High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 5: What is Your Why?

Episode Date: September 10, 2015

Have you ever felt “stuck” in your life? Have you ever wanted a reason to get up out of bed in the morning? Have you ever felt unfulfilled in what you were doing? We’ve all had times like this in our lives. Considering your “why” or purpose will help propel you and move you forward. In this episode, we review the 2nd trait of High Performers: They understand their purpose and keep their “why” front and center. We review 4 questions you can answer to help you understand your “why”?

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's episode is sponsored by Worldwide Access Solutions Incorporated, a 24-7 clear advantage, a call center providing inbound and outbound services, and a licensed life and health insurance agency. You can visit them at wasi.com. Welcome, and this is your host, Cyndra Kampoff, high performance coach.

And I am so fired up that you're here with us today. You're listening to High Performance Mindset. Today's episode, we are talking about the second trait of high performers, and that is that they have a clear purpose to their work, and they keep their why front and center. We're going to start the episode with a radio interview I did with radio host TJ and Lisa where we talk about how

to find your why or your purpose. I describe my aha moment the night where I figured out my why and how I keep that front and center and I'm going to provide you with four questions at the end of the interview for you to consider your why. After the interview with TJ and Lisa, I'll get back on and we will focus on delving into my last question, which I provide in the interview, which is about your legacy. And we're going to go into that a little bit more detail so you can really reflect on your purpose and think about your why to keep that front and center. So let's now turn to the interview with TJ and Lisa. Sindra Kampoff is here today, the good doctor, if you will, in for our segment today. Good morning, Sindra.

Good morning. It's great to be here. Good to have you in. We're talking about the top 10 traits of high performers when we started last week. So trait number two, what are we on to today? Trait number two, we are talking about how high performers have a clear purpose to their work. So they know why they do what they do and they keep their why front and center. And this purpose keeps them motivated and hungry when the going gets tough.

And I thought I would start with a story about myself and how I became to understand my why. And it was a night about four years ago, and I had just put my boys to bed. It was about 10 o'clock at night. And you know when you're on the internet and you're just like perusing the internet and all of a sudden you come across, you don't really know how you got there,

but you come across different websites. And I came across a website. It was a life coach's website, actually from Minneapolis. And I started going through some of the free resources that he had on the website, started completing some of these exercises about kind of what's your why and really what's your purpose? Why are you here? That night I had what I would describe as like an aha moment. Your epiphany. I had an epiphany. And what I realized is going through some of these exercises,

I realized that I think at that time in my life, I was more tired than I am right now. I don't think I felt as fulfilled. And, you know, I was spending most of my days maybe doing a lot of research and publishing it in journal articles, as a good professor would do. But it really wasn't quite fulfilling me.

And so I went through some of these exercises. And the commonality between all of these exercises for me, my answers to these were inspire. And so one of the things that I took from that was, okay, part of my purpose, part of my why is to inspire others. And if I wouldn't have done that that night, there's lots of things that wouldn't have happened since then. For example, I wouldn't be on with you guys every Monday morning. I would have never actually started our Center for Sport and Performance Psychology because it was that night where I realized that part of what I wanted to leave in my legacy was to impact the field and to grow the field. And so how that impacts people is, you know, we help teams and individuals.

We have 20 graduate students in our program that would have never been able to get certified if the center wouldn't have been started. You know, it was the kind of this, what we're talking about today, that really made a huge difference in my life. And I would honestly say that I've never felt so fulfilled. Like I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. And it, I keep that front and center. My question for people who are listening, a few questions for them is, you know, have you ever felt stuck? Like you, you aren't moving forward. Um, have you ever had a hard time kind of getting out of bed in the morning and you wanted

that extra push? Um, have you ever felt unfulfilled in what you're doing in your life? Maybe unfulfilled in what you're doing in your job. And have you ever been going after a goal and you weren't even sure why you're doing it? Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. So I think the answers to these questions can lie in, you know, examining your why. What, you know, what really fulfills you?

Why do you do what you do? And I think all this connects to what, examining your why. What, you know, what really fulfills you? Why do you do what you do? And I think all this connects to what really is your purpose. And when you think about it, when you figure it out, I think it can give you a new source of motivation that really can help you when the going gets tough. And, you know, it's not necessarily just sort of an event where you feel like, I had an epiphany that night, but it's still, it's been a continual journey

just thinking about what gives me energy. And so I have four questions we're able to consider that would help them start thinking about their why. Okay. Okay. Ready? We're ready. I'm ready. The commonalities between these answers will help you figure out your why. So it's not necessarily the answer to any one of these questions, but four questions

for you to consider to examine your why. So the first one is, what gives you energy? So I realized, you know, that night it wasn't necessarily doing a lot of research. It was more impacting others and speaking to others. Touching other people. Yeah. So what gives you energy is the first question. Second question is, what are maybe three or four times that you felt the most alive? What were you doing? Okay. What do you love to do that you do for free? It's okay to think about it.

I mean, we don't have to think about it and come up with it right now, right? No, you don't have to come up with it. No, this is just a question. This is for you to think about. It's different for everybody listening. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the fourth question is, and this is sort of like a deeper one, but think about your legacy.

What would you want your legacy to be at the end of your life? And that's, for me, it was the most powerful one. And that's what really drove me to start the center. So I would encourage people to answer these questions, spend some time. I think about a lot of people when it comes to this. You might need more time than this. Focusing on that, yeah. Well, yeah, for sure.

Think about the 10 seconds we gave you here on the radio. But the kind of person I'm imagining, and there are several of you out there that are the kind of people that are so involved in just life, like getting up and getting the day taken care of. Getting to work, getting your kids taken care of. Yes. And sometimes, I was thinking the same thing, I think, where you're going. A lot of times it's mom, right? Mom's just got day in and day out.

And I know it's not always just mom, but as an example, it's mom. Dad, I got to get up. I got to get ready to go to work. I got to get the kids out of the bed. I got to feed them. I got to get them to school. I got to get myself to work. I got to figure out what we're doing for dinner.

And it's all this stuff and you put yourself on the back shelf for so long, you know, and maybe the one thing you really want to do is teach an exercise class after work every day, you know, and you just can't find the time to do that. That's where doing these top 10 traits of high performers and

picking through and finding your why. Maybe your why is your free exercise class that you would do for free. And realizing that your why is important. And you're worth it. Yeah. Yeah, there we go. There we go, TJ. So what if you really took some time this week to think about your why?

And what if you kept that why front and center? And I think you'd see a difference. And I think that can be the difference that makes all of the difference. And I don't think that it has to be a monumental type. And it can give you that extra push that you need to when the going gets tough. So I think about athletes who are listening to Remember Your Why allows you, can be all the difference between a fourth place finish versus winning the gold medal. Or for people who are listening who aren't athletes, it could be being settled in your job when you're not really fulfilled and going after that promotion that you know

could fulfill you. Now I want you to make those little reminder plastic bracelets for me about why. So I can go from your wrist to your elbow? Yeah, I'm going to have them all lined up. But seriously, every time I think about them, I'm like, okay. Have one of those, like the string on your finger. Just a little friendly reminder. Sindra here, and thanks again for listening to the interview with TJ and Lisa. I think of all of the podcasts that I will record this year, I think that this one can be

the most powerful for you. And the reason is, is because when you consider your purpose and work really every day towards that purpose, it can make all of the difference. And there is the fourth question that I provided in this interview is the one that I really want to talk about for the next several minutes. Because I think that fourth question can really help you determine your why and your purpose. And that fourth question, if you remember, was this. Think about your legacy.

What do you want to be able to say at the end of your life? And what do you want people to say about you? And the reason why I think legacy is so incredibly important is we were all born with a need to leave a legacy. Each one of us wants to have a life that matters, to have purpose and significance. And I know from working with the most successful business leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, Olympic athletes, pro athletes, and really successful college and pro and high school coaches, is that high performers are motivated to leave a legacy.

They know the legacy that they want to leave. And every day that fuels them, fuels their soul and fuels their motivation, fuels their determination. Because when you determine that legacy, you find an incredible, powerful source of inspiration, motivation, commitment, and courage. And really considering your legacy isn't something that happens overnight. So if you're not sure right now as you're listening,

that's okay. It's something that you'll need to continue to think about. And if you know awesome, then I think the key is, is every day working to leave that legacy. And one of the really awesome things that I'm privileged to do is I get to work with a lot of really successful athletic teams every year. And I always start my work with them, several different exercises about legacy. And what I notice is just, you know, in an athletic team, when you sit down and have them think about their legacy, it can really make all the difference. And athletes start acting and thinking and feeling differently. And this is something that you can use not only on an athletic team, but you could use it in your business tomorrow. So one of the most powerful ways, I think, to really consider your legacy is this.

And I want you to imagine your funeral. It's not a very positive topic, but it can be incredibly powerful. So imagine your funeral. Imagine where it's at. Imagine who's there. And imagine your friends and family who are gathered there to honor you. What do you want them to say about you

at the end of your life? What do you want people to be sharing in the stories that they're sharing about you or the personal qualities that you had? Or what do you want people to be sharing in the stories that they're sharing about you or the personal qualities that you had? Or what do you want them to say about the difference that you made in this world? Now, if you really are truly imagining that, this is incredibly powerful. And now the key is, is to ask yourself this really difficult question. Is how you're living your life right now consistent with how you want to be remembered?

So is the way that you're living your life right now consistent with the legacy that you want to live? And if it's not, then you got some changes to make. And if it is, congratulations. Keep on working to live that legacy that you know that you were designed to leave. So thanks so much for listening. If you liked this message, I have two YouTube videos that I'd recommend and they're on my YouTube page, Dr. Cyndra Campoff.

One of them I just recorded a few weeks ago and it's called What's Your Why? And another one is specifically about your legacy. So I'd encourage you to head over to my YouTube channel, Dr. Sindra Kampoff. And thanks so much for joining me today. Make it an awesome day. It is your time and be mentally strong.

Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. Are you signed up for Sindra's weekly email with free mental tools and strategies for high performance? Why the heck not? Text mentally strong, all one word to 22828 or visit sindracampoff.com.