The art of "getting into the pocket"
Professional athletes call this "getting in the zone." Rappers call it "getting in my bag."
One area that I’ve been focused on getting better at as an entrepreneur and leader in my organization has been getting “into the pocket” at a moment’s notice.
To me, this is a master skill that I have years to learn myself. You hear in professional sports about players that can “turn it on” whenever they want. That’s the level of mental focus that I aspire to reach someday.
When you are able to get into the pocket, you can be at a grocery store waiting for your partner and come up with ideas/strategies that may generate $1M in revenue.
When you can tap into that space, at will, you can turn any moment into an opportunity to create value. For professional athletes, this may mean that you can “get a bucket.” For entertainers, it may mean getting into character. This is special.
One thing that I’ve been learning to do is create structure around getting into the pocket. These daily 15-minute writing sessions are part of that strategy. I also read for 1-2 hours every morning. Recently, a place that I find myself unusually productive in the morning (Switchyards) has opened and I’m there at 8 am every day.
Really it’s any tactic I can think of to stay in the pocket for as long as I can. The end goal of these exercises is to see where it can be tapped into on command.
For now, it’s simply a pipe dream. I do have faith that as I get better at creating structure, or daily habits that engage me in the process of productivity, that the results will speak for themselves.
Currently, I’m reading a few books that address this.
Too many entrepreneurs don’t engage in the mental work it takes to lead. I encourage anyone who’s graced Food For Founders…if you want to build a successful business you need to be aligned. Every part of you needs to be in the pocket. Your social life, spiritual life, physical life, mental life…everything. It all starts with creating the structure and then moving into habits.
From there use the Pareto Principle to add and remove activities that don’t result in optimal outputs.
Again, focus on the process and the work. The results will follow.