#401 - Developing A Winning Mindset

We talk through a mindset shift that changes how I chase goals: believing I deserve the win before the attempt, not just once I’m already doing the work. I connect a lesson sparked by Oz Perlman’s “Read Your Mind” to comedy, combat sports, and the daily mental training that makes opportunities easier to take. 
• defining a winning mindset as something that starts before action 
• unpacking “reverse impostor syndrome” and how it blocks attempts 
• building belief early through a pregame mental routine 
• applying performance psychology to stand-up comedy and competition 
• noticing the doors that open when I act more proactively 
• recognizing levels of mental toughness even among elites 
Check me out. 

Transcript

Winning Mindset Spark From A Book

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Winning mindset. You know, I had a podcast episode to where I was talking about what if, right? Everything uh that you tried, you succeeded. Um, and I was reading a book called Read Your Mind by a mentalist, Oz Perlman, and there was a small section in this book that he had where it talked about uh developing a winning mindset. And I thought I knew what that meant, but after thinking about the way he um he explained his winning mindset, I realized that I could be doing better in my pregame before I do an activity. And um, that was something that he excelled in. And the biggest lesson that I learned from that one section, which I think is so important, that's why I'm gonna talk about it, is that um I'm gonna give

Reverse Impostor Syndrome Explained

SPEAKER_00 1:03

like a reverse comparison for a minute. There's something called imposter syndrome, and that's after you've achieved something, but you feel like you don't deserve it. Well, I almost had like a reverse impostor syndrome, right? And what I mean by that is that there's things that I wouldn't try purposely because I felt like uh if I did succeed it, if I did accomplish my goal that I wouldn't deserve to be there. And that was like a little mental failure of mine. So through my own mindset and then some uh an insight uh into this book that I was reading, um, it made me think differently about myself. Now, the interesting thing is this developing mindset uh the winning mindset that was in the book, it it didn't actually have to do with what I'm talking about, but that's something that it like triggered me in my mind and it made me think about my winning mindset. And I realized that now I'm pre-gaming, so to speak, my winning mindset, trying to make this as much sense as possible, uh,

Believing You Deserve The Win

SPEAKER_00 2:10

since it is all psychological. But basically believing that I have the right to um achieve a goal of mine, even if I don't have the experience of it. Okay. Believing that I have the right to win before even trying something, okay. Which is um something that I only usually started thinking when I started the physical process of it. Okay. But now, as I said, oh, I'm like I'm pre-gaming my mental mindset, my my winning mindset to believe that before I even try something, and it maybe with others, it's with everything that they do. But for me, at the least, in the areas that I care most about, I'm most passionate about in my life, okay? Comedy, judo, slash, jujitsu, that's all one thing. Wrestling, right? That's all that's all combative, right? Um, that I can always be better, but the thing that I care the absolute most about, again, reverting back to what I first said, which is number one, which is uh doing stand-up comedy professionally and segueing and acting and stuff like that. Um now I believe not just when I'm doing something that I deserve to be on stage, but I'm starting to, you know, uh pre-ignite my thoughts and my feelings and everything way before I even get on stage now. Now I'm starting to believe that um, in addition to the physical part, okay, and believing something at the moment of, to just essentially before I even try something, to believe in the outcome before I start with the actions. And I know that's something you should always do. And it's a small change that I'm trying to like uh articulate, but I just thought it was important to get out that before uh reading this and thinking about my own winning mindset, how I had really started to flip that switch, okay, into game mode as far as like, okay, I'm doing this right now, I believe I can do it, uh, when the actions were starting. Whereas now, my mindset is that I'm always going to win, so I'm gonna pursue more. And just by making that small mental shift, I'm already being uh I'm happier, I'm making, I'm being more aggressive with my proactive phone calls, uh trying to work on doing more shows. And instead of seeing this one small shift, instead of seeing more uh closed doors, I see more doors that are open. And now I'm starting, I feel like my mind is kind of like opening in different ways to think of possibilities that I didn't even think of because I'm not looking with my eyes, I'm looking with my mind. I'm not I'm not thinking about the things that are um at face value. I'm I'm thinking way before something even happens. So this way, when it comes to me, if a random moment comes to me, that automatically I'm gonna be prepared to believe before I even have notification that I'm gonna get an opportunity or something, right? That if that happens, I will already be mentally there. You know, sometimes when I try to describe these things, it's not always easy. And sometimes it is, but this definitely uh hasn't been. And I hope that I explain myself well enough to, you know, maybe have you guys get something out of it, you the listener. But if you are following along, all I'm trying to get at, and to try to summarize it again in a hopefully simple way, is that the winning mindset doesn't begin at the starting line. It begins before you get to

Levels Of Mental Toughness

SPEAKER_00 6:10

the race. It begins in not just uh my lifestyle or in your lifestyle, but it begins way back in your subconscious, okay? Before anything physical even interacts with your goals or anything. And if you can have that with everything, that's impressive. But at the very least, I truly believe you can have the mindset and the things that you're most passionate about. But kind of like how the Navy SEALs talk about uh BUDS training and stuff like that, it's all uh psychological. Well, that's true, it's physical, but it's also psychological. But the guys who always do the best have the most winning mindset. And um, through reading that book, I felt like it helped me understand that there's different levels to a winning mindset. Okay, if you have the winning mindset to uh do a hundred-mile run, well, that's probably more of a winning mindset than somebody who only uh runs 10 miles. I know I'm giving physical uh examples of distances being runned, uh ran, right? Uh, but this guy is actually a multi-marathon uh long distance runner. He's done like hundred-mile runs and stuff like that. So ironically enough, it's actually a pretty good example. But for the longest, I always just sort of thought that the winning mindset was something that all of the top athletes and all of the professionals and stuff like that that have. But within the elite, there has got to be different levels of that winning mindset, like the elite of the elite, right? And I truly psychologically leveled up my winning mindset because now instead of believing that I am going to achieve something when I try it, I believe it continuously before it even happens, and before I even get an opportunity to even hear about something that has has to do with stand-up comedy. I truly believe not just in my abilities, okay, but I I practice, I rehearse, I rehearse, and I write. And um I am more mentally prepared as of today, June the 25th, 2026, more than ever before. And um, I feel like it's been a blessing, and I'm thankful that I read that book because sometimes you might see something like an image in the clouds, and it might make you think of something else. Well, this was actually words in a book, and because I already had a winning mindset, it helped me to dig deeper and to realize that I can my winning mindset can even be improved upon. So I went from being uh positive in the moment to positive before the moment, if that even makes sense, right? So hopefully something that I said is uh beneficial

Final Takeaway And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 9:20

to you, and again, if so, that's great. But at the very least, this is always, always uh a good note to myself to remember lessons learned, where I came from, uh, as far as prior progress goes, and where I'm at and where I'm going to be. So, with that being mentioned, I hope everybody has a beautiful day. Level up your winning mindset. This is Ben Joel Dunn. Check me out. Peace.