Rise to the occasion! It’s a phrase we’ve all heard many times, and we tend to think that’s what we SHOULD do when things get really tough and stressful. But is that what we REALLY do? No! We sink to the level of our training. Now, for a podcast devoted to helping you develop a positive, winning mindset, that may sound negative. But is it? April would say No. Here’s the thing. We can keep training and improving our skills and our mindset. The level of our training can get higher and better. Let’s say your lowest level of performance when you are under stress is 70%. With training, you can increase that level. You can get it up to 85%. Maybe even higher. And here’s an amazing benefit for you. Because so few people train their mindsets and their skills, when you do, your performance really stands out. Other people take notice. They view you as a go-to person. You’ll experience more success in business and life. And you’ll find stressful situations to be much less stressful. Today’s episode of the Winning Mindset Mastery Podcast is intended to help you level up your mindset training.
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This Will Make Your WORST Day’s Better Than Most People’s BEST Days
Thank you for joining me. A lot of people talk about how when things get tough or stressful, that’s when people should rise to the occasion. One of the things that I learned when I was in the military, and that continues to be repeated by folks who did a lot of training of people in the service and after, is we don’t rise to the occasion. We sink to our level of training. That may sound like way too negative of a way to say it for someone who’s all about mindset, but I believe that wholeheartedly.
When I was first introduced to it in the military, I didn’t understand it because we would learn a new skill and I would feel like I was very good at it, proficient at it, or whatever you want to say. We would continue to practice it over and over again. It was very Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid. You keep waxing the car and keep painting the fence. I used to get frustrated because I wanted to move on to something else and learn another thing.
That’s when this concept was first introduced to me. You’re operating in a great, peaceful environment, and you’re doing well. If we add all sorts of stressors or if you are in a combat environment, you are going to be under so much stress that you’re going to perform differently. We need to get you so good at this that no matter what environment you are in, you perform it very well.
I’ll be candid. For a little while, that was lost on me and something that I did because I was told to. What I found was, regardless of if I was in a war zone or if I was under a lot of stress doing my job because of time deadlines or things going on in my life otherwise, you do sink when you’re under stress to a different form of yourself. If you think, “That doesn’t happen to me,” think about how you react to your family, your kids, or your partner when you’re under a lot of stress from work and how you’re much more likely to snap at them, be impatient, or not be that best version of yourself. That is sinking to the level of your training.
In this particular example, it’s sinking to the level of your mindset training. You can work on your mindset to the point that you respond better than you ever thought possible to stress. I don’t care if you are an individual, a leader, or someone who has relationships with your loved ones. This will benefit you so much. It’s what we’re working on every week with the episodes.
Mindset Training: You can work on your mindset to the point that you respond to stress better than you ever thought possible.
I’m going to break down for you how this makes you better at your most stressful time. Think about it. You may not want to say it out loud, but you know how you react when you’re under stress. We all know how we act under stress. We may not be proud of it, but if we sit and think about it, we know what it is. For me, I get short with people. I am maybe snappy. I communicate very quickly and in short sentences. I am more likely to be in a rush, be louder, or be pushy. I sound like a beating, don’t I? When I get under stress, the friendly side of my personality falls away and I’m pushing for things to get done.
What’s interesting about that is that is me sinking to my lowest level of training for mindset. It is me performing in the best way that I can under that kind of stress. For example, I would be more likely to text people quickly or call them and tell them that I need something right away. In recognizing this about myself, I realized that in leading others, if I can’t lead myself better in those moments, 1) I’m not modeling anything that I would want anyone to repeat, and 2) I’m not showing up for people the way that they deserve.
The great news is with these mindset techniques, we can get better and raise that lowest level of training for ourselves. Let’s say your lowest level of performance when you’re under stress is at 70% of the 100% you that you know you are. You can easily get yourself to start operating at about 85% under stress. What’s amazing is because so few people do it, it will be remarkable to others. They will notice it. It will make you a go-to person in people’s lives. It will get you promoted. Most importantly, you’ll experience the stress much better. It will be much easier for you to handle anything that life throws at you.
Keep in mind that stress is not usually what is happening to us. It’s not, in the military sense, that we’re in a war zone. It’s not in a life sense that we’re in a lot of traffic, that we are under tight deadlines, or that all of our children are crying at the same time. It’s the thoughts that we’re thinking about what’s happening to us that cause the stress. You can interrupt those and show up differently so your new lowest level of training will be a much different level.
Stress is not usually what is happening to us. It's the thoughts that we're having about what's happening to us that cause the stress. Share on X“That sounds great. How do we do it?” Here’s the good news. You’re already doing it if you’re tuning in to this show because you are practicing your mindset tips, tricks, and techniques. Whether that’s reframing or focusing on writing your three wins of the day or analyzing, “What am I thinking about right now? Is that what’s going on? Is there a way I could look at this differently so that I can feel differently about it?” that practice will be something that up-levels you when you’re under stress. It will give you those go-to tools at that stressful times as well. What’s interesting about it is that you will have more influence over your thoughts over time.
We talked about stress being your thoughts about the event that’s happening to you. The more you practice your mindset techniques, the more influence you’re going to have over your thoughts at that moment. Sometimes, that influence is going to be nothing more than, “I am noticing that I’m getting super stressed, or as April calls it, my oven is going up to 500 degrees. Does this situation require a 500-degree oven? My basement is flooded. Do I need to be at this level? Probably not. I can probably solve it at 350, so let me bring that down a little bit. Let me influence my thoughts. This is a tough situation and it’s not an ideal time, but I can handle this. I’ve been through tougher stuff than this.” You have that influence over your thoughts, which is remarkable.
Mindset Training: The more you practice your mindset techniques, the more influence you’re going to have over your thoughts at that moment.
Here is the best part. This is almost like the compound effect of weight lifting because you get the benefit of strength and exercise. Muscle burns much more calories than fat, so you have this residual effect of the work that you’re doing on your health. It is the same thing with your mindset. Every time you reframe something and get to a better place with something that you’re thinking about, you are creating new neuro-pathways in your mind that you are going to start to be able to do automatically and more easily.
Mindset Training: Every time you reframe something and get to a better place with something you’re thinking about, you are creating new neural pathways in your mind that you will start to be able to do automatically and more easily.
It is not that different from a heuristic. This is going to be a shortcut that you can take to get yourself into a better mindset when you’re in a stressful place because you’ve done it over and over again. The more you do this and the more you practice, like how many times I had to practice with my camera or my weapons when I was in the service, the better you’re going to be at it even if you can’t be fully focused and present because you’re under stress. There are benefits all over the place.
I want you to try this out, and let me know how it works for you. If you have more questions about it, feel free. You can reach out to me on the website WinningMindsetMasteryPodcast.com. At the very bottom, and I love this feature, is Ask April. We can have a two-way conversation. It’s private. It’s really me. I answer this. Part of me thinks it will be exciting when there are so many. I don’t know how I’m going to get to them. Part of me thinks, “I never want that to happen,” because I love talking to you. Send me a message. Let me know your thoughts. I can’t wait to see how this works for you. Here’s to your success.