Get in the Zone

It's been a few weeks since I've written even a single line in The VIP mindset book. Partly, yes, that's because I've been sick, because I've been busy reconnecting with friends and whānau, and because I've had other writing priorities. A big part, though, is that I just haven't been in the right mindset for it. Ironic? Yes).

This evening though, I went for a run and listened to a great podcast (a combo I especially love). The podcast was about mindset; specifically, about confidence, showing up and how we only really gain the skills we want by practising them. Suddenly, my brain started firing off ideas left right and centre, and now I have ideas for two or three more chapters of the book. The run was only half an hour, so how exactly did I get more ideas in that half an hour than I have in the past two weeks?

1. My brain gets fired up best when I'm moving

2. Finding flow in one area can help you find flow in another.

3. Ideas don't happen in a vacuum.

Everything podcaster Rachel Hollis said sparked a thought in my head. Nothing she said was revolutionary, but she built on thoughts I'd had, on fragments of ideas and concepts I'd heard in other places and wove them together in a way I hadn't heard before. My brain was primed for it from all the reading and listening I had done before, and it was easier for me to get into the flow of ideas because I was in the flow of running. Unintentionally, I had 'stacked' myself with tools to help me get in the zone.

With NLP, we talk about using our senses to help us get into the right frame of mind. Maybe that's moving your body through yoga, a walk, or something that helps your energy flow in the way you want it to. Maybe it's visualising where you want to be in ten years time and imagining the feeling of being there, of living the life of your dreams, the life you've designed. Maybe it's listening to a piece of music that gets you pumped up, whether that's a piano concerto or a rap song. If you can layer up a few of these elements, you have a much greater chance of getting into the state you need to be in to do what you want to do; whether that's tackle that email that's been sitting in your inbox glaring at you all week, getting to the gym, or having that difficult but important conversation at work. If you want, you can use these techniques to get into deep work/flow state/the zone.

Tips to get in the zone:

1. Identify what works for you: do you like stillness or movement? noise or quiet? to the best of your ability, cultivate that when you're trying to get in the zone.

2. Prime yourself so you're ready to go: listen to podcasts, read books, talk to people about what you're working on, so your brain is used to treading some of those neural pathways.

3. Know your limits: deep work or 'flow' usually only lasts about two hours max per day. Allocate tasks according to energy, and know flow won't be your state of being all day every day.

What are you doing to get in the zone today?