High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 63: One Play at a Time with Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver, Adam Thielen

Episode Date: August 12, 2016

“Live in the moment. Take one day at a time. One play at a time.” That’s great advice from the Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver who went from small town Detroit Lakes, Minnesota to Special Teams Player of the Year last year for the Minnesota Vikings. In this interview, Adam talks about the keys to his success including his experience trying out with the Vikings, then making the roster, and now being a key player for the team. He talks about mindset principles he learned during mental training in college and how he applies the principles. He talks about staying in the present moment, letting go of mistakes, and not dwelling on the past. He shares what he sees separate the best in the NFL from the rest, and the role of mindset in performance. A must-listen-to interview for anyone that wants to step up their game and understand how. You can follow Adam on twitter @athielen19 or on Istagram.

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. Live in the moment, take one day at a time, one play at a time. It's something that I have to remind myself daily to just stay in the moment. Do not think too far ahead. You can't think about making the team or this or that. You have to just come to practice and show up and then take it one play at a time once practice starts.

That's great advice from Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Phelan. And I am just incredibly grateful to be able to provide this interview with Adam to listeners out there who tune in every single week to the High Performance Mindset. It is not every day you get here and get inside of the mindset of an NFL athlete. And so I'm just beyond excited that Adam was able to take some time away from his busy schedule to tell us a little bit about how he uses mental training in his daily practice. So I was able to interview Adam last week when he was here at Vikings Training Camp in Mankato, Minnesota. That is where I live. And I had an incredible opportunity just to work with Adam four years ago. It's when I first met Adam. One of the teams that

I work with is Minnesota State Mankato, help them implement their mental training. And so in this interview, Adam talks about how he went from a small town, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, to special teams player of the year last year for the Minnesota Vikings. He talks about his keys to success, including his experience trying out with the Vikings and making the roster and now being a key player for the team. He talks about mindset principles that he learned during mental training in college and how he still applies those principles. Here's a few that he talks about that I'd encourage you to listen for. He talks about the importance of playing one play at a time, staying in the present moment. He also talks about how he lets

go of mistakes so that he is not dwelling on the past. And there's a really good discussion that we have about what separates the best in the NFL from the rest. So good. And then he describes the role of mindset in his performance. He says, for example, mindset is huge. Your mind can do a lot for you or it can really hurt your performance. And at this level in the NFL, you realize it's even more important. Man, that's so good. So I can't wait to hear what you think about this interview. You can head on over to cindracampoff.com and you can find Adam Thielen's interview there under podcast.

You can send us a message there, post a message there, as well as you can head over to Twitter. Both Adam and I are on Twitter. We'd love to hear what you think about this interview, what stood out to you, how you can use it in your life and in your business and in your work. So you can find him at Twitter at athelen19. My Twitter handle is at mentally underscore strong. And as always, if you enjoyed this interview, please share it with one friend. And you can always head over to iTunes and make a comment about the podcast over there. That just helps us reach more and more people with a positive message each and every week. So without further ado, let's bring on Adam Thielen. All right, welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. This is your host, Cindra Kampoff.

And today I am really grateful to bring an interview with Adam Thielen. He's a wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings. So Adam, I just want to thank you so much for taking some time today and to share your expertise on mindset with the listeners. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. So I'd like to know what you're most grateful for right now. Most grateful? I'm grateful for family. I'm grateful for being in this position to be able to to be able to play for the Minnesota Vikings and have the opportunity to make a football team in the NFL and live my dream. Yeah, that's awesome.

You know your story, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to have you on the podcast. You went from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, to Division II team, Minnesota State Mankato, where I got to first know you and it was working with the team there. And now, you know, wide receiver, the Minnesota Vikings. So tell us, you know, what your journey. Yeah, so it's kind of been a crazy journey. Went from, like you said, from a small high school, didn't get recruited, felt like I could have played at a lot of different schools but um just didn't just didn't have the size or speed i guess and um got overlooked a lot so end up going to mankato um they offered me a small scholarship a couple weeks before camp and uh end up showing to mankato

and um you know registered my first year and then played for four years after that and then tried to take my game to the next level and try to make it to the NFL and got an opportunity with the Vikings to come to a tryout and they signed me after the tryout and I've been here ever since. That's awesome. Tell us about, like, just your transition from a great senior year uh to trying out with the Minnesota Vikings and then you know what was that process like for you and uh you know people would say well your chances aren't likely that you'd make the squad you know but how did you continue to believe that it was possible for you yeah it's kind of crazy looking back at it because

if I would have had the mindset I do now and knowing what I know now, it would have been I think it'd been a lot harder for me to make it just because going into it, I think I was just oblivious to how everything worked. And I just kind of went in there and and just took it day by day. And whatever the drill was, I had to do it just, you know, that focus and on that drill and um you know like I said if I if I would have known how how unlikely it was to you know make it to where I am and if I would have known how hard it is to get looks in this league especially coming from a d2 school I I probably would uh probably wouldn't have made it so it's it's kind of cool to look back and just know like my mindset back then was just you know live in the moment, give it all I got. And if I, and if, you know, if that's not good enough, then that is what it is. But, you know, it all worked out and I'm here now. So it's pretty cool to look back at.

So, you know, in that situation, you didn't maybe even know the statistics of you actually making the league, right? Yeah, I think it's just having that mindset, you know, if I would have known how unlikely it was, or maybe known that you have to run a certain time, or get this opportunity to get here or there, and I think I may have had a little less confidence with it, maybe. Yeah, I don't really know, but just kind of like looking back and knowing how my mindset was, and just knowing that I didn't really care if I didn't make it. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I possibly could in the moment to make sure that I didn't look back and be like, man, I wish I would have done this or wish I would have done that. So I think it's kind of how I got here. And I'm glad I did it that way. Yeah, that's a great message for everybody who is listening

because I think that can apply to so many things, not just like moving forward to follow your dreams in the NFL, but you're really saying live in the present moment, give it all you've got, and that's really all that matters, and live with no regrets. Yeah, absolutely. I think those are definitely keys to kind of what got me here and really just what gave me the opportunities. And that's what it's all about is getting opportunity and then making most of that opportunity. Absolutely. And, you know, what do

you think are the other sort of like mental attributes that really allowed you to not only, you know, get in the league, make the team after the first year you're on the practice squad, and then just kind of, you know just the plays that you've made. You were a special teams player of the year last year for the Minnesota Vikings. I'm sure you just kind of want to pinch yourself sometimes. Yeah, for sure. I think the biggest thing for me is staying in the moment, staying focused. Sometimes when I lose that, I can definitely tell my performance.

When I start looking ahead at things and start getting nervous about different things and thinking too far ahead, I start to lose performance. I think it's just staying in the moment, taking it play by play, taking it day by day. One of our receivers coach, Coach Stu, always says, just gain a blade of grass every day. And if you can do that, you'll eventually, you'll grow quite a bit as a player. So not trying to, you know, become, you know, a ton better each day, but just getting a blade of grass and just stacking it on every single day. And eventually that'll really show. That's excellent. And, you know, what role do you think mindset plays at this level?

Oh, it's huge because your mind can do a lot. Your mind can really affect your performance or it can, you know, really help your performance. So, you know, when you're at this level, you realize that probably more than ever of how you need to have your mind. And also at the same time, it's easy to lose it, lose focus. And sometimes you're like, what is going on and why am I doing this or why I'm doing that? But your mind can play games with you and you kind of have to have that mental focus and that rebooting of your mind every day. Nice. What are the ways that your mind every day. Nice.

What are the ways that you reboot every day? Like what do you do to work to stay fresh and focused? I think for me it's try to break up the monotony. Instead of doing, I mean, it's good to have a routine, and I do have a routine, but there's some things that I like to do to just try to break up that monotony and kind of keep it fresh and exciting. And, um, like I said before, when I go away from that and I, and it does get monotonous, I think my performance, uh, lowers and, um, it's harder for me to, to stay in the moment and stay focused. Uh, but if I can get something fresh and something exciting, um, going on, I can kind of, I guess, just focus better. Yeah.

And, you know, I think what's cool about, you know, your background is the first year that I worked with the Maverick football team, you were the team captain. And it was, I think, a really strong and important year for the Maverick football team because it was the first year that went undefeated regular season right so to me in my eyes it was a big turnaround for the program um and so every every week in that year we did mental training workshop so you know what do you what do you remember like what tools and strategies do you remember that you you know have taken with you to this league yeah so um i I use it a lot, actually, imagery, night before games, putting myself in situations that could possibly happen in the game. It's pretty crazy what that can do. It's happened several times where I've put myself in a situation that's actually happened in a game. So I think that's helped a lot. Cue words. In college,

I always wrote on my wrists you know a few different words that kind of brought me back into the moment um kind of refocused myself and I still use those um I always remember the toilet uh flushing your mistakes down the toilet I could probably use one of those on the sideline now honestly uh sometimes I kind of forget to just you know go to the next play move on and forget about that because you know, go to the next play and move on and forget about that. Because, you know, as athletes, sometimes we want to be perfect. And, you know, that's not really realistic. You're right, it isn't. And we were we use the toilet that year to kind of flush the negativity and flush the mistakes. But you're right, like staying in the

present moment is so important. Can you give the listeners like an example of something that you imagine the night before and like how it actually happened in the game? Yeah. So, you know, we we have a game plan each week and whether it be for special teams or for offense. And so there's a there's a few plays that, you know, you might think like, you know, I'm going to get the ball in this play or, or this could come up in a game. And then I've, I've put myself in that situation. Um, you know, the Denver game last year, uh, I knew I was going to get some opportunity to play, uh, to start and play a lot in that game. So there was a few different, uh, scenarios where I just, I just, um, put myself in that situation the night before. And, um, it was, uh, I think it was, uh, what was it? Uh. It was a flat route that we had been practicing that week, and it was kind of a game-plan deal. We hadn't ran it before.

I literally had the exact imagination of what happened. So it was pretty cool to see that. Caught the ball and got upfield and got a first down and third down. It was the first catch of the game, so it kind of got my blood flowing. But it's kind of cool to have that exact same scenario happen. Yeah, it's like you imagined it in your mind and then you made it happen. So I think that shows you the power of imagery.

Before we started the podcast interview, we were talking about you at your best, and you were talking about a game against um southwest the first year the last year you were a maverick so you know we were just talking about that because i interviewed coach keen and we had talked about that game and how um you were able to turn it around and played a big role in that tell us about like that game for you and and what helped you turn it around um yeah i think it, I think it was just a momentum thing. We got things clicking. I caught a few balls and got a little confidence and then just got into this zone where I just felt unstoppable. It was kind of a really weird feeling, but nothing could go wrong.

It was pretty fun. We were down by 14, I think, with a couple minutes left to go in the game. I ended up scoring two touchdowns and sent into overtime and ended up winning the game. It was probably the first time I ever really felt in that zone where I, nothing could go wrong. And it was just a really good feeling and probably one of the things I look to now to try to, like, get back to that zone and try to remember what I did and what I didn't do previously to get to that zone. Yeah, and what are the things that you think that you did do or didn't do to lead to that game? I think honestly just knowing that with our backs against the wall to just refocus and just telling myself and my teammates

just to focus on one play at a time. And then once things get going, you just kind of automatically get into that zone once the flow starts coming, once you get clicking as an offense or individually, and then it just kind of just happens. So I think initially just starting it and just knowing that you're still in the game, that you can still make plays and make things happen, even though things hadn't been going well before that.

So just kind of refocusing and just kind of starting fresh. Cool. We're playing one play at a time. You know, I'm thinking about in this league, you have such incredible role models in your team. We're talking Adrian Peterson, Teddy Bridgewater. I could name like 20 other stars. What do you think separates the really successful in this league from others that aren't successful?

And, you know, what do you think their mental attributes are? I think just confidence is huge in this game. Everybody in this league is athletic. If you're here, you're athletic. You're a really good football player. But the guys that separate themselves are extremely confident. They take one play at a time. They don't have negative thoughts in their mind. You can just tell their body language is positive. They just know they're going to make a play. And

even if they do make a mistake, they know that they're good enough to make a difference and they're good enough to that next play they'll make up for it. Yeah, awesome. So they have really high confidence, you can tell, and they stay present moment focused, right? You're saying they don't think about the mistakes that they made. They move on quickly and believe that they can make something happen. Yeah, absolutely. Dwelling on the past is a tough thing to overcome, and I think a lot of people do that, including myself.

And I think, like I said before, the people that are really successful, they aren't thinking about that last play. They're thinking about the next time they get the ball in their hands or the next time they get an opportunity to do something in the game. So, Adam, tell us about a time that you failed. And I want to ask you that question because you just said, like, you know, you can't be perfect. And, um, maybe people, especially who are listening, who are striving to go to the next level might think that perfection is possible, but you know, it's not.

So tell us a lot of time that, you know, didn't go so well for you and what you learned from it. Yeah. I think I, I have a pretty recent situation. Um, you know, just in the last week of practice, I think, um, you know, mistakes last week of practice I think um you know mistakes have kind of overwhelmed me um where I just I didn't understand why I was making these mistakes or or you know maybe not having the confidence that I should or always have had um and then kind of dwelling on the past you know make a bad play and then thinking about that the whole practice um so I think that's probably a failure. And I think now looking back at it and being able to like sit and think about it, I know

like that's what I that's my mistake. You know, that's what I'm doing. I'm going to just move on, flush the toilet and forget about the mistakes. Yeah. So you can use the same strategies you just talked about that you used. Yeah, cool. So tell us, you know, what your why is, Adam. And, you know, we believe here at the High Performance Mindset that your why really gives you a powerful motivator when the going gets tough.

So, you know, why are you doing this? Why do you every single year? One thing I see about you is like you're just continuing to push your own vision for yourself. You know, you always have bigger goals every year. what's your why well I'd say my main why is my wife and and soon to be baby boy um you know they they kind of push me and and I'm always thinking about them when I'm when I'm doing this stuff but um on top of that my why is is I love this sport. I love this game. There's no better team game, I believe. And just, yeah, like you said, it's just I want to push myself and continue to get better. And, you know, that's kind of my why, too.

I don't want to just stay the same. You know, I want to get better every year and continue to grow and not stay the same, like I said. So, yeah, I kind of have a lot of whys, but, yeah, that's good. That's good. And what would you like to, you know, what do you really want to do this year in the league? Just make a difference, you know. Like I said before, just get better. Gain on what I did last year.

Gain in the role I have. just help this football team win games. And, you know, no matter what it is, if that's special teams, if that's offense, whatever it is, I want to make sure that every play that I'm in, that I'm focused and making the most of those plays. Yeah, excellent. So, Adam, you have the top 10 traits of high performers in front of you, the Vikings version. Um, and anybody who wants to get that actually can get it on my, my website, um, which is, uh, cindracampoff.com or drcindra.com. So tell us which one of these top 10 traits that you think that you exhibit the most right now. I think, uh, the top one that I use. Yeah. Like which one would you say like is, is you right now? Like you're really high on that. I think, uh, that

I'm gritty. Uh, so like number one is they are gritty. Um, you know, I have, you know, perseverance. Um, I've gone through a lot. I didn't just, uh, I didn't get drafted first overall and get things handed to me. I've had to go over adversity, and I've had to kind of just set goals and reach that goal and set a new goal, reach that goal, set a new goal. So I think that's definitely one of my top ones. Yeah, I would agree that you're definitely gritty. You're continually improving and pushing your own limits and believing that you can. So which one of those 10 traits would you say like you could still improve on? I just ask you that question because we're all a work in progress.

It's pretty hard to be, you know, a 10 out of 10 in all of these. Yeah, I mean, I could probably work on a lot of them, but but I kind of already talked about a little bit. But number nine is like let go of uh mistakes letting go of mistakes so i think that one i really struggle with um and kind of always have um and and like i said before i i have the tools to do it i just uh sometimes you just kind of forget and get caught in the moment and uh but it's one of those things where you really have to just you flush it down the toilet and forget about it's one of those things where you really have to just flush it down the toilet and forget about it move on to the next play because it can affect your performance and it

and it definitely does if you're uh dwelling on the past and um thinking about those mistakes and in the next play yeah i think that you're like most people i mean it is really difficult to let go of something especially when um you have big goals and dreams and you want to make a difference for the team. So I appreciate just like your honesty and just being honest with us. So a few other questions I have for you, Adam. What would you say is the best advice you've ever received? Best advice I've ever received?

I think just live in the moment. Take one day at a time take one day at a time one play at a time um it's something that i i have to remind myself daily um to just stay in the moment do not think too far ahead um you can't think about you know making the team or or this or that you have to just come to practice and and and show up and then take it one play at a time once practice starts nice i really think what you're describing is like having a process focus, not an outcome focus because you can't really control the outcome, making the team or winning the game or if you're going to get that big pass.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So what advice do you have for those people who are listening, who want to continue to follow their dreams or want to get to the next level, whatever, you know, they're working towards. What advice do you have for them? I'd say just control what you can control. When you, you know, you have a big goal in your head or a main goal, objective in your head,

but also having little goals to achieve that goal. So taking it, like I said before, taking it one achieve that goal so um taking it like i said before taking it one day at a time taking a one play at a time um you know i always had i tell people this so you know they ask me how how did you did you always think you'd play in the nfl and it's uh you know it's one of those things where it was always in the back of my head i i can't say that i always you know knew i was going to play in that or didn't know i was gonna play in the nfl but it was always a goal of mine in the back of my head. And every day that I was in the weight room, every day that I was at practice, I was kind of working towards that goal

and I had to get better that day. Otherwise I wasn't going to reach that goal. So getting better each day and just striving for that ultimate goal. And if you could look back and pinpoint a few people that really helped you just in terms of believing that you could make it in this league and really supporting you, who would those people be? Well, I have to say definitely my wife. She helped me just kind of – she understood where I came from. She wanted me to try it and give it my all and see what happened um you don't have to you know go with coach Keene and and my high school

coach uh Flint Moschmacher just uh two people that made a big impact on my life and um you know they kind of just a lot of things that we talked about today they talked about um they always kind of believed in me uh when when others didn't um I think your stuff helped a lot in college um you know coach Hoffner he he brought me here and and I think the things that he did for me were helpful my parents you know just kind of the way that they raised me uh to never give up and um just kind of reach for those stars and reach for those big goals but uh know that there's going to be you know you're not going to reach for those stars and reach for those big goals, but know that there's going to be, you know, you're not going to reach every goal you have, and you might not, you might not,

not everything's going to be perfect, but as long as you're giving it your all and putting your full focus in it, you know, that's all you can ask for. Yeah, that's excellent. You know, so last night we were at the Minnesota State Maverick Football Stadium and a big crowd for the Vikings practice, the spirited practice. What was it like for you in terms of just seeing such a great crowd and, you know, the stadium full? Yeah, it reminded me of college for sure. You know, it's fun to be here in Mankato and playing in front of, you know, the people I played in front of in college and this community. And it's just a great town and a great place to be. And it's always fun to come back here for training camp. And one other question I have for you, Adam, I saw that you just opened a training facility, ETS Thielen in the South Metro. Tell us about that and why you

decided to invest in that. Yeah. So the guy who's been training me for the last four years, Ryan Engelbert, he just has been a really good friend and somebody who I really, really trust. And obviously, if I've been training with him, I really trust what he does athletically helps me perform my best. And so, yeah, we just wanted to bring that mindset and our vision, because I think we have a very similar vision in how we do things. And we wanted to bring that to another area. And so, yeah, we brought it to the Lakeville area, South Metro, and just want to help kids become the best athletes they possibly can be and also and also become better people. Um, you know, that's one thing that we really, uh, strive to, to do is not just help kids become better athletes, but better people and make sure they're on time, you know, doing the right things. Um, and just,

uh, like I said, just become better people. And what sort of like final thoughts do you have for people who are listening? Um, I think, uh, I think it's, it's never, you never can do enough, uh, mentally. I mean, I think, I think individually, I think I look back and I think, um, you know, sometimes it's like, ah, you know, I, I know what I'm doing and, and, you know, I have this, I have it under control, but then, but then you kind of lose focus and you, um, you know, things start happening and, and you're busy and you just kind of lose time. And then, um, but yeah, I think, I think there's always time to, to help yourself mentally and, uh, to make sure that you're focused and, and performing your best as an athlete.

Absolutely. And I think mental training and really using your mind, it's a daily focus and it's a daily commitment. So, Adam, you provided so much in just a short time that I know will help the listeners. And I just want to thank you so much for your time and your energy. And just I know you're so busy. So taking the time to share a really positive message that also provided some really good strategies and a few that really stood out to me was just the importance of taking it day by day and living in the moment focusing on you know the next play instead of the past play and really um letting go of your mistakes learning from them and then letting them go or flushing them whatever ever way you want to describe it and just the importance of um you know building momentum staying positive and controlling the controll of, you know, building momentum, staying positive, and controlling the controllables. So lots of golden nuggets here. I just want to thank you so much again, Adam. Yeah, thank you.

I think this helped me probably more than the listeners. That's awesome. It's good to, like I said, it's always good to just refocus and, you know, just to talk about these things because I think even if you've done this every day, and still sometimes you forget little things, or you forget what you did to do this or that, and if you really sit down and talk about it like you did write things down, I think it helps a lot.

Excellent. We'll have an outstanding next few days at training camp. And then if you'd like to follow the Minnesota Vikings, they have their first preseason game on Friday against Cincinnati. So you can check it out then. Yep. Thanks Adam. Thank you for listening to high performance mindset. If you like today's podcast,

make a comment, share it with a friend and join the conversation on Twitter at mentally underscore strong for more inspiration and to receive Sindra's free weekly videos, check out dr. Sindra.com.