High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 44: OWN Your WHY

Episode Date: May 6, 2016

Your why is your purpose, a cause, or a belief you are fighting for. It is why you do what you do. When you know your why, it gives YOU the push to keep going. But OWNING your why is a little different. It is a daily practice you can use to stay fueled about your life, work and sport. Dr. Kamphoff talks about how to find and own your why in this episode. Connect with Cindra @Mentally_Strong on Twitter or at [e-mail].  

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. Today, Sindra, we're talking about, in our high performance mindset segment, about owning your why. And back to the podcast, you talk a lot in your podcast about what is your why. And so this is a good topic today because every time you bring it up in a podcast, I start thinking to myself, what is my why in regards to is it career-based or fitness-based or whatever? What is my why? And I can think of I'm doing this because of, but what is the real reason why? So

let's talk about that. Awesome. Do you have an example of your own why? I do. And I want to start with a quote first. Simon Sinek said, working hard for something we don't care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion. Nice. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah. And, you know, I have thought about my why quite a bit, but today we're talking about owning your why, not just knowing your why. And the day that was the biggest difference for me in owning my why was the 2013 Boston Marathon. So as most people know what happened that day is there was a terrorist attack and bombs on the course. And I had finished the race about 45 minutes before that and was a couple of blocks away from Boylston Street. And, you know, as I sat in my hotel room with 10 other people from Mankato, you know, it was just somber and it didn't really matter how we raced that day.

Had a great race, but it didn't really matter. And as I sat there, I really, really, really examined my why. Like, why am I doing this? And am I on the right trajectory? And, you know, what is it that I want to do? And I think a lot of people, when they face something like that, or they're a part of something that's really impactful, they ask those questions. But you don't have to have to have something, you know, traumatic happen for you to own your why and to really, really keep it front and center. And that's what we're talking about today. We're

talking about owning it, not just knowing it. And those who are working to reach their greater potential, they own their why. So why is this so important to own your why? I mean, you can know what it is, but owning up to it is the important part. Yeah. And you know, your why is really like your purpose. It's your cause. It's like what you stand for. It's a belief that inspires you and it inspires those around you. And, you know, the difference is, I think, between owning it and knowing it is that you know your why.

Like TJ, you've been thinking about your why as you're listening to these podcasts. But when you own it, it means like you keep it front and center every day and you intentionally work to have it inform your decisions. And you put a practice in every day. So you remind yourself of your why so you can stay inspired and you can stay on the path to where you want to go. All right.

So it's an important thing to do. How do we do that then? How do we make it a consistent process for us? I think, you know, the key is, is a few things. Like sometimes people think about the result, like they think about, you know, like maybe, maybe the reason they do what they do is to make more money or to win a state championship or, you know, but, but really like think, think deep, you know, what is your passion? What is your purpose? What's the cause that you're fighting for?

And I think really the reason this is really important is because if you can really own your why every day, then it's going to reduce burnout, keep you more on track, and allow you to deal with the negativity. So this is the way that I would ask people to think about their why. First, you've got to know it, right? So you've got to know what your why is. And so just ask yourself this question. What good comes from the work that you do? So what good comes from the work that you do?

What's the ripples? What's the impact? So what good comes from the work that you do? And kind of another way to think about this is like, how do you inspire others? How do you help others? How do you provide for others? Okay. So what good comes from the work that you do?

And, you know, again, I've said I've thought a lot about my why. I've worked to keep it front and center. And so my why is so I can help others reach their greater potential. And so I can help people live and play. Right. Yeah. That's pretty powerful when you think about it like that. Absolutely. Yeah.

And it's brief. It's quick. It's like I help people play bigger and live purposefully. And I think that's what I think about when I'm thinking, what is my why? How do I summarize this? How is it three, four, five words long that this is my why? Like statement, basically. That's what I struggle with the most, I think. Sure. When I do all-day workshops with groups like businesses, I have them answer the so that question seven different times. So I do what I do, so that blank, so that blank.

But then when you answer that, then try to summarize that into like, you know, one sentence, kind of like what you're saying. But I think you have to really you do have to think about it. And if you write it on paper, it's a lot easier because then you can really see like you can just see the whole picture. So many different aspects of your life. I'm sitting here thinking about this like I'm a mother, so I have my own goals there. I'm a wife. I have my own goals there. I work here and I have my own goals here. So you can do that in every... You can do that in every one, but my guess and my sense is that there's a common theme.

Yep. You know, I do help my kids reach their greater potential. So it's like, you know, I do help my kids, you know, reach their greater potential. You know, so it's like there's a common theme for why you do what you do. So you could answer that. So that question seven times. And again, there's a difference between knowing it and like super owning it. Okay. So once we know what our why is, we've got that locked down, maybe written down, post-it note right up there on the mirror in the bathroom when we see it every day. What do we do once we know what our why is? We've got that locked down, maybe written down, post-it note right up there on the mirror in the bathroom when we see it every day. What do we do once we know what our why is?

Yeah, I think like what you said, TJ, is put it somewhere you can see it every day. And, you know, can you have a practice every day? So if it's like you're getting ready and you see it on the mirror, you remind yourself of it. You know, seeing it somewhere every day is really important. But then, you know, communicating with that is really impactful and sort of what i mean by that is like other people should know why you do what you do if you're really keeping it as a core of who you are you know so you should communicate it to your teammates or your co-workers or your your family like they should know why you do what you do maybe they can't articulate it exactly the way you do but they should generally be able to describe oh yeah you know i know why she does or he does what she what they do what you do. Maybe they can't articulate it exactly the way you do, but they should generally be able to describe,

oh yeah, I know why she does or he does what they do. And you think about people who really inspire you, they likely have their why really front and center. You can tell the people that stand out. It doesn't have to be something grandiose, right? Mine wasn't this big, grandiose statement, but it's personal to you. Right, so you're a coach, right? Like mine wasn't like this big grandiose statement, but you know, it's like, it's personal to you. Right. So you're a coach, right? Your job is to coach a football team or whatever. Let's say a track team. Cause there's several events, several categories, lots of

athletes, lots of stuff going on. What if your why as a coach is you have such a passion for the game. You want to be able to share that and teach that to those people. But then you end up with some that are not as enthusiastic as you. Yeah. And so your why comes into question, like, why am I doing this if you're not going to be as passionate about this as me? Sure. That's a really solid question, TJ. You know, I think the key is, is like have a role model mindset. What I mean by that is when you live with an inspired why, other people see you. You might not realize as a coach the impact that you're making.

I was just listening to an amazing podcast yesterday of Pete Carroll from the Seattle Seahawks. He was talking about how he leads with positivity and optimism. He said he has to get himself there every single day. And then, you know, other people can follow his lead and they've built this culture of

optimism. So sometimes you don't realize the impact you're making. Okay. I think also that you're not going to hit everybody. Right. But the ones you're going to impact are going to be great. Yeah. And you might impact them and you might not know. You might not ever know. Yes, Indra. Yeah. I had a thought about you the other day. You might not ever know.

And sometimes they don't even tell you. Like I think about my high school coaches. Man, they made such an incredible impact on me. I maybe told them that one time. Yeah. In my book, I'm going to tell them. Right. Yeah.

But so you never know who you're impacting, especially, you know, today what we're talking about is owning your why. And it really means like it just allows you to live more inspired. And I think as a leader, that's really, really important. So we threw a lot out on the table here today. Now we have to kind of package it all up nicely and summarize that. How do you summarize this whole thing for us today? So high performers, and those are the people that work to reach their greater potential.

That's how I define it as a high performer. And they keep their why front and center. They communicate their why on a daily basis to keep themselves fueled. And they own their why by intentionally reminding themselves daily why they do what they do so they can stay fulfilled and excited in their lives and their work and in their sport. All right. We always kick off the week with an Affirmation Monday from Sindra, and she posts that on Twitter and Facebook.

And if you follow along with her, you'll see that every week. And of course, we announce it on the radio as well. What is today's affirmation? I own my why. I keep my why front and center daily and I communicate my why to keep myself and others fueled. Perfect. And this was chapter eight? This is chapter eight of my book. You just got a preview. Isn't that awesome? That is why right there. All right. So if we want to follow along, Cinder, there's the podcast, there's the weekly emails

and the Facebook and Twitter updates and all of the good stuff that you're doing on a weekly basis. What's the best way for us to get in touch and follow along?

You can go to drcindra.com and you can get the weekly video blogs that I send every week and the podcast episodes. Super good. So,

and I just want to thank both of you, TJ and Lisa. You help me live my why by delivering a message every single Monday. So, thank you very much from right here, my heart. Yeah.

Well, you are very welcome because it certainly has helped us not just personally, but as parents, I would have to say as well. I can't speak for Lisa, but I would think so. We've passed this stuff.

Tried to anyway. She knows it. To our kids as well. Yeah can't speak for Lisa, but I would think so. We've passed this stuff. Tried to anyway. She knows it. To our kids as well. Yeah. Yeah. We appreciate it. 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.