The Warrior Poet
#102: You Can't Beat Someone Having Fun: Sasha Cayward on Self-Belief and Performance Mindset
Sasha Cayward was a nationally ranked junior tennis player — good enough to turn pro, until she decided that wasn't the life she wanted and walked away from the sport that had been her whole identity. A decade later, she did it again: she left the startup she'd spent a year building, with no plan for what came next. Sri caught her mid-jump — reinventing in public, betting on herself, and strangely at peace with not knowing. This one's less a career story than a field guide to reinvention. Sasha and Sri get into choosing a career over a job, why joy (not discipline) is the real engine of high performance, and her core claim: you can't build self-belief on a dysregulated nervous system. With degrees in psychology and neuroscience — and a decade spanning founder, investor, and community builder — she ties the confidence to chase big opportunities straight to a felt sense of safety in the body, then gets practical about how founders and operators actually build it. In this episode: - Why to choose a career, not a job — and how the two differ - Why joy, not discipline, drives real performance - The link between self-belief and a regulated nervous system — and the tools that build it (breathwork, EFT tapping) - How to "borrow" belief from the people around you until it's your own - The "six-pack mind, muffin-top thoughts" trap that hits the most disciplined people hardest If you're between chapters — or too scared to start the next one — this one's for you. Sasha spent the past year building community at Hubble , a place for founders to get the advice they need. Sasha has unique insights having been a founder but also as an elite athlete. She was a nationally ranked junior on the tennis circuit. She and Sri together document reinvention while it's happening—not the highlight reel. Want to crush 2026? Book a free clarity call with Sri to get your priorities in order and start getting unstuck. Get free elite performance tools weekly through the Warrior Poet newsletter join ✅ _____ Follow Sri for elite leadership tips: ➡️ LinkedIn.com/in/andrewsridhar Connect on Instagram: @andrewsridhar + @sri_actually Intro and/or outro music in most episodes is by Paul Sridhar . Disclaimer: Any audio clips are included with every intent and steps taken to abide by Fair Use and serve the purpose(s) of illustration, education, augmentation, or promotion of source content.
