1: We’ve just had an intense “flow state” experience. 

We’ve been completely absorbed in the activity, losing our sense of time. Our actions and awareness have melded together, and we’ve felt a powerful sense of being in control. 

We’ve successfully traveled through the first three stages of the flow cycle: Struggle, release, and then flow.

How do we feel?

Likely, we’re wiped out. “Even the extra energy … continue reading

1: We come home from work tired.  We’ve struggled to solve a problem.  We decide to take a shower.  To wash away all our frustrations. 

Standing there, we feel the water beating against our bodies.  We relax.  Our mind wanders.

Boom.  An idea hits us like a flash of lightning. 

What just happened?  We’ve moved through three of the four stages of the flow cycle: from “struggle” to … continue reading

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 … continue reading