High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 421:How Risk Taking is Key to Success

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

This week on the podcast, we talk about how being courageous and taking calculated risks is essential for success. You can’t go after your goals without some risk and courage. When you encounter obstacles, stress and pressure, a key is to see these obstacles as a challenge not a threat. Remember, you have everything inside you that you need! Choose courage over comfort.  Power Phrase this Week: “I am courageous and go after my goals. I see obstacles as a challenge in front of me.”  Quote of the Week: "Don’t let the fear of failure become an obstacle. No one ever reached the stars from the comfort of their couch!" Richard Branson    

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. Time to check with Cyndra Kampoff this morning. And Cyndra, you've got a quote to start out the

day with. Yes, Richard Branson said this. He said, don't let the fear of failure become an obstacle. No one ever reached the stars from the comfort of their couch. Absolutely. You've got a story to start with us today. Yeah, Lisa, I've been interviewing several business leaders and entrepreneurs for my next book about grit and business and in leadership. And it's been really fun to see how risk taking has played a role in their success. A story to start with is Arianna Huffington, who is the founder of one of the most successful online news outlets. You've maybe heard of it, the Huffington Post. She was not supported by her family

to start this online news outlet. And even though she moved forward and gained investor buy-in, and she said the most important lesson she's learned as an entrepreneur is this. Failure is not the opposite of success. It's a stepping stone for success. So how does that connect with our topic today?

Well, I think she had to really move forward with courage and risk taking. And there are sometimes people that don't support us along the way. But we know also that courage and risk taking is a really key factor in our personal life, but also in our career, because it's really difficult to make something happen and to build something in our life without risking something. So that might be, you know, risking your reputation, or maybe money, or maybe a failure in your business. But risk taking is really necessary and actually inherent in success, because going after our goals, there's really no guarantee that we will succeed. I know you work with a lot of the best. Well, how do the best end up taking risks? Well, you know, it's really interesting. As I interview these people for my book, they all took risks, but they were calculated. So meaning that

they were prepared, they did their research, and they made informed decisions. So they had courage to be innovative because they used numbers and facts to make decisions. And sometimes, Lisa, we want to kind of avoid stress and pressure, and we'd rather just kind of stay in our comfort zone. But we can't actually take any risks without being courageous and without feeling some stress or pressure. So the key is really how we perceive the stress and pressure as, you know, you could either perceive it as challenges or a threat. And so what is one thing that you can say to us that would help us to have more courage to actually make that first step and take a risk? So I would say the one thing that we can all do, and I continue to work on this, is when I face an obstacle or when I feel pressure, I can either choose to see it as a challenge or a threat.

And when we see it as a threat, like something we can't handle, we stay in our comfort zone. We dream small. We question if we can do handle, we stay in our comfort zone. We dream small, we question if we can do it, we hold ourselves back. But when we see the obstacle or the pressure as a challenge, we move forward with kind of courageously. And we don't, it's really not about the exact situation and the reality, it's really how we're perceiving that, and the meaning we're giving towards that. And that helps us when we see it as a challenge to be more courageous. And do you have a final point for us today? Yeah, Lisa, I'd say when we have a challenge

mindset versus a threat mindset, we're really talking to ourselves powerfully to be courageous. So we might say things like, you know, I have the resources within me to handle this. I can handle anything that comes my way or I have everything I need inside me now. And that helps us to stay courageous and to keep moving with our goals. And then how would you summarize today for us? I'd say this week, I'd encourage everyone who's listening to consider, you know, what being courageous means for them. And what does calculator risk-taking mean for them? Because we can't go after our goals without some risk and without courage. And then when we're experiencing obstacles, really training

ourselves to see it as a challenge, not as a threat. And this helps us choose courage over just our comfort zone. I know a lot of people need to hear that today. What's the power phrase going forward this week? Lisa, it's this. I am courageous and I go after my goals. I see obstacles as a challenge in front of me. Dr. Cinder Kampoff, how do we get in touch with you to learn a little bit more about what it is that you do? You can head over to Dr. Cinder, so d-r-c-i-n-d-r-a.com. And my book's over there. You can check it out. My speaking's over there and anything else you need help with, coaching or anything else, you can find it over at drcindra.com.

Thank you so much, Cindra. We'll check in with you next time. Thanks, Lisa. 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 dot com. See you next week.