"At the peak of tremendous and victorious effort, while the blood is pounding in your head, all suddenly becomes quiet within you. Everything seems clearer than before, as if a great spotlight had been turned on.  At that moment you have the conviction that you contain all the power in the world, that you are capable of anything, that you have wings. There is no more precious moment in life than this, the white moment, and you will work very hard for years just to taste it."

Many people call it being "in the zone."  When you are performing "in the zone" you have switched from training mode to trusting mode. You are not fighting yourself. You are not afraid of anything. You are living in the moment at a special place and time. The white moment is a reward for all your hard work and preparation. You just go with the flow and enjoy the experience.

Many athletes have experienced this sensational experience at one point in their career but for most it happens by chance. The greatest performers in history have these moments often and for them it happens by design. There are 5 essential elements that must be present within the performer in order for a white moment to occur. If you wish to be great you must learn create "white moments" on demand by developing these 5 elements.

1. Challenge- The challenge must be great enough to exert 100% of your energy and focus. The moment must be significant enough to stimulate all of your senses and nerves. The goal must be difficult to achieve but realistic.

"I do not look at my opponent as a threat to fall to but a challenge to rise up to." -Jon Jones

2. Preparation- You must cultivate a set of appropriate skills, which requires the concentration of attention. The skills and perpetration must be equal to the challenge. Confidence is built through preparation and confidence is essential. When you have properly prepared you trust that the skills you have are sufficient for the task.

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." -Muhammad Ali

3. Fearlessness- You can't be afraid to fail. You are more likely to achieve your goal when you let go of the need to have it. Let go of the need to win and you can perform freely. Attack any remaining fear with anger. Replace uncertainty with attitude. Transform anxiety into excitement.

"I cannot promise a win. I can only promise to perform to the best of my ability. I am confident that will be enough." -George St. Pierre

4. Focus- Focus only on what you can control. Extrinsic goals such as beating an opponent, impressing an audience, or obtaining a big contract can be distractions. You cannot control your opponent, the crowd, or the outcome. What you can control is your preparation, game plan, and performance. Uncontrollables are distractions. Focus only on that which you can control.

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus." - Alexander Graham Bell

5. Happiness- You are in a special place and time, just go with the flow and enjoy every second. When you are having fun you are lose and can perform freely. This moment is a reward for all of your hard work. This is your bliss where you can be totally free and completely lost in the activity you love most. This is you nirvana, enjoy it!

"I feel like I have already won. I get to go out there and do what I love one more time" -BJ Penn

Phillipians 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." … even when no one else think I can.

I just started a new job last week. My boss gave us the same speech that every good wrestling coach ever gave me. It went some thing like this, " this job is not going to be easy. I expect you to work your tail off. You are to work a mandatory 50 hrs a week but I expect you to work more. If you are willing to work ridiculously hard, this could be a great deal for you. If you aren't than, I'm sorry, this just isn’t the place for you."

I hesitate to tell people in the MMA world the extent of my commitment to this job for fear they just won't understand. People keep saying, "oh that sucks, so you are done fighting right? I mean there is no way that you can do both." I just shake my head and say to myself, "Oh you of little faith, you just don’t understand, I can do ALL thing through Christ, not just what everyone else thinks is possible."

Every day since I started work I have had amazing training at night. My office has a full shower and locker room so when fight camp comes I can run on my lunch breaks to get my cardio in. It is possible to be great at both.

I intend to fight and to work. And I intend to be great at both, God willing. I feel that God has called me to be a fighter. MMA gives me a great platform to show the world the power of Christ. I also feel God has called me to do big things in the world of business. Business will give me a great opportunity to give back and provide for kingdom building causes.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that this world is filled with small thinkers. If you are crazy like me and try to something so big, so hard that people don’t understand, don’t listen to the doubters. Just shake your head and say to your self, "you just don’t understand. I am energized by He in whom ALL things are possible."

Aristotle said, "More than anything else, men and women seek happiness." The pursuit of happiness seems to be the motivation of all human activity. But how does one go after this so desired happiness? How is happiness achieved?

Happiness is not a passive emotion. It doesn’t just come to a person without effort. I had a wrestling coach who drilled in our heads one motto all year long, CANI (Constant And Neverending Improvement). I love this motto but I think it could just as easily be modified to Constant And Neverending Pursuit of Happiness because happiness comes from the improvement of the self.

Growth is the key to happiness. People feel the most enjoyment when they feel like they are progressing. Certain activities provide such growth opportunities. These activities have some key characteristics in common.

First, the activity must be challenging. If it was easy it wouldn’t be worth doing. If you thrown in the Super Bowl in the last 10 seconds of the game and thus became part of the championship team that feeling wouldn’t compare to the feeling of the guy who had worked his whole life for that particular moment. It’s the overcoming of obstacles and the struggles that one goes through that makes the great moments taste so sweet. Edmond said, "He who wrestles with us sharpens our nerves and skill. Our antagonist is our helper."

The second criterion for a happiness generating activity is clear goals and immediate feedback. You must know what defines success in that activity and you must have a good way to measure that success. If there is no feedback how would one know
if they are succeeding?

The following are the main areas of happiness that I focus on in my life, ranked in order of importance.

1. Religion
Religion enables me to see my whole life as a happiness generating activity. Without a set outline of what is right and wrong how would anyone know if they are improving as a person? Life without religion is like a playing a game without rules. Such a game cannot generate happiness because there is no feedback. Cicero said, "To be completely free one must become a slave to rules."Religion is a means to measure my growth as a person. The goals are clearly mapped out by Jesus, love God and love others.

2. Relationships
To generate happiness, a relationship must have a goal for its existence. These goals must be in line with each person's individual goals and also be mutually beneficial.  Constant growth is also a key. I've heard happily married people say, "It only gets better over time." That’s the kind of marriage I want to have. Family has a natural progression of growth; infatuation to love, love to marriage, marriage to kids, etc. Maybe that’s why our family relationships have such a huge impact on our quality of life.

3. Work
"If you find a job you love you will never work a day in your life." The key to work creating happiness has to do with the design of the job. It must provide challenges comparable to the skill level of the person. A job that is too easy will result in boredom, too hard, anxiety. Also, there must be clear and immediate feedback. Sometimes the feedback comes in the form of monetary success. I once heard a professional poker player say, "I don’t care about the money. It's just a way of keeping score."

3. Mixed Martial Arts
The reason I love fighting so much is because of the amazing challenges that it presents. For every fight I must overcome physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual obstacles. While I hate the process leading up to fight night, the feeling I have once I have overcame all of these obstacles is incomparable and indescribable.

5. Guitar
I started teaching myself to play the guitar about a year ago and let me tell you, it is not easy. After a lot of frustration and persistency, I can now play about 2.5 songs. But the feeling I get when I learn a new song and it starts to sound like an actual song is amazing. I can sit and play for hours and lose all track of time. What's even cooler is that I know the better I get the more enjoyable it will become!

**Money (not really an activity but still worth mentioning)

Money cannot buy happiness… unless it is spent on someone else. Challenge? Yes, giving money is challenging. That’s why most people don’t do it, or at least don’t do it very often. Feedback? Try giving money to worthy cause and, if you are like me, you will feel the feedback deep in your belly right away. The immediate feeling of satisfaction you get from knowing that you are improving someone else's life for nothing in return is priceless! The more you give, the greater the challenge, the greater the happiness. Try it out, you wouldn't be disappointed.

Most of these theories were derived from the book FLOW by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I highly recomend this book. It changed my life.