The Flow State: Find Your Benefits Today
Article Summary
Flow state, also known as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. The flow experience can be related to the comfort zone along with peak performance. A state of flow is focused on the present moment.
Let’s identify elements of flow, and brain waves associated with the flow state, and even discover exercises to help you get into the flow state more often.
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Flow state
Also known as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. The flow experience can be related to the comfort zone along with peak performance. A state of flow is focused on the present moment.
Flow comes from intrinsic motivation or internal motivation and is common in successful people. There are certain personality traits that describe a person and team with a flow mindset. And yes teams can have a flow state. Once a team achieves a flow state there are no limits! In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption of what one does.
How Brain Waves activate flow state
Ideally to understand the flow state we need to identify the brain waves we have as humans. We have five brain wave states:
Gamma brainwaves (39 – 42 Hz) And the associated state is Heightened perception, learning, and problem-solving tasks.
Beta brainwaves (13 – 38 Hz) And the associated state is alert, normal alert consciousness, and active thinking.
Alpha brainwaves (8-12 Hz) The associated state is a calm, yet alert brain states. These are the “flow state” brain waves. being here, in the present NOW. This is where one has true flow experiences. Brain activity has proven this is a flow state. It is helpful to identify when your brain is working in this state.
Theta brainwaves (4-7 Hz) Theta waves provide the gateway to subconscious learning and intuition. Theta brain waves take place when our senses are withdrawn from the external world and focused inward. State Akin to sleepHypnotic or deeply relaxed state. You are not unconscious but can still control the direction of your thoughts. This state is a great place to start identifying limiting beliefs and even re-writing those limiting beliefs using the Pruning Shears of Revision as taught by Neville Goddard.
Delta brainwaves (1-3 Hz)The associated state is sleep, dreaming
Elements of flow
There are several elements of flow and we want to recognize these in our everyday life. There are many different ways to enter these elements of flow. We must consider having a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset in order to have the experience of flow. Let's discuss this.
Clear goals at an abstract and granular level.
By finding direction in relation to a meaningful goal, the mind is rearranged and recalibrated with purpose. Once we identify our purpose we can always come back to this element, especially when we encounter reactivity to a situation.
Complacency and stagnation longer lead to a "drifting" mind. The drifting mind is eloquently described in the book Outwitting the Devil. It takes discipline and life experience to prove to yourself that you can stop drifting and focus on reaching those long-term goals.
Set goals with qualitative and quantitative key performance indicators and we will discuss these in just a minute.
Purify the mind and intent. To purify the mind one must become aware of limiting beliefs and reprogram those limiting beliefs into empowering beliefs. To purify one ‘s intent one must become congruent with the heart and the mind. The perfection of one's motive inspires human action. An act is more or less pure depending on the degree of selfless love of God with which it is performed.
Immediate feedback and reporting
While in a flow state one gets immediate feedback and reporting of key performance indicators or KPIs. The feedback loop is powerful too. We have both quantitative and qualitative indicators.
Quantitative indicators are the most straightforward KPIs. In short, they are measured solely by a number.
Qualitative indicators are not measured by numbers. Typically, a qualitative KPI is a characteristic of a process or business decision.
Harmony between challenge and skill
We have all encountered a time when something is challenging for us. But while in flow one has a connection between the challenge and skill. We know when we are in the flow because our emotional state is balanced. Often times we can work with a challenge many times until we reach a skill level that equals the harmony between challenge and skill.
The good news is - it is possible. It is helpful to challenge oneself to further cultivate or perfect skills.
A mind engaged in the voluntary challenge to accomplish something worthwhile. This is the ideal state and creates a flow personality.
Action and awareness become one
Attention is absorbed by the activity. We become so involved in what we are doing that the activity becomes intuitive and one with the goal. We become capable of handling large, complex amounts of data. We make rapid, correct decisions. We see the connections, relationships, and nuanced distinctions. I like to say synchronicities are everywhere. When we are out of flow state or out of harmony we miss those synchronicities.
Distractions are excluded from consciousness. Fear, doubt, and indecision taper away.
We leave no room in the mind for irrelevant information as we become "one with" what we are involved with.
Our persoanlity becomes autotelic. The term “autotelic” derives from two Greek words, auto meaning self, and telos meaning goal. It refers to a self-contained activity, one that is done not with the expectation of some future benefit, but simply because the doing itself is the reward.
A stronger sense of TRUE SELF emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.
Time is Distorted
Time no longer seems to pass the way it ordinarily does. Hours seem to pass by in minutes; in general, most people report that time seems to pass much faster. But occasionally the time appears to slow.
The activity and the person become autotelic
"An autotelic person needs few material possessions and little entertainment, comfort, power, or fame because so much of what he or she does is already rewarding.
Because such persons experience flow in work, in family life, when interacting with people, when eating, and even when alone with nothing to do, they are less dependent on the external rewards that keep others motivated to go on with a life composed of routines.
They are more autonomous and independent because they cannot be as easily manipulated by threats or rewards from the outside. At the same time, they are more involved with everything around them because they are fully immersed in the current of life." -Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
Experience is that it is an end in itself. The activity that consumes us becomes intrinsically rewarding. Autotelic personalities seem to enjoy situations that others would find unenjoyable.
Enormous patience and persistence of a positive attitude in the face of prolonged adversity is experienced.
Unwavering lighthearted focus
Enjoyment is characterized by this forward movement: by a sense of novelty, and accomplishment. Playing a close game of tennis that stretches one’s ability is enjoyable, as is reading a book that reveals things in a new light, as is having a conversation that leads us to express ideas we didn’t know we had.
Closing a contested business deal, or any piece of work well done, is enjoyable. None of these experiences may be particularly pleasurable at the time they are taking place, but afterward, we think back on them and say, “That really was fun” and wish they would happen again.
After an enjoyable event we know that we have changed, that our self has grown: in some respect, we have become more complex as a result of it.
Be able to hold two polarizing thoughts in your mind
Spoiler alert: The journey and the destination are one. At least that’s the way I believe it to be. And this belief serves me.
When we don't identify with the destination but see the journey and the destination as one we can hold two polarizing thoughts at the same time.
Often the question is asked, “What’s more important? The journey or the destination?” Both have their benefits. But I believe the journey and the destination are one. This is a great state of mind and a huge part of the flow state. It is the psychology of optimal experience.
Exercise Flow Reflections
Identify and note any flow breakers use these to help you identify limiting beliefs and even identify flow breakers.
Reflect upon the beliefs around these flow breakers. Once you identify limiting beliefs you can reflect on them to see why your flow was broken. This can be very beneficial and won't even take much effort. You can start a flow journal. I use notion for this. It can help you see things in a new way and find your very own sweet spot.
Change them
Change how we relate to them
Accept them as they are
Change it
DODE do - optimize - delegate - eliminate
In conclusion
This is the very thing I coach. I use positive psychology tools and refer to these methods often in my flow coaching program.
If you want to see your confidence levels improve I highly recommend everything mentioned in this article today.
You now have action steps that you can start today. It will make a big impact in a great way in all areas of life. You'll find yourself living to your potential. Nothing is better than having a life worth living and the very step is trying new things and finding your full potential.
Thank you for spending part of your day with me. I trust that you found this beneficial. If you know someone who can benefit from this please share it with them using the simple share buttons to the side.