Get into the Flow.

Winners forget they're in a race, they just love to run.

Have you ever had a day when you went out on a run and the day was just so perfect, and you felt so good, that the miles sped by and you were surprised, even sad when the path came to an end?  Or maybe there was an afternoon that you spent playing basketball/soccer/whatever and you lost track of time so totally that you only stopped when you had to?

That sense of being totally in your activity, of being right with the universe, is called Flow. 

Flow is the mental state in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.  Sometimes people describe being in a flow state as being  on the ball, in the zone, or in the groove.

Sucessful athletes often enter into flow when they are training or competing.  So do musicians, artisans, even people who program computers.   If the conditions are right you can enter into flow state in any activity that requires concentration.  And when you do, it feels good.

Psychologists describe being in the zone as a loss of self consciousness, it happens when action and awareness merge.  Athletes have described the feeling as"being the ball".  It happens when there is a balance between ability level and challenge, and the activity is intrinsically rewarding:  People have noted that while in the groove there is an effortlessness of action.

So how do you get into the flow?

• Do something you like.  Something that you enjoy doing, just for the sake of doing it.  
• Set a realistic goal, don't waste your time on stuff that is too easy, and don't frustrate yourself with stuff that is to hard.
• Spend a couple minutes getting ready before you start your activity.  Maybe that means do a warm-up.  Maybe you have to reveiw your goals, or your points of inspiration, or listen to music.
  
• Avoid distractions and interruptions.  You can't be in flow state and monitor your cell phone.
• Keep your training area a "positive zone".  Keep critics, and the people who doubt, or pressure you away from where you train.  Those people have their place and time, but not when you're training.
  
• Give yourself time.  You need to concentrate on an activity for about 15 minutes before your brain will "switch over"