“Fear will always be there. The secret is to push through it”: How to build mental resilience in leadership

Lorraine McDonnell knows how to push limits. 

A keynote speaker, single parent of three, and the only combined Sundoor Firewalking and Level 2 Wim Hof Method Instructor in the UK, Lorraine has made it her mission to help leaders build mental resilience and unlock their full potential.

Her philosophy is that the biggest barriers leaders face are the ones they create in their own minds. “The limitations we feel are just perceptions and self-sabotaging beliefs,” she says. “But when we think we’re challenged to the max, we’re actually only at about 40% of what we can achieve.”

At CEO Connect this October, Lorraine will lead an exploration of resilience, mindfulness, and the mindset shifts that enable leaders to push past their self limiting beliefs and unlock the remaining 60% of their potential.

“It’s about helping guide leaders past their limits, fears, and obstacles.”

Turning fear into focus

Self-sabotating beliefs are part of being human. Everyone has them. But not everyone chooses to listen to them.

And, for Lorraine, it’s that choice to push through that fear and self-doubt that leads to real results. 

“The Andy Murrays of tennis and the Mo Farahs of long-distance running all have something entrepreneurs want to harness: Unwavering self-belief,” she explains. “They don’t hesitate. They don’t doubt themselves. It’s that degree of hyper-focusedness.”

But how do you get there?

Lorraine is the only combined Sundoor Firewalking and Level 2 Wim Hof Method Instructor in the UK, and has built a career around helping people face fear head-on.

That means facilitating people as they walk barefoot across 800-degree coals, or guiding groups in extreme cold. “Up the mountain, in the snow in shorts, anything down to minus 20 degrees with a windshield factor,” she adds. 

These aren’t stunts. For Lorraine, they are carefully designed exercises in focus, resilience, and mindset. It’s about rewiring how the mind and body respond under pressure.

“A rational thinker, which I believe I am, would be quite fearful of walking over 800-degree hot coals,” she explains. 

“But it’s about overcoming the fear, grounding yourself and teaching your body and mind a different narrative. That’s the level of visualisation, breathwork and mental resilience I train people to achieve.”

The power of visualisation

What separates high achievers from everyone else isn’t always just talent or hard work. It’s the way they train their minds.

“20% of people in the world who are pushing themselves to a very high degree of success, including entrepreneurs, sporting athletes, and business leaders, use manifestation and visualisation techniques,” Lorraine explains. 

At its core, visualisation is about training the brain to believe in an outcome before it happens. By picturing success vividly and repeatedly, you create a new mental script. For Lorraine, it’s a practice that underpins both personal resilience and peak performance.

In 2023, she put this into action on her climb to the summit of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains at a staggering 15,766 ft. Of a group of seven climbers, Lorraine was one of just three who made it to the top.

“I was a novice climber with no mountaineering experience. The snow was thigh-deep, and many people were being helicoptered off the mountain,” she says. “But when my legs thought they were going to fall off, I visualised and meditated. I knew that, because I’d visualised the summit, I was not going to fail. No matter what.”

So, how do leaders use these same visualisation and manifestation techniques to achieve success in the business world?

A vision board is a great place to start, Lorraine says. Search for images that represent your goals and dreams for the year and place them in an area where you’ll see them daily.

“They don’t need to be huge goals to start with. It can be like going from couch to 5K running for the first time,” she explains. But over time, these images become ingrained in your mind and reshape the way you think.

“An opportunity will cross your path, and you’ll just instinctively go for it, with no self-sabotage in your mind. That will encourage you to dream bigger the next year, and the year after that.”

She concludes: “It’s wonderful because everyone can do it, it costs you nothing, and it will absolutely change your life.”

Practical tools for thriving under pressure

Lorraine’s upcoming session is designed to give leaders practical tools to reset, refocus, and take back control in high-pressure environments.

“Regardless of how difficult we find a situation, we always have a choice,” she explains. “You can choose how you react to it, how you deal with it, how you overcome it. All it takes is a fraction of a millisecond to shift your psyche.”

Her approach combines breathwork, grounding techniques, and mindfulness to help leaders reduce stress and break free from fight-or-flight mode. “Those who learn breathing techniques and meditation are working off a completely different playing field,” she says. 

Her closing message is a reminder to make every moment count: “We’ve only got one shot at life. It’s not a dress rehearsal. We might as well all max it out.”

Sign up for Lorraine’s session at CMO Connect this October via the link here.

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