GIZ - HOW TO GET IN THE ZONE – WRITING ZONE

Dear Reader:

There’s been a lot written about writer’s block – probably by a lot of writers who were blocked, left their big project(s) to begin writing about their block. I’ve discovered there are a myriad of reasons for the condition which I’ll refer to as “WB,” but rather than focus on a negative proposition, I’ll share my ways of how to “get in zone.”

GIZ is a lot like love – not something you can command unless you are in command of how you think. Begin by Focusing (yes, with a capital F) on something else. Like the elusive butterfly you try to capture, when you turn your attention to something else, it quietly lands upon your shoulder.

Have you ever noticed how people set themselves up for failure? Whether spoken out loud or those little internal whispers in your head, it goes something like this.

Sally says to herself, Oh, I’m no good at technical things. I wreck everything I touch.

What does Sally do next? She proves herself right by pushing all the wrong buttons on the computer resulting in the blue screen of death. It’s what we all do – prove ourselves right whether the outcome is a positive or a negative one.

What has this got to do with GIZ? Everything. It’s how our subconscious minds work. Garbage in equals garbage out.

The first step to becoming a successful writer or successful at anything is to Focus on those little thoughts that flash through your mind on a constant basis. It can be an endless stream of background chatter that competes with conflicting thoughts, or it can be your rainbow bridge to connect you to a higher consciousness, a plane where you reach your full potential as a human being. Happiness, love and joy are the products of this process. Enable them, enable yourself. Become conscious of the way you phrase those thoughts as well as the thought content. Every thought can be expressed in a positive way. Become conscious of the conscious. The subconscious will take care of itself. We are all the sum total of all our thoughts. How do you think? As your own best friend? And with all of the educational opportunities available, how many schools teach people how to think? Do you really believe the more trigonometry you learn, the more dates you memorize or getting a trial balance to balance teaches you how to think?

After you’ve done some acrobatic thinking, new habits will displace the old quite automatically. It becomes natural and second nature. Just as we are all the sum total of all our thoughts, we are all the sum total of all our habits.

Sally may argue with you that she is a positive thinker as she wishes and hopes her way through life, but as long as Sally is just wishing and hoping, deep down in the subconscious there is a big conflict going on. As long as she wishes and hopes, in effect she is saying all those things will elude me, I haven’t reached them, and her subconscious will act on those wishes and hopes not only to prove herself right, but to bring about her biggest fears. Fear is the great immobilizer. Afraid to live, afraid to die, afraid to make a mistake, afraid to make a fool of one’s self, afraid of success. Plain old fear.

What’s the opposite of fear? Bravery? Bravery implies you must be strong to overcome scary things, and as long as you’re being brave, you’re admitting those scary things are still there. How about desire? It is impossible to have fear and desire at the same time, just as it is impossible to smile and frown simultaneously. You can flip from one to the other in a nanosecond, but only one thought can exist at any given moment in time -- a nanosecond being about 1,000 picoseconds or 1/1000 microsecond or a billionth of a second. Look up at the sky on a starry night and it’s mind-boggling. So too is your internal galaxy.

Where’s the galactic road map to love, joy, happiness and success? Are they still distant destinations or a byproduct of your thoughts? Take command of your space ship and maximize your travel through the universe. How? Dedicate at least ten minutes of each day for you, yourself (yes, you’re worth it) and get into a quiet place. Focus on your breathing, breathing slowly, deeply and naturally, getting more and more relaxed with each and every breath that you take. Starting at your feet, crunch them up really tight, let go and relax. Continue working your way up your body, from calves, to thighs, right up to the top of your head. Contract each muscle group, let go again, relax. You are on your way to GIZ. Now that you’re in a relaxed state, give yourself some positive suggestions. Make sure they are framed in a positive tone. Compose a positive affirmation for yourself to repeat over and over again. One I particularly like is I am an able, capable, self-confident, self-reliant, forward-looking, happy, responsible, productive writer. I believe in myself, and I love life.

Compose your own mantra, and in a very short time you will experience transformation.

OMG – the butterfly has landed! Yesterday I began to write this piece and quite amazingly (why does this still surprise me?) it took me to the Zone at Mach 7. As a result, in less than an hour, I’ve sketched out an outline for a new screenplay, As Good As My Word.

PS – Would love to hear about your journey. Thinking happy thoughts for everyone.

Best Regards,

Elaine