High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 535: Don't Let Your Negativity Grow

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

We all experience automatic negative thoughts because our brain’s role is to keep us safe, not to help us perform well or be happy. To reduce our automatic negative thinking, we first must notice our thoughts. Question those thoughts you have and ask yourself, "What data do you have to support your interpretation?"  Power Phrase of the Week: "I am not my thoughts. I will not believe everything I think!”  Quote of the Week: “You are not your thoughts. You are the OBSERVER of your thoughts.” Amit Ray 

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. It's time to check in with Cinder Kampoff. And today we talk about negativity and don't let

your negativity grow specifically. Cinder, start us off with a topic. I love this quote we're going to start with. Omni Ray said, you are not your thoughts. You are the observer of your thoughts. What inspired this topic today for you? Well, what inspired today's topic, Lisa, is this idea that we all have automatic negative thoughts. And, you know, we don't always choose everything that we think. And automatic negative thoughts are amps for short. It comes from a book by Daniel Amen called Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. And many years ago when I first read this concept, it was really life-changing for me. And I think it can be really life-changing for other people because our negative thoughts really

are here to help us keep ourselves safe, but they aren't things that we should always believe or listen to. And, Cinder, why are our thoughts so important? Well, they're important because they drive everything we do. You know, our thoughts determine how we interact with others, how we feel about ourselves, how we act. Our thoughts lead to our emotions and then lead to our actions. And so our automatic negative thoughts are really important for us to consider because they do create a story that many times isn't true. And this is important just to understand because your beliefs and your thoughts also build your beliefs in yourself or your self-esteem. So can you tell us a little bit more about ANTs? Yeah, so ANTs or automatic negative thoughts are usually irrational.

Sometimes and usually we have them when we're really under stress. And they diminish our confidence and our ability in general. And so, you know, as people are listening, they can probably think of times where their negativity just kind of takes over their emotions. And so today we're going to talk about how noticing your ants is really the first step at controlling them. So what's an example of an ant for us? Sure, we'll talk about just three quick examples.

And one example today is mind reading. And this is where, you know, we believe we know what other people are thinking. So we might think, well, gosh, you know, this person thinks I'm bogus, or everyone thinks I'm an idiot. But you know, honestly, we have no idea what people are thinking. And typically, people are thinking about themselves, not us. So first one is mind reading. All right, what's the second example? A second example of an ant is called labeling. And this happens when we attach a negative label to ourselves, which is like, you know happens when we attach a negative label to ourselves,

such as, like, you know, I'm such a terrible leader, or I'm miserable at speaking in front of other people. And so the problem is that we tend to kind of lump others or ourselves into these categories, and we generalize and act upon them, and usually they aren't true when we label ourselves or others. And you wanted to share one more today. Yeah, the other one is called personalization. And there's many more that I talk about in my book. But these are just three examples. But personalization is when we believe like negative events have personal meaning. So for example, let's say our boss or our coach doesn't acknowledge us and we think, you know,

he's mad at me. And so we take, we take personally something, kind of a personal responsibility for something we can't control. And so really part of being at our best every day and stepping into our potential is recognizing we shouldn't believe everything we hear. We want to recognize that ant, kind of label it, like, you know, we just kind of shared with you a few labels, and then really question that ant. Is that really true? And, Sandra, how would you summarize today for us, then? Sure. So I'd say that, you know, we all experience automatic negative thoughts because our brain's main role is to keep us safe.

But we want to just, you know, notice those thoughts and question those, ask ourselves things like, you know, what data do I really have to support this interpretation? Is this really true? All right. I think that's something good we can all practice going through this week. What is this week's power phrase for you? I am not my thoughts, and I will not believe everything I think.

I like that one. Cindra, how do we find you and get some more information, maybe read about some of these books and read the books that you've written? Sure. So there's a chapter in my book, Beyond Grit, and then a second book I have, Beyond Grit for Business Business that I talk about automatic negative thoughts and how to address that. And you can head over to beyondgrit.com and find that information out there free shipping right now. 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.com. See you next week.