A Simple Formula to Activate “Flow State” the Way High Performers Do!
“Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.”
— Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Do you remember any of your past experiences, when you found yourself deeply immersed into a state of flow?
You might have realized while finishing that important report, you didn’t realize when the time flew by. Or you were playing your favorite sport beating your all previous scores- without any thought about anyone outside- and again time flew by.
Or it might be any activity you were so engrossed that you had no idea how much time it took. The only thing you’d have said after such immersive experience was, ‘OMG, I didn’t realize I was into it since morning.’ Also with that statement you had deep satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment on your face.
Congratulations!
You already had a glimpse of what psychologists call a ‘flow state’ experience. They also call this high state of consciousness as ‘runner’s high’, ‘being in the zone’ or ‘peak performance’.
Psychologists define it this way:
“Flow” means the optimal state of consciousness, those highest moments of total absorption by the activity we are into, in such a way that we lose our own sense of existence. In such states, time seems to fly, and the performance of such person goes through the roof.
The flow state has been described by the world’s greatest thinkers as the most productive and creative state of mind in which work doesn’t remain work anymore, rather it becomes a joy.
Who doesn’t want to experience this state more often? Who wants to live such awe-inspiring moments only just for few moments?
Of course, everyone wants more!
And the similar quest to explore the concept of flow and how to have more and more of it, intrigued an Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to conduct detailed research on this subject– and it was him, who named this heightened state of consciousness as ‘flow’.
He conducted numerous studies and interviewed of more than eight thousand people around the world — from Dominican monks, to blind nuns, to Himalayan climbers, to Navajo shepherds — who enjoy their work.
In his TED Talk, explaining the results of his details research he stated that regardless of the culture, regardless of education or whatever, he found that below are the seven characteristics that are present when a person is in the state of flow:
1. They are completely involved in what we are doing — focused, and concentrated.
2. A sense of ecstasy — of being outside everyday reality.
3. Greater inner clarity- knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
4. Knowing that the activity is doable — that our skills are adequate to the task.
5. A sense of serenity- no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the age.
6. Timelessness — thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes.
7. Intrinsic motivation — whatever produces flow becomes its own rewards.
Most people would strive to do anything to experience one or more of these feelings — and the flow gives you the joyous feeling of experience everything in those moments.
I know the next obvious question is how to attain that.
yes, there is a formula to attain such heightened level of consciousness- the state of flow. Peak performers in every field of life, be it sports, business, education, politics and any other area, know very well about how to invite this flow state on-demand.
Good news!
You too can enjoy such blissful state — those awe-inspiring moments more often and here is the recipe for that.
How to Activate and Remain In Flow State?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the flow researcher in his book titled Flow explains that flow is all about the optimum interplay between the level of your skill and the challenges you come across.
In his words, the flow principle works like this:
“In all the activities people in our study reported engaging in, enjoyment comes at a very specific point: whenever the opportunities for action perceived by the individual are equal to his or her capabilities. Playing tennis, for instance, is not enjoyable if the two opponents are mismatched. The less skilled player will feel anxious, and the better player will feel bored. The same is true for every other activity. Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act.”
So the heart of the principle to enter into the state of flow is: to engage in such activities where our skills match our challenges. The principle goes like this:
1. If your skills are far greater than the challenges, then you will feel boredom;
2. If your skills are far less than the challenges you face, you will be in the state of anxiety.
Therefore, the mantra to enter in the state of flow is to match our skill level with the level of challenges.
The obvious approach is to increase the level of skills over time to make it equal to the level of challenges you want to handle.
If you’ve already discovered your purpose — about where you’re headed in life, and ready to take up any challenges in your life, then you’re already half-way through. The clearer you are about your purpose, the better it will help you assess your level of skills as compared to the challenges — and you’re ready to experience more of flow state.
To Sum Up
Below is how Csikszentmihalyi summarized the importance of clear goals and enhancing your skills to cope up with the challenge to attaining the state of high performance and becoming an extraordinary individual.
The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy — or attention — is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. These periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable of their lives. A person who has achieved control over psychic energy and has invested it in consciously chosen goals cannot help but grow into a more complex being. By stretching skills, by reaching toward higher challenges, such a person becomes an increasingly extraordinary individual.
(This Article is a brief excerpt from my book DISCOVER YOUR WHY
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