Great, you’ve done it! But how did you do?

Writer’s note: For optimal A/V experience, this post is best read while listening to “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins.

Let’s face it. Stuff is hard. All kinds of stuff. Every one of the stuffs.

Sometimes you can just coast and get it done, but most of the time, it takes the ability to locate and get to a sort of “next level of consciousness” in order to do it and do it right. This is most commonly called “the zone.”

Whether you know it or not, you’ve been there. Depending on who you are, what you love, and what you do, you have the ability to get there. That’s a good thing. I see it in my kids when they’re playing with LEGOs or making something out of a pile of construction paper, I see it in my wife when she’s working out, and I know I go there when I play music — privately or publicly. It’s a good place to be when you need to be “inside” your efforts towards a hard-to-reach result.

But as most things, it has its dangers.

Here’s the thing (yet another thing easier blogged about than done): if you’re in “the zone” for too long, then you can lose sight of the bigger picture.

For example, when I used to play music out regularly, I used to get so into “the zone” that I literally wouldn’t even remember much of the performance shortly after we were done. It was like waking up from a dream — you could recall it once you woke up, but after a little while, those details were replaced by more of a feeling and then, eventually, poof…all gone.

It’s like blacking out for a little bit but instead of not doing anything, you’re most likely doing something difficult and possible amazing. See one of my all-time favorite Will Ferrell scenes for reference.

Knowing when to step back

Getting in the zone is difficult enough when on accident, so the ability to purposefully move in and out of the zone seems like a reach. I know, and it kind of is, but if you can learn how to do it, you might find that improvement and success is more achievable — however you define those.

Stepping out of the zone to get perspective on what’s working and what’s not working is not a new idea, but a difficult thing to achieve. Although validity of the quote is debated, Hemingway had his own way of getting in and out of the zone:

“Write drunk. Edit Sober.”
– Ernest Hemingway

Get in the zone. Do your thing. But always step back and assess what is good and what isn’t. That’s the key part of the process in your path towards progress in whatever it is you’re doing.

Harsh truths are, well, kinda harsh.

I’ll admit that I’m not good enough at anything to be able to half-ass it and have it be acceptable. So, I usually search for that zone and do my damndest. It feels good to try hard at something, so much that that feeling can be confused with the actual result. “I feel good so I must have done really well!” Sorry, but that’s not always the case.

My band used to record most of our shows and then ride that post-show high all night. At the next rehearsal, we’d listen to the recording and yiiikkeeesssssss. Not bad, but not as great as we thought. It was a harsh truth, but one that was needed in order to make the next show better, and the next one better, and the next one better.

Day by day. Zone by zone.

The work to build an eco-focused brand from scratch is overwhelming and fulfilling…and crazy hard. Each effort requires a “zone” level of concentration, complemented by a phase of “editing sober.” It’s hard to be your own critic, and can be discouraging sometimes, but I’m doing my best to play the long game.

Ps. I didn’t write this blog post while drunk, as far as you know.

#bewhatyoumake