High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 262: Why You Need to Do Scary Things.

Episode Date: July 9, 2019

“Do one thing everyday that scares you. Those small things that make us uncomfortable help us build courage to do the work we are intended to do.” Eleanor Roosevelt   High performers choose courage over comfort. They do something just a little scary each day to do the work they were intended to do in this world.   Power Phrase this Week: “I will do something a little scary today. I will act with courage and bravery.”

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 high performance mindset on the Country Club with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Good morning, Sindra.

Good morning. It's great to be here. Good to have you in. Long time no see. I know. It's been a while. I can't wait to hear about your vacation.

Oh my gosh, get ready. I hope you have some time. We'll talk about that coming up later and we'll do it off the air. Why you need to do scary things is the topic today. I like this one. It's a good one and it starts with a really great quote. Let's hear it. This is one of my favorite quotes by Eleanor Roosevelt.

She said, do one thing every day that scares you. These small things that make us uncomfortable help us build courage to do the work that we are intended to do. Love it. All right. So that's a good one. And it's hard to do scary things every day. I'm not going to lie about that. And I think a lot of people would agree with me. So let's start with an example. It's hard for me too. So the example I have is I was having a coaching conversation this week with a person in transition, and he was trying to decide the next step in terms of his job. He could do what he's always done in terms of his profession, and if he does, it feels really comfortable. It's what he knows. Or if he chooses courage, he could start

his own business and become an entrepreneur and achieve kind of the lifestyle that he wants for his family. But this takes really a lot of risk, and it's courageous versus choosing what he's always done is really comfortable. All right. So it's courageous versus choosing what he's always done is really comfortable. All right. So what are we talking about today in terms of maybe looking at it from that angle, maybe an employment angle or a career angle, and this particular practice of doing something scary? So in my book, Beyond Grit, practice number 10 is all about choosing courage over comfort. So we're talking about how we need to choose courage and do things that are just a little scary to achieve our dreams. But it's really easy to choose comfort and kind of give in to fear or doubt.

It's easy to choose safety or security or kind of playing small. But really growth happens outside of our comfort zone because that's where we're really growing. We're developing ourselves. We're expanding ourselves. We're dreaming big and going for it. And so really to achieve what we want in life, we have to go for it. Sometimes that's scary. It's scary.

Why does this all matter? Well, to be honest, you know, we say that we want to move forward, but we often don't. And it feels like some force holds us back inside. And if we really let our actions speak for ourselves, these actions would tell us that we prefer to stay in our comfort zone. Because our unconscious mind, this is what's important, is that sameness equals safety and change equals danger. So sameness equals safety, change equals danger. So for example, let's say you're 25 years old and you really want to move

out of your parents' house. but you don't go apartment shopping Sameness equals safety or you say you want to stop smoking, but you sneak a cigarette right sameness equals safety Or you say you want to lose weight, but you keep on choosing that ice cream or candy Same this equals safety and I can relate to some of those examples I'm sure most people can because they're really human right and and this is kind of what I mean about It's really easy to choose what we've always done because that's safe. So why is this important that we know about our courage and our comfort zone? What's safe for us?

Absolutely. Well, we are held back, I think, by a flawed belief that it's better to stay the same, even if it's destructive or painful. I think it's built into us, right? Over like thousands of years, the fight or flight type thing. And you just want to stay safe and stay comfortable. And obviously we know now, thanks to people like you that do the research, that pushing outside that comfort zone is a good thing. Absolutely. So that's really what I mean by the unconscious mind. When you think about reaching your potential, it's really important to do things that are just a little bit scary. So things you've never tried, pursuing opportunity and fulfillment, because that's, you know, in your courage zone is really where change happens and

development happens. And it's the state of exploring your goals and your abilities. Let's bring this back to the book. Where in the book do you talk about this? I talk about this at the end in practice number 10. And I talk about really how to do that. And that it's really taking one step at a time. And choosing courage doesn't happen in this big leap, but taking really small steps where you challenge that underlying belief that change is dangerous and moving to your courage zone, trying something new. And once you do that, like take a small step, you realize that it's like,

it feels really alive. It makes you feel good. And then, you know, it's about taking the next step after that. Is there a, I see a lot of people with their 40 days of what's it gratitude or whatever it is. It's like a hashtag or whatever. They're always like, here's what I'm grateful for today. And they do it for like 40 days in a row. Is there a way to do that with like courage? Like, Hey, I'm going to take a week. I'm going to do something every day. Yeah, for sure. So in the book, I talk about taking the seven day challenge. And what I mean is like, commit this week every day to do something just a little bit scary.

And you start building that courage muscle. And then it becomes a lot easier. Nice. All right. So let's summarize today's topic. Why you need to do scary things. So high performers choose courage over comfort. They do something just a little bit scary each day to do the work that they were intended to do in this world. All right. And a power phrase?

I will be courageous. I will do something a little scary today. Awesome. And now you mentioned the book a couple times today. So if we're interested in getting the book or learning more or reading and following along with podcasts, how do we do that? You can head over to beyondgrit.com and you can get the book Beyond Grit. It's about 10 practices to be your best every day. And the podcast is also on my website, Dr. Sindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A. And you can also find it on iTunes and Stitcher Radio. So if you want to listen to this same episode, you can listen later tomorrow.

We'll post it at some time today. Yeah, once I get it sent to you. Once I do my job, she can do her job when it comes to the podcast. Dr. Sindhra Kampoff with us today. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it. 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.