Viewing Life Moment By Moment
We can view our experience in many ways—by century, decade, year, or even day to day. Yet life ultimately unfolds moment by moment. How do you calibrate your conscious moments? Are you attentive and well-focused on what you are doing? Or do you drift from task to task, week to week, simply thinking “Thank God it’s Friday”? How you spend your time—and whether it is working for you—makes all the difference.
Regardless of how you see yourself or measure progress, you are always in the moment, whether you realize it or not. Becoming conscious of these moments is where good things happen. In my book In The Zone: Making Winning Moments Your Way of Life, I tackle this question head-on.
If you’re not In The Zone, Where Are You?
The Struggle Of Modern Living
We often see ourselves as busy people, doing too much with too little time. At other times, life feels pointless, without a prevailing purpose. Some of us view our existence as only a blip in cosmic history—a fleeting speck in the vastness of the universe. Philosophers and scientists have wrestled with these questions since the beginning of human thought. No explanation has been entirely convincing, though many claim to have found one. We see their influence not only in philosophy and religion but also in the everyday lives of people around us.
Fictional Finalisms
“Fictional Finalisms” are guiding beliefs we treat as truths, even when they aren’t. They shape both our actions and our self-concept.
Examples:
- Believing in an afterlife and acting in a way that prepares for it.
- Believing men are superior to women and acting in an overbearing, authoritative manner.
- Believing one political party always has the better view and acting with discrimination toward the other.
Fictional Finalisms guide us whether we are right or wrong. They can provide direction, but they also limit our willingness to learn and grow. Changing them is difficult—most people defend their beliefs rather than seek new perspectives. By noticing these patterns and focusing on living in the moment, we create a more balanced and informed approach to life.
Imagine a basketball player who believes their team is destined for a championship. That belief may inspire confidence, but it has little value unless operationalized: practicing shooting, pivoting, concentrating, and competing in the moment. Success depends not on the belief itself, but on the actions taken—moment by moment.
Basketball And Living In The Moment
Basketball, like life, occurs in the moment. It is best performed when approached with focus and a sense of fun. A Fictional Finalism such as, “We’re a good team, and we will win regardless of the competition,” may reflect a positive attitude, but it does not make shots, win games, or secure a season. Those results come only through thousands of moments of practice and performance. We become what we do, not what we imagine.
The Power Of Focus
Living in the moment is unavoidable. We can daydream, but little happens until we focus on what we are doing and what it takes to achieve. Daydreaming is useful for imagining possibilities. Focus in the moment is about doing.
Building Practical Habits
Habits form through repeated moment-by-moment activities until they become automatic. Choose activities you enjoy—playing scales on the piano, practicing drum rudiments, or running passing drills in football. Set small goals, repeat them consistently, and soon they become second nature.
Peak Performers begin with passion and dreams, but they succeed by taking consistent, actionable steps in the present. Each moment builds neural pathways that drive performance excellence and lays the foundation for peak performance habits that last.
Practicing For Peak Performance
When you practice principles of Peak Performance—like Relaxed Moves, Power Moves, Elastic Moves, and Focused Moves from In The Zone Skills Training—you build skills that carry into many areas of life. Japanese culture provides a striking example of this process, showing how expectation and repetition cultivate lifelong habits.
How To Acquire Habits
Anthropologist Ruth Benedict, in The Chrysanthemum and The Sword, described Japanese child-rearing practices:
“It is the habit that is taught, not just the action… the movements are performed over and over literally under the hands of grownups till they are automatic.”
She observed that parents guided children not by punishment but by unwavering expectation that they would live up to what was taught. This parallels Social Learning Theory, where reinforcement and clear expectations shape behavior through repeated action.
Making Winning Moments Your Way Of Life
Whether in sports, music, or everyday interactions, success comes from developing effective, habitual skills. A pianist, athlete, actor, or craftsman achieves mastery not through imagining but through doing—moment by moment.
Learning Through Doing
A guitarist may dream of performing on stage, but real progress comes from practicing chords, scales, and transitions. Martial artists advance from white belt to black belt not through belief, but through countless hours of practice. Each step forward comes from sweat, effort, and persistence.
Love What You Do
Some see practice only as something to “get through.” Others love it. Those who enjoy the process—whether practicing the piano, shooting baskets, or running drills—are the ones who excel. Passion does not replace discipline, but it fuels it. Without passion, progress stalls. With passion, practice becomes play, and skills soar.
Seizing The Moment
Living in the moment unlocks your potential. Through focused practice, consistent habits, and passion-driven effort, each moment becomes an opportunity to grow. Align your actions with your goals, embrace the present, and transform dreams into reality—one mindful moment at a time.
👉 Want to strengthen your focus and live in the moment with greater intention? Explore the foundational skills in In The Zone Skills Training.