High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 122: A Purpose Greater Than Yourself

Episode Date: July 17, 2017

“No man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve the most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself.”— Denis Waitley Summary: High performers live on purpose. They know their purpose. They are committed to something greater then themselves. This week's affirmation: "I live and play on purpose. My purpose is greater than myself. I have a unique purpose and live that purpose."

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 Syndra. High Performance Mindset on The Country Club here on a Monday morning with Dr. Syndra Kampoff. Finally back in studio

with us. Good morning, Syndra. Good morning. It's great to be here. Good to have you in. I hope you have enjoyed some time off with the family I've seen your social media posts You guys have been getting around

Traveling I know Checking out the Midwest here Having a lot of fun this summer Well, that's great And I know that the summer We just keep chipping away at it And at the end of it

We're going to be talking all about that book Which is great But today I can't wait We have a great topic Actually, a really good one that I think if people just listen close and kind of follow along with, they can kind of dig into themselves just while we're talking. A purpose greater than yourself. Let's start with a quote

today. So no man or woman is an island. To exist just for yourself is meaningless. You can achieve most satisfaction when you feel related to some greater purpose in life, something greater than yourself. This is Dennis Wiley. All right, that's a really good quote, and there's a story that kind of coordinates with this topic today that you want to talk about. So in 2014, a marathoner, Meb Kufleski, became the first American to win the Boston Marathon in over 30 years. And this is extra special because, you know, came one year after the Boston Marathon bombings. And he credits like this amazing performance to the inspiration he felt while running for those who died the year before. And he put his number,

their names on his race bib. And he said that it was he was able to run with a greater motivation, a greater purpose, a greater why. And at the end, he said, you know, towards the end, I was remembering the victims who had passed away. And, you know, there's several reasons I shared this story. One, because I was there in both 2013 and 14, and so I could feel the inspiration in the race. But the point of this story is that his why or his purpose was greater than himself,

and that allowed him to extend himself in a different way. So why is it so important for us to have a purpose greater than ourselves? Because it allows us to become more that we're capable of. And in a new book called Peak Performance, Brad Solberg and Steve Magnus talk about this, and they call it the self-transcending purpose. So when you have a purpose outside yourself, what happens is your ego is minimized. And kind of what that means is you're no longer doing things just for yourself. You're doing it for others. And this allows you

to like overcome fears and anxiety and see more possibilities for your life and what you can do and what others can do. All right. So can you give us some examples? Yeah. So here's some like real evidence on why this is important for you to think about your purpose and how it's greater than yourself. So in one study of 200,000 workers across all industries, researchers found that just the belief in one's job and how it had a positive impact was associated with better performance. Here's another example. In a study of janitors who were like cleaning bedpans and mopping floors, they had more satisfaction and performed better when they saw that their job was framed as like minimizing bacteria. So it would

keep the patients safer and especially when these patients are so vulnerable. So, you know, when we have a purpose greater than ourselves, it can reduce burnout, it can help us stay more motivated, stay more fueled, more passionate for what we're doing. And it also can help us like make some small changes or maybe even big changes in our lives, like losing weight or stopping smoking. When we see that, you know, we're losing weight because we want to have a healthier role model for the people in our family. Or we stop smoking so that there's no smoke in the home anymore. So it's really important that our purpose not be just about us, but why so important?

Because, you know, our purpose really takes us deeper into the meaning of our lives. And when it's larger than ourselves, that's when we really become the best version of ourselves. And we can take on any challenges or adversity. We stay more fueled in the process. And how does this apply to us? Good question. Okay, so think about a time where you gave your all. And my guess is that you were doing it for someone else or maybe someone else was involved. I think about like a track team and a relay. You know, a lot of times best performances come on that relay because you're doing it for someone else, not just yourself.

So think about yourself. Another example I can think of in athletics was Chicago Cubs last year. When they were playing, it seemed like they were playing for the city or for the state. The whole country got behind them. So the purpose was bigger than just winning the World Series. So think about how this relates to you. And, you know, when you when you put your purpose more than just yourself, so it's greater than yourself, you know, that's going to give you more fuel and passion than just like making more money or having a better reputation. So you think about maybe you're already doing things for other people,

but but perhaps even just tweaking it or reminding yourself regularly of why you're doing it for others. And what do we do from here? Okay, so, you know, like knowing your purpose is like driving your tank with a full, or driving your car with a full tank of gas. Can't get anywhere without gas. So, you know, think about the big question today is how can your why be greater than yourself? And I thought we could just kind of share a little bit of why our why is greater than

ourselves. Well, if I go first, I'm going to choose a work one because I have a feeling I know where Lisa is going to go with hers, which I agree with. But for work, I think it was, you know, like what I really realized, like what the power of radio can do. We were doing a cancer research fundraiser and while it was emotional and powerful and I thought, this is why I do this. This is so that I can help other people out when they have it or even if it's simply calling somebody up and telling them they won concert tickets and they've had a crummy

week and it just makes their day. It's a great feeling to be able to have the ability to do that. So it really kind of is a broad spectrum from something as petty as winning concert tickets to saving a life because you raised money to fund cancer research. So that's a big part of career-wise for me. But I hear making people's lives better, improving people's lives. Right. I just take mine back to my house and just watching my own behavior

when I raise my children. They're my purpose. Absolutely. They're the reason. I was always told you got to look out for number one, right? And for a long time I did that. I'm number one.

That's why. I got to look out for me, just me. Even after I got married, I was like, we're both adults here. I'm number one. Look out for yourself.

And then children came into the mix. And it's different, isn't it? Wipe that whole thing out and I'm no longer number one. I'm maybe number four. Right. And you know what?

I'm going to be maybe number four. You put everyone else first. You know, when I think about myself, when I was writing my book, it was like, yeah, I'm doing this not for myself, you know, for the people that can impact. A lot of times I thought about my kids and how I'm leaving a legacy for my kids. The reason I'm on the radio today is because of, you know, my own struggles, especially in college. I was a really talented runner, but it was my mind that got in the way. So those kinds of things fuel me

to continue to share a positive message with others. Good message today too. How would you summarize it quickly today? So I'd say high performers live on purpose and they know their purpose. They're committed to something greater than themselves. And I'd encourage you to write that purpose, why you're doing what you do and how the purpose is greater than yourself. Write it on a note card, post it somewhere that you can see it. All right. And our affirmation to close with today? I live and play on purpose and my purpose is greater than myself. I have a unique purpose and live that purpose. All right. After I ask you how to get in touch with you, we're going to give you some vocal rest because it sounds like- I know, wow. I know. That's all right.

Been busy, right? So if we do want to follow along with you or even get in touch with you, what's the best way to do that? Yeah, you can head over to my website, Dr. Sindra dot com. And these episodes are always posted on my podcast, High Performance Mindset. You can find that on iTunes or Stitcher Radio. All right, Sindra Kampoff with us today. High Performance Mindset here on Minnesota 93. Thanks a lot, Sindra. Thank you 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.