Shows / Cowgirl UP
Cowgirl UP
Cowgirl Up is the daily mindset elevation podcast for competitors and high achievers who are serious about their mental game. Hosted by Laurie Blickenstaff — team roper and Certified Mental Performance Coach — this podcast delivers short, powerful episodes - Monday through Friday - to inspire, challenge, and empower you to develop and maintain a champion's mindset for greater consistency, confidence, and joy — in the arena and in life.
Episodes
- Cowgirl UP
Jocko Willink's One-Word Answer to Setbacks: "Good"
On Veterans Day, Laurie shares the one-word response former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink uses for every setback: "Good." It isn't pretending the problem…
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Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf on Overwhelm: Shrink Your Horizon
When everything feels overwhelming, stop looking at the whole mountain. Laurie shares how retired Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf uses "chunking" to break huge…
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Admiral McRaven's Make Your Bed: Discipline Beats Motivation
Motivation fades, but systems survive. Laurie kicks off Veterans Day week with mindset lessons from those who serve, starting with Admiral William McRaven's…
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Episode 200: Rest Is Part of the Work
Episode 200 is here! Laurie wraps up Fall Back Week with a recap of rest, sleep, energy, and rest without guilt, a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has…
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Rest Without Guilt
That "you're being lazy" voice? It's the inner critic. Laurie shares research showing people who see free time as wasteful enjoy it less and report more…
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Manage Your Energy, Not Just Your Time
Collapsing on the couch and scrolling isn't always rest. Laurie breaks down our four energy tanks (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual), why a low tank…
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Your Tired Brain Isn't Telling You the Truth
After a short night, everything feels harder, and science explains why. Laurie shares research showing sleep loss makes the brain's emotional alarm center more…
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Rest Is Part of the Training
Laurie kicks off Fall Back Week with an NIH study showing our brains replay a new skill about 20 times faster during short rest breaks, and why what we believe…
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Pick One ANT and Catch It
What if we stopped trying to fix every negative thought and just got good at catching one? In this Friday wrap-up, Laurie recaps all ten types of ANTs from…
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Whose Fault Is It, Anyway?
Personalization says it's all our fault. Blaming says it's all theirs. Guilt-tripping says we should be doing better. In this episode, Laurie covers the last…
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The ANTs About Other People
We can't read minds, but we sure try. In this episode, Laurie unpacks mind reading and unfair comparisons, two ANTs that revolve around other people. She…
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The ANTs That Live in the Future
Fortune-telling and catastrophizing are two ANTs that predict the worst before anything has even happened. In this episode, Laurie explains the difference…
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Those Pesky ANTs
When we can name the kind of negative thought we're having, "there's something wrong with me" becomes "oh, that's one of those." In this episode, Laurie kicks…
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Overcomers Are Kind to Themselves
Would you talk to a friend the way you talk to yourself after a setback? In this Friday wrap-up, Laurie recaps Week 38, shares exactly how she talks to herself…
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Overcomers Build a Team
Do you believe that needing help means you're not good enough? In this episode, Laurie shares how she relied on others to get started in team roping, why Rory…
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For Me, Not To Me
Two people can face the same obstacle and walk away with completely different stories. In this episode, Laurie shares how Joseph's story in Genesis and Romans…
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Your Why Is Bigger Than the Obstacle
What keeps us going when the obstacle doesn't move? In this episode, Laurie shares the why behind her years of practice, and how a clear purpose turns an…
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I Am an Overcomer
We all have something to overcome. In this episode, Laurie kicks off Week 38 with her own team roping story, from no arena and no partners to deciding she…
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Get Curious About Your Self-Talk
What if our negative thoughts aren't verdicts, but data? In this Friday wrap-up, Laurie recaps Week 37 and shows how to treat ANTs as information by asking…
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Get Curious About Other People
Who are you comparing yourself to right now? In this episode, Laurie swaps "everything comes easy for her " for "what can I learn from her?" and shows how…
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Get Curious About Your Nerves
What if we stopped trying to get rid of our nerves and started getting curious about them? In this episode, Laurie shares a strategy from psychiatrist and…
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How to Analyze Your Performance With Curiosity, Not Judgment
What do you ask yourself after a run that didn't go as planned? In this episode, Laurie shows how the inner critic's "why" questions keep us spinning while the…
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Be Curious, Not Judgmental
What if the secret to learning faster is asking better questions? In this episode, Laurie kicks off Week 37 with the Ted Lasso darts scene and the idea that…
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Whose Team Are You On?
We've spent all week building our mindset team, so now it's time to flip the question. In this wrap-up episode, Laurie recaps Week 36 and explores how becoming…
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Build Your Mindset Dream Team
Who's in your corner? In this episode, Laurie walks through Dr. Cindra Kamphoff's Dream Team of Confidence from The Confidence Habit: the Cheerleader, Mentor…
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How to Handle Criticism and Unsolicited Advice
How do you handle criticism and unsolicited advice, especially when it shows up right before you compete? In this episode, Laurie shares the "park it"…
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How to Deal with Mediocre Mindsets
How do you deal with a mediocre mindset in your partner, family, or teammates? In this episode, Laurie shares four practical ways to protect your goals and…
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Surround Yourself With Positive People: You're the Average of Your Five
Why does it matter to surround yourself with positive people? In this episode, Laurie kicks off Mindset Team Week with Jim Rohn's famous idea that we become…
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Cowgirl Up
We close out Encouraging Phrases week with the phrase this podcast is named after: "Cowgirl up." Five phrases, five days, one goal — making sure they actually…
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Go Get the Next One
Today on Cowgirl Up: "Go get the next one." It's not a consolation prize — it's an invitation. We're retraining how we respond when we hear it. Cowgirl Up is a…
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Keep Grinding
Today on Cowgirl Up: "Keep grinding." Nothing we grind through is wasted — it's compounding, whether we can see it yet or not. Cowgirl Up is a daily mindset…
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Trust the process
Today on Cowgirl Up: "Trust the process." It's not just about the work we've put in — it's about trusting our routine and our controllables in the moment it…
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You've Got This!
This week on Cowgirl Up, we're taking five phrases we hear all the time and handing them back their meaning. Today: "You've got this." What does it really mean…
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3 Simple Steps to Move On Quickly
Laurie wraps Next Play Mentality week with a tool you'll actually remember: Dr. Cindra Kamphoff's Learn, Burn, Return. Three simple steps for turning any…
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Next Play Mentality From the Pros
Three legends, three sports, one mindset. Laurie shares Trevor Brazile's "short memory of things gone wrong," Novak Djokovic's next-point-only focus, and Tiger…
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Forget What Is Behind: Next Play in Scripture
Next play mentality isn't a new idea — it's ancient. Laurie shares the scriptures that teach us this principle, and why God's Word never tells us to relive our…
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The Windshield vs. the Rearview Mirror
There's a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. Laurie breaks down the negativity bias — why our brains are wired to replay mistakes — and…
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Be A Goldfish
Do you know what the happiest animal on earth is? It's a goldfish — ten-second memory. Laurie kicks off Next Play Mentality week with the Ted Lasso line that…
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Information + Application = Transformation
Laurie closes out Confidence Summit week with the line that ties it all together — Dr. Jermaine Davis's equation, Information plus Application equals…
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Confidence Under Pressure
Two-time Olympian Kendall Williams reminds us that confidence isn't linear — even at the highest level, it has to be built and rebuilt daily. Laurie breaks…
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Fear or Exhilaration: You Choose
Retired Air Force Colonel and combat fighter pilot Martha McSally joins this week's Confidence Summit recap with a truth that'll change how you talk to…
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Silent Confidence
Today's Confidence Summit takeaway comes from Olympic medalist Paul Juda, who says real confidence isn't loud — it's prepared. Laurie breaks down why he…
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Beyond Scary, Difficult, and Hard
This week, Laurie is recapping her biggest takeaways from the Confidence Summit — one speaker a day, tied back to everything we've built together on Cowgirl…
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Respond With Courage
Laurie closes Imposter Syndrome Week with the final step from The Imposter Solution — self-compassion, a simple three-step practice for the hardest moments…
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The Only One in Your Sphere
Laurie reminds us that imposter syndrome is really about belonging — and that nobody else occupies our exact spot, with our exact experience and connections…
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Calm the Threat, Clear the Mind
Laurie explains why we can't think clearly when imposter syndrome activates our nervous system's threat response — and three tools already in our toolkit to…
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Rewriting the Imposter Story
Laurie shares her own imposter syndrome trap — always chasing one more certification — and walks through Cassandra Dunn's five imposter archetypes from The…
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Who Am I to Do This?
Laurie opens Imposter Syndrome Week with the questions that reveal whether it's been quietly running the show — and step one from Cassandra Dunn's The Imposter…
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Go and Do Likewise
Laurie closes Making an Impact Week with the story of the Good Samaritan — and Jesus's four-word instruction at the end of it. A look at what Scripture says…
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The Right Thing to Do
Laurie shares a story from Joe Schmit's book Silent Impact — a blind boy named Mike, new to school and sitting alone at lunch, and the popular athlete (future…
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Especially the Old Ones
Laurie shares a story from Steve Hartman's Kindness 101 series on CBS News — a boy named Robbie who survived horrific abuse and now dedicates himself to…
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A Teacher Who Took The Extra Step
Laurie shares a story she heard from Marilyn Sherman, author of Front-Row Success, about a boy who drew his favorite team's logo and pinned it on his tshirt…
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The Science of Making a Difference
Laurie opens Making an Impact Week with the real science behind the "helper's high" — why doing something kind for someone else lowers our stress and lifts our…
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The Program Is Yours to Write
You didn't choose most of the beliefs currently running your mind. But you get to choose what runs from here forward. In this wrap-up episode, Laurie recaps…
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The Trade
Acknowledge. Check. Trade. In today's episode, Laurie walks through the ACT strategy applied directly to limiting beliefs, so you know exactly what to do the…
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Your Brain Is Not Finished Being Built
Your brain is not finished being built — not at 25, not at 50, not ever. In today's episode, Laurie breaks down neuroplasticity and why every rep of a power…
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You Can Choose a New Program
Cell biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton says we're not victims of our genes — we're running on programs, and those programs can be rewritten. In today's episode…
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The Program Running in the Background
That belief that you fall apart under pressure isn't a fact — it's an old program running in the background. In today's episode, Laurie introduces Week 30's…
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Mindset Book #5: Inner Excellence
Laurie closes Mindset Book Review Week with Jim Murphy's Inner Excellence and a chapter on the three opponents every competitor faces — the critic, the monkey…
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Mindset Book #4: The Happiness Advantage
Today's mindset book is The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor, who spent over a decade researching happiness at Harvard. His finding: happiness isn't the…