High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 558: 3 Powerful Thought Principles

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

As humans, we have a negativity bias. We pay attention to negative information more often than positive information. Our negativity bias keeps us safe, yet it can prevent us from leading ourselves and others, forming relationships, and taking risks in the pursuit of our dreams. In this episode, Dr. Cindra talks about why we have this negativity bias and three powerful thought principles to combat our bias. This Week’s Power Phrase: “I talk to myself powerfully and don’t believe everything I think!” This Week's Quote of the Week: “Your beliefs, either positive or negative, helpful or hurtful, largely determine everything you do and how you do it.” - Brian Tracy 

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 is time to check in with Dr. Cinder Kampa. We're talking about three powerful thought

principles. And Cinder, you like to start us off with a quote. I love this quote by Brian Tracy. He said, your beliefs, either negative or positive, helpful or hurtful, largely determine everything you do and how you do it. That's a good one. How do you want to start off today? I'd love to give you some examples of exact thoughts of one of my clients, a pro athlete. And these thoughts sound like, I had a terrible game against this team a few months ago. It's going to happen again tomorrow.

I have to bounce back. And am I playing well enough to stay? What if I'm traded or cut from the team? And I share these thoughts with you because even though he never said these things out loud and said, you know, only to me, he really was saying them in his head over and over again. And they are his self-talk. And as you might have guessed, he wasn't playing very well, not because he had the negative thoughts, but because he believed them. And I think that's a really important distinction. Well, how come we think negatively like this? It's not just pro athletes, but it's us as well.

Absolutely. Well, as humans, we have a negativity bias. And so basically what that means is we pay attention to negative information more than positive information. And our negativity bias really does keep us safe. It can prevent us from, you know, doing something that we, you know, we shouldn't, but it also can prevent us from leading ourselves and forming relationships and really taking, you know, risks to pursue our dreams. And I think what's helpful, Lisa, is that this evolutionary, you know, this negativity bias is evolutionary in nature. And what I mean by that is at some point we had to fight animals to stay alive. And so it was really life or death. And so we

inherited these genes that really predisposed us to give special attention to the negative. And if you think about it, the people, you know, with fear in our caveman days, they stayed alive, but the other ones, they didn't. You know, that's why we have fear today. And how would you describe the negativity bias that we have? Well, I love this analogy by Rick Hansen. He's a PhD and he describes our mind like being like Velcro with negative experiences and like Teflon for positive experiences. And think about it kind of like this way. There's two things that are negativity bias, why we experience it and how we experience it. First, negative events get stored more quickly in our memory. And so we actually

have to store, you know, positive events and memories for up to 12 seconds just for them to last. And the second thing is negative events linger longer than positive memories or events. And so we're more likely to remember, you know, when someone says no to us, or when we don't get an experience or something negative than something really positive that we love. And Cindra, you said you have three powerful thought principles that you usually speak on when you're keynoting to address our negativity. What's the first one? Well, the first one is that we shouldn't believe everything we think. And just like this example of a pro athlete that I was sharing with you,

the problem was that he didn't have them. It was more that he believed them. And so the problem is that we don't always choose our thoughts, and our thoughts have a way of creeping in and making themselves home, right? I like to use the idea that we all have automatic negative thoughts or ands, and that just that word automatic means we don't choose them. And what's the second principle that you talk about? The second principle is stating something with an I statement is more powerful than believing

in that automatic negative thought. So something like I will, or I can, or I am, is really the best way to talk to yourself. And so we know, you know, the world's best really have learned to master their thinking. They're really deliberate with their thinking. And so these I will, I can, I am statements are really powerful because I will is a statement about, you know, an intention or a positive change. Like I will start my own company or I will be more loving with my family or I will play, you know, big this weekend.

And I can is about your potential. For example, I can do anything I put my mind to. And I am is the most powerful way to talk to yourself because that's how you shape your identity. Something like I'm resilient and I keep going despite obstacles or I'm amazing at connecting with people or I'm strong and powerful. And what's the third principle? Well, the third principle really kind of adds on to the I am statement I just mentioned, and that is what you think about yourself, you become. And we have to be careful with what we put I am behind, because your mind simply becomes what you tell it the most. So what you think about

you create, and what you think about yourself, you become. What's the power phrase this week? I love this one. I talk to myself powerfully and don't believe everything I think. All right, watch that negativity bias. Sindra, if people want more information about what it is that you do, maybe picking up one of your books or something like that, where do we go? Yes, you can head over to Dr. Sindra, so drcindra.com, and you can find more about our coaching and my books, Beyond Brit, which I talk about these principles in those books. 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.