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When Success Feels Effortless: How to Get Into “The Zone”

And stay there as long as you can

Karen Nimmo
On The Couch
Published in
4 min readDec 16, 2024

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You’ve been in “the zone” — and you want to get back there.

It’s that place where whatever you’re doing seems to come from a higher, easier place.

Where you’re energised, but focused — you’re immersed in your work and loving it. Time becomes fluid, irrelevant even.

Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi named this state “flow” 50 years ago — and it’s since been applied across a variety of fields.

All high performers have been there. Actually, I’ll go further than that. I’ll say every human has experienced these moments, even if they’re only fleeting.

And, anyone who’s been there, comes back up for air with this goal. How do I return there? How do I stay there for longer?

“You get into feeling like you are in a zone. You can’t be stopped. It’s a good feeling but it never lasts.” — Dan Marino

When everything feels right

I worked with a golfer who had exactly this mission.

He’d been in the zone a couple of years earlier— it was a prolonged period in which everything he did…

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On The Couch
On The Couch

Published in On The Couch

Practical psychology for health and happiness. Owned/Edited by clinical psychologist and writer Karen Nimmo.

Karen Nimmo
Karen Nimmo

Written by Karen Nimmo

Clinical psychologist, author of 4 books. Editor of On the Couch: Practical psychology for health and happiness. karen@onthecouch.co.nz

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