High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 290: Do You See it as a Challenge or Threat?

Episode Date: November 23, 2019

“People who are committed to a purpose usually view stress as a challenge rather than a threat and aren’t impacted by it in a negative way.”— Steve Gilliland High performers see stressful situations as a challenge they can overcome instead of a threat to their performance or confidence. This improves their health and their performance. They talk to themselves powerful when experiencing stress – reminding themselves they can handle anything.   Power Phrase this Week: “I see stress as a challenge I can overcome. I can handle anything that comes my way.”

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 is time for High Performance Mindset today on The Country Club with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Good morning, Sindra. Good morning. Did we waste all of our adrenaline on the second half of a football game yesterday?

No doubt. We were dragging a little bit today. It was crazy. And actually, we're going to get into that a little bit here as we get started today. Today's topic is, do you see it as a challenge or a threat? And we start with a quote today. What do you have? This is from Steve Gilliland. He said, people who are committed to a purpose usually view stress as a challenge rather than a threat and aren't impacted by it in a

negative way. All right, so let's go back to that game. You say that was the focus of the Vikings on this game. Let's start with that as an example. So yesterday, if you weren't watching, the Vikings beat the Broncos by four, overcoming a 20-0 deficit. And this is the first time in five years, a span of 100 games, including playoffs, that an NFL team won by trailing 20 or more points after two quarters. So as a lifelong Vikings fan, when they threw the stat up that said teams are 0-99

when losing by 20 or more points at halftime, I thought, well, there it is. We're done. This ain't gonna happen. It's easy to go to the negative. And then, like, for the first time in the history of ever, they turn around and they get the win. It's a good thing you weren't going to happen. It's easy to go to the negative. And then, like, for the first time in the history of ever, they turn around and they get the win. It's a good thing you weren't talking to them.

1-99. 1-99. I'm that cynical Minnesota sports fan that I think a lot of us are. But, wow, what a game. What a second half, right? Yeah, for sure. And so mindset really came into play in the second half. There had to be some talk about that in the locker room at halftime.

You know, and this couldn't have happened if the team viewed the deficit as a threat versus a challenge, which is really what we're going to talk about today. So, OK, let's get into that. That's one of the practices in your book, right? Yeah. So it's all about choosing empowering emotions and how we view situations really does impact what happens. And so we can either perceive or appraise something that's stressful to us in very different ways. And ultimately, the way that we see the stress, either as a threat or a challenge, impacts our response to it. And so this either allows us to rise to the occasion, perform at our best when it really counts, or really crumble under the

pressure or that weight of expectations. So the way we view something that's stressful to us really either helps or hurts our performance. So this is one specific example in one half of a football. But if we can take that through our life, say we get up on a Monday and decide I'm going to keep it positive today. We actually end up being healthier, physically healthier, if we can do that, as opposed to being cynical and negative. Yes. Typical Minnesota sports fan. And this is the reason why today's topic is really important. So I was just reading that stress is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States. And I was reading this book called The Upside of Stress by Kelly McConnell. And she said that when we change your mind about stress, you can actually change your body's response to it.

And in a study of over 30,000 people, researchers found that when you feel high stress and you hold a negative view of it, it increases your risk of death by 43%. Holy cow, that is a large number. So when you view stress as negative and you feel it, you increase your rate by zero. So there's zero percent increase. So it really turns out that what we're talking about today, how you view stress is really life or death. So how is a challenge response different than a threat? Good question. So when you're really challenged by something, you want to go for it. You want to conquer it. Physically, you feel really excited. You feel fired up. You have the good amount of adrenaline and energy. And psychologically, you feel like you are confident that you can overcome the challenge. And you're really focused,

kind of like a laser beam on the challenge in front of you. And so because you're viewing stress in this way, you're more likely to experience high performance, whereas a threat, you feel like it's a threat to your confidence or a threat to your performance or you can't handle it. I feel like that maybe you just like turn in and go into like protection mode rather than like, let's look through it. So what can we do when we see a situation that we know is going to be difficult? How can we help ourselves to see it as a challenge and not a threat? Absolutely. And so I encourage everyone who's listening to think about something that's stressful to you.

And really, when you experience challenge feelings, you feel like you have enough resources to cope with it. The resources inside you, but resources outside you. And when you feel like the situation is too demanding, like it exceeds what you can handle or exceeds your resources, you're going to experience it as a threat. So the number one key, most important factor is how we talk to ourselves about these situations. And we need to talk to ourselves powerfully, like tell ourselves, I have the resources within me to handle anything that comes my way. You know, I, and say it confidently, I can handle anything that comes my way. So do you have a final point for us?

I do. You know, this key point about threat versus challenge, it's really all in your mind. And it is life or death, the way we perceive stress. So the key is to master your mindset, shift your focus, talk powerfully to self, tell yourself that you can handle it. I was thinking a little bit about,

earlier this morning, we were talking about when you start painting a room and you're like, oh, tell yourself that you can handle it. I was thinking a little bit about earlier this morning, we were talking about when you start painting a room and you're like, oh, I don't want to do this. And then you get started and you're like, I'm going to get this done. Yeah. And if you get interrupted, you're kind of frustrated with that, right? So you're trying to keep that mindset of, okay, I've got going now. I'm comfortable.

I got over the fear of starting this project. I didn't know if I was going to be able to do. Absolutely. I have a similar one going on in my house where it's a sheet rock issue and I know that once I get going I gotta get it done because winter's coming and I can't leave a big gaping hole in my wall

and then you kind of overcome that initial fear and then it gets a little bit better. And it's the start that stops people. That's why people don't change or try new things because it's scary. So go for it. I like the way you put that And it's the start that stops people. That's why people don't change or try new things because it's scary. So go for it. I like the way you put that. It's the start that stops people.

It's a great way of putting it because that's what I am. I'm terrified. And I have to go into it with this mindset of if I screw it up, someone can fix it. Right. And I can try to do this. And if I really, really do mess it up, which I don't think I will. No. I can pay someone to come back and fix it.

So you have the resources inside you, TJ. I know. To handle it. You got it. I just have to. The start part is the deal I got to get over. So let's summarize. This is a good one, actually.

It is. I mean, we use the Vikings as an example. And man, was that a great game or what? Right. But it can be used in so many different areas of life. Absolutely. So I would say, to summarize it, that high performers really see stressful situations as a challenge that they can overcome instead of a threat to their confidence or their performance. This improves your health and your performance, and the key is to really talk to yourself powerfully when you're experiencing a thing that's stressful.

Reminding yourself that you can handle anything that comes your way. Nice. Okay, so we talked about a lot here today. And what's good is to have it packaged up in a nice little power phrase that we can repeat to ourselves all week long. What is this week's power phrase? I see stress as a challenge I can overcome. I can handle anything that comes my way. Awesome. see stress as a challenge I can overcome. I can handle anything that comes my way.

Awesome. If we want to get the book from you or find out where you're speaking next or hire you to speak to a group of folks, anything Sindra related, where do we go? You can head over to DrSindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com and find me over there. Awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. 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.