High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 118: What To Do When You Want to Give Up

Episode Date: June 29, 2017

High performers are gritty. They don’t give up on their goals. They stay the course by owning their why and  remember that difficulties happen for them. They imagine the finish line to keep them going, and then take the next step toward what they want. My Affirmation this Week: “I am gritty. I don’t give up. I stay the course.”

Welcome to High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Do you want to reach your full potential, live a life of passion, go after your dreams? Each week we bring you strategies and interviews to help you ignite your mindset. Let's bring on Sindra. It's the best country, Minnesota 93. High performance mindset. Dr. Sindra Kampoff in studio here with us this morning on a Monday. Good morning, Sindra. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. You bet. As always, it's good to have you in to start the week with something positive for us. Today, we're talking about four things to think about before you give up. I laugh

about this because I'm like, if you just keep us thinking about things, we don't have time to give up, right? Exactly. So we'll just keep thinking four, five, 14 things to think about before. We're going to go with four of them today. So let's start with a quote we always do. This is a quote by William Arthur Ward. He said, if you imagine it, you can achieve it. If you dream it, you can become it. Nice. That's a good one. So is there an example that you'd like to share with us today? Yes. I have a personal example that I'm still trying to actually figure out, but I thought I'd share with you a little bit of my insight. So I have a book coming out August 1st. It's called Beyond Grit, 10 Powerful Practices to Gain the High-Pering Edge. And I'm really proud of it. I'm proud of the final product. But I learned a lot

about myself in the process. And there was an amount of time, about two months, where I didn't write anything. And I remember coming into the studio and you're asking me how the book is going. And I'm like, good. But it wasn't going perfectly for a while. And I think I lost touch on why I was writing it. I was really in my own head kind of questioning if it was going to be good enough. And instead of thinking about the impact it was going to make, I wasn't here. And I think a lot of people experience that where they maybe start something like a project, but then, you know, it's hard to keep going or maybe a workout routine that gets stale or someone who's trying to lose weight and just feels kind of monotonous. I think anytime you're trying to

create a new habit, you can experience this where you want to give up and you might kind of forget why you're doing it. Sure. A plateau, sometimes people call it. That's tough. Yeah. It's hard. Yeah, for a wall. Break through that. You got to be gritty, right? How is this connected to grit then? So it is connected to grit because grit really means knowing what you want long term, sticking with it, persevering and knowing what your purpose is, knowing why you're doing it and having passion for it. So, you know, gritty people really keep going despite setbacks and adversity and they stay passionate about what they're doing. And we know it's connected, you know, grit's connected to success and happiness and achievement. so it can be developed.

So these are all things that actually do help you stay gritty, but will help you keep going when you want to give up. I went for my first run a couple days ago since a not-so-awesome marathon, and my run went great. I got done and was refreshed and felt like, oh my gosh, I'm going to start thinking about when I'm going to run another marathon. What am I doing? I love it. You know? So what's the first thing that we can do here? oh my gosh, I'm going to start thinking about when I'm going to run another marathon. What am I doing?

You know? So what's the first thing that we can do here? Well, this is one of the things I really learned throughout the process of writing is that I forgot my why. And I forgot why I was writing the book for a little while. And so I think the key is you can write your goals down, which is really, really powerful. But sometimes what people don't always do when they write their goals down is write down why that they want to achieve that goal too.

And so your why is what's going to inspire you and inspire those around you. And when you know your why, that's a good first step. But what if you own your why? And this is what I mean. It's like one step above knowing it. It means helping you inform what you're doing, your daily decisions, and a reminder of why you're doing it every day. And so what I

started doing actually that helped me write was I would sit down in my chair and I would actually just take a few minutes, close my eyes and imagine who I was impacting with writing this today. So it was like, and I also put pictures right in front of me of the people that I was writing to, so I could really think about my why. All right. So that's the first of the four things that we can think about before we give up. What is number two? The second one is just realizing that it's not supposed to be easy. Right. Right. And, you know, just realizing that the difficulties happen for you and not to you. And this is what I mean. There's a reason that, you know, you're hitting this roadblock. It's there to teach you something, to teach you that you can persevere and that, you know, the difficulties have occurred

to lead you to a course necessary for success, to teach you something, to learn something about who you are and to help you understand your true power and potential. So, you know, I think that's really important is that it's not supposed to be easy. And remember that the things you're experiencing are happening for you to help you learn something that perhaps you can share with other people or help you later on in your life.

I think the text that was sent to my wife from you while I was in the middle of a very struggling marathon was something about if it was easy, everybody would do it. And you're going to learn something about yourself out there. And I was very grateful for that. That's a great way to think of it. It's there to teach you something. What's another thing you can do? You can imagine the finish line. And so whatever that finish line is for that. That's a great way to think of it. It's there to teach you something. So what's another thing you can do? You can imagine the finish line. And so whatever that finish line is for you, you know, so for me, it was imagining what it was going to be like to have the book in someone's

hand or, you know, to hold it for the first time or imagine the impact that it was going to make. You know, imagery is really powerful because it means like systematically using all your senses to create something in the future. It's not just about daydreaming, but intentionally trying to imagine something powerful because your mind doesn't know the difference between something that's vividly imagined and it's real. So that's why it's so powerful. So for you, you know, that means imagining what it's like to finish that 5k, to lose that 10 pounds, to finish that project or, you know, whatever it is that you feel like you need the extra push. So what's the fourth thing that we can do?

The fourth thing, the last thing is just take the next step. You know, sometimes I think it's the start that stops people. And this is what I mean is like, you just got to put one foot in front of the other. So what I realized is when I just sat down and started writing, then it got easier, right? And then I got motivated to do it. So it's like, I just needed to sit down in that computer and write the first two lines.

And so, you know, just focus on the next step, you know, doing things that you know are going to be helpful and realize it's not always going to be enjoyable, but the key is just to start and then it becomes enjoyable. I think about when I run, the first mile of my run today didn't feel so great. But then it started feeling a lot better.

So, you know, take the next step. Maybe that means changing up your exercise routine, just sitting down and doing it, or maybe changing up, you know, who you're thinking about while you're doing it. Is this the first time we've actually heard a specific release date for the book? August 1st? I don't know. August 1. Maybe I have not been paying attention,

but I think that's the first time you've actually mentioned the date. Yes. So we can put it on the calendar and look forward to it. Printers on Monday. Nice. I can't wait to hold my copy in my hand. I can't wait either. All right. So let's summarize today's topic then for things to think about before you give up. So high performers, those people who are working to reach their greater potential, they're gritty. They don't give up on So high performers, those people who are working to reach their greater potential, they're gritty. They don't give up on their goals. They stay the course by owning their why

and remembering that difficulties happen for them. They imagine the finish line to keep them going and then they take the next step towards what they want. All right, that's pretty awesome. Get up and just get going, right? Put your foot in front of the other one and do it. I think it's Nike that says it best

right now. So what is the affirmation for this week that goes along with this topic? I am gritty. I don't give up. I stay the course. It's so simple yet so powerful right there. Just start with I am gritty. If we want to follow along, of course, now we have August 1 as the book release date, and that's very exciting. And we want to ask questions or we want to listen to the podcasts or follow you on any of the social media platforms. Where do we start with that? You can head over to my website, Dr. Sindra. So it's D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A. And then you can find High Performance Mindset podcast on iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Some really good information and content inspiration up there to help you keep going. There's a few new ones there I need to get to here pretty soon that are on the podcast, and I'm looking forward to them. Dr. Sindra Kampoff with us today. High Performance Mindset on the Country Club on Minnesota 93. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. If you like today's podcast, make a comment, share it with a friend, and join the conversation on Twitter at Mentally Underscore Strong. For more inspiration and to receive Sindra's free weekly videos, check out DrSindra.com.