8 Ways to Live in 'THE ZONE'

Samurai warriors were without a doubt some of the fiercest fighters who ever existed. The key to the samurai’s incredible fighting ability was the complete elimination of their fear of death and their complete focus on being in the present moment.

They did this by entirely de-energizing their fear of death. If a person in a fighting situation is distracted by thoughts of being hurt or dying, he will be the loser. Samurai warriors were unencumbered by these fears and were courageous in the face of the unknown. In short, they were empowered by a lack of fear, and this allowed them to completely focus, react and stay in the present moment. They fought without hesitation and with complete confidence.

They were “IN THE ZONE”, they “OWNED THE ZONE”.

Today the term ‘in the zone’ has been bandied around by sports psychologists, motivational speakers and even leading blue chip companies – mainly because the term itself can enhance the want to be there. And as we know, the mere focus on such a place, a point, a desire can in fact take you there if you’re persistent enough, and determined enough and consistent. Practice makes perfect, right?

So what is the ‘Zone’?

Being ‘in the zone or flow’, is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. According to its originator, psychologist Csíkszentmihályi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task.

So why aren’t more of us living in ‘the zone’?

The biggest problem facing us today is an enormous increase in workload both at work and at home.

Feelings of being overwhelmed, pressured and de-motivated are rampant but are not acknowledged nor openly admitted in our society, because it may be perceived as a failure to cope.

We have discovered the keys to managing your state of being so that your emotional resilience is at the superior level necessary to thrive in any environment, at work or at home. Thus, allowing you to perform at your peak, effortlessly getting the job done when the barriers to success are removed.
What are these barriers? They are ‘mental and emotional’ barriers that stop people from performing at their peak and enjoying the moment.

There are two kinds of happiness in the world. The most of us think it is a simple feeling in the body. The other, more subtle form of happiness is a state of being in perfect harmony with life, the universe and everything. Psychologists call this ‘the flow’, musicians call this ‘the groove’, and athletes call this ‘the zone’.

Read more here  8 Ways to Live in 'THE ZONE'

3 Ways to Retire Early

There may be nothing more in keeping with the American Dream than achieving a level of financial security that allows for early retirement. Yet most people fall short of that goal. In a bid to change that, three of The Motley Fool's analysts share their best ideas on how to retire early. Read on to learn what they suggest.








Leo Sun

The key to retiring early is to start saving as early as you can.

A Forbes analysis revealed that if people started saving 10% to 15% of their annual income at the age of 20 to 25, they were generally able to retire comfortably (i.e., with their current living standards) by their late 60s. For those who wait until age 40 to start a savings account, that percentage soars to 43.2%. But if a person can save up 30% to 40% of their annual income at the age of 25 -- which might be achieved by scoring a high-paying job, living frugally, or working overseas -- an early retirement could be a realistic goal.

Those alarming figures highlight the importance of contributing to your Roth IRA and building up a stock/fund portfolio as early as possible. Maxing out your annual Roth IRA contributions and your 401(k) contributions, then investing the remainder in well-researched stocks or mutual funds could pave the way toward an early retirement.

That plan doesn't take into account student debt, job changes, or family emergencies. But the key takeaway is to constantly have an annual savings percentage in mind and to strive to meet that goal every year.

Read on, please click here 3 Ways to Retire Early