Forgive me for coming back to this subject again but I've been reading The Element by Ken Robinson and my interest in doing what you're best at resumes. The book's all about connecting with your true talents and lots more besides – in essence everyone's good at something. I'll let you read that for yourself, I'm going to talk about the bit on 'the zone'.
The hardest thing about doing what you're born to do is finding out what that is in the first place. Much of that comes down feeling passionate about it of course, but you know when you're doing what you're supposed to be when you lose yourself in the task – that weird trance-like state when mind and body become one, you forget that you're actually doing something and become some sort of weird machine.
The rest of the world is gone, no other thoughts intrude, it's just you and the task in hand.
You only know you've reached that state once you've come out of it. It's a little bit like getting into a book and suddenly forgetting you're reading, or stopping noticing you're in a cinema watching a film, or the shock when a great song ends.
Great tennis players often cannot describe what it's like to face an opponent's serve because they can't really remember. I don't remember as single think about any competitive swimming race I ever had (and I can't really describe what it's like to creative brief come to think about it).
I find this 'mysterious instant' fascinating and you can only get into that state if it's something you love doing and are proficient enough for it to be second nature- where instinct can come forward because there's enough craft.
When this happens, you know you're doing what you're meant to. That's part of the joy of doing something well I think – getting to a higher state of consciousness (unconsciousness?). Being the eye of the storm.
NORTHERN PLANNER 
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