How do you get in the "zone"?

[TheBladeChild]

How do you prepare yourself right before some important event? The event being anything from a test, speech, job interview or even a wedding.

For me im the kind of guy that likes to continuously review what I have to do/say/remember right before the event. Then like 1 minute before showtime I just drop everything and take a deep breath then take the plunge.

[darkshadow]

I.... don't do anything really, thinking about it just makes you tense up too much.

[Animeniax]

I tense up real good before any major event, which will add 50% more stress and anxiety to help make things seem twice as difficult as they actually are. I also add on my parents' expectations, the fear of failure, and a double layer of self-doubt to the mix, to make it as emotionally taxing and painful as possible.

This thread topic is flame pit bait.

[Eurasian]

"Not now chief, I'm in the fuckin' zone"

[Assertn]

http://www.parkourpedia.com/index.php?id=4,28,0,0,1,0

Haven't read it yet, but looks promising

[Board of Command]

"Not now, Chairman Mao. I'm in the fuckin' zen."

[Buffalobiian]

I just had that oral exam that the whole grade's been freaking out over, including me. (I mentioned this on GW somewhere before.) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Basically, I was reading up all these counselling points and side effects and stuff for an hour before out exam (I got there an hour and a half early so I don't miss it). Then we went into the waiting room, and I saw that I was scheduled to be one of the last ones in that session. That gave me an hour or so. I felt like shit then, mainly from lack of sleep and anxiety. I figured there wasn't much I could do, so I just slept while people around me practised on each other. I felt a hell of a lot better afterwards, and for the remaining 30 minutes, I was pretending to be the patient for one of my friends.

When we walked from the waiting hall to the examination room, they were all stressed and saying they'd fail. I was kinda waking up still, so I just had a "let's do it" attitude. Then we went in and got started.

From what I know, I only missed two minor points, and was quite on my toes, but not panicking as I thought I would. In the end, it wasn't as bad as it could have, and I came out with more energy than I had.

Doesn't tell you a whole lot about how I get into the "zone", just that if you have to stress, you'll do it in the exam anyway. Spare the time before (easier said than done)

[Animeniax]

I got a pos rep for my first post in this thread, which is cool except I was being completely serious. In fact, I noticed the same thing happened to me before a mission in GTA:IV. Previously I thought maybe the game changed the handling characteristics of cars you drive when you're chasing someone. Then I realized that it wasn't the game, it was my mindset. Before a chase mission, I'd tense up and my heart would start pounding and then my hands would lose coordination and I'd drive a Ferrari like it was a pickup truck. It would take me several tries to complete a chase mission because I would crash repeatedly and the guy I was chasing would get away.

When I noticed I was doing this, I slowed down, relaxed, and took it easy chasing the guy. I finished that mission without needing another retry. Now if only I could apply this lesson to everything I do in life, everything would run so much smoother.

The saddest thing is that the reason I was so tense was not the fear of failing a mission because really who cares, you can just reload from the last save point and try it again. The reason I was so tense was because I didn't want to have to repeat the mission and waste the time and effort of doing it again. Guess that makes me damn lazy.

[Archangel]

before any event with actual importance to my life i get way too nervous and then i fuck up, it's that simple.

[Animeniax]

That's weird, because you don't seem like the nervous type. You seem like an extroverted person in real life, though your activity on the forums might suggest otherwise.

[Archangel]

Well i guess i am but really important stuff messes me up, i crack under pressure.

And yeah i'm spending way too much time around here, i should be studying for the final exams XD

[Carnage]

I jerk off half-an-hour before every event.

[Archangel]

Dam you take over half an hour to refuel??

Are you sure you're 16?

[python862]

You are one confusing person. Didn't you mention that you were done with exams elsewhere in the forums? Oh well... off topic.

I'm a naturally relaxed person. I never get really anxious unless I'm stepping in front of a crowd to deliver a speech or something like that. But even then, once I'm out there, I'm perfectly fine (if not a little bit more aware - go go adrenaline). The funniest thing of this is that I'm actually what most people would call introverted. I only speak to people whom I've known for quite awhile, or someone I don't know when I absolutely need to. Other than that, it's silence and you guys.

Edit: posted this after Archie's second post...

[Buffalobiian]

I jerk off half-an-hour before every event.

I read somewhere that you're not meant to go all the way, nor do it more than an hour before.

Meh, I'm a Nike person.


---------------------------------
Edit: Apparently I look like I have full confidence when I speak. I see that as a good thing, since in reality I'm shitting inside.

[TheBladeChild]

I got a pos rep for my first post in this thread, which is cool except I was being completely serious. In fact, I noticed the same thing happened to me before a mission in GTA:IV. Previously I thought maybe the game changed the handling characteristics of cars you drive when you're chasing someone. Then I realized that it wasn't the game, it was my mindset. Before a chase mission, I'd tense up and my heart would start pounding and then my hands would lose coordination and I'd drive a Ferrari like it was a pickup truck. It would take me several tries to complete a chase mission because I would crash repeatedly and the guy I was chasing would get away.


Lol, I got a pos rep for being a "thread whore". Well I do like stirring things up.

[Idealistic]

Man... This happens a lot to me especially in sports. Playing casual pick-up games and stuff, I'm in my zone... But once it's like a tournament or a play-off game, sometimes I choke. But my way to get around the nervousness, is to get mad. I always hear people say when you're mad you can't play or function properly, but it works for me.

I'm just like Python though when it comes to speeches and everyday convos.... I talk a lot around people I know. But when I'm around people I don't know, I hardly talk. I think it's just shyness? Like once someone I don't know starts talking to me and taht friendliness shows off to me, I become more comfortable talking to them.

[Buffalobiian]

I think it's because if you know them, you know if you stuff up, they won't give too shits, or do much even if they do. If it's an audience of unknown people, they're looking at you expecting something. When you don't deliver, they start whispering, talking, yawning.... and you don't want to disappoint.

[lelouch]

I believe that trying to force yourself to get in the "zone" or play in a relaxed state usually ends up having the opposite effect, atleast in my experience. What I do is I just tell myself how fun it is to play in this tournament (if we are talking sports), and it doesn't matter if I win or lose, as long as I play to the best of my ability. Usually that makes me do my 100%.

[XanBcoo]

Whenever I'm facing something tense, I always reassure myself that it's not as bad as it seems. Usually what I'm doing is within the realm of my capabilities, and I try and remind myself that the thing itself is not frightening, just the fear of failure and embarrassment.

My recent solution to making presentations and speeches in classes is to visualize it as something as interesting as possible, something I actually want to explain to other people. This helps me to keep from getting nervous and helps me think of it less formally. Gets me to speak naturally, basically.


http://www.parkourpedia.com/index.php?id=4,28,0,0,1,0

Haven't read it yet, but looks promising
Weird, I think I used to get that when playing the first Super Smash Bros. game.

[saman]

my strategy doesn't really involve anything. i just clear my mind for as long as i can afford to before the event in question and take a few seconds to feel completely normal before diving in. it's worked so far. i do rehearse for presentations and such sometimes, though well before the actual event and not right before.

[Buffalobiian]

I tried out a new strategy a few days ago. The plan is to miss your first bus, so you catch one that's going to run into a huge traffic jam (an unforseen one). You arrive 10 minutes late for it, but make sure it's at a place you've never been to before, and don't find out beforehand exactly where it is. You're so busy asking people and running to the exam room that you really don't think or stress about the actual event at all. In the end, you sit down, scribble a late-exam form, and gun it.

I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

[Animeniax]

I've tried that method before, and I have to agree with your not recommending it. It's hard to concentrate when your balls are sweating that bad.

[Eurasian]

I'm glad at least you got to take the exam!!!
Once, some guy came running into the lecture hall late to an exam and the prof wouldn't allow him to take the exam since someone has finished the exam and left the lecture hall. 60% beats 0% in my books anyday.
Edit: Not that I'm saying you got a 60%! I'm sure you did well!! =D

[Animeniax]

How can you be so sure he did well? Now you're just messing with his mind.

The situation you described sounds like a cheating scam to me. Obviously the guy who left early provided the test and answers to the guy who arrived late. It's the oldest trick in the book.

[Buffalobiian]

I studied heaps for that one, and I was pretty set, so I don't think I would have done too badly. I could report here when marks come to see how well that technique works.:) There's one that's more worrying, and it was just because of the sheer amount of material. (Semester 1's notes totaled 13.2cm x A4 pages:eek: )

[Eurasian]

The situation you described sounds like a cheating scam to me. Obviously the guy who left early provided the test and answers to the guy who arrived late. It's the oldest trick in the book.
I think the dude just overslept. He had bed hair and he smelled like bed. By bed, I mean the stench that builds up in your bed sheets and pillow after continual usage without washing them. Gross.

[Animeniax]

I think the dude just overslept. He had bed hair and he smelled like bed. By bed, I mean the stench that builds up in your bed sheets and pillow after continual usage without washing them. Gross.
You're way too naive for your 70 years. He's a pro, is all. He has his act down, but that was one prof who knows the players and the game. He wasn't as easily fooled by tousled hair and funky b.o. The prof was the one in the zone that day. I wonder how he prepared?

[python862]

He ate his Wheaties.