High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 760: Leading with Resilience: Finding Strength Through Life's Greatest Challenges with Tim Eggebraaten

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

In this episode of The High Performance Mindset, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff sits down with Tim Eggebraaten, retired Chief of Police, speaker, and founder of Off Duty Chief, to explore what it truly means to lead with resilience—both professionally and personally.   Drawing from more than two decades in law enforcement, including serving as Chief of Police, Patrol Sergeant, K-9 Handler, and DARE Instructor, Tim shares the lessons he's learned about leading under pressure while staying grounded in what matters most. He opens up about the importance of balancing career, family, and personal well-being, and why true leadership begins with taking care of your physical, mental, and spiritual health.   Throughout the conversation, Tim discusses the emotional challenges that many leaders and first responders face but often don't talk about. He shares how vulnerability, connection, and purpose can become powerful tools for healing, growth, and resilience. His insights remind us that no matter our profession, we all face moments that test our character—and those moments can become opportunities to grow stronger.   Tim's message is a powerful reminder that resilience isn't about avoiding hardship. It's about choosing hope, investing in your well-being, and recognizing that you never have to face life's challenges alone.   You'll Learn: Why resilience is built through life's challenges, not in spite of them How to balance career success with family and personal well-being The importance of physical, mental, and spiritual health for sustainable performance How vulnerability strengthens leadership instead of weakening it Practical ways to navigate emotional challenges with courage and purpose Why connection and community are essential for healing and growth How to lead with authenticity during both personal and professional adversity Episode Resources & Links Learn more about Tim Eggebraaten and Off Duty Chief: https://www.offdutychief.com/ Purchase Dr. Cindra's New Book:  https://www.confidencetools.com/ Learn more about the Mentally Strong Institute: https://mentallystronginstitute.com/ Register for the Mental Performance Summit: https://mentalperformancesummit.org/ Request a Free Mental Breakthrough Call with Dr. Cindra or her team: https://freementalbreakthroughcall.com/ Download the National Confidence Research Study: https://confidencestudy.com/

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Welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. I'm so excited to welcome Tim Egobratton. Tim is such a good friend of mine, and I've heard him speak multiple times, so I'm just so excited for him to be here. So Tim, welcome to the show. Thank you, Dr. Sandra. It's a honor to be here. I'm excited. I'm excited to talk to you as well. I loved all the stories that you shared and I know that there's so much wisdom that people can really understand from you. So let me go ahead and introduce you to everyone who's listening and give everyone a little bit more about your background. So Tim served as a police officer with Detroit Lakes Minnesota Police Department from 1992 to 2016. He held roles like the Dare instructor, the patrol sergeant and the K-9 handler and the chief of police. Before that, he worked as a correctional officer for three years. And since retiring, Tim has shared his leadership journey, focusing on how we can all balance career and family while maintaining our physical, mental, and spiritual health, which we'll talk about today.

We'll also talk about, you know, how to address personal and emotional challenges, how to keep fostering our own connection and well-being. And I think one of the things I was most inspired about Tim was just like you're always your energy and your positivity and resilience kind of emphasizing that no one can go on their journey alone. So Tim, why should people listen to us today? Your audience, Sandra, I would imagine, you know, just the title of performance mindset. So you're going to have all these different people from different walks of life and different levels of leadership, people that want to be leaders, people are CEOs and people all over. But we all have stuff in our life.

We all deal with challenges. There's not one of us that gets through this life unscathed. And my mission in life now is how do we navigate the really challenging parts of life because they're there? But how do we navigate them but still look for the beauty that's out there? You know, deal with the rainy days and but still remember that because it's raining, the grass is going to grow. And just that whole mind shift switch. because a lot of it really is changeable, and we can change a lot of these aspects of our life

if we're honest with ourselves, if we're self-conscious, if we're self-aware, and if we get the help that we need and through whatever different avenues. But I think today more than ever, there's more opportunity for people to kind of reflect and grow and set a target of wanting to, and be better and getting after it and doing it.

Yeah, absolutely. I think people want to be their best, and it's easy to get stuck in the negativity or in our own mind. And so, you know, one of the things I loved hearing about your journey was, you know, you spent more than two decades in law enforcement, especially serving as chief of police. And so looking back, like, what experiences shaped your philosophy on leadership and resilience the most?

Every stage was a learning experience. I was a canine handler for seven years, and so doing that, I'd never been a police dog handler before. And even when I started, I started July 1st, 1992, and for Detroit Lakes, really busy time a year. And, you know, so even that, I'd never been a cop before. So we're always, I feel like getting to places in our life where I've never done this before. I'm going to have to learn this. And so I think when I became a sergeant, That was probably my first real big taste of leadership. What's it going to look like? I didn't have a lot of training to be a sergeant.

I was supervising people that were much older than me, people with way more experience. And so that was challenged. I think every aspect, even when I retired, it was like, okay, I've never been retired before. What am I going to do? And I've never been a motivational, inspirational speaker before. What am I going to do?

And so it's constantly that, that humility and that honesty of knowing that, you know, I don't know it all. I'm not going to know it all, but I'm going to lean into people that do know it all or that do know more than me. And so I think every stage of leadership, Chief of Police was a great role. I did that for five and a half years. I had an amazing rock star team. And, but it was still, it was heavy. I mean, there's truth in that that saying that's lonely at the top. And so it was, it was changed. And it was, it was changed. And, We had some incidents within our department that really challenged me to the core. Who am I?

Why am I here? What am I doing? And so I think with each challenge that we're faced with in life, I think if we take it head on and we look at it and if we have time to analyze it, a lot of times in law enforcement, we didn't have that luxury of, you know, is this person in the car? Are they just not hearing me or why are they not showing me their hands? And, you know, so you don't have that luxury all the time. But I think as leaders and as people navigating this life, we need to stop or we need to take that breath. We need to analyze and figure out what's going on. If we don't know the answer, don't pretend.

And I share a really silly story. Yeah, I would love to hear a silly story. I started July 1st, 1992 for the city of Detroit Lakes. And if you're not familiar with Detroit Lakes, it's northwest Minnesota. At that time, it was about 8,500 people. But July 1st, we blew up. And we went from like 8,500 to 20,000 people because the 4th of July celebration was, and it still is a big deal.

And so I was walking to work in my uniform. And I was walking through a guest or a grocery store. store parking lot and this car comes screaming up to me and they clearly saw in my uniform I was a police officer and the driver had this his eye was bulged out he'd just been assaulted and they were in a fight and so he was like in a lot of pain he couldn't see out of his eye and they're like they're asking me where the hospital was so the hospital from the grocery store is like literally across the street and i didn't know that and i just been there. I just moved there. I didn't know anything about Detroit Lakes. So I made it up. And I don't

know where this guy's probably still looking for the hospital after 19-19. And I was just like, I think I sent him to the library or the post office. I don't know where I sent him. But afterwards I thought, well, I was stupid. You know, instead of just getting on my radio, which I didn't know how to use my radio, I was brand new. And but I think we do that in life a lot of times where we try to fake it until we make it or, you know, I can do this. And where what the mature me now, the self-aware me, it would have said, you know what, I don't know. Dude, that looks like it hurts.

Let me call somebody. Well, we didn't have cell phones at the time. But I would have said, come with me to the police department. I knew where that was. But I think we do that in life a lot where we just, we think, no, I got to know this. I'm going to know everything about whatever this is. and we don't. And it's okay to say, yeah, I'm not really sure, buddy, but let's get some ice back on that eyeball and handle it that way.

Yeah, absolutely. Isn't that so true that we, maybe our ego gets in our way that we feel like we need to know all the answers. And, you know, I appreciate what you're saying about, Tim, like, you know, you can't do it alone. In my new Confidence Habit book, I talk about, like, your dream team of confidence. and I said you need a cheerleader and a mentor and a coach and a challenger and a best friend. And it's interesting because as I've been talking to people about it and having them actually write out who are in each of these categories, many people have said like, wow, that was really eye-opening because I don't have the people, you know, I need surrounding me. And I think about all the tough things that you see as a police officer, tell us what the most difficult moment for you was. There were several, but probably the most challenging personally and professionally.

I got promoted to police chief in July of 2011 and then May of 2012, so about 10 months into my tenure as police chief. One of my best friends and partners of 19 years died by suicide. And so his death just rocked me. And I think what happens a lot in suicides from what I've read and what I've studied since then is that the survivors, the people around that person get that what if game going. And like, oh, should I have seen something? What if he said something and I didn't catch it? Or was it something I said? And we get into our own heads that, what did I miss?

And so I think that really challenged me. I leaned heavily into my faith. leaned heavily into fellow leaders without or outside of my agency and you know getting guidance you know nobody had been through that specifically that like maybe some of them had gone through suicides or or whatever but everybody has something that they're that they're challenged with and so I relied heavily on the resources that were available and And we got through that and we're still getting through that. And I began talking about it and how does it, how does it affect me and how, how, you know, I, I was so focused on chief of police and my department, my family, my officers family that I forgot about me.

And so that's an important part too. And I know you talk a lot about that too is that, you know, we can, we can pour into others. but if we're empty ourselves, then there's nothing. And I was depleted by the end of that summer of 2012, and I needed help. So I got help. I got professional help. And so I think that hands down was one of the most challenging stretches of my entire career.

Thank you so much for just like your vulnerability. I think when I heard you speak, that was the most moving part for me. because I thought, you know, you're his supervisor, you're his best friend, and you're right, there can be a lot of what ifs. What did you, what's the biggest lesson that you learn from that really difficult experience? I think the biggest thing is,

is that I can get through it. And, you know, with, not by myself, but with the help of people and resources that are available, that was the biggest piece that I got out of. it. And then just to slow down. And I remember so many times during that summer especially where I'd be driving around and my wife would call me and say, have you eaten? And I'd be like, I don't know. I'm not even sure if I have eaten. And it was just kind of like zombie mode. But I was pushing it away, though. I wasn't dealing with it. I was having flashbacks in color of trauma.

throughout my entire career and trauma that I had never dealt with. It was not one of those things. I think in society and law enforcement and the military, I think we're getting better at acknowledging that, man, that was tough, that whatever that was. And we're getting better at acknowledging it and saying to ourselves, you know, I'm not sure I was built to, to process that. So I'm going to need some help processing it. And again, there are some, so many resources out there. And, but it takes, it takes that, I don't want to, I don't know if the word's courage, but it takes that, that honesty to say, yeah, I'm not, I'm not okay here. I need some help. And, uh, but that's, that was probably the toughest thing. I, I, I called a, uh,

psychologist that, that fall. And, uh, man, I was like a, uh, seventh grade kid calling the cute girl in school, you know, and I had in my office with the door shut, I'd pick up the phone. I'd start dialing numbers and I'd hang up and start dialing numbers and I'd hang up. I just scared to death to make that call. But once I made that call, it was like a wait, started to lift, had my one-on-one session with a psychologist, and, you know, we talked a lot about that, how our brains process and, you know, topics I had never really handled before and are dealt with. And so that was probably like a big breakthrough moment was finally dialing all those numbers, making that appointment and going into saying, you know, I need, I'm not sure what's going on in my head right now,

but doesn't, something's not right. And so I think that's the biggest part is that self-awareness. A lot of times we recognize it in our own. thoughts and we see that we're not the best spouse or partner. We're not the best parent, you know, and why did I yell at the kids? That was not me. You know, I were like, what's going on here? And if we stop and we take that time to say, you know what, I'm not sure why I did that, but I need to get to the bottom of it. And you're probably not going to do it yourself because, you know, we can see change in other people like a mile away. We can see, all right, it's really changed recently.

But to recognize change in ourself takes a whole different level of awareness, but it's critical. So however that comes, whether it's a walk in the woods or talking with a friend or professional therapist or reading or whatever it is, wherever you get that from, I call it finding or beat the rhythm of life. Wherever we get that rhythm, you need to like get really good at it and hone in and dial in and dial in and. just when you fall out of that, that sync, that rhythm, that beat, you need to get back into it. Yeah. Thank you so much just for your vulnerability there. And, you know, I think about a police officer and so many different things that you see, you know, and so I appreciate you just saying, like, okay, this is what I did to deal with that trauma. You know, after that time period, what did you do to more intentionally reset? Because, you know, there's so much negativity

that you see in crime, you know, so how did you reset that mindset? And I'm asking that question because, sure, we might not see the same things you see as a police officer, but we still need to reset every day too so that maybe the small traumas don't like keep on building our own perspective. Yeah. For me, one of the biggest aha moments was we hosted a chief of police police. conference in Detroit Lakes and I had invited a speaker to come and share with our group. And this guy was a Minneapolis police sergeant who was also a licensed therapist. And so he came in and there was probably 25 mostly men, white, middle-aged cops. You know, so we're all about the same age.

We all kind of look the same. And so we're sitting around. in this guy, Steve Wicklegrin is his name, and Steve said, okay, you guys, if you're up to it, would you close your eyes? And we're all looking at each other like, what are you nuts? You know, and I thought we were going to do this hippie voodoo stuff. And so he took us on what I didn't know it at the time. I'm sure I'd heard the phrase before, but I wasn't aware at that time.

I thought this was odd. This was out of my comfort zone. But I closed my eyes. I'm not sure if the other guys closed their eyes or what. And he led us on this mindfulness exercise. And it was mind-blowing for me. I actually called him probably a year later. And I said, hey, brother, what was that?

He said it was a mindfulness exercise. And I'm writing it down, mindfulness. And- And yeah. And I'm like, and again, I'm sure I'd heard about it before. It's not anything new, clearly. But so I started getting into practicing mindfulness and meditation daily. And that literally, so I live in northwest Minnesota, but I get down to Minneapolis quite a bit. And for us, northerners, once we hit St. Cloud, everything is Minneapolis. And that's funny. Even Mancato is Minneapolis for us. You know, It's like, everything's been happening. For those of you outside of Minnesota, they probably don't know what we mean. There's like 200 and some miles difference, but it's, so it's when I'm driving, though, and I get on the interstate, when I get into bigger cities, I used to, I used to feel my,

my shoulders go up, and I would get tense, and I'd grab that steering wheel, and people would just make me mad because they're driving like crazy. and since I've been practicing this, like daily, none of that bothers me. It truly does not bother me. And I think that was one of the biggest breakthroughs for me was that recognizing that emotions are just that. They're just emotions. They have no power over me.

They have no control. They are just that. When I recognize that and I see them, whether it's fear or anger or, whatever it is, it's just an emotion. And when I package it that way, when I look at it that way, when I breathe and do physical activities to help control that, Cinder, when I was in law enforcement and chief of police, I was walking around daily in like a level eight out of 10 stress,

but I didn't know it because that's just what you do. Right. And then I had a great staff. And when I retired, now today, it's been almost 10 years since I retired. And today, if all the stars align and if everything's getting thrown at me at once, I might hit a level two out of 10, but it's very rarely I even see it too. It's just my mindset has shifted. But it takes practice.

That mind is a muscle and it takes practice. It takes the realization that I'm not going to be really good at this. at first. And, you know, I'd sit there and I'm pointing over to my right where my green chair is. I'd sit in my green chair. I would do this guided meditation. And the whole time I'd be thinking, okay, what do I have to do today? You know, I thought, oh, I'm horrible at this meditation stuff. But the more, the more I do it, and now it's automatic. I mean, I can do it. I can get in a a place in my mind just instantly. I did the National Anthem for a Twins game on Father's Day.

So I've 30,000 of my closest friends. And Joe Maurer was like 10 feet away from me. And they're giving me the microphone and they said, like, the cameras are on me. And they're giving me the microphone and they said, do you use ear monitors? This is like right before, as they're handing me the microphone,

And I said, what? And he goes, do you use ear monitors? I said, well, no. And he goes, oh, don't worry about it. It's, uh, there's about a second and a half delay. So just, just find your pitch and go with it. And then he gives me the microphone. Right beforehand. And, and, and everybody's standing up. They're putting their hands, taking the hats off, putting their hands over their heart. And, uh, I was like, okay. You know, but I, I, I did this really quick, uh, just a, like a, almost like a purge, you know, where it's just like, whoop, and I get into my body, I can feel myself, and it's just like calm. And there was zero nerves, and, but it was like, oh, say, can. And then soon when I got to can, it was like, oh, sir, you know, it's like singing, singing with somebody right behind you that's like a second and a half off. And, but it went well. But it's that habit and that mindset practice of getting into it. And to be consistent with that, like any kind of practice, be consistent with it.

And you're going to struggle at first, like everything. And our Detroit Lakes legend, Adam Thielen, and I know you worked with Adam and know him. And we're so stinking proud of him. But like I think I used to be a playground supervisor at Holy Rosary School and kids like Adam, probably Adam too. I would watch them on the playground as elementary school students. And all of them, like now especially want to be the next Adam Thielen. And they are, you know, the Adam Thielen and the playground. And they're dropping balls.

They can't catch. They can't run. They can't throw. But they're going to get better. and just being intentional, being focused, like laser focused, and recognizing that you're going to stumble and then just get after it daily. Yeah. Thank you so much for saying that, Tim, you know, in my book Beyond Great, I talk a little bit about the power of mindfulness and meditation.

And, you know, I like it. I like the way you kind of described it, like when you're driving in the cities, right? Just like taking a breath and noticing how you're feeling. And that's really what mindfulness is. It's just like noticing without judgment, noticing how your body's doing. And there's a meditation is more like the seated practice like you said. And a lot of people struggle with what you just said. You know, we have what's called a monkey mind where it goes from like thought to thought to thought to thought.

And it's hard to train your mind to be centered. But because you practice that, right? In a moment of pressure, you could, in that national anthem, you could calm yourself and be present. you know. And so I'm curious when you think about just performing under pressure and that's something that we talk a lot about here at the high performance mindset. When you think about doing that, you know, like I think law enforcement is one of the highest pressure professions. And but also like as a speaker, right? We get things thrown at us as a singer. You get things thrown at you right before. You know, that was wild that he didn't tell you that like 10 minutes before. So you could process that.

It would have been good to know. Distracting. And so what have you learned about staying calm and making good decisions when emotions are running high? Like in law enforcement, it was, there was, you didn't have that luxury of of sitting back, taking that breath a lot of times. A lot of times when I would be responding to a call in my car, I would, I would take a breath. And, and then I'd say a little prayer. but when you're a lot of times the incident is happening very fast and you don't have that luxury to sit back and analyze and say okay what am I going to do and so I think a lot of it is preparation

for speaking and for singing and for everything else you are prepared through my whole career I was just talking about this yesterday actually and somebody was asking me she's a volunteer here for a museum and they had a lot of kids in there. And she started thinking, I don't even know what the protocol is. Like, what if something happens? She's just a volunteer. And I said, you know, practice the what if game.

And we used to play that. I still do it all the time. Even when I'm sitting in church or wherever it is, I say, well, what if a car came over right now and crashed? What would I do? Or what if, what if, what if? and not a paranoia. It's different.

It's not, I'm not paranoid. I'm like preparing, okay, so where are my exits? You know, where if something does happen, where am I going to go? So just like being mentally prepared. And then for speaking or for anything, for life, when you're driving along the road and you're playing that what if game instead of scrolling on your phone while you're driving, you're like analyzing your area and you're getting the inputs and okay what if a deer jumps out

I'm going to slow down I'm going to maybe steer whatever and so I think that's a big part is that whole mental preparation piece and and that that will help carry you through when something does happen because you could prepare for a specific incident and that incident may never happen but something similar may happen and just by that preparation of okay okay, well, how am I going to handle this? Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? Am I going to stay and fight? Am I going to retreat?

Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? What will I say? How will I react? And we can do that with our kids as our kids are growing up. And, okay, well, you know, Billy just hit Susie. You know, what am I going to do? And just kind of prepare yourself and run through different scenarios.

I think that's a helpful exercise to. kind of run through a scenario and run it through to the end. Like, okay, well, if I do go ballistic and this guy cuts me off in traffic and I speed up and I get right on his butt and I flip them off and it's like, play that through. And, okay, well, it's, you know, somebody that's going to cause harm to you by doing this or if I just back off. So a lot of it's, a lot of it's mental, I think. a lot of it's that mental mindset. Mindset. Well, Ann, you said something about preparation,

and we know preparation is one of the strongest ways to grow your confidence. But when you think about, like, managing the ups and downs of being a police chief, what role do you think confidence plays in, like, leadership and leading under pressure? I think confidence is huge. I am horrible at self-doubt. And I'm recognizing that the older I get. You and I are members of the National Speakers Association. And my first National Speakers Association, big conference that I went to, I thought,

oh, my Lord, I do not belong here. These are people that are way out of my league. You know, and so just get that mindset. When I was a sergeant, I felt the same way. I'd meet with other sergeants. I thought, you know, or a canine handler, we'd have these competitions. I'd see St. Paul Police or Lakeland, Florida Police Department, New York City Police Department. I'd be like, oh, my gosh, you say, oh, those guys are the real deal.

And then my dog, like, literally fought for me four times, you know, where I was getting assaulted, you know. And where it was like, okay, I will put my dog up against any. of these dogs. Not me, because I wasn't ready to put me there, but I'd put my dog up against anybody. So as chief of police, I struggled with that, like, mindset of do I really belong here? Or what do I have to contribute that the New York City police chief? You know, they're in a different league. But honestly, now in retirement, I'm meeting a lot of these chiefs. I'm being intentional about going on and just saying, hey, you want to have coffee with retired chief? And Cinder, they're just like you and me.

I mean, when you demystify that and you recognize that, yeah, I do have gifts. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here. You know, and I have more confidence in my chief of police job now that I'm not chief of police, but I look back and I used to beat myself up really bad, like just focus on the mistakes that I made. But now when I look back on my career, I thought, well, I was a good job. chief. I really was. I loved my guys and gals and I would have died for them. And I didn't always make the right decisions, but I recognize that. But I was good. And so I think if you could fast forward that mindset into the moment, like when you are now saying that, yeah, you know what? I'm not going to,

I'm not the best I can be right now. I mean, I am the best, like, at this moment, if I can get better. And, yeah. But recognizing that there's a reason you're in the position you're in right now and be grateful for that, be thankful for that, but also recognize that you can continue to grow. And I think humility is one of the biggest key factors of that, that, you know, so many people act like they think they have it all figured out and they don't. We know just to know and recognize that, man, I don't have all the answers, but I'm going to look for them. Sort of like what you were saying about that guy not knowing where the hospital was, right? And, you know, Tim, I appreciate just like your honesty there.

I just got my 10-year pin, actually in the mail for NSA. I haven't even taken that out of the little plastic thing yet. So I've been a member of it said, happy anniversary. Isn't that so cute on this little car. cards. Nice. I know. And when you just said that, though, like, I remember being my first NSA influence event.

And if people don't know what the National Speakers Association is, it's this like, you know, thousands of professional speakers. It's an incredible several days. But I felt the same way the first time I went. You know, I'm like, wow. But you're, what does Jim Rohn say? You're the average of the 10 or the five people that you spend time with. And I feel like every day, every time I've gone back every year, it's.

like, okay, I am a professional speaker, you know, like I am one of these people. My confidence this has continued to grown. And so, you know, I guess I would also encourage people to just realize that self-doubt is really normal and natural. And Tim, when I ask people in my audiences, like what percentage of you are overthinkers? Like 80 to 100% of people raise their hand. And then I usually say like, hey, the 8% of you that didn't, you were just overthinking if you should raise your hand. You know, people laugh. But the reason I just say that is because most high achievers, most people who want to be

their best are overthinkers, right? And they're really hard on themselves. But we actually know that self-compassion, that practice of being kind to yourself, you know, softening the inner voice, realizing that everybody suffers. and a third part of self-compassion is mindfulness, Tim, just like recognizing your emotions. And I love what you said earlier that, like, emotions are just emotions. They're like information.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that you had touched on earlier, too, about, you talked about, like, finding your people and your groups and how important that is and to learn about ourselves. And that's what the NSA has done for me is, like, finding other people people like mentors and people to men, I can be a mentee and I can, I can mentor other people.

I don't think I said that right. But anyway, there's people at all different levels. And when you, when you immerse yourself with that, whatever the group is, whatever your, whatever your jam is and your goals are, find people that are not, that don't think like you, but people that will challenge you and people that will support you and lift you up. And because when you find that community, that's a game changer. When I, you and I are both CSPs, a certified speaking professional. And when I earn that designation, that really, that inner voice was kicked to the curb. It was like, okay, I have earned my seat at this table.

And you can do that with whatever career path you are in, our stage of life. A lot of your listeners might be retirees or new retirees. Like, what am I going to do now? And you're not going to just sit back and eat bonbons all day. And it's not going to work. And you're going to, because you're driven. And you got through a career. But now you want to know what's left.

And you're going to get after it, hopefully. And surround yourself with like-minded people that lift you up. Don't let them suck you down. Because there's groups like that too. And there's people like that that will. will that will take you into the depths and you just you don't want to associate with those groups. Yeah, absolutely. Tim, I appreciate you saying that. And, you know, I just think about the different ways that you've built your career. And, you know, one of the things that, first of all, I would say, like, don't, you know, you need to believe that you belong at the table, right? And then no, I just think about as I watch your speaking career, what has happened.

as a result of that, and I think that you're able to be more of your true self now speaking because you believe that you've earned a seat at the table, you know? And so that's why I'm just thinking this for people who are listening. Believing that you have earned at the seat of the table is going to help you be a higher performer, but, you know, finding evidence on why you deserve that seat at the table. And one of the things I think that you've done such a great job of is like building trust, not only in like when you're a police chief, but like, you, even, you know, with the people that you meet with now, what advice would you give people, like, so whether it's a police department or a business or a family, I think, you know,

we know that trust is everything. What are some ways that you use, like, practical ways that leaders can build trust with people that they serve every day? And how have you done that? I think the biggest thing is you walk the talk and you understand what your core values are, you stick true to them. And if you say something, mean it, if you're going to, you know, with our kids, we have three boys. They're all adults now and they're cranking out kids and get after it boys. And, but it's when the kids were growing up, it was there were, I didn't do empty threats. And it was part of it. I was in cot mode, you know, it's like, but it was the same. It, uh, I treated when I was police chief, I tried to treat my people just like my children. If there was discipline involved,

it was disciplined because I know you can do better. It wasn't like a vengeful. And so it was with my children as they were growing up, if there was a threat, I wasn't going to say, you know, if you guys keep talking, we're going to turn around and go home because I don't want to give up my vacation. You know, it's like, so why would I say that? You know, we're not going to turn around and both them. So I'd give them a threat that had teeth to it and like a real consequence. And then I would follow through with that. So I think that's one thing. If people know what you're doing, where you're going and that you're going to do that and you're going to follow through to the best of your ability, I think that trust just comes with it. But if you're

trying to like play the game and work the angle and you're lying, you're making up, you tell this person one thing and this person a completely other thing, then they're going to catch up at some point. And so then that trust is going to get eroded, whether it's your spouse or if you're out catting around at night and your places where you're not supposed to be and you're lying and you're, you know, that's just, it's going to erode that trust and because it'll catch up to you. But so I think that's the biggest thing is just knowing yourself and where your, where your core values are. And then once you know that and then live by them and remember them and keep going back to them. Tim, it was such a delight to talk to you today and to hear even more about your story.

How can people find out about your speaking and follow along with your work? My website is off-dutychief.com. And that's where most of my information, I'm on all the social, well, not all the social media. So I do Facebook and LinkedIn. LinkedIn's probably my go-to. And then Instagram. So I do a little bit on that too.

And if you just look up off-duty chief, if you try to pronounce or spell Aggerbrotten, just buy a vowel and you'll get close. and E-W-G-E-R-A-T-E-N, but it's a mouthful. And so off-duty chief will get you a little bit closer. But unless you see an article about some off-duty chief that got arrested and is in prison or something like that, that's not me. That's awesome. So thank you, Dr. Sindra.

You are a shining star. And congratulations on your latest award. I don't know if you've told your, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. I don't think I've told them, but you can say it. I'd rather you say it than me. Dr. Sindra, Camp Off is like one of the shining stars in the National Speakers Association in the national group. And then our Minnesota chapter, I don't remember the title of your latest award, but it was like rock star of the year, the lifetime achievement. I don't know, but Dr. Sandra, for you listeners that have listened to her, she is the real deal.

and so keep listening to her because she knows what she's talking about. She puts the brain work into the stuff that I talk about. I'm just like up here flashing my arms and grab my guitar and I'll play my guitar. But Dr. Sindra puts it into, like she has meat and potatoes with that and saying, well, here's the proof and here's how our minds are working. So kudos to you, their young lady, and you're killing it. just keep, keep doing it. Oh, Tim, that's so nice of you.

And thank you for calling me young. Awesome. Everybody's young. That's awesome. You know, what I loved about, what we talked about today is that you can't do it alone. And just the importance of like emotions are just information. They're just emotions, right? So we don't need to get hijacked by them.

I love their conversations about meditation and mindfulness. And, you know, just continuing to be the best you can be with self-care and building trust on your team. So my final question for you, Tim, here is if you could leave our listeners with one message about leadership or resilience or just living a meaningful life, what would you like them to remember? In the words of my dear sweet mother, I am, I can, I will. and it's maybe not everybody's watching this, but I have it right behind me, I am, I can, I will. And I think that's, I start out my presentations

with a song that I wrote called I am, I can, I will. And I think it's so simple, but it's like not always easy. And I've had people approach me afterwards and say, you know, Tim, I'm in a dark place. Is it really that simple? I am, I can, I will. I say, well, no, it's not that simple. But it's a good start.

It's a really good start. And so I think if you, if the first thing you do when you're just getting out of bed and like your mind is kicking into gear and what's going on, the first thing you do, start out with that. I am, I can, I will. And start out with something that you're thankful for and then put your feet on the ground and get after it. But I think to stay grounded and to stay focused, you need to kind of like give yourself that pep talk. And we need to do it regularly because we can't rely on other people to pep us up.

We can't rely on people to do anything for us. If we're going to make change, it's going to come from us. So get out there and get that performance mindset and rock it. Thank you, Tim. You're the best. 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 d r-c-I-N-D-R-C-N-D-R-A.com. See you next week.