High Performance Mindset | Learn From World-class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches About Mindset

Your goals and dreams should be just a little scary – meaning a little outside your comfort zone because when you dream big, you grow into who you can become. Most people dream too small or lose the ability to dream because of limiting beliefs or listening to other people’s disbelief. The reason we need goals and dreams are less about checking off a box, but instead about who you can become. Making dreaming for a living part of your daily mindset practice.    This Week’s Power Phrase:  “I dream big to help me reach my best and my potential. I have everything inside me to make my dreams happen.”    To learn more about the Dream for a Living t-shirts as well as other gear, visit www.mentallystronggear.com for FREE SHIPPING and $10 OFF EACH SHIRT.    This Week's Quote of the Week: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Christopher Reeve     

Jason Hunt teaches people how to bring out the very best in others.  He is the founder of Eye Squared Leadership and he has had the pleasure of working with companies large and small, including FedEx, The Taylor Corporation, Jack Links, and Pearson.    Jason's first major leadership responsibility was to run a branch of 100 church members in outer Siberia when he was 19.  Since then, he has been in various leadership positions, including principal of a junior high where he turned around the culture of a school in only 2 years.    Jason has a Masters degree in leadership from the University of Minnesota, is certified by the John Maxwell Leadership Institute, and is the author of The Other Side: 5 Rules for Leading with Influence.  and their four children In this episode, Jason and Cindra talk about: How leaders can gain influence with those they serve How to develop caring, connection, courage and collaboration in your leadership The CRAP acronym and why it is essential to leadership 3 Powerful questions to d

“Gratitude is the heathiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” Zig Ziglar  Gratitude is connected to better health, more optimism and increased resilience. This week, you could start using a scientifically proven tool to help you feel more grateful. Three tools we discussed that you could use are starting a gratitude journal, using gratitude language, or taking a gratitude walk. On Thanksgiving, you could share your answers to one or two or two of the gratitude-focused questions such as 1) What can I be thankful for? 2) What am I happy about right now? and 3) What is going right in my life. A grateful perspective is always available.    This Week’s Power Phrase: “I choose to intentionally practice gratitude daily. I focus on what I am grateful for to stay fueled and excited for my life.”   

 Super Bowl champion Matt Birk is a 15-year veteran of the National Football League. Since retiring from football in 2013, Matt has held a number of roles inside the NFL League Office. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Matt was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 and was a key off-season acquisition of the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. A six-time NFL Pro Bowl Selection and two-time All Pro, Matt proved to be an undisputed leader on the field and was named the sixth smartest athlete by Sporting News.   More importantly, he has established a legacy of community service that will last far beyond his years of football.  A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in economics, Matt is the founder and CEO of Matt Birk and Company, LLC. He was the recipient of the 2011 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for his excellence on and off the field, including his commitment to emphasizing the importance of education through his H.I.K.E. Foundation.   He speaks to organizations across the country about the value o

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”—Oprah Winfrey  Practicing gratitude has a lasting impact when done regularly. One study suggested just 2 weeks of a gratitude practice can have a lasting impact for 6 months. Gratitude is also connected to better health as well as more optimism and resilience. You can start a daily gratitude practice at the beginning of your day or end of your day by writing down 3 things you are grateful for each day. You can also shift your focus at any time to what is good and what you are gratitude for in any situation. Choose to take the perspective of a resilient, optimistic person and draw the good from a difficulty.    This Week’s Power Phrase: “I choose to intentionally practice gratitude daily. I focus on what I am grateful for to stay fueled and excited for my life.” 

“If you gave your inner genius as much credit as your inner critic, you would be light years ahead of where you are now.” Alan Cohen  Your inner critic is your disempowering inner voice that can sounds scared, angry, or judgmental. Remember your inner critic tends to lie to you. You want to name your inner critic to tame it. We all have an inner critic inside of us, and a key is to notice your inner critic. We want to respond to our inner critic with compassion and grace, and choose a more empowering and truthful statement to tell ourselves instead.    This Week’s Power Phrase: “I name my inner critic to tame it. I talk to myself powerful instead of listening to my inner critic.” 

At an early age, Hillary was curious about the athletic mindset and finding ways to enhance one's "heart" and inner drive to reach personal success. While pushing herself to her physical limits, she began to understand the importance of mental strength.   Her education began with a focus in sport psychology. Through her studies, she realized the magnitude sport had on one's personal growth. Understanding the psychological aspect of sport, she began to blend the fields of clinical and sport psychology.   Dr. Cauthen, now a sport psychologist who has 13 years of experience applying mental skills training, is the Director of Performance Services at Texas Optimal Performance and Psychological Services, LLC. She is an active member in her local community and professional associations. Dr. Cauthen is currently a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Texas and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant. She is also the Membership Chair for the Division 47 of the APA - Society for Sport, Exercise and Performance Psych

Confidence is the trust in yourself and your abilities, and is the core of reaching your potential. To build your confidence, it is important you are on your own side, not on your own case. On your case means you are overly critical, negative and never satisfied. On your side, means you are rationale, realistic, and encourage yourself. To be on your own side more, focus on learning over beating yourself up.    Quote of the Week: “It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures.” Oprah    This Week’s Power Phrase:  “I am on my own side and keep learning and growing.”   

Dr. Nicole Linen is a Behavior Health Specialist with the Denver Broncos where she works directly with the team's players and coaches and consult regularly with the Broncos' medical, athletic training and player development staffs. Her job is to offer mental health assistance and provide them with sport psychology support. Nicole spent 2017-20 at Auburn University, where she focused on giving clinical and sport psychology support to more than 500 individual student-athletes.    Nicole is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). She also was the founding faculty advisor for Black Women in Mental Health, a graduate student organization that increases and promotes mental health awareness in the Black community. Nicole is a former collegiate basketball player who holds three post-graduate degrees from Wright State University: a master's degree in clinical psychology (2012), a Master of Business

“I know this for sure, what we dwell on is who we become.” Oprah  If you don’t train your mind, you are letting your thoughts happen by chance. Chance thinking does not lead to success. We must stand guard to our mind. We can do this by the 3 quick steps in The Truth Meter to help us think more powerfully about ourselves and our future.   This Week’s Power Phrase: “I will not believe everything I think and put my thoughts through the truth meter. I will talk powerfully to myself today!”     

Dr. Nicole Gabana is a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant who specializes in helping athletes, teams, coaches, and other performers optimize their mental well-being and mental performance. She currently serves as the Director of Sport Psychology for the University of Massachusetts Athletic Department where she provides mental health and mental performance services to athletes and teams. She is passionate about reducing the stigma of mental health in athletics and helping individuals thrive in sport and life. Prior to beginning her role at UMass in May 2020, Dr. Gabana was an Assistant Professor of Sport Psychology at Florida State University, where she taught graduate courses in sport psychology, supervised master’s and PhD students in their mental performance consultation training, and conducted academic research in athlete mental health and performance. She has been published in numerous academic journals and book chapters, and continues to be actively involved in research, fo

Grit has been described as the #1 predictor of success. Grit is essential to develop because it is connected to our work, school and sport performance. We can develop our grit when we connect to what we really want, own our purpose or why each day, and fuel our optimism, hope and gratitude.  To register for the exclusive 3-hour training Cindra is providing with Shannon Huffman Polson, the author of The Grit Factor, on October 30th visit: https://www.cindrakamphoff.com/cindraandshannon/  This Week’s Power Phrase: “I am gritty. I am passionate and have a clear vision of the life.”    

David W. Eccles, is an Associate Professor at Florida State University, and his research concerns the psychology of skilled and expert performance and its development in real-world domains involving performance under stress, ranging from sport to law enforcement, and from medicine to the military. David received his PhD in Sport Psychology from Bangor University in the UK in 2001 and undertook post-doctoral training at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition from 2002 to 2003. He was then Assistant and later Associate Professor of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU), took a sabbatical from the Sunshine State for a few years at a small university in England, and is currently a Professor of Sport Psychology back at FSU. He serves as Associate Editor for Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and is on the Editorial Board for the Psychology of Sport and Exercise. David has been the recipient of approximately $5M of external funding to support his research, where funders have included th

Albert Einstein said: “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”  In this episode, Cindra talks about the lessons Coach COVID has taught her and the importance of reframing difficulties. Reframing is intentionally choosing to see circumstances and challenges through a different lens. We don’t ignore the injury, difficulty, or pain. Instead, reframing allows us to see our circumstance differently.  Reframing helps us to stay stoked and excited despite hardships.  Consider what lessons Coach COVID has taught you, and the lessons you will continue to gain through this difficulty time in our history.  This Week’s Power Phrase: “I reframe my situation and listen to the lessons from Coach COVID.” 

Sara Krisher is the president and founder of STAND TALL, a company that helps build confidence. Her extensive work in business-to-business sales and public speaking training has been developed from her twenty-plus years’ experience presenting to Fortune 500 companies and small to medium-size businesses.   She is an international speaker, narrative coach, and developer of the “Fearless Speaker” program. She delivers training programs to business leaders who want to lead from the front of the room with more confidence.   Sara’s passion for speaking her truth is evident in her candid approach to communications. Her clients like her fun, spirited, and encouraging personality. She is a champion of bravery and doesn’t just talk the talk. She continually demonstrates confidence building in her work and personal life. She stands tall at 6’1” and looks up to her fourteen-year-old daughter, who is 6’2” tall.   In this podcast, Sara and Cindra talk: How to have “radical self-acceptance” What failure really is 6 steps t

Michael Jordan said, “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”   Failure is a necessary part of success. It is not the opposite of success. What if you adapted the idea that the more you fail, the more you will succeed? The first key to doing so is to keep learning from the failure. A second key is to be compassion with yourself which helps you stay motivated and confident.  Show yourself the same kindness as you would a friend.    This Week’s Power Phrase: “I embrace failure and see it as a necessary part of my success and reaching my potential.” 

Dr. Lauren S. Tashman, CMPC is a Performance Coach based in New York City. Through her private practice, Align Performance, LLC, she works with clients on mindset, leadership, and team/organization culture. She is also a Master Coach with Valor Performance, providing leadership and performance coaching to ignite and sustain peak performance. Lauren received her PhD in Educational Psychology with a major in Sport Psychology from Florida State University while also researching expert performance in SWAT police officers and critical care nurses under the direction of Drs. K. Anders Ericsson, David Eccles, and Paul Ward. She has almost 20 years experience performance coaching, with diverse clients in sport including 6 years at the international/Olympic level as well as clients outside of sport in various sectors of business, tech, law, healthcare, and the performing arts.  Lauren was a professor in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology at Barry University for almost 8 years and continues to teach and mentor

Our focus determines our feelings. If you want to change how you feel, you can change your focus. Your focus is like a mental spotlight. Your attention is always on something; it’s not really ever lost. You can choose to shine your focus on what helps you and gives you energy at any given moment.    This Week’s Power Phrase:  “I protect my focus. My focus determines my feelings.”     “Your success and happiness lies within you.” Helen Keller    

Morris Morrison is the CEO of StoryMaker Brands and Windmill Park Media—whose purpose is to build stronger, smarter and kinder human beings. Morrison’s story began in the bright lights of New York City, before being orphaned… twice. His unforgettable message sounds like a Hollywood movie script and his energy on stage has uncovered a unique brand of engagement that explodes & connects with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. His primary goal onstage is to build fearless, focused leaders that drive uncomfortable change, growth and disruption. Most importantly, Morris Morrison has a genuine desire to increase human connection, bring families & communities closer, and make organizations more impactful, through service and generosity. Morrison is the author of Overnight Success: An Inspiring Story About Culture, Results and The American Dream and Disrupt Yourself: Disrupting, Growing & Giving On Purpose. In this podcast, Morris and Cindra talk: · What it means to Disrupt Yourself · The lessons “Coa

“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” Zig Ziglar   In this episode, Cindra talks about how having pre-planned, specific thoughts to address our limited thinking will help us develop a “million dollar mind.” The 3 P’s include thoughts that are Powerful, Possibility-Oriented and Positive.  We give ourselves a better chance of success and are most likely to reach our potential.     Powerful thoughts: I can do anything I put my mind to. I am pumped and excited to go to work/practice today!  Possibility-oriented thoughts: My future is going to be outstanding. The possibilities in my life and performance are endless.  Positive thoughts: I will crush everything on my schedule today! I will be and play the best I can today.    This week’s Power Phrase: “I choose powerful, possibility-oriented, and positive thoughts to keep me at my best.”