High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 144: How to Commit to Your Big Goals

Episode Date: December 2, 2017

“In the midst of an ordinary training day, I try to remind myself that I am preparing for the extraordinary.” Shalane Flanagan In this episode, Cindra talks with TJ and Lisa about Shalane Flanagan, the recent New York Cities Marathon Winner. We use her as an example of how high performers go after their big goals with grit and patience. They dream one step above their comfort zone. They stick with their goals despite adversity, and setbacks. They remind themselves what they are going after each day. They build support of people around them and celebrate others successes. High Performance Power Phrase: I go after my goals with passion and excitement. I know what I want, and every day I work toward my goals. I stay focused and gritty. Dr. Cindra Kamphoff is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, Speaker and Author. She provide mental training for the Minnesota Vikings along with many other college and high school sport teams. Cindra speaks to businesses and organizations on how to gain the high performance edge while providing practical strategies that work. Her clients range from Verizon Wireless to Mayo Clinic Health System. Cindra's first book: Beyond Grit: Ten Powerful Practices to Gain the High Performance Edge was published in August. Her Ph.D. is in sport and performance psychology and she is a Professor in Performance Psychology at Minnesota State University. To book Cindra for your next speaking event, visit: cindrakamphoff.com For more information about Cindra's book, visit: beyondgrit.com   

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 time for High Performance Mindset today with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Sindra in studio with us today. Good morning, Sindra. It's good to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah, great to have you in today. We're switching gears now from being outraged with D2 football at the moment, but how to commit to your big goals. And we start with a quote. I love it that the quote comes off of a very recent champion. So here we go. How to commit to your big goals. A quote by Shalane Flanagan. And she said,

in the midst of an ordinary training day, I try to remind myself that I'm preparing for the extraordinary. And that's awesome. And that I'm preparing for the extraordinary. And that's awesome. And that actually just occurred for her in New York City when she got her first major marathon win after so many tries. So an example for us to start out with involves Shalane Flanagan. Yeah, so last week she won the New York City Marathon. And she's the first American woman to win in 40 years. She did it in a speedy 2 hours and 26 minutes. I read that her last couple miles were like 5 504 pace, which I can't even imagine. But her victory is really more than just like winning a

marathon. And in this article yesterday in the New York Times, author Lindsey Krauss talked about the Shillane effect. And as I was reading about it and thinking about it, I think it has a lot to do with how we lead. And to me, it's really a story about going after your goals and building up other people around you. So I thought we could talk about that and how does that apply to us today? Sure. So what is this Shalane effect and how has it been successful at that level? So every single one of her training partners, 11 women in total have made the Olympics since training with her, which is really extraordinary, just especially given the history of women's distance running in the U.S.

And this Shalane effect, people describe her as the team mom. She's always supporting other women around her, building her social support and kind of serving as a role model. And, you know, her teammates have become some of the best runners in the world. So Olympians, national champions, world champions. And one of the runners that trains with her and just started recently training with her and then went to the Olympics last year,

her name is Emily Enfield. And she said, you know, I was really struggling. And I cried and I told her I couldn't do this. You know, my body's not built for this. But she said she totally changed my mindset. And, you know, she told me, of course it's bad. You know, but she said, you know, I know you can do better. And and then Emily said, you know, I got better. We trained together. She held me

accountable and she completely changed my career. That's pretty awesome. That's cool to see that and see her kind of be a mentor to some of those girls and then finally get what she's been after for so long as well. So how does that's that's kind of on a world stage at a major level. So how do we convert that and apply that to ourselves? You know, I think the application we can take from that is we can't get anywhere on our own. And by elevating others, we can help ourselves be successful as well. And I really like this Jim Rohn quote that says, you know, that you're the average of the five people you spend time with. And Shalane knows that.

And that's why, you know, she's supporting other people around her. And then it elevates her game, right, her goals, but also she can support other people around her, which is a key part of going after any of any of your big goals. Okay, so are there any other keys to her success? I know that this is obviously a big one, and it helps out quite a bit, but I imagine there's more. You know, one other thing that has really impressed me is just kind of her unwavering commitment to her goals and staying gritty, but also being patient along the way. And so it took her since the first time when she turned professional in 2004, like 13 years ago,

to win a major international race. So she could have easily given up and said, you know, that's not for me. But she had this crazy amount, crazy routine. She ran 130 miles a week, which again, I can't even fathom. Right. And she went on her first vacation in seven years of marathon training last spring after suffering a stress fracture. So she was completely committed, you know, 100% committed to going after her goals. And she wasn't going to let anything get in her way. And she just had this relentless focus. And the application we can take is I think we give up too easy. You know, I mean, 13 years to go after one big goal.

And she but she even said, you know, I've been imagining this since I was like a little girl. And it's amazing because she in the meantime, while chasing this massive dream of winning a major race like that has written and developed like cookbooks with a friend and adopted teenage girls if i remember right i mean she's taken on a lot of massive alternate goals and things to try to to live up to while doing this oh and that's all in addition to running 130 miles a week which sounds like a death sentence if you ask me so how do how is she able to stay committed to these like massive goals well so one of the things that she did is she wrote down her goal and looked at it every day. So she said, you know, back in August, I wrote my goals down for the 2017 New York Marathon. She said, I looked at it every single week, hoping

my positive thoughts and actions would manifest and do reality. And I encourage everyone to share their goals with others and write them down. So what's cool to me about this is, and she posted a picture of like her training log and her goals at the top. And so, you know, to me, what I hear is like, she had this daily grit session, which is something I talk about in my book, like every day, you're reminding yourself of where you're going, and that you tell other people about it, she imagined it. And the application for us is we have to write our goals down. And then reviewing them every day is key. And I think few people write these big goals down. Maybe they think about them, but they don't write them down. And then even fewer people

review them every day. And we just forget about it. It's like every day we just kind of go through our normal routine and we kind of forget where we're going. So we have to be intentional with writing our goals down and then having this kind of daily grit session. So today's topic, of course, how to commit to our big goals. What would you tell us to do to really make this a functioning part of our everyday life? You know, a few years ago, I was asked to speak in a fifth grade classroom, which is really fun. They had read this article that I wrote in the free press, and then they asked me to come in. And so there was this question answer period afterwards. And the teacher asked me, Cinderella, like, what's your favorite quote?

And I said, if your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. And it's like I shocked her. I didn't shock the fifth graders, but I shocked the teacher. And my thought about that was like, I think when we get older, we forget to dream. And we think that age, even if we're like 20 or 40 or 60,

we can't dream big. Or we think about responsibilities like we have kids or we have this and this and this to do. And, you know, I'd encourage people just to go one step above their comfort zone. What's a big dream that is just, you know, you're choosing courage to go after. And then, you know, because what that does is it requires all you can consider all of the possibilities. And it opens up your mind to what you want to do and thinking like the world's best. So today I'd encourage you to write one of those,

what's one big goal that you're going after? Maybe in the next one year or in the next five years. And I got a big one I'll share. So you can just hold me accountable. Okay. So I want to write five books

in five years. Wow. Geez. All right. That's a big goal and it's a little scary, isn't it? That is a big goal. It'll keep you busy. It'll keep you busy. But now that you have the experience of that first one under your belt, that All right. That's a big goal in South Korea, isn't it? That is a big goal. It'll keep you busy.

It'll keep you busy. But now that you have the experience of that first one under your belt, that should help. It's a lot easier. And my workbook is coming out in like two weeks. So that's number two. So then what would you tell us to do in our everyday lives to kind of help stay committed to these big goals? So write it down.

Ink it, not just think it. Because when it's out of sight, it's out of mind. And then remind yourself of it every day. So where can you put it? Jim Carrey had a check written and he put it in his wallet of a goal he was going after in terms of amount of contract. Where can you put it every day? On your mirror, in your car, on your planner like Shalane did. You got to put it somewhere so you can have this daily grit session every day.

All right. And get out there and get after those goals. How do you summarize today's topic, Sindra? So high performers, those people who are working to reach their greater potential, they go after their big goals with grit and patience. And they dream one step above their comfort zone. They stick with their goals despite adversity and setbacks. And they remind themselves where they're going every day.

And then they build the support of people around them and celebrate others that are successful. Awesome. So our power phrase to wrap things up this week is? I go after my goals with passion and excitement. I know what I want and every day I work towards my goals. I stay focused and gritty. That's a good one.

I should write that on the Post-it note right over here right now and just take it with me. A great topic today. And if we would like to learn more about these topics and get signed up and start following along and listen to the podcasts, maybe purchase the book. There's so many different ways to get the knowledge from Sindra. How do we do that? You can head over to my website, DrSindra.com, where the podcast is. And you can search High Performance Mindset on iTunes as well.

And then the book's website is BeyondGrit.com. And the workbook will come out in a few weeks. Awesome. And that goes with the book, right? The workbook kind of coincides with Beyond Grit. Yep. And kind of help you learn. And there you are writing it down, you know, having it right there in front of you when you work on the exercises.

So good stuff today, Sindra. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Yep. We'll see you again on Monday. Thank you for listening to having me. Yep. We'll see you again on Monday. 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 Cindra's free weekly videos, check out dr. Cindra.com.