mindset Collective, transformational coach, speaker, entrepreneur and bestselling author Sunniva Holt shares what it really takes to stop living for everyone else and start choosing yourself without the guilt.
One of Sunniva’s strongest reminders is simple:
“Your no needs to come with a full stop.”
We explore boundaries, self-worth, journalling, redefining success, protecting your energy and becoming the version of yourself you actually want to be.
✨ In this conversation:
• How to stop people-pleasing without feeling guilty
• Why boundaries only work when you uphold them
• How to recognise repeating patterns
• Why self-observation can create real change
• How journalling helps you reconnect with what you want
• How to redefine success on your own terms
• Why small, sustainable changes matter
• How to stop living around other people’s opinions
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Choosing yourself without guilt
02:56 Sunniva’s childhood and early independence
05:33 What choosing yourself really means
06:31 Why your “no” needs a full stop
09:04 How people-pleasing keeps reappearing
09:56 Boundaries only work when you uphold them
12:39 Self-observation and becoming your own life coach
15:29 Successful on paper vs truly fulfilled
18:30 Building confidence and independence
54:04 Connecting with your future self
55:14 Why small changes are more sustainable
1:00:50 Stop caring what other people think
1:03:48 Quickfire round
1:08:58 Remember who you are
1:12:48 Life On Your Terms and final thoughts
🎙️ About Sunniva Holt
Sunniva Holt is a transformational coach, speaker, entrepreneur and bestselling author who helps high-achieving women stop living by default and create lives and businesses on their own terms.
🔗 Connect with Sunniva
🌐 Website + Journal Your Way To Success guide
💫 1:1 Private Coaching
👥 Group Immersives
✨ VIP Intensive Days
📸 Instagram
▶️ YouTube
💼 LinkedIn
📘 Facebook
📖 Life On Your Terms
📚 Read the article
The Hidden Cost of People-Pleasing: How to Choose Yourself Without Guilt
📝 Practical Guide
Choosing Yourself: A Guide to Overcoming People-Pleasing and Cultivating Authentic Success
🏆 Champion Mindset Collective
🎓 Champion Academy
🎙️ Podcast
🎤 Apply to be a guest
💬 Where in your life are you saying yes when you really mean no?

Has your business become busy without really moving?

In S3E274 of the Champion Mindset Collective, Anthony Dahya speaks with Ankur Shrivastava, founder of StratMate, startup mentor, Senior Business Analyst at ASB and host of Let’s Talk Strategy.

After redundancy in 2024, Ankur chose to create rather than simply wait for the next opportunity. That decision led to entrepreneurship, startup mentoring, community building and StratMate.

At the heart of the conversation is Ankur’s Soda Fizz Theory. A business can begin with energy, excitement and momentum, but over time that fizz can disappear into admin, process and too many competing priorities. You can feel productive while the business itself stops moving.

Ankur’s practical reset is simple:

REINVENT.
RECONNECT.
REFOCUS.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why too many priorities can kill momentum
• The difference between being busy and actually growing
• How redundancy changed Ankur’s definition of success
• Why saying no can protect your direction
• Why customer conversations matter as you grow
• Why you do not have to quit your job to start something of your own
• How to keep the fizz alive through different phases of business and life

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Busy is not the same as growing.
• Ten or twelve priorities are not really priorities.
• Reinvent through small useful improvements.
• Reconnect with customers and their real frustrations.
• Refocus on the few things that genuinely move the business forward.
• Redundancy can become redirection.
• You can start building something of your own without immediately leaving your job.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Why Good Businesses Lose Momentum
1:06 Ankur’s Journey From India to New Zealand
2:03 Redundancy in 2024 and the Decision to Build
3:03 Discovering the Startup Strategy Gap
4:28 Creating Let’s Talk Strategy
4:48 Building the AI Nexus Community
6:25 How Redundancy Changed Ankur’s Definition of Success
8:01 Learning to Say No in Business
9:22 Balancing Career, Business and Community
10:22 The Soda Fizz Theory
11:08 Why 12 Priorities Means No Real Priorities
12:37 Reinvent, Reconnect and Refocus
13:41 Entrepreneurship, Risk and Fear
14:46 How to Connect With Ankur
15:29 Quickfire: Success, Inspiration and Entrepreneurship
16:18 Why You Don’t Have to Quit Your Job to Start
17:06 Keep the Fizz Alive
17:31 What a Champion Mindset Means

CONNECT WITH ANKUR

StratMate:
https://stratmate.co.nz/

LinkedIn:
https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ankur-shrivastava-622a4a28

Let’s Talk Strategy on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@stratmatenz

Let’s Talk Strategy on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5pRB8VcoGOZky8FqP46foL

EPISODE RESOURCES

Episode Page:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/episode/ankur-shrivastava-S3E274

Article - Busy Isn’t Growth:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/blog/busy-isnt-growth-why-good-businesses-lose-momentum-and-how-to-get-it-back

CHAMPION MINDSET COLLECTIVE

Website:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/

Champion Academy:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/academy

Be a Guest:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/be-a-guest

#BusinessGrowth #BusinessStrategy #SmallBusiness #BusinessMomentum #FounderMindset #Entrepreneurship #StartupStrategy #StratMate #AnkurShrivastava #ChampionMindsetCollective

Why do capable people know what they should do, yet become a completely different version of themselves when pressure rises?
In this episode of the Champion Mindset Collective, Anthony Dahya sits down with Dr Travis Fox, creator of MindPersonas®, MPHIOS® and co-creator of PersonaForce™, to explore the identity patterns influencing decisions, relationships, leadership and performance.
Dr Fox makes a powerful distinction:
“Mindset is what you think. Identity is who shows up at the moment of pressure.”
Rather than seeing ourselves as one fixed identity, Travis explores how different parts of us can emerge under pressure, often in an attempt to protect us.
The conversation covers self-sabotage, burnout, nervous-system warning signs, subconscious patterns, performance under pressure and a practical framework:
Who? What? How? When?
One of the most practical ideas is the first 5%. You do not have to fix everything at once. Sometimes transformation begins with becoming just 5% more aware of the pattern showing up.
Anthony also shares his own experiences of abandonment and rejection, and how greater awareness helped him understand and rewrite some of the stories that shaped his identity.
Chapters
00:00 The Hidden Identity Running Your Life
02:37 35 Years Studying Identity and Human Behaviour
13:50 Mindset vs Identity
21:28 The Nervous System and Protective Patterns
28:31 Who, What, How and When
31:23 The First 5%
37:01 Trauma and Protective Patterns
44:03 Anthony’s Story of Rewriting Identity
59:24 Aligned and Non-Performing Personas
1:07:15 Self-Sabotage, Burnout and Warning Signs
1:15:11 Presence and Stillness
1:18:35 AI, Identity and Human Agency
1:27:40 Where to Start With PersonaForce
1:32:00 Quickfire Questions
Connect with Dr Travis Fox
PersonaForce™
LinkedIn
Instagram
Complimentary Identity Map
Dr Fox mentions the code CHAMPION20 during the episode. Visit PersonaForce for the current offer and redemption details.
Champion Mindset Collective
championmindsetcollective.com
The Champion Reset
Explore The Champion Reset
Champion Academy
championmindsetcollective.com/academy
This conversation includes personal-development and psychological concepts shared through Dr Travis Fox’s framework and perspective. It is intended for education and reflection and is not personalised medical or mental-health advice.

How to Rebuild Confidence After a Major Setback | Caro McCourtie
What happens when you survive something incredibly difficult, but your confidence still takes a hit?
In this special Champion Mindset Collective conversation, recorded at The Podcast Bach at the NZ Franchise & Small Business Expo 2026, Anthony Dahya sits down with executive coach, motivational speaker and entrepreneur Caro McCourtie to explore confidence, identity, resilience and the way we speak to ourselves.
Caro shares openly about being diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and going through a brutal treatment regime. But one of the challenges she did not expect came during recovery, when she experienced PTSD, depression and deeply negative self-talk.
Despite having years of experience helping leaders build confidence, Caro found herself needing to apply those same lessons to her own life.
Her central message is simple:
You do not have to change who you are to get the results you want. You are already enough.
In this episode, Caro and Anthony explore why successful people can still struggle with feelings of not being enough, how comparison can turn into self-judgement, and why growth should be about adding to who you are rather than believing you need to become someone completely different.
In This Episode
Caro’s journey through aggressive breast cancer
The unexpected emotional challenges of recovery
PTSD, depression and rebuilding confidence
Why successful leaders can still feel “not enough”
How comparison affects confidence
Why Caro believes in “add, don’t change”
How to notice your inner language without judging yourself
Changing thoughts that no longer support where you want to go
Confidence through competence, repetition and small wins
Working collaboratively with medical experts while advocating for yourself
Caro’s four tenets: no shame, accept help, find joy and celebrate milestones
Why mindset must be followed by action
Connect with Caro McCourtie
Website: https://caromccourtie.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caromccourtie/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CaroMcCourtie
Caro’s Book
Finding Sprinkles of Joy When Fed a Sh*t Sandwich
View on Amazon
Links & Resources
Champion Mindset Collective: https://championmindsetcollective.com/
Episode page: https://championmindsetcollective.com/episode/caro-mccourtie-S3E272
NZ Franchise & Small Business Expo: https://nzsme.co.nz/
This episode includes discussion of breast cancer, PTSD and depression. Caro is sharing her personal lived experience and coaching perspective. This conversation is not medical or mental-health advice.
#Confidence #YouAreEnough #BreastCancerJourney #CancerSurvivor #Resilience #SelfBelief #Leadership #Mindset #CaroMcCourtie #ChampionMindsetCollective

What does it really mean to give hope?
In Episode 271 of the Champion Mindset Collective, Anthony Dahya is joined by Garon Govender and Fredric Susil Doss for a deeply personal conversation about living kidney donation, dialysis, kidney health, service and what it means to turn hope into action.
Garon Govender, founder of the Sikhanyisa Foundation, shares why he is preparing to donate a kidney to a school friend and how a life devoted to people, faith and social change shaped that decision.
Fredric Susil Doss, founder and director of Grace Medicals, brings more than 30 years of renal-healthcare experience. He explains the donor-assessment journey, the day-to-day reality of dialysis, transplantation and the importance of qualified medical guidance.
For Anthony, the conversation is personal. He has lived with one kidney since infancy and has first-hand family experience of dialysis. Together, they explore courage, fear, friendship, service, prevention, legacy and hope in action.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Living kidney donation should be voluntary, informed and clinically assessed.
• Dialysis can reshape work, family routines, transport and everyday life.
• Transplantation can reduce the burden of dialysis while still requiring ongoing medical care.
• Kidney-health awareness and prevention matter before kidney failure.
• Hope can be expressed through support, advocacy, prayer, knowledge and presence.
• Legacy can be measured by the lives we help, not only by what we accumulate.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Devoted to People and Community
2:48 Giving a Kidney, Giving Hope
5:17 Garon’s Journey into Ministry and Social Change
7:03 Fredric’s Journey into Renal Healthcare
10:49 Anthony’s Connection to Living With One Kidney
11:20 Why Garon Chose to Become a Living Kidney Donor
17:09 What Potential Donors Should Understand
19:33 What Dialysis Takes From Daily Life
22:31 How Transplantation Can Change Life
24:40 Did Learning the Risks Change Garon’s Decision?
29:41 We Have to Evidence Hope
31:33 Faith, Fear and Courage
33:54 What 30 Years in Renal Care Has Taught Fredric
36:39 What Hope in Action Looks Like
38:03 Hope Does Not Have to Be a Big Gesture
38:58 Starting the Organ Donation Conversation
41:09 Kidney Health and Prevention
42:54 What Legacy Really Means
44:57 What People Should Understand About Kidney Health
45:53 Living With One Kidney
46:16 First Steps if You Are Considering Donation
47:23 Connect With Garon and Fredric
48:38 Quickfire: How Success Has Changed
54:02 What a Champion Mindset Means
54:45 Final Reflection: Hope Becomes Action
LINKS
Garon Govender / Sikhanyisa Foundation
https://www.sikhanyisa.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garon-govender-6a209b28
https://www.instagram.com/garongovender
https://youtube.com/@garongovender
Fredric Susil Doss / Grace Medicals
https://gracemedicals.co.nz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredric-susil-doss-80473517
https://www.facebook.com/fredric.doss?__tn__=%2Cd-a
https://www.instagram.com/fredricdoss
Beacon of Hope Mission
https://www.linkedin.com/company/beacon-of-hope-mission/
Kelly Markey
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-m-b3272095/
Episode page:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/episode/garon-govender-S3E271
Connect with Anthony Dahya
Champion Mindset Collective: https://championmindsetcollective.com
AI Workflows Agency: https://aiworkflows.agency
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonydahya/
Contact: podcast@anthonydahya.com
Be a Guest:
https://championmindsetcollective.com/be-a-guest
IMPORTANT
This episode is educational and reflective and is not personalised medical advice. Anyone considering organ donation or seeking kidney-health guidance should speak with a qualified transplant team, donor coordinator or healthcare professional.
#LivingKidneyDonation #KidneyDonation #KidneyHealth #Dialysis #OrganDonation #HopeInAction #GaronGovender #FredricSusilDoss #BeaconOfHopeMission #ChampionMindsetCollective