High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 583: Failure Can Lead to Success

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

When we define failure on our terms, we are able to see failure as an event, not as who we are. We are able to keep pushing outsides our comfort zone because that is how we learn and grow. In this episode, Dr. Cindra shares with us how to see failure as an opportunity. This Week’s Power Phrase: “I see failure and mistakes as opportunity to learn and grow. I take an easy-going approach when I fail." Quote of the Week: Zig Ziglar said it best, “Failure is an event, never a person; an attitude, not an outcome; a temporary inconvenience; a stepping stone. Our response to it determines just how helpful it can be.”     

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 Dr. Sindra Kampoff and our topic today is failure can lead to success. Now, Sindra, start us off with a quote. I like this quote by Zig Ziglar. He said, failure is an event, never a person, an attitude, not an outcome, a temporary inconvenience, a stepping stone,

and our response to a determinant, just how helpful it can be. What inspired the topic for you today? Lisa, on the High Performance Mindset podcast, I've interviewed hundreds of mindset experts. We've had the podcast since 2015. And nearly every expert I talk to, I ask the question, I ask them to describe what failure means to them, and then share a time that they failed so that we can learn from that failure.

And today, I'd like to share with you just a few definitions of failure that these experts have shared. And I'm going to encourage people as they're listening to consider how they define failure. All right. So I know that you've had the bestselling author, Jack Canfield, on your podcast. What did he have to say? Yeah, so he wrote The Chicken Soup for the Soul series. I'm sure you've probably heard of those. And he submitted that book to 142 publishers and it was rejected. It was finally published. And he said, barrier is simply a domain of result. We learn to walk by falling down. If our parents had said, you know, if we fall down 20 more times, you just have a feeling of failure. We were, you know, we're not going to work with you anymore.

They wouldn't do that. Right, right, right. No one would ever say that. So he said, fail, F-A-I-L, if you pick the I and put a little line on it, it becomes fall. So the idea is when we fall down, we get back up. When you fall down, you get back up. Now, you've had incredible leaders in the field of sports psychology. Any examples that you want to share from there? Absolutely. There's two I can think of. Michael

Gervais, he's the creator of Finding Mastery podcast and the sports psychologist for the Seattle Seahawks. And he had a really cool definition of failure. He said, I see failure as when I know I have something to say or do and I hold back. So he said failure is anytime I'm not being authentic. And then, yeah, super interesting. I started to use that definition of failure in my life and it helped me just become more of myself more often. And Zach Brandon, who is the mental skills coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks said, you know, the perspective is really important in how we view failure as an opportunity to learn. Do you treat failure like a failed event as a devastation or an education? And what can you learn from it?

I like that one, too. Yeah. Do you have other examples for us? There's one more that I think is really powerful. And Amy Morin, who is the bestselling author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, said, Failure is proof that I tried hard, that I put myself out there and tried to do something that was outside my comfort zone. Right, exactly. And why is it important for us to consider how we define failure?

I think if you're really pushing yourself to be the best that you can be and go after, you know, your big dreams and goals, it's really inevitable. Failure is. And it's also essential for us to be our very best. And we have to embrace failure. So I'm going to encourage people to think about your answers to these two questions. First, how much failure got into where you are today? I think failure for me, I wouldn't be on this interview with you if I hadn't failed in lots of different ways. And then second, what is the definition of failure that you want to guide your life? You know, maybe there's some that I mentioned

already, or, you know, there's another acronym called fail equals first attempt in learning. So the key is when you define failure on your terms, it really takes the sting out of it. You're able to see failure as objective, not take it personally, like it's not who you are. And when you take a look at your past failures and see that they've served a purpose, perhaps, you know, they are the reason that you are where you are today. How would you summarize today for us? I would say failure is inevitable and really essential for us to be our best. But we have to define failure on our terms. And if we're able to see failure as an event, not who we are, we're able to keep pushing outside our comfort zone because that's how we grow and how we learn.

Now, Sindra, what's this week's power phrase? I see failure and mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. And I take an easygoing approach when I fail. If people want to take a look at any of the work that you do, maybe listen to the podcast, what's the best way to follow along with you? You can head over to Dr. Sindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. And I talk about this in my new book, Beyond Grit for Business, and you can check out the podcast there along with my book. 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.