The 38-Second Confidence Hack Lisa Sun Uses to Lead with Power Every Day

Lisa Sun knows what it’s like to feel small in powerful rooms.

Before she was the founder and CEO of Gravitas, a workwear brand empowering professional women, she was a young consultant at McKinsey. During one of her earliest performance reviews, her manager delivered a phrase that would stick with her for years: “You lack gravitas.”

It wasn’t just criticism, it was fuel. The comment prompted her to begin a personal journey toward understanding confidence. Not as a surface-level posture or a bold tone of voice, but as something much deeper.

The Confidence We Don’t See

Pop culture tells us confidence looks like charisma. A firm handshake. Clear articulation. Standing tall in a tailored suit. But according to Lisa Sun, that’s just “ten percent of the iceberg.”

“That language of telling people to be more confident is ambiguous and anxiety inducing,” Sun says. “When we ask people to be more confident, exactly what are we asking them to do?” 

She began researching what truly builds self-belief. And what she found is that:

“Confidence is a choice and a mindset before it becomes a behavior,” she explained, “If you look up the word confidence in the dictionary, it has nothing to do with bravado or swagger. It’s an understanding of appreciation of and trust in your own abilities.”

And that belief can be trained, like a muscle. 

Over time, she developed a confidence ritual that takes just 38 seconds. It’s now a daily practice for her, and a tool she shares with leaders across industries.

The Science of a 38-Second Reset

Lisa Sun’s ritual draws inspiration from the 4-7-8 breathing technique popularized by Dr. Andrew Weil. His method helps calm the nervous system, quiet racing thoughts, and reset the body’s stress response.

She adapted the pattern into a two-part breathing exercise, one that not only calms but also reinstates personal power. It’s the foundation of her confidence-building process.

Here’s how it works:

• Choose a negative thought or fear that’s holding you back
• Breathe in through your nose for 7 counts.
• Hold your breath for 5 counts.
• Exhale through your mouth for 7 counts
• Picture the negative thought leaving your body as you do it.

At this point you are halfway through the ritual. Now do the 7-5-7 breathing pattern again but with a twist.

• Breathe in again for 7 counts, this time visualizing your proudest moment. 
• Re-live it. See the setting. Hear the sounds.
• Hold your breath for 5 counts.
• Exhale for 7, locking in that sense of capability.

It takes less than a minute. But the effects, as Lisa Sun says, ripple through your posture, voice, and decisions.

Why It Works for CEOs and Leaders

The power of the ritual lies in pairing emotional grounding with vivid recall of past excellence. Lisa Sun explains that remembering your wins primes your brain to expect more of them. You’re not just calming your nerves, you’re proving to yourself, on repeat, that you are capable.

“It centers you. It oxygenates your brain. It calms down your nervous system,” she described. “And on top of that, it reminds you that future markers of success are possible. I’ve already hit them in the past.”

That shift from stress to strength becomes more automatic with practice. Over time, it builds the foundation of true confidence. Not a facade, but the kind that drives hard decisions and helps you speak up in rooms where it counts.

Bookending Your Day with Power

At first, Lisa Sun used the technique before big meetings and high-stakes speeches. Now, she does it twice a day. Once upon waking and once before bed.

She credits sports psychologist Wendy Borlabi, who works with the Chicago Bulls, for this refinement. Doing the ritual in quiet, reflective moments strengthens the brain’s connection to it, turning it into a subconscious signal of power.

It’s not a miracle. Lisa Sun is the first to admit she still has moments of doubt. “No entrepreneur lives without anxiety,” she says. But the ritual has helped her build not just visible composure, but internal conviction as well.

A CEO’s Ritual that Anyone Can Use

The beauty of Lisa Sun’s practice? You don’t need an audience, a platform, or a title to use it.

This 38-second reset is free, private, and available anytime confidence starts to falter. And for high-performers, especially women in leadership, it’s a tool to reclaim control from within.

Lisa Sun built Gravitas on this principle. She believes confidence isn’t reserved for the loudest voice in the room. It’s a skill, not a personality trait.

And just like any other skill, it develops with practice.