High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 701: Why Focusing on the Process Beats Chasing the Outcome

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Drawing on powerful examples from Olympian Brenda Martinez and legendary coach Nick Saban, Dr. Cindra explains how shifting your attention from results to daily actions can boost performance, reduce anxiety, and help you show up more consistently under pressure.   Martinez’s story—recovering from a heartbreaking stumble to qualify for the Olympics just days later—illustrates the power of trusting your routine and staying present. And Saban’s “don’t look at the scoreboard” mindset reminds us that success is built by dominating the little things over time.   Dr. Cindra breaks down how to apply this mindset to your own life—whether you're chasing a championship, growing a business, or working on personal goals—by identifying controllable daily actions and committing to them with discipline.   This Week’s Power Phrase: “I trust my process, dominate the controllables, and let the results take care of themselves.”   This Week’s Quote of the Week: “You win a national championship by focusing on what it takes to get there, and not on getting there.” — Nick Saban   REQUEST A FREE MENTAL BREAKTHROUGH CALL WITH DR. CINDRA AND/OR HER TEAM: https://www.freementalbreakthroughcall.com/   TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MENTALLY STRONG INSTITUTE: https://mentallystronginstitute.com/

Hi, friends. My name is Dr. Cindera Campoff, 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, focus on practical tips to help you get after your goals and step out of your comfort zone. Let's go. We're checking in with Cinder Campoff today, and today's topic is why focusing on the process, beats chasing the outcome. Sandra, start us off with a quote. This is a quote by Nick Staven, former Alabama head football coach. And he said, you win a national championship by focusing on what it takes to get there, not on getting there.

All right. So what exactly are we talking about today with this topic? Well, today we're talking about focusing on the process over the outcome. And it's really a habit that separates the world's best performers from the rest. You know, Lisa, it's so natural to like dream big and imagine the outcome that you want. whether it's winning a championship or earning a promotion or building your business. But when we focus too much on the outcome that can actually create pressure, anxiety, and even paralyze you from taking action. Is there an example you can give us? Yes, absolutely. This is my favorite example.

And it's based on an Olympian Brenda Martinez, and it's a really powerful example. So in 2016, she was well positioned to win 800 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials. when another woman clipped her shoe with less than 100 meters to go and she stumbled, she misqualifying and she couldn't have let the moment derail her but instead she had this amazing response and she said the track doesn't care about your feelings

you just got to move forward and less than a week later she ran the 1,500 meters, focused on her routine, executed the small things and dove across the finish line to secure her spot at the Olympics by like three one hundredths of a second.

Wow. And I think what, yeah, what's so amazing about the story if she didn't dwell on what was out of her control and she really trusted her process, getting back to her routines. Explain to us a little bit more about what you mean by trusting the process. Well, what I mean is the process is the small things you do daily to reach your goal.

So for Martinez, it meant, you know, maintaining a positive attitude, reducing stress from outside sources, making sure her body was fully recovered before her. her next race. And for you, it might be, you know, consistently following up with your clients or executing your training plan or sticking to your leadership habits, you know, no matter how you feel that day. So what do you see the best of the best? What do they do? Well, Nick Saban, you know, is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. And he's really a master of

his mindset. He's worked with multiple sports psychologists over the years. And he never talks to its team about winning championships. Instead, he keeps their focus on executing for 60 minutes and dominating each play. And he even says, like, don't look at the scoreboard is one of his core philosophies. And the outcome takes care of itself when you really dominate the process. And how do you suggest that we apply that to our lives? Yeah, great question. You know, so I would say whether your goal is in sports or business or interpersonal growth,

you want to start by writing down what you want. So what is the outcome you want? then break it down into daily actions that are completely in your control. So we want to just keep our, you know, our eyes on that price to motivate us and to keep us going. And when we lack motivation to think about that outcome, but we want to direct our energy every day to the process. Because when you focus on the process, you actually persist longer. You feel more satisfied in your work and you're more willing to try new things. Why is that so important? I think Lisa's important because the process keeps you in the present moment. And,

that reduces anxiety and stress, and it also ensures yourself's worse isn't tied to your results, which can be so easy to do. So you show up, you execute your trust that outcome will follow, and that's how the best in the world think and how you can perform at your best more often, too. All right. Give us a power phrase. I would say, I trust my process, dominate the controllables, and let the results take care of themselves. I like it. All right. Now, if people want to read more about this or follow along with your work or maybe pick up one of your books, the best place to go? Best place would be to go to Mentally Strong Institute.com, and you can find more information about

our coaching, our work with teams and groups, and my book Beyond Grit is available over there, which I talked about this topic within. 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. to join my exclusive community for high performers, where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can add over to Dr. Cyndra.com. See you next week.