High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 455: Staying Strong in Adversity

Episode Date: September 24, 2021

In this episode, Cindra shares how we can overcome adversity and the research that supports the importance of looking for the opportunity in setbacks. She describes that practice “benefit finding” and how we can use the practice to stay strong in adversity.    Quote of the week: “The most successful people see adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a stepping stone to greatness.” Shawn Anchor    Power Phrase of the week: “I see the opportunity in the difficulty. I seek the positive perspective.” 

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. Checking in with Dr. Cinder Kampoff today, we're talking about staying strong in the face

of adversity. And Dr. Kampoff, you usually lead us off with a quote. I love this quote by Sean Anker. He said, the most successful people see adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a stepping stone to greatness. I love that. And how do you want to start us off today? Well, I was speaking at Bobcat a few weeks ago at their leadership conference. I was the opening keynote. And this guy named Scott Burroughs was the closing keynote. So I hung around and listened to his talk. And it was so moving. I had him on my podcast this week. And his story is that at age 19,

Scott was playing football at Florida State University and was a top-ranked kickboxing black belt champion. Okay, and his last fight was actually broadcasted by ESPN. And that same year, his life changed drastically. He was involved in a horrendous accident, automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. And he was diagnosed with quadriplegic. And so in this podcast, I was talking to him about this, Lisa, and he shares how he learned to walk again and then how he was able to forgive his friend many years later.

But the thing that was most shocking to me is I asked him, when you reflect back at that night, what did you learn? And he said, well, he wouldn't have changed a thing about his accident because it led him to where he is today as, you know, this speaker and author and a successful entrepreneur. And I thought that was really moving. Very incredible, incredible change of mindset and a story about overcoming his adversity. Exactly. And the crazy thing is that, you know, this type of mindset shift, we can all apply to our own lives, no matter if our adversity is big or small. For example, there was a study done by researchers at Hope College in Michigan, and they asked people to think of a time that was hurtful or difficult in their lives.

And then they asked them to write about that moment for two minutes, but write about it in a way as for them to consider how they grew or what they learned or how they became stronger. And actually what they found is just by writing about it for two minutes in this more growth mindset way that people reported being happier and there were physical changes to their body, like their face actually indicated that they were like smiling. Whereas this other group who just thought about the difficulty or hurtful moment for two minutes actually had an elevated heart rate and more, you know, higher blood pressure, which is over time creates much more

stress and is detrimental to our bodies. And how can this type of thing help all of us? Well, what's important is that we can do the same exercise. And we're not just looking for the good. We're noticing the good while also coping with the difficulty. So it's not like we're just disregarding the difficulty. We're seeing both the good and the bad. But this really helps us, especially when challenges are outside of our control. And so how does this type of exercise help us over time?

Well, it helps people change the way that they cope. And so this mindset change really helps us to kind of see, you know, more of a benefit of these difficult moments or these stressful moments. And people report having more purpose in their life, having more hope for the future, more confidence in their ability to move forward. And in general, it leads to less depression, better health, and people even report, like, higher satisfaction in their marriages when they're looking for the good in the adversity. And so what advice, Sandra, can you give each of us, given the research that you've done?

Well, this practice is called benefit finding. And again, it's seeing both the good and the bad in adversity or difficult situations. And again, you might seeing both the good and the bad in adversity or difficult situations. And again, you might want to write it down just like the study suggested. But the most important thing is that we choose to do this freely. And when we first start seeing the benefits of a stressful experience, it might seem a little challenging, and that's okay. Because with any mindset change, it takes a new way of thinking.

And you don't have to see the benefit from every stressful event. And many times, really difficult moments will take some time. But it's really important that we don't force a friend or a loved one to see the good immediately, right? It needs to be freely chosen. But when we freely choose to see the good, it really does change the relationship, our relationship with the event and with the stress we experience in general. And so you usually close with a power phrase, something that can help take us through the rest of the week. The power phrase this week is, I see the opportunity in the difficulty.

I seek a positive perspective. Seeking a positive perspective and staying strong in adversity. Dr. Sindra Kampoff, how do we follow you and get in touch with you and get more information about what it is that you're up to? Yeah, you can head over to DrSindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. And the podcast is called The High Performance Mindset. And you can listen to my interview with Scott Burrows over there. It's life-changing, so I would definitely encourage you to listen to it and hear more of his story.

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. Sindhra 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.