High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 401: Give Yourself Permission to Feel Good

Episode Date: January 16, 2021

Give Yourself Permission to Feel Good    “The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything." Anonymous   In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff talks about how our brain is hardwire for negativity to keep us safe and help us survive. The problem is something bad doesn’t occur as much as we expect it too! This week choose to feel good. Consider what would help you feel good and experience more gratitude, joy, hopefulness, love and inspiration in your life. Then, remember your focus determines your feelings. You can always choose to see the good.     Power Phrase this Week: “I give myself permission to feel good. I focus on what gives me joy, hopefulness and gratitude.” 

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 joins us today and we are talking about giving yourself permission.

Permission to feel good, Sindra. What do you start with as a quote? I'm going to start with this quote. The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they make the best of everything. So you have an example to start with. So the example is the study I was reading in the Journal of everything. So you have an example to start with. So the example is the study I was reading in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, where they interviewed and surveyed over 2,000 college students in like eight different countries. And they asked them, how do they want to feel during their day? And do they feel the emotions they want to feel? And majority of the students said they wanted to feel more pleasant emotions like love and empathy.

And they also found in the study that the people who felt the emotions that they wanted to reported they were more satisfied with their life. And what exactly are we talking about today then? So today we're talking about giving ourselves permission to feel good because what we focus on determines how we feel and we can continue to see the good in every situation. And so today we're talking about how do we actually do that, why it's important, and ultimately connects with the study I just mentioned because when we're feeling the emotions we want to feel, we report being more satisfied

with our life. So what makes giving ourselves permission to feel good really difficult for us? Yeah, good question. I think it's because the brain is really hardwired to be cautious and to notice danger. And it's really here to protect us from negative situations or life-threatening circumstances. And so that's why negative emotions and thoughts can really dominate our mind and our body. And so I think the thing to remember is our brain has evolved over millions of years. And so it is biased towards negativity. And this negativity can sometimes be helpful for us, right? Because it can remind us of things that might go bad. But then we're thinking about those

things so much and half the things that we're worried about don't even happen. So why is this topic really important for us? I think it's important because we can choose to focus on the positive or on the negative in any situation. And sometimes the negativity can kind of be a place of comfort for people. And sometimes negativity can actually help us be more motivated. But the thing is, when we experience too many negative emotions, we don't thrive. And that's really what today's topic is about. So why should we feel good more often, Cindra? It seems like a funny question, but why? Yeah, well, because positive emotions help us feel like we're in a more meaningful life.

They help us feel more purposeful, more successful. They lead to healthier habits. They allow us to be more creative and just generally reduce our stress. Positive emotions can actually be a buffer to stress. So I think those are the reasons we want to feel good more often. So what do you tell us to do from here? So I would say this week, choose to feel good more often. So what do you tell us to do from here? So I would say this week, choose to feel good more often. And one way you can do this is when you wake up in the morning, make the decision to feel good and ask yourself, you know, what's going

to help you feel more gratitude, more joy, more love, more inspiration. And remember, you can choose to focus on that. And I think the key is to give yourself permission to feel more of that this week and be more intentional about it. And then notice the impact. You know, are you more creative? Are you kinder to others? Are you more productive? I did this last week, Lisa, where every morning I woke up, I'm like, I'm just going to choose to feel good. And then I started noticing the things that made me feel more, you know, just happier and more gratitude. And I noticed by the end of the week that I was kinder to my kids, like I showed more loving to them just because I was practicing it throughout my week. Can you summarize today for us? Yeah, I would say, you know, our brain is hardwired for negativity

because it keeps us safe and helps us survive. But the problem is we don't want to feel that way too often. So instead this week, choose to feel good. Notice what's going to help you feel good and focus on that. Maybe it's focusing on things that are going to give you gratitude or joy or love or inspiration because your focus determines how you feel. Let's talk about our power phrase this week. What is the phrase we should be repeating to ourselves? I give myself permission to feel good. I focus on what gives me joy and hopefulness and gratitude. Sindra Kampoff, if we want to get in touch with you, learn more about what it is that you do, what's the best place to contact you? You can head over to Dr. Sindra, so d-r-C-I-N-D-R-A.com and everything

you need is over there. 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. Sindhra. That's D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. See you next week.