Are You In The Zone?

IN THE ZONE BY ZONING OUT

I was watching my son’s workout with a personal trainer recently and I couldn’t help but notice how well he was performing some fairly difficult movements. He was balancing on a wobble board (a very unstable situation), while catching and tossing a weighted ball. I was both amazed and proud as he focused on his posture and balance while maintaining the quality of his tosses and catches.

What I didn’t notice, at least not at first, was that the trainer was engaging my son in a discussion that was unrelated to the task at hand. Therefore, my son was allowing his subconscious mind to take over. He was present, yet not consciously thinking about what he needed to do. He was “in the zone” by zoning out. He was relaxed and not obsessed or concerned about what could go wrong in the next movement. He was just easily doing what he had trained his body to do, naturally and effortlessly. This experience really got me thinking about when my own performance had been “in the zone” – operating at a high level of effectiveness without much conscious thought or unnecessary mental interference. How often do we sabotage our own success by over-thinking what it is that we are doing wrong? By anticipating and re-anticipating what might go wrong, we are wrapping ourselves in a blanket of anxiety which prevents our performance from really unfolding.

So the next time that you are about to perform an important task, put yourself in the performance zone by getting out of your own head and allowing your body to do the work: Zone In by Zoning Out.