High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 156: The Big Game on the World's Biggest Stage

Episode Date: February 6, 2018

In this episode, Cindra talks with TJ and Lisa about how to crush it in the world’s biggest game. The 10 Practices are featured in Cindra's book, Beyond Grit, and you can find a PDF of the 10 practices of the world's best at: https://www.beyondgrit.com/bonus/. Summary: High performers are in control of themselves when they are on the world’s biggest stage. They stay in the moment, dominate the controllables, and master their thinking. They are able to performance at their best because they practice thinking like the world’s best every day. Week’s Power Phrase: I choose to respond with purpose and intention. I master my mindset daily! Dr. Cindra Kamphoff is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, Speaker and Author. She provide mental training for the Minnesota Vikings along with many other championships teams. Cindra speaks to and works with CEOs, 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. Dr. Sindra Kampoff, High Performance Mindset on The Country Club Monday mornings at about 7.30.

Good morning, Sindra. Good morning. It's great to be here. Did you have a favorite commercial last night? I thought the one with Eli Manning. That was mine. It's pretty funny. I'm the one with Eli Manning. That was mine.

That was pretty funny. I'm like, look at him dance. That was mine. Seems to be the popular one this morning. We had a listener say the same thing. Some people like the Dodge Ram Viking commercial, which was good, but it takes a little dig at the Vikings for not making the Super Bowl. Sure. I thought the Alexis one was

pretty funny. Oh, Alexa with all the different stars? That was pretty good, too. Got my attention. As soon as they got to Anthony Hopkins. Oh, Alexa with all the different stars? That was pretty good, too. Got my attention. As soon as they got to Anthony Hopkins, I'm like, all right, now it's creepy. Yeah. It was pretty good, though. So we watched the big game on what we might call the world's biggest stage, and that is our topic for today.

Do you have a quote to start with? I do. It's by Eckhart Tolle. He said, whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Nice. All right. So give us a good example to start with. Well, I thought we could talk about the Super Bowl because I'm sure lots of people watched it. Traditionally, about over 111 million people watch it. And last night, we saw some of the world's best athletes perform on the world's biggest stage. And I think we can learn actually a lot from them.

I mean, there's so many different distractions. Given the Super Bowl, there's actually a longer warm-up time, a longer halftime for the athletes. You know, most teams actually spent the week in Minneapolis, which is kind of unique. They don't spend the whole week there. Just lots of different media appearances and attention. And I think you can easily think about what the outcome, you know, what it is and what it means. But I was really impressed with everybody's ability to stay calm. You know, when I was watching the game, just their ability, I didn't see really much frustration. And even Nick Foles, the Eagles quarterback who was MVP of the game,

he said, I felt calm. We were confident coming in and we just went out there and played football. And we played this game that we've loved since we were little kids. So I thought today what we could talk about is what can we take from watching people on the world's biggest stage, and what do they need mentally to perform, and how does that relate to us? I think it's funny since I've gotten to know you, and we've been talking about the book and the 10 traits of high performers and all that stuff. I pay more attention to that now when I'm watching sporting events, when I'm at an MSU football game. I watch the guys on the sideline and how they react. Last night, I watched Tom Brady and the New England

Patriots and how they were reacting. I do it all the time now, and I didn't used to do that before. I'd just be like, yeah, that guy's pissed, and I would be too. Right. It's good that your awareness is heightened. Yeah, so you watch that a little bit more, and I know that your book, Beyond Grit, talks about what the world's best do and think. So tell us about that portion of

your book. Yeah. So the structure is really about 10 practices of the world's best and kind of what we can learn from them. And, you know, the book's really about the how or the secret sauce. And, you know, they're called practices because they're things that we need to work on every day. And you might think like riding your mindset is like riding your bike. Like once you learn it, you know, they're called practices because they're things that we need to work on every day. And you might think like riding your mindset is like riding your bike. Like once you learn it, you got it. But in fact, it actually takes a deliberate focus every day. And I think what we saw last night was, you know, two great teams really dominating their mindset. Yeah. And, you know, not letting it get to them.

I think there's an opportunity there for a lot of people to learn from the way that game was played. Which of the 10 practices do you think is essential in that moment? Well, I think the number six practice is own the moment. And I'm going to start with that because the best stay present moment focused. They realize they can't control the past play or anything happening in the future. And they're really able to take it one play at a time, letting go of the past play and being fully in the moment. Even before're really able to take it one play at a time, letting go of the past play and being fully in the moment. You know, even before the game, Tom Brady said, you got to ignore the score and be focused on the next play. You know, you could see their attention. Again, they weren't frustrated. It seemed like they were really in the moment.

Wow. Two minutes left on the clock. Everybody knows that that's way too much time to leave for a guy like Tom Brady. So why is this important? Well, because your best can't happen if your mind is in the past or the present. And so your best only happens in the present moment. So, you know, when we focus on the past, we tend to experience anger or frustration or regret in the future. That's actually where we experience pressure and anxiety. And that's why I was impressed with their ability to stay so calm.

And how do you really do this? It's about being aware of what you're thinking and what you're feeling and what you're doing in the moment, right? But doing it non-judgmentally and just bringing your attention back to the present. So what's the second practice that you think is most essential? I'd say number five. And this is one of my favorites because it's actually a foundational to peak performance, really hard to practice. And that's dominating the controllables. And I know we've talked about that on here before. The controllables. Yeah. Yeah. And how your life and business and sport is broken into things you can't control

and things that you can. But what the best do is they really dominate inside that circle, you know, their attitude, their preparation, their effort. And, you know, there was a lot of distractions that they could have been focused on yesterday, but they weren't. They were really focusing on what they could control. And how come that's so important? Well, you know, my theory in the NFL is that for every minute you're focusing on something you can't control is one less minute than you're in the lead. That's how important it is. You know, for business, it might be like every minute you're focusing on something you can't control is one less dollar you're earning. And for all of us who one minute we're focused on something we can't control, it's like one less minute we're happy.

Because it leads to frustration and anger. So what's another practice, the third practice? The third practice I would say is number three, which is mastering your thoughts. And the world's best are really intentional with their self-talk. They choose to really think in a powerful way that's focused on all the possibilities. And they know they're going to experience negative thoughts, but they don't listen to them. They just let them move out. And I know yesterday there was times where they thought, hmm, are we going to win? Can we do this? But they continued to talk to themselves in a really powerful way. So why is that so important?

Well, our thoughts are kind of the most important thing that predicts our success or failure. And so too much negativity can really deteriorate our performance. But I'd say that the best just don't hope their thinking work for them, but they really are intentional with what they say. I want to repeat what you just said, one sentence that you said, because if you are a career driven person, if you're a student, really, if you're anybody, too much negativity can deteriorate our performance. Yes. Man, how often does that just seep into your head and it just have automatically given up before you've even gotten started?

Yeah. And I think the key is just to notice when you're having the negativity, not judge yourself. And, you know, you don't have to believe everything you think, right? Yeah. And we're talking about world's biggest stage and Super Bowl is the topic. But I mean, you know, whatever your world's biggest stage is today, you know, is it tryouts for a high school team? Is it a presentation at work? You know, that's absolutely, absolutely. It's a good topic for today. And of course, it correlates nicely with the Super Bowl last night. But how do

you summarize all of this? So I'd say, you know, high performers, those people who are working to, you know, reach really their greatest potential, they control themselves when they're on the world's biggest stage, whatever that world's biggest stage is for them. And they stay in the moment. They dominate their controllables or the controllables

and they master their thinking. And when they do that, then they're able to really live and think like the world's best every day. If you follow Sindra on social media, when we're done with this conversation, there's always a power phrase for the week to go off of that'll help you remember the things we talked about. What is that for this week? I choose to respond with purpose and intention.

I am the master of my mindset. Awesome. We talked a lot about the book today. If we're interested in grabbing that book, it's nice because you can kind of read it chapter by chapter. You can do the little workshop problems afterwards if you want to. You can put it down. You can pick it up again later. You can read it over the course of a year. I mean, there's just a lot of great ways to break down this book and make it work for you. And I made it really easy to read so anybody could read it. If you are interested in that or the podcast or any of the other

great things Cindra is up to, what's the best way to get in touch with you? Probably the best way to get the book is go to beyondgrit.com. And there's a free ship code, just free ship. So you can put that in there or you can get on Amazon, but with a free shipping code, it's a little bit cheaper on beyondgrit. And then you can check out the website, the podcast on the website, drcindra.com. A lot of good stuff there too. Cindra Kampoff with us today for High Performance Mindset. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. If you liked 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 drcindra.com.