In 2013, Nick Foles was the NFL’s top-rated passer and threw an NFL-record seven touchdowns in one game. His performance earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl, where he was named the offensive MVP.
In 2017, Foles started the season as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles. He came off the bench in Week 14 and led the Eagles on a playoff run that culminated in the franchise’s first ever Super Bowl title—a game that named Foles the Super Bowl MVP.
Nick Foles is a testament to the power of perseverance and a reminder to be prepared for whenever your time may come. He’s also a man of deep faith with a unique perspective on what it takes to get “in the zone” on the field and in life…
Professional athletes—whether in the NFL or otherwise—often talk about being “in the zone” or how the game “slows down.” It’s a strange phenomenon, and it’s a little difficult to describe. But it’s a real thing. And when it happens, it’s pretty cool.
Maybe the best way to explain it is by describing what it’s not. When the game moves too fast, it’s the equivalent of having one of those days when everything falls apart. Your body is stressed and tight, and you’re battling one negative thought after another. All you want to do is pack it up, go to bed, and hope that tomorrow is better.
That’s when you start overthinking everything that’s going on. Instead of using your senses, your mind starts playing tricks on you.
On the flip side, when you’re in the zone and everything slows down, it’s almost as if you’re not even thinking—you’re just reacting. It’s all instinct. Your heart rate slows down, your breathing is calm, and you see everything clearly.
Chip Kelly used to tell me, “Don’t overthink. Just grip it and rip it.” That’s what it means to be in the zone.
In a way, being in the zone is kind of the football equivalent of trusting God. Instead of overthinking everything or trying to take everything on yourself, you turn it over to God and let him carry the weight.
You do your part, and then you trust God to do the rest. You get through the hard times by leaning on God to sustain you.
That’s the amazing thing about faith: when you’re at your weakest, that’s when God shows his strength.
— Nick Foles, from his book Believe It
Athletes and sports psychologists have long recognized the importance of getting “in the zone.” When an athlete finds himself in this coveted mental state, extraordinary performances tend to follow.
It’s that state where one isn’t thinking; one is lost in instinctual action. It’s a state where everything slows down, yet time seems to fly by—as strange as that might sound.
Being “in the zone” goes well beyond sports and it’s a state that we’ve all experienced from time to time.
As an author, writing can sometimes come excruciatingly slow for me. I’ll overthink everything I write, struggle with self-doubt, and find myself rewriting and revising the same sentences over and over again.
Other times, I find myself “in the zone.” I’ll get lost in the story without thinking, I’ll write with confidence, and the pages will pour out. What feels like ten of fifteen minutes at the computer turns out to be three or four hours of writing that have flown by with ease.
Every profession has its version of the zone. The speaker loses herself in a brilliant speech that results in a standing ovation. The salesman gets in a flow of relaxed, at-ease sales calls that turn into a hot streak of sales. After months of effort, the entrepreneur suddenly experiences one breakthrough after another in creating a product or closing a deal.
We all want to get in the zone as much as possible, which is why so much effort is made by mental coaches and sports psychologists to help their clients enter this state.
Of all the research I’ve come across regarding how to get in the zone, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it put the way Nick Foles puts it in the above passage. Relating the zone to one’s faith in God is an eye-opening and, in my opinion, brilliant way to approach this state.
Getting in the zone means quieting your mind and letting your instincts take over. It means eliminating negative thoughts and trusting the process. It means letting go with confidence and not consciously trying to “force” something to happen.
Having faith in a caring God means trusting a Higher Power to help, guide, and protect you. It means giving your best, but humbly trusting God to take care of the rest. It means confidently “letting go and letting God.”
When looked at this way, it’s easy to see the similarities between these two concepts—getting “in the zone” and trusting God.
Nick Foles recognized these similarities and realized that having faith in God can lead us into the zone we all strive to be in.
