High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 165: Your Focus Determines Your Success

Episode Date: March 14, 2018

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” ―George Lucas Summary: High performers determine where they shine their focus. Their mental spotlight is focused on what gives them energy, and what is good in a situation. They notice where their focus is, and gently get it back to what determines their success. They use “cue words” to bring their focus back on what leads to success. This Week’s Power Phrase: I determine where I shine my focus. I keep focused on what leads to my success. I focus on the good and what gives me energy!   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. She coaches athletes, CEOs and executives one-on-one to help them learn and apply the mental tools that lead to success. Cindra also speaks to and works with businesses and organizations on how to gain the high performance edge while providing practical tools 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 or learn more about her one-on-one coaching, 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 today. Good morning, Sindra. Good morning. It's great to be here. Focus for success. This is a good topic, and I think it's something we haven't talked about in a little while, at least some aspects of it on the show.

So it's always good to recap. What quote do we start with today? George Lucas quote. He said, always remember your focus determines your reality. Nice. All right. So you have an example to start with today. What's that?

Yeah, I have two quick examples to kind of show you the importance of today's topic. One of the clients that I work with is a 70-year-old athlete who's competing in the senior games. And one of the things that we're working on is how to deal with pressure. So she wants to do really well, and everyone is traveling all throughout the United States to watch her. And so she's feeling some pressure. And so her focus determines her stress and the pressure she feels just like you. Another example of a client I'm working with is a CEO and his company is going through change and he would, he could be focused on how difficult it is or he doesn't have the skills to lead his company through this change, or he could be focused on the possibilities

and the skills that he does have to lead his team effectively. So just like you, he could be focused on the possibilities instead of the difficulties or what he has instead of what he doesn't have. All right. So I feel like we've used this analogy you're about to talk about before. But like I said, it was a long time ago, this stoplight analogy to better understand our focus. Tell us a little bit about that. So your focus can be best understood by like thinking of a mental spotlight that shows what you pay attention to in the world inside you

and then the world around you. So kind of like think of a spotlight that you might have if you're a runner and you're running in the dark, right? A spotlight on your head or if you're going into a cave or scuba diving. And it shows you two things, the spotlight analogy. Our focus is never really lost.

It just can be directed in the wrong way. Some distractions then. So what kind of things distract us from our focus? So what kind of things distract you from your focus are things that aren't helpful. So, you know, I just said that your spotlight can be directed in the wrong way. And then so we can learn how to shine our attention on things that we want to. And so we can have external distractions like spending too much time on social media or the noise around you. In sport, it could be like listening to the fans or the other team. Or you can have internal distractions like self-defeating thoughts, regretting what's

happened in the past or worrying about the future. And all of these things don't help you create success in your life and work that you deserve to enjoy. All right. So focusing on the moment, where do you, where would you tell us to start on that? I think the first step is to notice that or just to recognize that we choose our focus. So we're really in control of what we focus on and we can make a decision to focus deliberately. And our focus doesn't really happen by chance. So we have to take control. We have to make a deliberate decision to what we mean, what we focus on a moment to moment that's going to help create our success. What we have to do is refocus our attention on the things that are going to help us

and the things that really matter. So what should our goal be related to our focus? We should have a goal. You know, our goal should be that our minds are focused on what we're doing when we're doing what we're thinking. So, you know, have you ever been reading and then you just forgot what you read? Oh, all the time. Paying attention. Welcome to high school. And so we aren't focused on what we're doing. And the second thing is we want to be focused on what gives us positive energy. You know, what's, what's going to help you create these positive emotions and you know, these internal distractions like worry or regret doesn't help you create positive energy. It like helps take it away. I don't know where it came from, but I saw and I think I saw somebody I know retweet it recently.

But it was just a quote that said, be where your feet are. Yes. That's a really good kind of what I was thinking about as you were talking about that. Yeah. So let's talk about the how. How would you tell us to change our focus once we've noticed? So I would say, you know, you can only be focused on one thought at a time. So the key is just to notice what you're focusing on and what you're doing and what you're thinking.

And is that the same, what you're doing and what you're thinking the same? And is it giving you energy or not? And then the key is to refocus. So that just means like gently notice what you're focusing on and gently bring your attention back to the moment. And if you're nervous, what's really important, or if you're anxious, we want to get out of our head and focus on what we're doing instead. And what do we want to be focused on then? So we want to be focused on the process over the outcome. So the small things instead of the, you know, where are we going? Because that creates anxiety. We want to be focused on excitement over anxiety,

the controllables over what we can't control, the tasks we want to complete over distractions, gratitude for the difficulties instead of frustration, imagining success before beating ourselves up. So those are things we want to focus on. Again, our focus determines our reality. So you have some trigger words that might help us, some cue words. So what's super cool is the research shows in my field that if you use a cue word, which is sort of like an instructional way to talk to yourself, it can help improve your performance and get your attention back to what matters. So an example in sport, it was actually Serena Williams who used this in Wimbledon. So she used these cue words like get low or add spin or move up. So they're super short cue words to help her attend. Things that she's saying to herself.

Absolutely. Like while she's playing. Instead of, you know, things like, you know, that was terrible or you idiot or I can't believe you did that. So this instructional self-talk is way better than beating yourself up. And so, you know, just think about what trigger word could you use to help get your attention back to the moment and help you determine your focus? So, for example, if you today, especially daylight savings time, you might be a little bit more tired.

Right. If you want to be focused on gratitude, you could say, like, focus on the good or grateful for it all. Or in my foreword, Adam Thielen, the wide receiver for the Vikings, said that he uses keywords like lock it in or next play. Right. So you could use those in sport. So just consider what could be a keyword that you could use this week just to get your attention back on what you want to because your focus determines your reality. One of the most difficult sports, I guess, to remain, well, for me anyway, to remain mentally tough in, but you see the pros be really good at it, is something a lot of people were locked into this weekend, and that was golf. Tiger Woods

had a great weekend, finished second. Everybody's really kind of hoping that Tiger is back, you know, because it's really good for the game, and it's also fun to watch. But I was watching him and all these golfers this weekend, and they would hit a shot that, you know, for me, it was a great shot. You know, he could be, you know, hit

a ball onto a green and be seven miles from the pin, but it's on the green at least. And these guys would hit the green maybe not in the best place possible, but they just seem to shake it off and move on. And by the time they get to their ball, it's an afterthought and they're on to the next thing. And they've learned to do that. I think today where we're talking about your focus determines your reality, it's like they've learned to develop that skill so they can move on really quickly. Yeah, and it's one of those things where I'm like, man, I've got to be more like that.

But I don't know how they do it, but it's their job and their training on it. Yes, and it's repetition and practice. Repetition of what we're talking about today over and over again every day. Every day. Every day. It's a matter of reminding yourself to do it as well and when you catch yourself kind of slipping. So how do we summarize this topic today? This topic is a good one. Focus for success. High performers, those people are working to reach their greater potential. They determine

where they shine their focus. And this mental spotlight is focused on what gives them energy, what's good in the situation instead of what's bad. And they notice where their focus is and just gently bring it back. And they use keywords to really get their attention back to what they want and what's going to give them energy and help them be successful. And what is today's power phrase? I determine where I shine my focus. I keep focused on what leads to my success. Awesome.

That will be on social media. And of course, if you follow along with Sindra, you'll see that there. And you can pass along that quote to your friends today on social media as well always some good podcasts out there the book of course is phenomenal we've talked a lot about that uh and very helpful so if we want to follow along with you and get up to date on all the things all things syndra and uh and what's going on with you how do we get in touch you can head over to dr syndra so d-r-c-C-I-N-D-R-A, and they're the podcast there and the book information, Beyond Grit. Really gaining some amazing traction on the podcast and just had some amazing interviews. So I would check out those.

You can head over to my website, Dr. Sindra, or just search High Performance Mindset on iTunes, Stitcher Radio. Great topic for one less hour of sleep for all of us as we get up today, because focusing might be a problem on this particular Monday. Yeah, I love it. Focus for success today with Dr. Sindra Kampoff here on The Country Club. Thank you very much. Thanks so much 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.