The Zone is the place or state
of being that anyone strives for in athletic, business or personal
endeavors. It’s that perfect place where
you perform at your best. It seems effortless
and easy and something you could sustain forever. For me, I know when I am in the Zone when I
am able to push the pace on a run with ease or when miles pass by and I have no
recollection of the time or distance covered.
Similar to auto pilot, the Zone
is achievable by all and only requires some mental acuity and focus to achieve. In his book Finding Your Zone, Dr. Lardon
provides ten lessons to help anyone achieve the Zone in sports, work or any
walk of life. Here lessons five through
ten.
Manage
Your Emotions and Thoughts. We are
always more than what we think and what we feel and yet we often don’t
experience ourselves that way. Powerful
thoughts and intense emotions can make us believe that we are that thought or
feeling. It takes knowledge to realize
that you have a choice to simply be aware and not react to your emotions or
thoughts. This is called Emotional Intelligence. Program your mind with how you want to feel
and make it a reality.
Keep
Your Motivation Pure. The best type of
motivation is the motivation that comes from the heart that place deep within
us. This is called intrinsic motivation
and is what you should strive for.
Extrinsic motivation is when our drive comes from outside our selves
such as criticism, material gain or fame. While these can be useful, make sure
any external motivation is fueling your main internal drive. You have to want to do it for yourselves.
Acceptance
and Faith Conquer Fear.
Fear is the first natural enemy of a great competitor. Conquering fear
and boosting faith boosts our ability to get into and stay in the Zone. Some
tips for conquering fear include: The phenomena of behavioral desensitization
by getting used to doing what you fear, framing your fear up for what it really
is or seeing the forest from the trees, spiritual faith and know-mind
awareness.
Build
Confidence and Win. Confidence is the
cornerstone of all success in any realm and developing it is much like
nurturing a garden. Work hard to develop a strong sense of
self-confidence. Family, friends,
coaches and mentors are great ways to build confidence. Add in practice of all elements of your game,
especially those elements that you fear. I have found that journaling about
strategies on how to address my strengths and my fears and then the associated
successes has been a great tool in building confidence.
Perform
Under Pressure. Being able to not only
find the Zone but to achieve success requires you to perform under
pressure. As your goals become loftier,
the pressure increases and you will have to hone all these strategies to make
sure you can compete at the level you desire.
The best piece of advice I can
give is to have a strong plan, stick to that plan and make adjustments as
needed. While finding the Zone is purely
a mental game and requires great practice and concentration, don’t get into
your own head and over think your plan, especially during competition.
HERE’S TO BEING FIT FOR LIFE! Chris is a Certified Personal Trainer, USA
Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Group Exercise Instructor, exercise and endurance
enthusiast. He competes yearly in
numerous running races, marathons, ultra-marathons, triathlons and other
endurance events. He is a member of the
2015 QT2 Systems Advanced Team.