1: We’ve all experienced the joy of “being in the zone.”
We’re entirely focused on the task at hand. We have a heightened sense of clarity and creativity. We’re focused, deliberate, intentional. Time slows down. There’s a sense of peace and a feeling of being in control.
The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi first coined the phrase “flow state” in 1975. Mihaly, known as the “father of flow,” defines it as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.”
Flow can happen with any activity where we are fully engaged. Mihaly became interested in flow when he noticed how some painters seemed to forget everything else while painting.
Studies show that being in a flow state significantly drives overall happiness. In the moment, it produces positive emotions. In the long term, flow drives long-term benefits that help us live happier, more fulfilled lives.
But how exactly do we get into a flow state?
That is one of the questions Steven Kotler answers in his brilliant book The Art of Impossible.
“We used to believe that flow worked like a light switch, either on or off,” Steven writes.
We’re either in flow. Or, we’re not. But that assumption is wrong.
“Thanks to research done by Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, we now know that flow is a four-stage cycle,” Steven notes, “with each stage underpinned by different and precise changes in brain function.”
We have to move through each stage in succession. We cannot jump ahead or skip steps. When we get interrupted or distracted, we have to start all over.
Moreover, it’s not possible to live in the flow state. Yet, we can maximize the amount of time we spend there.
2: This week, we’ll explore the four stages: Struggle, release, flow, and recovery.
“While flow feels great, it’s only one step in a four-step process,” Steven writes. “And there are a couple of other steps that feel downright unpleasant. In fact, as we’ll see, that unpleasantness is a built-in part of the experience. It’s an unavoidable biological necessity.”
Stage one involves struggle.
“Optimal performance begins in maximum frustration,” Steven writes. “While flow is an incredible high, it can start with a deep low.
“Struggle is a loading phase. We’re loading, then overloading, the brain with information. And this is why the prefrontal cortex, which is deactivated in flow, is hyperactive in struggle.
“We’re learning in this stage. We need the conscious mind to acquire skills and information. Yet, this means that the inner critic, which is silent during flow, can be unfortunately loud during struggle. So buckle up,” he writes.
Think of the elite wide receiver in football who has that “catch of the year” moment.
That’s flow. But for that to be possible, the wide receiver has spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours acquiring the necessary skills that made that moment happen.
Learning how to run precise routes. Learning how to use the body to block out defenders. Learning how to make a one-handed catch in traffic.
Much of this time is spent in frustration. Not getting it right.
Here’s where it gets interesting. If we’re going to maximize our time in flow, we must understand that our emotions don’t mean what we think they mean.
The struggle stage “is frustrating by design,” Steven observes.
“For most people, frustration is a sign that we’re moving in the wrong direction, that it’s time to stop, rethink, and regroup.”
But, no. The frustration we feel is actually a sign that we are moving in the right direction. We are simply in step one of the four-step flow cycle. We don’t quit. We simply need to keep going.
If we “can’t handle the frustration of struggle,” Steven notes, “we can’t get access to flow, which means we can’t redeem the suffering of struggle.”
The bad news? That struggle can be a moment in time. Or days, weeks, or even months.
But it makes it easier to persevere once we understand this is simply the price we must pay to enter the flow state.
3: There are tools and practices we can utilize to help us stay with the struggle. Clear goals. Immediate feedback. Being in what Steven calls the “challenge-skills sweet spot,” where we are at the very edge or just a bit beyond our current capabilities.
When we are in a bad mood, it blocks creativity inside our brains. We can deploy gratitude, mindfulness, exercise, and sleep to reset our mood.
If we get stuck, we can turn up “the novelty, complexity, and unpredictability—meaning go struggle someplace new and novel,” he writes.
The one thing we must avoid in the struggle stage is “high consequences.”
We want to be on the edge of our current capacities, but “trying to force the issue rarely works out well—which is something every action sport athlete learns the hard way,” Steven notes.
Reflecting on one of his own mishaps, he writes: “I so clearly remember telling myself, ‘Just ski off this cliff, and afterward you’ll be in flow for the rest of the day.’
“Well, what actually happened was that I spent the rest of the day in the hospital and all of that night in surgery, and when it was all said and done, yes, they did manage to reattach my hand to my wrist, but there was no flow to be had along the way.
“Risks are things to take once you’re in flow, as a way to deepen the state. As a rule, risks are not a way to drive yourself into the state, unless, of course, you also want to drive yourself to the hospital.”
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: What surprises me about flow and the four-step flow process? What lessons can I apply?
Action: Do it.
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