High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 658: 3 Ways to Embrace a Challenge

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

High performers see stressful situations as a challenge they can overcome instead of a threat to their performance or confidence. This improves their health and their performance. They remember it’s all about our perception of a situation and they talk to themselves powerful when experiencing stress – reminding themselves they can handle anything.   Power Phrase this Week: “I adopt a challenge mindset. I can handle anything that comes my way.” Quote of the Week: “Challenges are an opportunity to test you and rise to the next level.” -  Angelica Montrose

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. This morning, we talk about ways to embrace a challenge and three of them in particular. Cinder, start us off with a quote. I like this quote by Angelica Montrose, and she said, challenges are an opportunity to test you and rise to the next level.

All right. What are we talking about exactly today with embracing a challenge? One of the topics I talk to leaders about during my one-on-one coaching and my keynote is the difference between having a challenge mindset and a threat mindset. And as you're listening, you can apply this mindset to anything you're struggling with or any kind of thing that's stressing you in your life. Because ultimately, the way we see a stressor or the situation impacts our response. And so the threat versus challenge mindset is the primary mindset type that dictates how one performs in stressful situations. So I can see how the way that we see a situation

matters to us. But what exactly is a challenge mindset? A good question. I would say there's three ways to adopting a challenge mindset that's different than a threat mindset. Number one, you have the energy and creativity to pivot and adjust. Number two, you see change and discomfort as part of growth. And then number three, you focus on what you can control. And I think this is really important right now because this is a stressful time of the year. And there's so many things that we can perceive as stressing us right now. And how is that different than like a threat mindset would be? So a threat mindset, when we adapt that, there's three things that are different. First, we lack the energy and creativity to pivot. We see discomfort as suffering and we don't really like change. And then number three, we focus on things that we can't control. And we might focus on the past or we think things were different than last year or five years ago.

And we generally just feel like we don't have the resources in us or around us when we experience and choose more of a threat mindset. Well, Cydra, is there something that can help us see the situation that we're in as a challenge versus seeing it as a threat? Yeah, this is a good question. I would say ultimately it's your perception of a situation that makes it either more of a challenge or a threat mindset. And I think it really takes a lot of awareness to take a step back and then remember that we can choose to see any situation from a different perspective. And so think about how this relates to you right now. Maybe there's some kind of tough situation at work or at home. And the key is to using more of a challenge mindset is to talk to yourself more powerfully. Think things like, you know,

I have the resources within me to handle this. Or I like to use, you know, I can handle anything that comes my way. And I try to talk to myself really powerfully like this. So I'm choosing more of a challenge mindset when, you know, there's a tough situation for me at work or at home. Do you have a final point for us? I would say the final point about challenge versus threat idea, you know, that it's really all in our mind and it's not the reality of a situation, but rather how we perceive it. The key is to shift your focus to see the situation as a challenge when we're experiencing stress. Cinder, can you summarize today's lesson for us? You bet. I would say high performers see stressful situations as a challenge

that they can overcome instead of a threat to their performance or their confidence. And this improves their health in general and their performance. And I think the thing to remember is it's all about our perception of the situation, to talk to yourself powerfully when you're experiencing stress, like telling yourself I can handle anything that comes my way, and you'll be able to. And what is the power phrase that you're going to leave us with? I adapt a challenge mindset. I can handle anything that comes my way. Cinder, if people want to get in touch with you, follow along with your teachings and maybe read your books or listen to your podcasts, where do we need to go? You can head over to Dr. Sindra,

the B-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com, and you can find out more about my books or coaching or keynote speaking over there. 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 cindra 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 cindra that's d-r-c-i-n-d-r-a dot com see you next week