1: To achieve peak performance, we must enter what scientists call the flow state.
Otherwise known as “Being in the zone” or a “Runner’s High.” That feeling of “Being unconscious.”
Yesterday, we looked at three triggers that help us access the flow state: Autonomy, the curiosity-passion-purpose triad, and complete concentration, as outlined by Steven Kotler in his brilliant book, The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer.
Our next flow trigger is called “the challenge-skills balance.” Which Steven believes is one of the most important flow triggers.
Because flow demands task-specific focus. And, “we pay the most attention to the task at hand when the challenge of that task slightly exceeds our skill set,” he writes.
“If the challenge is too great, fear swamps the system,” Steven notes. “If the challenge is too easy, we stop paying attention. . .
“It’s the spot where the task is hard enough to make us stretch but not hard enough to make us snap.”
How much harder? In Steven’s estimation, 4 percent harder.
“This means that we pay the most attention to the task at hand when the challenge of that task is 4 percent greater than our skill set,” Steven writes. “This number [is] more of a metaphor than an actual metric. . . Yet, for thousands of people, this metaphor has consistently produced positive results.”
We must learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
“Tolerance for anxiety is a critical component of the challenge-skills sweet spot,” he observes. “When dialed correctly, we’re outside our comfort zone.”
Steven provides an example of when he is writing a book. “At the start, before I know what I’m doing, my goal is to write 500 words a day. In the middle, when I have a better sense of direction, that increases to 750 words a day.
“By the time I’m finishing, 1,000 is my target. In other words, while the challenge-skills sweet spot can be a moving target, 4 percent is how I aim.”
How do we apply the “challenge-skills balance” in our own lives?
“Simply think about the most important tasks we face in a day and ask ourselves if we’re overextended or underextended. Is the challenge too great? Does thinking about it produce too much anxiety? If that’s the case, chunk it into smaller tasks and lighten that load.
“If the opposite is true, if we find the challenges ahead understimulating, make them harder. Demand more excellence from ourselves.
“Either way, tune every task you do in a day, so each of them lands inside the challenge-skills sweet spot.”
2: Our next flow trigger? Clear Goals. Why?
“Clear goals tell us where and when to put our attention. If our goals are clear, the brain doesn’t have to worry about what to do or what to do next—it already knows. Thus, focus tightens, motivation heightens, and extraneous information gets filtered out.”
Once again, we aim for the challenge-skills sweet spot.
“A writer, for example, is better off trying to pen three great paragraphs than attempting one great chapter,” Steven writes. “Think challenging yet manageable—just enough stimulation to shortcut attention into the now, but not enough stress to pull you back out again.”
3: Next up? Immediate feedback.
“The term refers to a direct, in-the-moment coupling between cause and effect,” Steven writes. As a focusing mechanism, immediate feedback is an extension of clear goals. Clear goals tell us what we’re doing; immediate feedback tells us how to do it better.
“If we know how to improve performance in real-time, the mind doesn’t go off in search of clues to betterment. We keep ourselves fully present and fully focused and much more likely to be in flow.”
How much input do we need?
“Forget quarterly reviews,” Steven suggests.
“Think daily reviews. Studies have found that in professions with less direct feedback loops—stock analysis, psychiatry, medicine—even the best get worse over time. Surgeons, by contrast, are the only class of physicians who improve the longer they’re out of medical school.
“Why? Mess up on the table and someone dies. That’s immediate feedback.”
We must pay attention to learn the type of feedback we find most helpful.
Which varies by person. “Some people like the uplift of positive reinforcement; others prefer the hard truths of negative feedback. Some folks like this written out; other want to hear it aloud.”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: How might I use the “challenge-skills balance,” clear goals, and immediate feedback to get into the flow state and improve my performance?
Action: Experiment with these tools today.
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