Beyond Grit

This week's high performance power phrase is "I attack the process it takes me to reach my highest potential. I keep my eyes on the prize but my focus on the process daily."

The present moment is the only place where high performance lives, which is exactly why we need to train our brains to live in the present.

What is meditation, and what is mindfulness? According to professor and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way on purpose in the present, non judgmentally. On the other hand, meditation is a little more formal, and there are many different ways to practice meditation.

We know this is difficult, but Cindra and Tim discuss why it's so important.

Start making contingency plans. Think about things that could get in your way and what you could do to handle the situation. Remember language makes a difference. For example, are you '"stuck at home," or are you "safe at home?" right now during COVID-19 quarantine? Not convinced? Olympians who prepare a contingency plan perform better than those who don't.

Tim and Cindra explain how to become a Creator instead of a Victim. It's easy to blame and complain. But, with everything going on in the world right now, we must remember that we can't take days off from training our minds. We know that can be scary. Just remember that fear lives in the future, and we live in the now.

Martial artist, movie star and cultural icon Bruce Lee once said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." So what does this mean? The worlds best dominate what they have control over.

How do you interpret your energy? Is anxiety a negative interpretation of energy? Cindra and Tim explain that the best way to take control of anxiety is to understand it.

Tim and Cindra discuss legendary sports psychologist Ken Ravizza's Traffic Light Model. Ravizza is known for his work with Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and Major League Baseball teams including the Angels and the Chicago Cubs.

When you experience flow, you are using your skills to the fullest and are so absorbed in the task that nothing else matters. You feel effortless. You are performing at your best.

Think about a time when you were at your MVP level. What thoughts, feelings and actions led you to be your best? Next, think about a time when you were not at your best or when you performed poorly. What thoughts, feelings and actions led to this performance? What did your body feel and look like? Were there any distractions present?

When we choose to respond, not to react, we experience the world differently. This week, Tim and Cindra talk about Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl and his book "Man's Search for Reading." One of Frankl's most well known quotes is "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

How do we defeat paralysis analysis? What is paralysis analysis? How does this concept relate to self-awareness? Tim and Cindra discuss these questions, concepts and ways to become self-aware.

Did you see Cindra's Beyond Grit practices mentioned on ESPN and Forbes last week? That's right, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen applied the Beyond Grit mindset by 'flushing away' his mistakes.

In episode 14, Tim and Cindra discussed using "I am ___" statements as power phrases. This week, the pair dissect cognitive reframing: a way of thinking that uses alternative lenses in negative situations. By doing this, we are intentionally choosing to see things differently. For example, Cindra tells the story of a client whose setbacks, first tearing her ACL and then being hit by a drunk driver, became her comebacks. Now, this client works as a physical therapist and helps those dealing with their own injuries and setbacks.

What can you really achieve with a new mindset? Cindra won the Omaha Marathon. How did she do it? She wrote pre-planned thoughts on her arm before the race: "I'm fast, fit, confident and happy."

The world's best athletes and business people think differently than those who experience less success. While we all have automatic negative thoughts, these people recognize these thoughts and use them to grow and condition their way of thinking.

Even the world's best athletes have negative thoughts, otherwise known as negativity bias. How do you correct this mindset? Notice the negative thoughts and redirect your mind to something more powerful.

By changing our explanatory style, we can change how we see difficulties, obstacles, and setbacks, and in turn, we can maintain our optimism and confidence.

In his book 'The Big Leap,' psychologist, writer and teacher Dr. Gay Hendricks discusses how our lives take place in four zones. These zones focus on incompetence, competence, excellence and genius. In episode 10 of Beyond Grit, Tim and Cindra delve into Dr. Hendricks' different zones, and the pair conclude that when you name your gifts and work to find your zone of genius, you gain more excitement and energy to live your life with purpose.

In the book 'The Power of Purpose,' Neurologist Dr. Richard Leidner writes, “Only when our purpose is larger than ourselves can we see that we are becoming the best version of ourselves.” In episode 9, Tim and Cindra talk about the ways your purpose makes you unique. No one else has the same mix of experiences, knowledge, values, gifts and dreams as you. What's this week's homework? Work on your High Performance Power Phrase.

In 2005, Steve Jobs gave a powerful commencement speech at Stanford. Jobs said, "You've got to find what you love, and the only way to truly be satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, don't settle." In this week's episode, Tim and Cindra discuss the power of fighting for your passions. The homework? Write down the thing(s) you are fighting for.

In this week's episode Tim and Cindra refer to your passions as "your why." While knowing your why is important for success, owning your why is even more impactful and will help you become as mentally strong as possible. This week's homework? Complete the "so that" exercise. Write the prompt "I do ___ so that ___" six times.

While Jamacian sprinter Usain Bolt is known as one of the fastest athletes in the world, and most people assume he is gifted with natural talent and good genetics, he actually lives with scoliosis. Bolt experienced repeated injuries throughout his career but focused on self control, discipline and overcoming adversity in order to become successful. As Cindra and Tim put it, Bolt Rules His Day. Will you?

How did American middle distance runner Carrie Tollefson become an Olympian? Despite running a race she wasn't training for, she refocused her energy toward a new goal and qualified for the Olympics anyway. Tollefson had a vision of goals and the desire to achieve them. In episode five, Tim and Cindra introduce the Six Gritty Goal Guidelines.