High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 691: Turning Setbacks into Setups: The Optimism Advantage

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

In this inspiring episode of the High Performance Mindset, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff explores how optimism can turn adversity into advantage.   She shares a powerful story of a collegiate athlete who, after a devastating ACL injury just before nationals, chose to reframe the setback as a new beginning. Her shift in perspective led her to mentorship, sport psychology, and a new purpose: becoming a mental performance coach.   Cindra breaks down how optimism isn’t naive positivity—it’s an active choice to find meaning in difficulty. Backed by science, she discusses the many benefits of optimism, including increased resilience, creativity, persistence, and even longer life expectancy. Research from Harvard shows that optimistic leaders and entrepreneurs outperform their peers in both business and recovery from failure.   You’ll also learn about the Three OPP Strategy from Beyond Grit, a practical mental tool to help you reframe challenges.   This week’s power phrase: “Setbacks don’t define me. I see the opportunity in the obstacle."   Quote of the week: “Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” — Noam Chomsky   Tune in to learn how to train your brain for optimism—and why that mindset is your performance advantage. REQUEST A FREE MENTAL BREAKTHROUGH CALL WITH DR. CINDRA AND/OR HER TEAM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MENTALLY STRONG INSTITUTE Love the show? Rate and review the show for Cindra to mention you on the next episode.

Hi, friends. My name is Dr. Syndra Kamboff, 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 Kamboff. Today we're talking about turning setbacks into setups, which is optimism on the menu. Today Cinder, start us off with a quote. I like this quote by Noam Chomsky. And Noam said, optimism is a strategy for making a better future because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so. Uh-huh. So what exactly are we talking about today?

Today we're talking about how optimism can transform adversity into an advantage. And I thought I'd give you an example to start. A few months ago, I worked with a collegiate athlete who just tore her ACL two weeks before the national championship. And of course, I worked with a collegiate athlete who just tore her ACL two weeks before the national championship. And of course, like she was devastated. But what really struck me was how quickly her mindset shifted. And after the just, you know, the shock of it, he said, the injury isn't the end. It's the beginning of something new.

And maybe I'm meant to lead in a different way. And the cool thing is I heard her seeing her mentoring her teammates, you know, studying sports psychology, and she discovered a new passion for helping others build mental strength. And today she trained to become a mental performance coach. And she said the injury was a gift in disguise. It helped me find a bigger and deeper purpose. Wow. Well, how does that relate to us, regular people? Well, I think how this relates to us is that optimism isn't just kind of blind positivity. It's really choosing to believe that even in setbacks, there's something meaningful that you can take forward. And optimism is about choosing purpose over pity, possibility

over panic. And this athlete story just kind of reminds us that optimism doesn't deny a difficulty, it just refrains it. Why is that so important? Well, I think bottom line is optimism fuels resilience. And what we know is research shows that when leaders and performers choose optimism, they bounce that quicker, they solve problems more creatively, and they inspire others around them. So, you know, optimism, Lisa, isn't just about something nice to have. It's actually really a performance advantage. There are other benefits of optimism. What are they?

Yeah, there's so many. So we know optimism is connected to greater physical health, stronger relationships, better performance under pressure, even longer lifestands. For example, a Harvard Business School study found that optimistic entrepreneurs actually generate more revenue and bounce back from business failures faster. So optimistic people also tend to be more persistent because they believe their efforts will pay off. And so what gets in the way of us being more optimistic? That's a great question. I would say you know one of the biggest blocks to optimism is our brain's negativity bias. And what I mean by that is just the tendency to focus more on

what's wrong than what's right. And this bias evolved to protect us, but it can also hold us back. Because we start to generalize setbacks and assume the worst and kind of believe that failure is final. But I think we know that failure in the opposite of success, it's really part of it.

And when we understand our brain's wiring, we can override that negativity with purpose and intention. And I think, Lisa, what's important is that optimism takes practice. It's not about perfection. All right. So how do we continue to make sure that we're choosing optimism in every circumstance that we're in? So one way is you can use a strategy called the three ops strategy from my book Beyond Grit. And there's three kind of steps first. Think about a current calendar difficulty. And then once you do that, ask yourself what what's the opportunity here is three times. And you want to generate at least three opportunities really to push yourself to see

what's possible, you know, even in a difficulty. And what I find is that third opportunity is often the most surprising and the most energizing and the one that you really want to focus in on. All right, Cinder, what's the power phrase? Step back, don't define me. I see the opportunity in the obstacle. Opportunity in obstacles. Now, Cinder, if people want to learn a little bit more about this, maybe do some more reading on any of the other strategies that you have to get through. Where can we go? You can find my book at beyondrit.com and if you want to learn more information about our coaching or my speaking, you can go to mentallyfrontinstitute.com. 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 enjoy 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 dot com. See you next week!