High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 754: The GPS Mindset: Grit, Purpose, and Strength Through Adversity with Kristin Gustafson, Keynote Speaker and Certified Coach

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

In this episode of The High Performance Mindset, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff sits down with Kristin Gustafson, a board-certified coach, exercise physiologist, speaker, and author of The GPS Mindset: Grit, Purpose, and Strength. Kristin shares her inspiring journey from elite endurance athlete to navigating life-changing diagnoses including dystonia and multiple sclerosis—and how those experiences became the foundation for her mission to help others rise through adversity.   Throughout the conversation, Kristin explains how unexpected detours can challenge identity, confidence, and purpose, but also become opportunities for growth and transformation. She introduces her GPS Mindset framework—Grit, Purpose, and Strength—and discusses why resilience is built through the "boring reps" of everyday life, not just big moments of motivation.   Kristin also shares practical strategies for reconnecting with purpose during difficult seasons, strengthening both mental and physical resilience, and becoming "Detour Ready" when life takes an unexpected turn. Her message is a powerful reminder that challenges do not define us—they can refine us.   This episode will leave you encouraged to trust your own strength, embrace the journey in front of you, and keep moving forward even when the path changes unexpectedly.   You'll Learn: Why adversity can become a catalyst for growth and purpose What the GPS Mindset—Grit, Purpose, and Strength—really means Why grit is built through consistent daily habits and "boring reps" How to reconnect with purpose when you feel stuck or lost The connection between mental and physical strength What it means to become "Detour Ready" Strategies to build resilience through unexpected life challenges How to navigate identity shifts and confidence struggles with courage Episode Resources & Links Learn more about Kristin Gustafson Learn more about the Mentally Strong Coach Certification Learn more about The Mentally Strong Institute Register for the Mental Performance Summit Request a Free Mental Breakthrough Call Download the Confidence Research Study

Hey, this is Sindra. Are you a coach or business leader who wants to help others build confidence, overcome obstacles, and perform at their best? You can become a mentally strong certified coach and learn the proven system that I've personally used with Olympians, professional athletes, and Fortune 500 leaders. In this 15-hour certification, you'll gain science-backed tools to help people strengthen their confidence, reduce self-doubt, improve emotional control, and perform consistently under pressure. You'll also learn. learn practical frameworks you can immediately apply with your clients, teams, athletes, and those that you lead. So whether you want to start or grow a coaching business, increase your impact as a

leader, or create a stronger culture within your organization, then this certification is for you. Applications are now open for the next cohort beginning June 1st. And you can learn more or apply at Mentallystrongcoach.com. That's Mentally Strongcoach.com. Hope to see you there. Yesterday is someone who has turned life's top challenges into stepping stones for success. Kristen Gusseson is not just a board certified coach and an exercise physiologist. She's also a trailblazer who empowers leaders, athletes, and everyday champions to break through barriers and achieve their highest potential. She created the GPS mindset, grit, purpose, and strength, a method that has helped

countless individuals and organizations navigate adversity with resilience, clarity, and determination. And her journey, as you will hear, is nothing short of remarkable. Diagnosed with Dastonia and multiple sclerosis, she refuses to be defined by her circumstances. Instead, she has harnessed her struggles to fuel her mission, guiding others to rise above their own obstacles. Her best-selling book, The GPS Mindset, which is an incredible book I've already read it, a grit purpose and strength, has inspired audiences around the globe to recalibate their internal compass and chart a new course towards meaningful success. And today she's here to not just share her story, but to provide real actionable strategies that you can use to unlock your full potential

and get ready to be motivated, challenged, and equipped for your own journey of growth and excitement. Thank you so much for joining us here today, my friend. How are you today? Good. Thank you, Cinder. I was so excited to be here. You know how much I adore you and appreciate you. So I love that I get to sit here talking with you today. And this podcast has been a long time in the making. So we've been talking about this for several years and just so inspired by your journey and then, you know, how you've really moved towards writing a book and becoming a keynote speaker. So, Kristen, why should people listen to us today and follow along with our podcast? Yeah.

So for today, I really want to think that it's not just about motivation. yes, I want them to leave motivated. But to really, it's a system and a framework that I'm going to be talking about today, how to navigate setbacks, if it's uncertainty, if it's pressure. And definitely, I feel like we're the ones that are always getting in our own way. Yes. Forward. So and just those moments, I call them detours, moments that are just not planned.

So it's for those that, I mean, it's really for anyone. If they're setting a goal, if they feel stuck, get burnt out. overwhelmed, any of that. I want to give them tools and to use their internal GPS. That's the framework with grit, purpose, and strings so that they can keep on moving forward. And I think, you know, we're all human. And so we can easily get in our own way every single day. So I love that you're going to provide some practical tools for people. And so to get us started, you know, let's say for people who are just listening to your story for the first time, can you take us back to a moment where your life really changed unexpectedly and you had to take this unexpected detour.

Yeah. So it's been over 10 years now. So in 2015, I actually had one of the best athletic years of my career. So in that year, I became a sponsored triathletes, completed a marathon, which brought me over to 30 marathons, which Cinder knows because we used to run all the time in the morning. Yes. Then a half iron man and two full iron man's. And so in that year, I qualified and competed at Iron Man, the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. And so I got done with that race. That's in October. And I specifically remember it was a day morning in December and my husband came down and I said, my leg feels like it just can't keep up with my body. It was, it wasn't in pain. It wasn't numb. I just, I knew something was off. And so, but by basically by April, I could

barely walk around the block. So I traded in pretty much through that, tried to race, which just brought my stress level way back up for that. But I traded in my medals and my finish lines for, you know, when I look at it, I mean, spinal tabs, MRIs, I mean, blood draws. The list goes on and on. And I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and dystonia. And how I say like multiple sclerosis, it's like the communication between my brain and my foot or my leg. I had really bad foot drop. And then, or I would, I would, would always say that I would I'd like right now I can do this at when I had my flare-ups. It's like my my brain I couldn't I can't connect it. So it would be like this and that's how my

foot was. And then dystonia is almost where like the signal goes through. But I it would like, I would have I would get framped or twisted or I would like I would have really bad tremors. So I could best of best of both worlds there. But in that moment, moment like everything changed. So not just basically, yes, because I couldn't compete, even though I tried, which made it even worse. But more importantly, just I lost myself. And especially my mindset up here, I, you know, life threw me this big detour and I didn't know how to, I didn't know how to handle it. And I always say, and I know we've talked about this, Sandra is like, life throws your tour. And it's almost like you forget everything you've accomplished.

everything all the hard work so in like basically a four month or six months span i went from competing at the iron man world championship to thinking i have like no grit and i have like no purpose because i'm not an athlete anymore and then the the strength i really hit on the mental strength because with a grit we talked so much about the physical of eating and eating well and exercise but with the mental strength, I call it the yap trap. It's that imposter syndrome. And I mean, I can't believe how mean that I was to myself or the research that you've done syndrome. You know, it's like 70% go through imposter syndrome. And I'm always like, that should be 100%. If you're ever pushing yourself past your limits, you're always going to have those self-doubts. That's normal.

But when I really started looking at it, I would count. I would. I would. would I would say so many mean things to myself all before I would like go downstairs and work out. I mean, so it's, I really just everything was just went from my highest to my very lowest in that moment. And as I'm listening, I'm getting goosebumps because I witnessed that in you, you know, and I saw you go through it and the struggles. And I also think it's interesting that you just said like you forgot everything you accomplished And I pulled out the Confidence Habit book that's coming out September 1st.

And so excited. I feature you in Chapter 9 and I reread it this morning. And it's interesting because Chapter 9 is called Capture Your Wins. And I talk in the chapter about this idea of by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy about the gap and the gain that it's so easy to look at how far you have to go instead of celebrating how far you've come. And in these moments we're really struggling with things. and everyone who's listening can, you know, is struggling with something, even if it's big

or small, can relate to what we're talking about. Tell us, how did that moment change everything for you and, you know, maybe just describe to us to your lowest point. Yeah. So one thing, I mean, it was like all of a sudden I just lost my identity. And it's interesting when you talk with people, they'll say, I'm just a stay-at-home mom. I'm just a manager. I'm just this. I'm just that. And it's like, were so much more than this one thing. But for me, I was tied to being an athlete for so for so long that I was like, oh my God. I mean, then all of a sudden it's like, I'm a fraud. I can't do this. I mean, the list goes on and on of the negative thoughts. But it really was the hardest. It was hard going through physically when I couldn't walk or, you know, when the foot was dragging. But it really

was the grieving process. Like that's, I think I spiraled so much because I didn't grieve losing of being an athlete and losing, you know, being able to run. And so I, it was just this spiral. And I was, I was actually like at my very, very lowest that, I mean, it was, do I, do I want to live like this anymore? Because you just get in such a dark place of like, I have no identity. I have no purpose. If we go back, I have no grid because I can't grind myself to the ground anymore. And then the mental part of it, I mean, I was nothing. I mean, my attitude was all towards negativity. I was just like fixated other things that I couldn't do and what I couldn't control.

So at my, at my very lowest, I was. I was wondering, should I, I don't want to live like this anymore. And that is where it's, it's like I understand where people are going through when they are at their very lowest and you just want to help them so, so much and be like, you are so much more than what you're going through. Whatever detour, this detour is going to make you stronger and you can ask people. It's just we don't realize it when we're at our very lowest. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you just so much for sharing that. It takes a lot of like courage and vulnerability to share with us, like the how you got to your lowest. Yes. How do you think like,

what did you do to come out from that low? And my guess is that. that you had to kind of change your identity, or at least the way you define success. So tell us about that journey. And it's, so I call it these spark moments. So it's your spark. And it's almost where I was at a local copy shop, a high, one of my high school friends from 20 years ago that I haven't seen came up and was like, thank you for sharing your journey and your struggles. Because of you, I'm much healthier. And I was like, what? I mean, I was like deer in headlights. I was like, I am at my lowest of lows right now. But I literally walked out of that coffee shop and like a spark happened.

Like I stopped in my tracks. And it was almost like, oh my gosh, I do not want to be the mom that committed suicide. I want to be the mom that, you know, empowered herself and used multiple sclerosis and dystonia to help others. Not only if they're going through a, you know, disease, but when they're just even going. went through goals of like trying to eat healthier so they are heart healthy or they want to play with their grandkids or they want to climb the corporate ladder. It doesn't have to be a chronic disease. I'm like, I have the knowledge. I just didn't. Yes. It was so blinded by all the negativity and blinded by MS and dystoning in a way that I wasn't looking at it that it could

move me forward. Now, is it all, you know, roses and sunshine? No, I still have my flare-ups. I still have my cane that I sometimes have to use. I still have my flare-ups. But now I'm like, okay, that's just another detour. And each, I feel like each detour we go through or like my medical conditions or any setbacks, it actually builds your coordinates. We just don't, we don't ever use them. When does somebody ever say, what are the hard things that I've actually done in my life? Instead, they say, for me, I would get done with an Ironman and I want to say, wow, thank you, body. I can't believe you just completed a 10, 11 hour race.

I would say, I need to swim more. I need a bike more. Yeah, right. Or you look at your purpose and it's just that title. And then the mental strength, we just don't, I mean, we talk about it, but do we really work on our mental strength? Do we become aware of how we talk to ourselves and how it like impacts our lives and just even others around us about. how we talk to ourselves. I love what you said about, what are the hard things that I've done?

And, you know, I'd encourage people to write those out. Because even if you were kind of describing that, I was like, well, what are the hard things that I've done? You're right. We don't keep those top of mind. And particularly you people who listen to the podcast, they're high achievers. They want to, they want to be their best. So it's easy to like look at how far you need to go or how you need to improve instead

of like, okay, what can you celebrate? Right. It's like you set that goal or you're going through the detour. you get through it and you almost forget about the process in between it. It's that that outcome, the goalpost just keeps on moving farther and farther away. So yeah, completed an Iron Man, but now I want, I want to go faster. I want to get stronger. I mean, it's so then you're just never satisfied. It's like, stop at the goalpost right here and celebrate everything. Look at what actually worked and what did it work. And then you can grow and learn from it instead of being like,

I'm not even going to reflect and I'm just going to go to the next goal. And I know, you know, just watching you how that, what that world, you know, what Ironman meant to you and going to the world championships and like how hard you worked to get there, not only physically, but you took years and years of, you know, improving and getting better. And then, you know, to be one of the top athletes in the world at a triathlon, is incredible, you know. And so I think of honestly, as I'm listening, I'm thinking about. elite athletes who go to the Olympics and they've experienced their highest high and then come back and it's really difficult to go through and because they don't have anything, you know, keeping them going

anymore. Right. Yeah. I mean, and you're so much more than that one race. I mean, especially for Olympians when you think sometimes they're out there for 30 seconds or three, three minutes and they train for four years. And it's like, yeah, it's like, but you're so much more than that to you're not An Olympian to how many other people you, you know, you provide so much more. And we just get so caught up in that title that we just don't see it. What advice would you give to people who are listening and you're like, yes, I over-identify with my sport or my work or my identity as a mother or father, you know, we can over-identify with any of these things. What advice would you give them? Yeah. When I when we do kind of like an activity for like purpose, it really is of digging deeper into kind of that why and the motivation. I say it's like detour ready. It's like we shouldn't expect that the road of life is going to be straightforward. I mean, we like hope for it. And then it's almost like we're surprised when a detour actually comes our way. And it's like, no, we should actually expect that it's not going to go perfect because that's that's, that.

that's life. But with the purpose, it really is, especially if you're going through that detour, I always say you should go through your pity party. And sorry to say, my pity party and, Cinder, you know, my pity party was for a few years because I was working through everything. But you have your pity party and then you start to recalibrate. And one of the things is purpose, instead of saying like, why me? Why did this happen to me? It's like, what now? What motivates me now? what can I do right now? And I never asked questions. I was just like, why me? But now it's like if I've used this of when I got laid off for work, I've used it in my new goals. So really for the purpose is like it should never be just a title. Or if you're setting a goal, it shouldn't be like, I want to get healthy. What does that even mean? So you ask yourself why like three times. Why do you want to get healthy? So for one of my clients, you was like, I want to play with my grandkids. Well, why? well, because I want to be the cool grandmother because I didn't get that or I didn't get that opportunity with my grandmother. Well, why? Well, because I want to go out and I want to be able to play kickball with them.

All of a sudden, when you, that detour hat, something happens. It's not like, oh, I just want to get healthier. It's like, I'm doing this for my grandkids so I can be healthy. And then it like gets you detour ready and it gets, keeps you stay motivated instead of just like I just this title or this generic vague thing that. you want to accomplish. And so you created the GPS mindset, grit, purpose, and strength. Why those three particular words given your journey? Yeah. I mean, well, from what we talked about, obviously my lived experiences is it. But I truly believe that we always, we always look external.

So we have this external roadmap that we think that we can control and we can't. But we have these internal coordinates. And that's our grid purpose and strength. So when we start looking inward instead of external. And that external, when I say roadmap, it's like validation from others or if it is even, you're just trying to please everyone. You're always the one that's saying yes to everything. We can't, I mean, we, we need to kind of forget about the external and look internal.

And for I just really needed to start, I needed to start small because I was in such a low place. Like I needed to start looking at my grit of like, I'd done some pretty amazing things. And I can be very committed. And just because I can't pound myself to the ground anymore, which I shouldn't have been, that's a whole right. You know, like, but you know, with the MS, it is. It's like, how do I eat? How do I sleep?

Do am I resting? I mean, grit was for me was pounding myself to the ground, never missing a day, never resting, never recovered. And now I'm like, it is actually rest, eat well, and sleep well, because those are like my triggers. So it really is that. And then for the purpose, I just, I had to get past that. I'm just an athlete. And when I really dug into it, I mean, when I started asking my questions, why, it came down to that I really wanted to be the cool mom that did Iron Man's because my kids would think that.

I have like this grit and sure you feel like they look at me. Yeah, my mom was an iron man, but you know, it was a man athlete. But now it's like it's so much more than that. So I can I can still do my why, but just in a different and much healthier way. And then the mental strength was I work on it. I still, Sandra, I still work on it every single day. I mean, I have, I have my necklace. I have bracelets. I have sticky. I mean, the yap trap is just something, I think, for anyone who's a perfectionist or who is type A, that we're just so hard on ourselves. So really becoming aware of how I was talking to myself and treating myself, still a daily struggle that I'm still, I still always have to be aware of. But I have

amazing people and amazing friends and amazing family that call me out on it that should. And, And, you know, I mean, my sister just the other week was like, the yaptrap is taking over. I mean, like, everybody yells like, get me out of it. She's using your own phrasing of that. I was like, think. Well, I know we all can relate to that because we are our own worst critic. And I appreciate what you said about grit because I think people think of grit is like motivation. When I'm speaking, I talk about how grit is not grime.

You know, and I think because if you grind over time, you know, obviously you can burn out. But I think that athletes can be so much that way where it's like, you know, what you said is like grit is pounding yourself to the ground. But then you defined it as like reset, recover, eat well. Yeah. So how do you think that relates to everyone else who's listening? And, you know, what does grit look like in everyday life in your opinion? So grit is the boring reps that we do kind of day in and day out. So think of if it's just even the early mornings or the late nights in the office.

I think people also think grit just means exercise and grinding yourself to the ground. But it really is, it's meal prep. It's saying no. It is putting up barriers. It's rest, recovery. And I always say grit is consistency over intensity any day of the week. So, yeah. I mean, it's really about being consistent.

And that's how we like get, we move forward. It's also about just starting also. I mean, like we set up, we, let's say we're going to, we set a goal and all of a sudden we have like five things that we want to accomplish. It's like, don't set yourself up for failure. Set yourself up for success by looking at what is one rep that I can do today and I can do it consistently. And then what are the barriers that are going to get in the way?

And then look at those barriers and be like, when that barrier happens, I actually now have a plan of action. So it really is being about consistent. and just being nice to yourself. You're, I mean, when you're looking at somebody, let's say who is, I'm going to say, trying to lose weight, if they say, I'm going to eat like this seven days a week, I'm going to exercise seven days a week. It's like you're setting yourself up for failure.

You should be like, I have this birthday party. I'm going to enjoy my cake. I'm going out with friends. I'm going to have a cocktail and some chips and walk. And you know, you should expect that and you should put that in your plan so that you're consistent and you can stay instead of being so restrictive with everything. And it makes me think about how Angela Duckworth, who first coined the term grit, right? She says like passion, purpose, perseverance for your very long term goals.

And like all the things that you just said, Kristen, are really about like this reset, recover, eat well. Like we can't do those things. We can't be persistent if we're not taking care of our body. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Think of how many times the warning light on your par comes on and you're like, I got to bring

it in. But if you're exhausted, you're burned out and you are completely stressed out. What do you do? Nothing. It's almost like we take care of our cars and others better our own self. So like, yeah, kind of be aware of your warning light that is, is coming on. But we just, we just aren't. So it, it really is all that goes into it. I always say it's kind of like a wheel of if there's one thing that's really off, then the wheel, you're not going very smooth with it. So it really is about balance and consistency, not about perfection by any means, because that's not going to happen. But you really do have to like look at those warning lights and actually be aware of them before something, you know, bad happens. Well, I appreciate what you said about the Yap trap. Tell us more about that what that

concept means to you and how do you think it connects with grit, purpose, and strength. Yeah. So, I mean, I think for a lot of times, people think that especially strength and let's take mental strength is, I mean, it really is about the story you tell yourself. So it's your self-talk. And like I said, I call it the yapTrap. So it's the internal bully behind imposter syndrome. But it really, like I always say, it nags. It criticizes the yaps and it just plays our mistakes on replay all day long. I mean, it's like what happens is something bad goes. you know or something something happens and in your mind by the end of the day it's like a hundred times worse and it's almost like you completely exaggerated that story so with with the mental strength i have this where it's this little thing of like stop drop roll and rise so we need to so that's like we need to stop the the negative thought so that's like really awareness if we're not aware of it we can't change it so we just really have to be aware of it we need to be aware of it we to drop and that's like the perfectionism, the all or nothing thinking, the unrealistic expectations.

That just like fuels the gap trap. And then I always say we have to roll with a new story. But before we roll with a new story, like think of, I always say, I always ask everybody that I am presenting to as think of the last negative thing you said to yourself. I want you to flip it. And I want you to say that to your boss, to your significant other, to your kids. Like if you, if you wouldn't say it to them, then you shouldn't say it to yourself. And so we have the power to reframe the story. So that narrative and that story is not moving you forward. You have the power to change it. We can't maybe always control the first thought that comes in to our mind, but we can definitely control the thoughts afterwards. And then just rise above it. So we always have to learn, grow, and then just become more

aware of it. So that's kind of my little analogy for it. Perfect. Stop, drop, roll, and rise. And I was thinking about something you mentioned at the beginning of our conversation is our national research study on confidence. And we actually found 70% of people struggle with a harsh inner critic and have difficulty letting go from mistakes. And usually when I ask my audience is like, what percentage of people do you think struggle with a harsh intercritic or have difficulty letting go for mistakes? You know, most people say like it's probably 90, So I think on our study, it was unreported. But, you know, what I think that's helpful about that is like 70% of you who are listening, right, can reply what Kristen's talking about stop, drop, rule, and rise. And this is hard to do, especially if we're tired or we're going through some kind of disappointment, some struggle of health crisis.

You know, it's hard to stay positive with that. Right. Yeah. And it is normal. have those thoughts, especially if you're pushing yourself and you're going outside of your limits, it's good. But it really is, is it like holding you back? And then also, if you wouldn't say it to somebody else, then why are you saying it to yourself? I mean, it gives you no power. I mean, it really is keeping you stuck or like kind of moving you, you know, backwards instead of forwards.

Well, and when you said your boss, I thought, well, no way. Oh, never say that to my boss. And for though, I mean, it really is. It's those thoughts of like, you're not good enough. You don't have the skills. You shouldn't be in this leadership meeting. Like look at the lines on your face. Look at the stretch marks.

Look at your hair. I mean, the list goes on and on. So would you actually say that to other people? I mean, and it just, it's, it's crazy of how we talk to ourselves, including myself, how I said I have to work on it every day. So what do you do to work on it? So I, oh gosh, it, I mean, it's a constant thing. So how I said, I have like my bracelets that I have on every day. Because for me, it's really the awareness piece. And even like, especially in the morning, I mean, when when I started tracking it. So that's how I started becoming so aware how I said like, I'm like brushing my teeth half asleep. And I'm like, I'm saying all these negative things. And I was like there was one day. It was like eight negative things that I said to myself. And I was like, oh my gosh, I haven't even like had breakfast yet.

So yeah. Yeah. So it really is, it's becoming aware. So if it's sticky notes, if it's a sticker, if it's a bracelet, if it, you need support, if it's therapy, if it's your friends, your family, who, you know, it, there's so many different tools that you can use to help you with it. But you also have to actually use them and work on it because it is hard. It is hard.

And I appreciate everything that you just said about that and, you know, helping people like step, step into that every day. And, you know, the best part about our brain is it has what's called neuroplasticity, which you can change the way that you're thinking about yourself specifically. And your identity is the most salient thing within you. So if you're constantly saying, like, I'm terrible at learning people's names or I am a procrastinator or, you know, like, I can't accomplish blank, right? That's how that's where you become. So I love this idea how the strength in grit, purpose, and strength is about mental and physical. So how do you connect these two? And how can someone build each when this detour or challenge happens that might impact their health or their confidence?

Yeah. I mean, so when we look at it, how I said, like for the mental side of it, it's how you talk to yourself. But then for the physical side, it really is, it's not about just being physically fits. I mean, it's not about I want to get down to this gene size. I want to lose weight or I want, you know, you have like these goals. It really is what when you look at it, what do you really kind of like need to work on? And I look at it. Is it your sleep? Is it your nutrition? Is it your exercise? And is it your stress management? And when you look at it, I'm just going to take, you don't get a good night sleep. What happens? All of a sudden, rush the next morning. You might have time to meal. prep you might skip and work with and then all of a sudden you're stressed about that and the yap trap comes out that you did it again and it's like this cycle so for those four things if one seems kind of awe it is you know a lot of times people say oh if i eat healthy then i exercise or if i exercise i eat really healthy or if i don't sleep then i'm really stressed and you know so it's like those four

connected and then it just also i mean then it goes into that mental strength of how you talk to yourself, how you feel about yourself, how you view yourself, how you talk to yourself. And you know, if you can't see Kristen right now, she is the most fit person I know. So I think what's also impressive is like you've learned to adjust and pivot and still take care of your body and still exercise, you know. And so how did you adjust that? Because particularly when you couldn't do anything, you couldn't run, right? And you were in such a low space. How did you stay committed to your own physical and mental health? Yeah. I mean, it was an adjustment because all of a sudden, with, you know, Cinder, with being a marathoner, you're burning so many calories. So you have this

fear of like, what's going to happen now? And how am I, how is my body going to change that I can't do all this cardiovascular work? I mean, I switched from really going from that cardiovascular. vascular work to what do I really need to do to, you know, move forward. And this wasn't just like an overnight thing. Like I battled trying to compete for a full year before I said, this is not working for me mentally or physically. So this wasn't something that I just was like, okay, I'm okay with this. I mean, I literally, it took me a full year to realize that I had to grieve that the competitiveness that I couldn't do that anymore. So, I mean, I really started looking at, I mean, I was falling all the time. So I had to start working on my strength and my stability.

And so I had like a new purpose. So yeah, maybe I wasn't, maybe I wasn't grinding myself to the grounds. But I for now, for the past 10 years, I get up every morning and I still work out. I go downstairs and I mean, I do my workout, but I run or walk in front of the mirror. So I'm visually looking at my good leg. That's, I mean, I call it my mirrored moments. because I'm looking in the mirror, but I can visually look at my right leg, my good leg, like how it's supposed to move so that my left leg can like mirror that. And so it's like those simple things of nobody knows that you're doing it. That's the thing with grit.

It doesn't have to be a seven hour workout. But that consistency over like 10 years and working on strength and stability has gotten me to actually like kind of my healthiest. version of myself. Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And so for someone who is listening, who's in a middle of hard times in their life, and it could be lots of different reasons for that hard time,

maybe they lost a job or they lost a loved one or they're struggling with their health. What do you want them to remember about themselves? Yeah, so that this chapter, like in their life, does not define them. I mean, it just really doesn't, if you're struggling through anything. it how I said it actually strengthens your GPS mindset and and so it helps you get through this detour but also probably harder detours in the future so it doesn't mean that you're lost you're broken it actually means that that you're living I mean when we think about it and I have everybody look at this I'm like you got I mean everyone is here today that means you've survived

100% of your worst days that mean that's a pretty good training plan so it's proof that you can do hard things or you have done hard things and you can do hard things in the future. It's just you, it really is becoming aware of using your internal, your GPS. And so I always say, like, make it easy for grit, commit to one rep today, one rep. It's one hard conversation, one boundary, one healthy meal, one workout. And then the barrier that might get through it for the purpose, what we talked about, you know, really digging into so you can stay motivated and you know what your purpose is. So asking yourself why three times. And then what this is that stop, drop, roll and rise. And with that, it really is like becoming aware of how you're talking to yourself

because it does impact all parts of your life and relationships and your work environments and your friendships. It just, it really does. What is cool is, again, I reread this. part of the chapter, Capture Your Wins, where I highlight you in the confidence habit. By the way, people can get it on Amazon now. It is available for pre-order. So pretty exciting. But I want to read this part that I wrote about you. But in addition to working on her physical capabilities, Kristen has spent the last few years focusing on her mindset.

Today, she celebrates she's not in a wheelchair. She can walk around the block with her husband every evening. And I do see you walking around with Gus. He has trained your mind to accept that some situations are just going to be difficult. But she reminds herself that she has survived 100% of her hardest days. She has done hard things and she has mastered obstacles before and she can do it again. I so appreciate just like your honesty and your vulnerability of sharing your story and also how you've taken this to serve others and you have now this even stronger purpose.

So how can people follow along with your work? Tell us about the website we can find you at. How can we purchase your book, the GPS mindset. Tell us all about that. Okay. Yep. Website is Kristen Gustafson.com. You can order books from there.

Also, if, you know, I do some consulting, coaching, speaking. So all information is on the website. And then social media, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, just under Kristen Gustafson. Amazing. So definitely go follow Kristen today. and purchase her GPS mindset book. How can people, well, first of all, my final question would be,

what final advice do you have for everyone who's listening today? So I always look at it that, how I said, life is not perfect. So life is going to throw you some detours. There's just no way around it. So instead of looking at that external roadmap, we really, to really look inward to what the coordinates

that you have always had and the coordinates that you will always have. And they will always keep on getting, you know, stronger as you go through each of these detours. That's, that's what's great about it. But then also, lastly, is that your attitude really does determine your direction in life. I mean, it really does. If you're really focused on the negativity and you're focused on the things you can't control and you, you know, you can't do of that's what I was doing, to turning it around of gratitude

and the things that you can do and being so appreciative. of it, it really does change your mindset and how you look at life. And just that you're just so much more capable and stronger than, as I say, the YapTrap wants you to believe for sure. So just remember that you need to flip it so you can reframe it because it really does make a difference. I loved all the concepts that you shared today, the Yap Trap for one of that, for one, for example, a grit is consistency over intensity. And you shared with us that, you know, grit isn't pounding yourself, to the ground. It's resetting, recover it, and eating well. And everyone's going to experience these detours. You've got to stay the course, adjust and pivot. And I love the spark moments that

you talked about. And, you know, I'm going to encourage people to be a spark for someone today because you never know how you might help them. Kristen, thank you so much for your friendship, always being there for me and celebrating the successes, but also being there in the hard moments too. So I appreciate you. Thank you so much for crushing it on the high performance mindset today. Thank you. 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. And enjoy my exclusive community for high performers, where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can add over to Dr. Sindra. That's DRC-I-N-D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. See you next week.