Flow Part 3: Archetypes in the Flow State

ARCHETYPES and FLOW - WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE

Improving your performance in any field of endeavour demands continual skill development but, maybe more importantly, an understanding of where you naturally thrive.

Whatever your chosen field, you'll almost certainly find that there are three steps that are necessary for everyone wishing to step up:

1. You clarify your goal - your desired outcome
2. You take action - engaging in the tasks required
3. You develop your awareness of what's working and what isn't - and keep at it until your goal is achieved

TEAM ME is all about empowering you to play your very best game - expanding your awareness of who you really are (using a model that is simple yet profound), then providing you with specific tools to help you take action where you need it the most.

Achievement is then a very natural by-product of the right actions based on good knowledge not only of the tasks you must complete but WHO YOU ARE as an individual.

If your life was a ship, we would want to raise the sails (your greatest assets) and also plug any holes that had appeared under the waterline (your greatest liabilities). But what kind of boat are you?

TWO PATHS

Over the past few years I've guided many people, through workshops and personal coaching, to improve their performance by increasing their understanding of two approaches:

1. My first book TEAM ME - Using Archetypes to Get Out of Stuck, explored the extraordinary power and potential of six universal character types that we all can access to help us overcome challenges and lay hold of our desired goals. This provided a focus on character - who you are and how you do life - and is essential for any lasting success.
2. Those who have attended the TEAM ME Flow Workshops or followed the online video courses will be familiar with the power and potential of the Flow State and have discovered how to set up their days, even their careers, to achieve a life of continual ‘flow’ - enjoying their work and excelling in their achievements at a whole new level.

The Twain Shall Meet

To those who have started their journey down one of these two paths, Archetypes or Flow, it may not instantly be clear how these two paths fit together. But the answer is actually really very simple and the result of integrating these two paths is extremely powerful:

The bridge between the world of archetypes and realms of flow can be found in the CORE CAPABILITIES that each archetype possesses.

Flow cannot be activated unless we have achieved a clear match between the level of challenge we are facing and the level of skill we have attained. And each archetype has its own distinctive capabilities - a set of skills it can bring to bear upon the sort of challenge it enjoys taking on. It is in these distinctive areas of capability that you will find your flow.

Flow cannot be activated unless we have achieved a clear match between the level of challenge we are facing and the level of skill we have attained.

Whilst some activities are neutral and can be taken up by anyone with the motivation to do so, there are clearly some activities that are only suited to certain, specific archetypal characters and other activities that definitely are not suited to that same archetype.

Counselling, that demands highly developed people skills requires the skills of one with a dominant Lover archetype - backed up by a reasonable level of Sage.

If you have a dominant Warrior in your team, you could not sensibly expect them to take on the counselling role - they’re simply not a good a fit. They want everything to be black and white, to force through the issue until it is resolved - and quickly.

The level of challenge is not suited to their level of skill and they therefore will not find their personal flow in that area. Better that they look elsewhere.

Equally you would find that accountancy is unlikely to be suited to you if you exhibit a dominant Sovereign character. You would quickly get frustrated by the required level analysis involved and soon get fed up of the details that need to be addressed. As a Sovereign, you will find your flow when your challenge requires big picture strategy and the orchestration of team activities.

Power Profiles

As always, we need to stress that no one on earth should be labelled purely as any one of these archetypal characters as it is vital we recognise that every one of us is a unique mix of all the characters. We do, however, almost certainly display dominant character traits and these will lead our typical approach to any situation.

Gaining an understanding of our archetypal profile (see the video on this for a quick and dirty method that is actually highly effective) will help us understand the kinds of activities we should focus on to most readily get into flow - and which are going to be a poor fit.

Each of the dominant archetypes has it’s own set of core capabilities.

To be effective, it is important that we either step up to the plate ourselves - tackling challenges that are within our reach - or we employ someone who is better suited to do so.

If we were to boil this down to what we’ve always known, we intuitively know that it makes sense to match a specific person to a specific task because, ‘well, she’s good at that sort of thing.’

Whilst this isn’t exactly rocket science, it’s shocking how many people in the world seem to persist in the practice of fumbling around in activities in which they’ve shown no gifting, no enthusiasm or any particular capability. Becoming aware of both our dominant and less developed archetypes will give us a profound steer towards the kinds of activities that will trigger our personal flow states.

FINDING FLOW

As you review the descriptions below, take note of the innate attributes of the six archetypes. Notice their unique point of courage (which is rooted in their values) and their specific capabilities - capabilities that indicate where they might find their own, unique area of flow.

Sovereign

Courage: To take responsibility. To initiate. To set boundaries.

Capability: To envision and direct their team.

Challenge: To establish a board of advisors (not just ‘yes men’). To be patient. To manage anger.

Warrior

Courage: To tackle the challenge head on. To face pain and endure.

Capability: To finish the job. To stay focused.

Challenge: To consider the people part of the equation. To acknowledge life isn’t always black and white.

Sage

Courage: To investigate and address the facts.

Capability: To analyse. To stay objective.To remove the mystery and get clear.

Challenge: To acknowledge that knowledge has a limit - not all things can be measured and understood.

Mystic

Courage: To keep on believing.

Capability: To imagine better things. To foster hope. To transcend and transform.

Challenge: To squarely face facts.

Lover

Courage: To accept what is. To show love to the unloving.

Capability: To patiently understand. To find common ground. To bring together.

Challenge: To get tough when needed. To enforce boundaries.

Jester

Courage: To disrupt. To break-up and breakout of he norm. To challenge the status quo.

Capability: To lift the weight of serious thought. To ridicule the system.

Challenge: To acknowledge what is meaningful to people and that some things do need to be taken seriously.

Bringing It All Together

Take this opportunity now to work with what you’ve discovered and follow through the exercise below to create a life of greater flow - a life of greater productivity and fulfillment:

1. If you’ve not done this before, take a moment now to create your personal archetype profile using this online Power Profile tool - or refresh your profile if it’s been a while. Notice the archetypes that are dominant; those that represent your greatest strengths.
2. Now create a list of between 5 and ten activities that naturally lead you into a flow state. Identify the things you do that are highly enjoyable but effortless - where you lose yourself and all track of time. Make a list now.
3. Then take time to answer the following questions:

• What do you notice as you compare your profile against the list of flow activities?
• Would you want to monetise any that are simply hobbies by writing about them, teaching others, creating products around them?
• How can you use this knowledge to do more of what you love?
• Would you like to be able to say, "I’m paid to do it but it doesn’t feel like work." ?

If you skipped the exercise, you’re clearly happy for things to stay as they are. I’d like to challenge that - if you give me permission to. Only you can choose the depth you want to go to.

Now, post a comment below and share anything that you’ve seen for the first time about yourself. Doing this will help cement the learnings and help you build a better life on this foundation.

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DISCOVER YOUR PERSONAL ARCHETYPE POWER PROFILE

Head over to www.teamme.com/app to get your instant Archetype Power Profile. Your results will make clear your strongest character traits and give you a clear path into your own personal flow.

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IF YOU MISSED IT...

Check out Flow Part 1: Discovering the Flow State to start at the source and Flow Part 2: Hacking the Flow State to continue your journey down this river of adventure.