Just go ahead and visualize a top athlete you happen to be really fond of, what comes to the mind, invariably it has to be performance above anything else. Depending on where you are located you would have your preference of sports and sports persons. With the limited over’s cricket world cup happening at the moment each one of us has a personal favorite.
A Matter of Personal Choice
For some it could be Virat Kohli for others it could be M S Dhoni, even Shikhar Dhawan or some other athlete. It is entirely a matter of personal choice though; however there is no denying the fact that star sports persons have an aura about them. The halo is because of the exemplary performance which gets them name, fame and money and the endorsements keep on flowing. And in cricket parlance a player is said to be in form or out of form depending on his contribution to the team by way good performance or poor performance.
The Flow State
What is that one thing which makes a great player tick and deliver and what are the reasons the very same player hits
a rough patch and people start raising fingers at his performance. What makes a player tick is a very simple thing indeed and it is the flow state. This is a special zone for sports persons and upon entering it they are able to experience a special sense of control over their sporting faculties.
Free of the Looming Dread
The athlete becomes free of the looming dread which haunts human existence and breaks free from the shackles of the cycle of good luck and bad luck. Safely cocooned within the special parameters that makeup the flow state the athlete assumes complete charge and everything he does glows with a special meaning. This is quite similar to the Zone that writer’s experience, when they are able to produce their best work as opposed to the time when they are experiencing the writer’s block.
The Zone
It is quite easy to infer than that the flow state or zone is not restricted to a sports person or a writer but any individual who has the special creative ability to be able to experience the same. When in the flow state you become all the more confident, experience a characteristically self assured state of utterly focused approach where you put in everything at your disposal to the accomplishment of your cherished goals.
Mastery and Focus
Flow is essentially a by product of two distinct elements, mastery and focus and when you are trying to reach your career goals, you would notice that as a beginner you would not be able to hit the flow state, no one does no matter the field. There is a valid reason behind it; a beginner is always trying to avoid harm or injury. A novice batsman would avoid a pace bowler whereas a seasoned one would not bat an eyelid before sending the same bowler over the ropes, time and again.
Final Words
So it all boils down to first getting really good at something, only then would you be able to display fluid and effortless expertise doing the same, which in other words is equivalent of entering your zone. Flow is a blissful and addictive state, it propels you to strive and achieve still higher goals which you try to accomplish by putting in more practice, even more study and the effort to stay in shape and do things which would not be quite possible in the normal course of human existence.
Now the all important question, what is your ticket to the flow state and how are you going to connect it to your career and use it for professional advancement. We would be glad to hear from our readers.
