High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 458: If You Think You Can

Episode Date: October 7, 2021

Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”   Today on the podcast we explore the power of our thoughts. We all have automatic negative thoughts (or ANTS) and our ANTS can seem very real. We want to notice our ANTS and take a step back to diminish their power. You shouldn’t believe everything you think because your brain’s purpose is to keep you safe, watching for negativity.   Power Phrase this Week: “I level up my thoughts to level up my life.”   

Hi friends, my name is Dr. Sindhra 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. Cinder Kampoff joining us today and we are talking about if you think you can and the way

we talk to ourselves, Cinder, you usually start us off with a quote. This is one of my favorites by Henry Ford and he said, whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. Oh, I love that one. How do you want to start today? Well, Lisa, we all have negativity and negative thoughts. And I love the concept called automatic negative thoughts or ANTS by a guy named Daniel Amen. And this concept really has helped me a lot in terms of building my own business as an entrepreneur and building my own confidence. You know, and my automatic negative thoughts are just like yours. They're automatic. I don't always choose them, but I can decide how I respond to them, and I can decide how to address the negative thoughts that are threatening to hold me back, just like everyone else can.

So let's talk about these negative thoughts that we have, and why do you think that they always come up, and why are we always leaning towards the negative on things? Well, these automatic negative thoughts can really be destructive, and they can impact our ability to be positive about ourselves, really see our own potential in our future. They can lead to anxiety, a lack of confidence, something called imposter syndrome, which we'll talk about next week. And I think at least that we can easily believe them, even though they're not true. And I want you to kind of think about the animal, the ants, right? The animal. And they're tiny insects that can kind of creep in anywhere,

right? But they carry a lot of weight, especially when there's a lot of them. So I think it's important to keep in mind that we can't completely eliminate the negativity, but there are these different types of ants we need to be watching for. There's at least eight types, and today we'll talk about three. And it's a powerful question you could ask yourself when you notice this type of ant. Well, so what is the first ant that we're going to discuss today? We're going to talk about discounting the positive. And what I mean by this is this happens when we only see the bad in the situation and not the good. And this doesn't really give us the energy we need to tackle tough situations in our life or at work or in our sport. And we might just kind of diminish any positive feedback

people give us. So let's say, for example, someone gives us a compliment. You might in your mind say, well, you know, they give everyone a compliment. They're just trying to be nice. And so a powerful question you could use to combat this is, you know, what good would come from if I actually believed the compliment? And remember, people wouldn't give you the compliment if they didn't really mean it. Okay, and what is the second ant? The second ant we're going to talk about today is mind reading. And this is when we try to read people's minds and what they're thinking. And in our mind, it might sound like, you know, oh, this person thinks this bogus is bogus, right?

Or this person doesn't like me. But of course, we have no idea what people are thinking unless we ask them. So a powerful question you can use to combat this kind of type of ant called mind reading is you could say, you know, what information or data do I actually even have to support this belief? And I think the thing to remember is that most of the time, people are not thinking about you, they're thinking about them. That is really hard. That's a hard one to swallow. It is. It is because we want to be right, like we want to be part of society, and we want to

be successful. So I think this one is hard for me as well because, you know, it's easy to kind of focus on what other people think instead of what really you think about yourself. And the third ant is something called labeling. Can you tell us about that? This is when we attach a negative label to ourselves or other people. For example, you might say things like, you know, I'm such a terrible leader, or I'm stupid, you know, or I'm miserable at speaking in front of people. And the problem with this answer is that we kind of lump ourselves into categories, and then we start generalizing. And then we start acting on these generalizations. So we, you know, we become what we think about. And so a powerful

question you could ask yourself is, you know, what is the cost if I actually believe that label? And then you'd realize it's important not to believe that label and instead really talk to yourself more powerfully and tell yourself really what you truly are. Cinder, do you have a final point for us on all these automatic negative thoughts that we have? Lisa, these ants can seem so real, right? And I think the most important thing that we need to do is just notice them, and that takes away their power. And it's important not to believe everything you think. Remember, your brain's just here to keep you safe, and it's here to watch for the negativity. So what's important is to listen to that mind non-judgmentally.

Don't judge yourself when you notice the ant, but tell yourself really what is true so that you can really reach your potential as a person and as a leader. I think one thing that's interesting during this conversation, I realized about myself that my automatic negative thoughts, while they still exist, they have changed from when, say, I was younger until I was now. They're still there, but they regard different things. Does that make sense? It does. You know, I think about the same is true for me. When I was in high school,

it was probably more about, you know, do people like me and things like that. And now it's my automatic negative thoughts are more about my future and helping me build, you know, sometimes getting in the way of my future and my future success. How about you? How have they changed for you? Well, I think the exact same way.

I worry less about whether people like me or not and more about, like, am I going in the direction I'm supposed to be going? And how do I get there? And what am I, and am I good enough to get there? Yeah, that's absolutely the truth for me too. Interesting, interesting, yeah.

Interesting. Automatic negative thoughts. And what is our power phrase as we move through this week? I level up my thoughts to level up my life. Level up your thoughts to level up your life. Cinder, how do we follow you on social media, get in touch with you, figure out what it

is that you're doing? I know you're writing another book. Yeah, you can head over to DrCindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com, and you can find my first book, Beyond Grit, there and lots of other resources and podcasts. Cinder Kampoff, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me, 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. 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 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.