What is flow? Flow is the opposite of being stuck.
It’s being in the moment, and authentically doing what you somehow know instinctively you’re meant to be doing at that time. Flow is where things come easily, it could be ideas, words, creativity, conversation, athleticism or strength. Anything you love to do, you can experience a state of flow with.
It’s nice to be in flow, and better to know where it finds its way into your life. When flow is forced in another direction by a person, event or our expectations, it stops.
That’s an important realisation to make. Flow only happens in the moment, when you are doing what you love to do.
When I think of flow, I think of someone like Michael Jordan. who seemed to have the ability to turn on flow like a tap, to forget the past, the future, the pressure of the game, the millions of people watching or the result, and be completely in the moment.
It’s something every person has access to, but only very few find.
Flow changes the way the game is played. It doesn’t happen by force and it doesn’t obey orders, you can’t fake flow.
How to Know if You’re in Flow?
1. Time Slows Down
People in flow become so engrossed with what they’re doing they lose track of time. Some athletes seem to have the ability to play at a different pace to everyone else around them. Like they’re seeing the game in slow motion. That’s because the brain is so ultra focused on the moment at hand and soaking up every detail of the task. Famous musicians and artists have also been known to spend incredible hours working on their craft, losing track of time, even forgetting to eat, all in the expression of what they love doing.
2. External Worries, Concerns and Pressures Don’t Exist.
A flow state happens when you are completely in the moment. Worry and anxiety; things which get in the way of good performance – disappear. That’s because they can only exist when there is a future or a past to be worried about.
3. Awareness of Yourself Increases
People in flow feel and understand their bodies at a much higher level. Great dancers, athletes and martial artists have this knowledge and use it to their advantage. Bruce Lee could do push-ups on two fingers and break boards with a one-inch punch. The state of flow was a continual pursuit for his whole life.
4. A Feeling of Knowing What’s Going to Happen Next
It seems strange but some people feel as if they know and have control over what’s going to happen before it does. That’s because the way they are envisioning things perfectly unfolding in their mind is the way it actually is unfolding in reality. If you’ve ever seen a sportsperson in the zone, they seem to have this ability to put the ball in the right place at exactly the right time, seeing what no one else on the field could. They aren’t telling the future but just in complete sync with understanding what’s happening and what the best options to take in the moment are.
3 Ways to Get Into Flow State.
There are lots of resources on flow and theories of how to get into that state. From my experience, three things align to get the flow state happening.
1. Mindfulness:
Flow comes from the executive centre of the brain, not the amygdala. You can’t be in a quality flow state if you are in a ‘fight or flight’ mindset. Mindfulness, in whatever form, – meditation, floating, being in nature – quietens the mind, and brings you into the moment. This leads to point no.2.
2. Removing Expectation:
All of the best games, matches, articles, conversations, relationships and moments of my life have come from the removal of expectation of what ‘needs to’ or ‘has to’ be. Very often, those expectations are from some outside force, person or situation which you are letting get in the way of the moment. These expectations occur because of fantasies we create of the seemingly life-changing things that could happen if we achieve this result – more friends, more popularity, more money, more respect etc. The reality is if you tie the result of a performance to the accomplishment of a certain goal, you will never truly reach that fantasy. Because it will never be good enough. Removing expectations doesn’t mean giving up either, or not wanting to win, it simply means focusing on only that process, in that moment, without tying it to a dream of what the result may give you.
3. Be Sure it’s Something You Love to Do:
This is the most important part. True flow will only come from things you love to do. If you care about it and enjoy the journey, not the destination, what does it matter? When I hear people talk about things like writers’ block, a run of poor form, disengagement with work or lack of creativity, are all symptoms of not truly loving that activity at that particular moment in time, and not listening to something else that they really should be doing.
Good luck, and happy flowing!
