High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 674: Training Your Brain for Optimism

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

In this episode, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff unpacks the power of optimism and why training your brain to spot opportunity in the face of difficulty is essential to building grit. Drawing from legendary moments like Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game,” she explains how mindset shifts fuel resilience. Cindra introduces a simple mental tool called the Three Ops Strategy to help you find fresh paths forward, even in the middle of setbacks. Power Phrase of the Week: “I choose optimism. I train my mind to see the opportunity.” Quote of the Week: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill  

Hi friends, my name is Dr. Syndra 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! Time to check in once again with Cinder Campoff and today we're talking about training your brain to see the opportunity in things. Cinder start us off with one of your quotes. I like this quote by Winston Churchill because it really fits with what we're talking about today. A pessimist sees the difficulty in

every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Okay, so what exactly are we talking about today when we talk about training ourselves to see opportunity? Today we're talking about the power of optimism and how you can see the opportunity, and I want to give you an example. It was game sticks of the NBA Finals in 1997. So a while ago the Chicago Bulls were just one way away from the championship and Michael Jordan was really tired. In fact, he was sick. He had flu-like symptoms that left him dehydrated and just really struggling. He

could barely stand, you know, let alone kind of run up and down the course. And many people, Lisa, would have just sat out, you know, no one would have blamed him if he just sat out, but he saw the opportunity and despite the odds, he decided to play and step on the court. And what followed is something called the flu game of performance where he scored 38 points. Uh, the bulls won. And if you, if you watch this on YouTube, you'll be able to see, um, the video of him just like collapsing

in Scottie Pippen's arms right at the final buzzer. Oh. I know, because he was so tired, right? He gave everything that he could. And you know, that night, he really turned kind of this physical adversity into one of the most iconic moments in sports history. Again, we call it the flu game. Well, so how does that relate to us who aren't star athletes like that?

Absolutely. Good. Great question. I would say, you know, Jordan didn't just power through. He reframed his setback as really a chance to rise. And that's really optimism and action, which we're talking about today. And it's not just reserved for people who we think are legendary or legends, you know, or elite athletes.

It's a skill that we all can build. And so today we're going to talk about how do you train yourself to see opportunities in the middle of a typical culty like Jordan did, because you know, obstacles obviously will come and they will. It's just how we respond to it that really matters. And how come this is so important for us? Well, we know optimism is a core pillar in building our grit. Two researchers, Frederick Crane and Erin Crane, they actually summarized 25 years of research and found that optimism is correlated with our success and

specifically they were looking at entrepreneurial success. And you know what the great thing is is that optimism can be taught. You can train yourself to see difficulties and setbacks and obstacles really as opportunities. And when you do, what that helps you do is maintain your optimism, your confidence, your grit. Again, because obstacles are setbacks for a given, it's just really how you respond to them that matters the most.

Are there other benefits that we receive of being optimistic? Yeah, there's actually incredible benefits There's a researcher named Marty Steligman whose research found that people who practice optimism actually live longer They perform better and more consistently They make more money. They're more loyal They experience less pressure and stress and are more confident and resilient. You know, and even if you ask, you know, top athletes or salespeople or business leaders, you know, to get to the top, you really have to see opportunities for success where others

might see it as an opportunity for failure, right? So training ourselves is really important in seeing this optimism. So Cinder, how do we continue to choose optimism in our lives? Yeah, that's a great question. I have a tool in my Beyond Grid book where I talk about this chapter related to optimism and the tool I talk about is called the 3-Op Strategy. And basically what it helps you do is instead of seeing the glass know, the glass is half full or half empty, we want to see this half full, right? And so the three up strategy includes two steps.

Number one, I want, I want people who are listening to think about a difficulty you're experiencing right now. Okay. And it could be a difficulty in your life, in your work, maybe in your sport. So what's the difficulty you're experiencing right now? And then ask yourself, what's the opportunity here? And I want you to do that three times. And can name in three opportunities really pushes you to be creative. And what I found is the people that I'm, I work with one-on-one, it's like the third opportunity that they come up with is actually the one

that energizes them the most. That they want to kind of focus on moving forward, right? Because it's like, it typically is a fresh idea that you really haven't thought about before. So again, think about a difficulty you're experiencing, ask yourself what's the opportunity here three times, and that helps you really get unstuck and see and practice optimism and a skill that you can continue to build. Cinder, what's the power phrase for this

week? It's a good one. It's IQ's optimism. I trained my mind to see the opportunity. All right, now if people want to pick up that book and maybe read more about this or follow you along on one of your podcasts or whatever work that you're doing at the time, I know you give a lot of keynotes, speeches, and things like that, where do we need to go? You can head over to Dr.Syndra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com, and you can find more about our speaking,

my books Beyond Grit, and our coaching 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. Syndra for show notes, and 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. Syndra. That's D-R-C-I-N-B-R-A.com.

See you next week.