High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 395: 3 Ways to Worry Less

Episode Date: December 22, 2020

“You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow.” Janis Joplin  Worrying is part of being human. Our brains are wired to worry but worrying can kill your joy, take you out of the present and drain your energy. In this episode, Cindra shares how the key to overcoming your worry is to notice your thoughts and feelings, labeling them, and carefully observe them. We can also practice accepting uncertainty and work to overcome our perfectionistic tendencies to reduce our worry.    This Week’s Power Phrase:  “I reduce my worry to feel more joy and stay in the present.”     FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CINDRA, VISIT: WWW.DRCINDRA.COM    

Hi, friends. My name is Dr. Sindra Kampoff, a national leader in the field of sport and performance psychology. Every week, I'm on the local radio sharing my top tips on exactly how to develop the mindset of the world's best so you can accomplish all your dreams. Get ready for a jammed packed episode focused on practical tips to help you get after your goals and step out of your comfort zone. Let's go. Dr. Sindra Kampoff joining us today and a lesson on ways to worry less. Three surprising ways to worry less. How are you doing, Sindra? I'm doing great. How are you doing, Lisa? Good. It's always good to talk to you, especially about worry and this time of year. I know that we're in the holiday season and the thick of it and people are looking forward to the holidays. Most people, but maybe not all people. What is our quote today?

This is a quote from Janice Joplin. She said, you can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow. So what inspired the topic today? I think it's really easy to worry, especially right now. There's so many unknowns in life, I think, with COVID and when will the vaccine be here? I know people are, you know, from out of a job and, you know, even failure and rejection can be some of the most common kind of reasons that people worry. And you might even be worried right now, given the holidays. I'm not going to be able to see my parents, so I'm thinking about that a lot and maybe even just traveling during the holidays. I'm not going to be able to see my parents. So I'm thinking about that a lot. And maybe even just traveling during the holidays. I've found myself kind of worrying about that some. Right. I think that there's so much more this year to worry about than maybe

in years past, especially with people around us with the job losses or being furloughed or maybe not being able to provide like they were able to last year because of everything that's going on? Why do we worry? It's kind of a simple question, but why do you think we worry? I think that's a great question, Lisa. And I think worrying is just part of being human. In fact, our brains are really wired to worry.

There's a research study that shows that our brains generate this kind of different scenarios of things that might happen in the future so that our brains are prepared and our bodies can deal with them. And I think the thing that's most important to recognize about worry, it can really kill our joy, which is something I think we all want to experience more during the holidays. It takes us out of the present and can really be a habit that feels kind of self-sabotaging because it really just drains our energy instead of giving us energy. So we're all in so many different situations, people listening right now. What would be the first thing that you would encourage all of us to do if we're worried? I think the first thing you should do is just notice the thoughts and the feelings that you have

and just allow those thoughts and feelings. There's no really reason to suppress them. And actually, there was a study that found that instead of just kind of like changing our thoughts or feelings when we're worried, if we just accept them and observe them calmly rather than reacting to them, that actually can reduce the amount of worry that we feel. So I'd say first thing is just to notice and observe your thoughts and feelings without reacting to them. What's something else that we can do to help reduce the worry that we have? If you worry a lot, you probably want a lot of certainty in your life. And there's a lot of uncertainty right now. So I think we can practice this accepting uncertainty. You know, most worrying is just negative thoughts that we repeat over time. And we think that maybe will help us find solutions, but it actually can make us feel worse.

So when you catch yourself kind of wanting certainty, I think you could practice trying to let go of that need and realizing that, you know, we're constantly adapting and adjusting just like humans have always done that. And we can just bring our attention back to the present, reminding ourselves that we're safe right now and nothing bad is happening right now. Is there another strategy or a final strategy you can provide us with? Yeah, you know, research also shows that people who really worry, they tend to be perfectionistic. So they're kind of wanting to be perfect, make perfect decisions, and not make mistakes. So if you're perfectionistic, one way to kind of think about

this is, you know, really reducing the worry can help you. And we kind of think, again, that thinking about all the negative possibilities actually will help us, but in fact, it makes us more anxious. So one thing you could do if you feel like you're perfectionistic, just really overcome that fear of letting go and accepting that no one is perfect. And how would you summarize today? I would say worrying is part of being human,

but we really want to reduce our worry because it can kill our joy, take us out of the present and drain our energy. So the key really is to notice your thoughts and feelings, label them, just observe them carefully and really practice accepting uncertainty and overcoming our perfectionism if we have it. And I think that's a good message going into people making New Year's resolutions and goals and things like that. What is the power phrase that you're going to leave us with this week? I reduce my worry to feel more joy and stay in the present. And, Cyndra, how can people get in touch with you if they're interested in any more of your teachings? Yes, you can head over to Dr. Cyndra, so d-r-c-I-N-D-R-A.com. And I have a book and an academy over there. You can check out.

Dr. Sindra Kampoff joining us today. Thank you so much. Have a happy holiday and we'll check in with you soon. Thanks, Lisa. You too. Way to go for finishing another episode of the High Performance Mindset. I'm giving you a virtual fist pump. Holy cow.

Did that go by way too fast for anyone else? If you want more, remember to subscribe. And you can head over to Dr. Sindra for show notes and to join my exclusive community for high performers where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can head over to Dr. Sindra. That's D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. See you next week.