What does in mean to be “in the zone?”  The zone is that moment when everything comes together – your preparation, talent, skill, training, the mental and physical – and you can seemingly accomplish anything you want.

This past weekend AppleTV produced a documentary entitled “Greatness Code”.  Directed by Gotham Chopra, this program is a study of seven of the world’s most accomplished athletes.  We get to hear from their own words of what it was like to be “In The Zone.”  I gleaned 10 common threads from those who enter this sacred space know as “The Zone”:

  1. Being in The Zone requires you must be facing a significant opponent or level of adversity.
  2. Being in The Zone happens only in big moments.
  3. Being in The Zone requires having a great team around you.
  4. The opponent doesn’t matter when you are in The Zone.
  5. Being in The Zone requires a confidence which only comes from trusting your years of training and preparation.
  6. Things are easy in The Zone.
  7. You can’t start slow and be in The Zone.  Being in The Zone requires a fast start.
  8. You feed off the crowd, positive or hostile, when you are in The Zone.  The bigger the crowd the better.
  9. Being in The Zone requires intense focus.
  10. If you’ve ever been in The Zone, you wish you could get back there.

The following are specific athletes profiled along with their quotes:

LeBron James – Game 6 of the 2012 NBA Eastern Conference Finals

  1. Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce hit a game-winning shot over James in Game 5.
  2. “I felt absolutely nothing.”
  3. 5 assists, 15 rebounds, and 45 points “was the result of feeling nothing.”
  4. “I wish I could bottle ‘nothing’ up.  I tell you that.”
  5. “That’s how I felt at that moment… He’s the best player in the world.”

For more on LeBron James, click 10 Ways LeBron James Is Leading The Los Angeles Lakers Through The Kobe Bryant Tragedy.

Tom Brady – November 2007 against the Buffalo Bills

  1. “When I think of a great game I think of the whole moment.  It’s like a basketball player who takes every shot and hits it… For a quarterback you think, leaving the game, every decision I made was the right one.  Every throw was right on the money.”
  2. “Our level of talent was so supreme that year.”
  3. “Anytime you play on a Sunday night there’s a brightness to that game that there isn’t at 1:00 o’clock on a Sunday.”
  4. “There was such a chemistry between he (Randy Moss) and I.  When you play with those type of guys and you’re on the same page, you can’t stop them.”
  5. “You want to exert your will on the other team.  On that night, they were just in the way.  They were a mosquito and we were the windshield.”
  6. “It wouldn’t have mattered who on was on the field that night because our execution was unstoppable.”
  7. “It’s a very challenging thing for everyone to be on the same page for 60 minutes and we scored touchdowns every time we touched the ball.” – winning 56-10
  8. “The best part of football for me is it is the ultimate living in the moment.”
  9. “That (game) was the masterpiece.  That was the clinic.  That was the thirst which can never be quenched.”

For more on Tom Brady, click 60 Leadership Quotes From Tom Brady And Peyton Manning.

Alex Morgan – U.S. National Soccer Team at the January 29, 2012 Concacaf Women’s Tournament Championship Game against Canada.  The USA won 4-0.

  1. “I don’t think the perfect game exists.”
  2. “You try to get in the state of flow.  When you’re there you play at game speed but everything else is in slow motion.”
  3. “There are times I may be feeling really good but my timing is off with my teammates.  You have to understand you have so many outside factors you don’t have control of.  You have to let that go and grab hold of what you have control of.”
  4. “It’s about connecting at the highest level and when you’re in that state of flow, everything is so easy… It just feels easy.”
  5. “I think of being the ultimate professional.  Emotionally, mentally, physically.  Just being ready for what ever is thrown at me.”
  6. “When the pressure is higher, when the stakes are higher, when there’s more on the line, you know it’s even more important that you perform.”
  7. “The bigger the crowd the better… It’s a blur and one sound collectively.”
  8. “When you’re rhythm with each other (your teammates) you have the same pulse.”
  9. “The mental piece is huge.  It’s even greater than the physical piece because it’s there.  We’re all professional athletes.  I’ve been doing this my whole life.  I could do this in my sleep.”
  10. “We’ve always been fighters.”

Usain Bolt – 2009 IAAF World Championships.  Bolts sets a world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100 meters.

  1. “I love big moments.  I love competition, showing up and knowing the possibility of the guy next to me beating me and that’s what drives me.”
  2. “You’re so focused on the task at hand… I live for that moment.”
  3. “The louder the crowd is, the more energetic the crowd is, the better it is for me.  I feed off the energy of the crowd… They give me that vibe that’s ‘I’m ready.  Let’s go.'”
  4. “When I’m in the blocks I try not to think about anything.  I try to clear my mind and just listen for the gun.”
  5. “The first five steps were perfect… My mind is taking mental snapshots… I can tell you everything.”
  6. “Knowing you’re the top performer gives you a certain confidence.”

Shaun White – January 13, 2018 Olympic Qualifier.  After two failed attempts, he scores a perfect 100 on his final attempt.

  1. “Every time I step on the snow it’s like there’s this heaviness that ‘Oh, Shaun’s up.  We should watch.’  My competitors.  The cameraman.  I just click into another gear.  I just really love it.  I love the feeling.”
  2. “That’s when the pressure really got me.  I had these thoughts going through my head of having this huge hype and not making the team.” – After two poor qualifying runs
  3. “I always described pressure situations as being purely focused on what you’re about to do and having this slight bit of ‘I don’t care what happens’ because you need that sort of that thing to take the pressure of and put it into perspective.”
  4. “He (his coach) says, ‘Go crazy on the first hit. and I absolutely hit it that just woke me up… This set the tone for the run.”
  5. “The momentum is building (after the second run) and we’re on to something.  That’s when it dawns on me we never talked about what to hit on the last run but we’re on a run.  Let’s just go for it.  You’re the guy you know you are just do it.”
  6. “Working toward getting better at something is always, I think, fulfilling.  But when you’re put into a pressure situation you can kind of raise the bar to different level.  I don’t know where else I get that in life.”
  7. “Even when you don’t succeed you learn so much about yourself.”

Katie Ledecky – Winning gold at the 2012 Olympics London 800M finals as a 15-year-old.

  1. “When I get excited about a race I kind of close my eyes and think through things.”
  2. “I couldn’t visualize myself winning anything but Gold.”
  3. “You could sense I was a little nervous.  ‘Take all that noise.  It’s all for you.  It’s all shooting straight down your lane.'”
  4. “When I settle into a rhythm time just sort of stops.”
  5. “I remember it being loud… A wave of sound.  Things were so easy because I was so excited to be there.  Everything’s just clicking.”
  6. “Let’s put that aside and go win some more gold medals.”
  7. “Take the lead and keep it.  I want to stay at this level.”

Kelly Slater – Winning the 1998 Pipemaster in Hawaii and his 1998 fifth overall world surfing championship in a row.

  1. “It’s a feedback loop.  What I put in and what I get out, it’s telling me if I’m doing it right.”
  2. “My life was so geared towards competing and trying to win that I wasn’t enjoying a lot of other things.”
  3. “It’s intimidating… The desire to win was so firm with me.”
  4. “I knew the door was open at that moment (when his top two competitors fell) to accomplish my life goal.”
  5. “All I could control was what I was in control of… I broke down and started crying.”
  6. “I knew how focused I was.  I knew what was a good wave and how to beat my competitors.  I just went out and acted on it.  Everything seemed like slow motion.”
  7. “Sports define you for periods of time and you know what you have to do.  There’s another person or a score you have to beat.  So you have to accomplish that feat at that time.  So you know if you’re in flow.  If your all preparation has built up the confidence and skills you need.”
  8. “When the greatest moments in life happen they don’t necessarily happen by chance.  It’s really an accumulation of all your understanding and knowledge of that thing all coming together in that one moment.  In those times you don’t have to think about it.  You just do it.  You become it.”
  9. “I really felt inside that it could and would happen for me.”
  10. “I remember a flood of all these different memories coming through.  It’s a whole lifetime all leading to a crescendo in this moment and I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

What is one thing you learned from the list above about being In The Zone and how you could potentially get there?

Speaking of leaders who are in The Zone, my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders is available for purchase.  If you have ever wanted to become the leader God created you to be, this book is for you!  By combining leadership lessons from biblical heroes like Jesus, Daniel and Joseph, along with modern day leaders like Bill Gates, Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant and multiple pastors, Timeless will equip and inspire you.  This book is not to be read alone.  Discussion questions are included in each chapter allowing you to develop those in your circle of influence.  Click HERE or on the image provided and order your copies TODAY.

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