Finding Your Zone

You hear about it all the time, that 'zone' where athletes excel with apparently little or no effort. Footballers seem to attract the ball like a magnet and place it exactly where they want it with ease. An archer can't seem to miss his target, whilst the gymnast can't put a foot wrong.

In business, especially sales, too, 'the zone' is a well populated place. From deals that seem to close themselves to thorny scientific problems that are suddenly very clear, evidence of it abounds if you listen to the speech of the achievers.

There are two things to note about this 'zone' experience. First, it's no accident. Whatever the sport, the sportsman or woman who excels in the zone can only do so because of the years of training that have gone into building the skills and physical abilities needed to perform well. Without the background knowledge, no amount of raw talent will sustain 'zone' performance for any length of time. The rookie may experience this sense of infalllability briefly, but without time and training, the bubble will burst sooner rather than later.

Secondly, every one of us has a zone. We all have a talent within us that we are meant to hone and practice until it is second nature. For some this talent is obvious, such as singers, entertainers and other artists, sportsmen and journalists, even politicians.

For others of us, our talent may be less obvious to us. We may feel there is no one thing we excel at, or love doing above all others. Or we may just feel that our interests are not worthy of such attention.

Perhaps your first love is food, and you feel guilty for that because it's led you to be overweight, rather than being channeled into a career in catering, or even as a dietician more info. Or maybe you loved playing with plasticine as a child but your parents frowned on it, so your inner scultptor has been buried.

Maybe it's been so long since you even tried the thing you love, that you've convinced yourself you wouldn't enjoy it any more. For me, I loved writing poetry and short stories as a child, an activity my mum considered 'silly and pointless.'

The thing is, if you don't know what your passion is, how can you fulfill your creative potential. And if you do know what it is but never give it the time and effort it deserves to develop your skills, you are depriving yourself of that 'zone' experience.

And that's a crying shame, because most of us could and should live in the zone, or at least very near to it.

So what if you don't know what your 'zone' activity is? 

Well, here are some questions you can ask yourself to at least point you in the right direction.

If you had unlimited funds in the bank, and didn't have to work ever again for money, what would you do tomrrow?

Once you'd done all the usual stuff, like a blow out holiday, new home and furnishings, and bought a whole new wardrobe and car. What would you do then?

If money was no object how would you pass your time? 

Chances are there's something you would gravitate towards, whether it's something you already do but on a 'held back' basis, such a weekend golf or fishing, or something you have always fancied 'having a go at', whether tha's potholing or scuba diving or whatever.

If you were to take an evening class, what would it be in? Flower arranging? Cake Decoration? Brick Laying? Welding? 

What subjects did you like at school? Art? Drama? Geography? History? What were your childhood hobbies? Stamp collecting? Bug collecting? Skateboarding?

What gets you 'on your soap box'? In conversation, what topics get you going? When do you catch yourself debating your opinions? Are you a vegetarian? A conservationist? or just a conversationist? Do you love telling jokes or stories?

The point is there is something in your life that makes you come alive. If it's not obvious to you, ask your family and friends what subjects you talk about most, and use this as a starting point.