Flow and Purpose

Doug Newburg did a study of 500 World-Class Performers (WCPs) across a variety of fields. What he found was a consistent way of thinking shared by this elite group. The goal of this article is to share those thought patterns and give tips on how to adjust our internal VABEs (Values, Assumptions, Beliefs, Expectations) to incorporate some of the concepts embraced by WCPs so that we may enjoy fuller lives. One important aspect of WCPs is they often have a sense of flow. We'll cover flow further down in the article so that you can arrange your life to better get in the zone.

As I read this 13th chapter of Level Three Leadership it reminded me of Ray Dalio's Principles for success. There is a nice video to watch that also shares these ideas. (https://www.principles.com/principles-for-success/ )

Here is what WCPs tend to believe.

1) They have a dream (Internal and External)

External dreams are similar to goals. Things that you can imagine happening if you work at it. Imagining winning the game; or getting a project completed; or getting into your favorite school. This is where most people stop, at the achievement.

WCPs go a step further and include goals about how they want to feel and what they want to experience. These are "Internal" dreams instead of "external" ones. An engineer that wants to feel a sense of being in the zone, and becoming one with the code. A manager wanting to deliver a great project so that she can experience a win as a team or get that feeling of satisfaction knowing the impact they had on customers around the world.

Take a moment and ask yourself how you want to feel today? What do you want to experience during the next year. Take your external achievement oriented goals; and add feelings to them. Think about the experiences you want to have on the journey to that goal. Day dream about them.

Essentially, WCPs start from a place of purpose. Who are they? What is their purpose? Contemplate those questions, explore and arrange life to be lived authentically towards both.

2) They are willing to work hard and they prepare for what they want

Our dreams don't magically happen. If you want to feel a runner's high -> you can't walk -> you have to run! WCPs spend enormous time and energy preparing for what they want. This can be years of practice. If you want to feel flow while coding; you'll have to train your coding skills. It takes discipline to live your best each day. One of the things that helps in the preparation stage is revisiting your dream. It may be good to question your dreams as well. Maybe you really hate running but love the wind in your hair. Switch to biking as practice/preparation is a large part of the journey.

Look at the internal dreams you thought about above. What's needed to prepare for experiencing that? What hard work will you have to do?

3) They feel personally responsible for creating their freedoms and exploring themselves

WCPs believe they need to experience different things, and push themselves to continually learn and grow. They don't wait for their dreams to happen. They explore the world around themselves, and in doing so learn about themself.

As you practice and prepare, don't do the same thing or do things in the same way. Mix things up. Find variations. Focus on the techniques and ignore the goal while you are practicing. Alex Honnold (Free Solo Climber) said that new climbers generally focus on getting to the top. He said it's best for new climbers to focus on each foothold/handhold and mastering the climbing techniques. We often jump to our end external goal (lose weight, finish a project, get to the top of the mountain). It's good to be reminded to focus on the internal (feeling/experience) goal (i.e. live a healthy life each day, improve at your craft each day, be in the moment during the climb).

A note of warning, if you find yourself saying "I must" or "I have to"; you moved away from freedom, autonomy and choice. Look internally at what's needed to reclaim your freedom.

4) They encounter significant problems

Life can suck, even when our intentions are good. Athletes get injured, people don't get their top school, professionals fail to land a dream job, working with people can be messy, obstacles in the way of our destination happen. It can be as simple as not feeling like waking up in the morning; or as deep as an unexpected death of a loved one.

We all encounter problems. A couple things WCPs do is to start small and revisit the dream. An example of starting small is that if you don't want to practice for 30 minutes - what amount of time isn't scary? Do that smaller amount, as starting is often the hardest step. Go back to your dream as that can provide powerful motivation to cary you through the obstacle.

5) They manage their energy over managing their time

A problem most people face is they enter a loop between preparation and obstacles; never getting to the point of experiencing the revitalizing energy of flow. The thought is to reach a goal one must work harder, try harder, push more. This depletes energy to the point that even a super hero would give up. It's like a late project where people start working extra hours which causes tired thinking, bugs, and mistakes that push out the project.

Instead of focusing on how to use time most efficiently, WCPs look at how they use their energy most efficiently. Does exercise, sleep, and eating healthy give you energy? If yes, even in stressful scenarios where you don't have time, get exercise, sleep and eat healthy.

If certain people and tasks drain energy. Find ways to do less of those. If certain people and tasks provide energy. Find ways to do more of those. The goal is to get into a state of flow, so that practice provides energy. Instead of thinking with anxiety about how hard one must work, or how far behind they are; think about what is needed to get into a state that rebuilds energy.

This is easier said then done :)

6) They experience flow

The Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi extensively studied flow by looking at over 10,000 people's experiences of flow. What he found is flow is more of a spectrum where we can be a little bit in flow, or all the way in flow. These six things happen during flow to different degrees; Intense concentration, self disappears, heightened awareness, time is altered, powerful sense of control, the experience itself is rewarding. He also found people that experience flow regularly are happier and more satisfied with life.

About Flow:

Flow can be created by setting up certain conditions. These conditions are in four main groups internal, external, creative, and social. I'll list them here, but for more information read the book "The Art of Impossible, A Peak Performance Primer".

Things That Trigger Flow. . .

Internal Things: Autonomy - do things you want to do. Curiosity/passion/purpose - do things that spark your curiosity/passion/purpose. Concentration - give yourself 90-120 minutes to focus on things without email/cell phones. Goals - have clear micro goals on the task you are about to do. Immediate Feedback - get feedback on how you are doing as instantly as possible. This is why sports is easy to get in the zone. Find ways to get quick feedback on what you do (hint to engineers: TDD). Challenging our skills - Do things about 4% outside of your comfort zone. Too easy, we get bored. Too hard, we are out of control.

External Things: High Consequence - Do things that matter. Failing should hurt. Succeeding should feel great. Novelty/Unpredictable/Complex - Your environment should excite you. Do this by keeping things new, adding in randomness, and making things complex. Use multiple senses - Try to use more than just one sense for an activity. (Touch, Sight, Sound, Feel, Taste).

Creative Things: Pattern Recognition - Read, and do things to get more experiences to draw from. Look at things outside of your niche. Imagination and differences - Try to solve problems in different ways and use your imagination to creatively test your skills. Express yourself - Make your craft a part of who you are by expressing yourself through your craft.

Social Things: Shared concentration, goals, and risk - Similar to the internal factors, with a group you'll also want to be present, share social goals that are clear, and the activity should have some risk. Active Listening and good communication - connecting and communicating with a group helps that group get into flow. Blending Egos - in group flow people lose their identity and feel at one with the group. Equal Participation - everyone has a stake and voice. Familiarity - The group is familiar with each other and knows each others strengths and weaknesses. Confidence - the group believes in their collective capabilities. Additive Interactions - instead of saying "no", people in the group find ways to say "yes" and add to ideas instead of shutting them down.

The Flow Cycle: Flow doesn't continuously happen. It follows a predictable pattern with the above triggers helping to create the right situation/environment. This cycle can happen in a large time frame or in a micro-cycle.

Flow Cycle Step 1) Struggle and frustration - Expanding skills is hard, you probably stink at first. Practice. Start. Read and research areas relating to a technical problem. This requires grit. You can't get flow without paying the entrance fee.

Flow Cycle Step 2) Release - After being frustrated you need to let go so your subconscious can take over. Chill out and trust your preparation and skills to take over. Essentially, during struggle you are in your head; now you need to get out of your head. Take a walk, take a shower, hang out with friends, breathe (Don't do TV or phones as that requires too much brain activity to chill). When I code, there is music I listen to that helps me zone out, so I can zone in.

Flow Cycle Step 3) Flow itself - After we let go, we enter flow by being 100% in the present, doing a craft we have skills in and enjoy. See the above list of flow triggers that enable us to start and amplify a state of flow.

Flow feels great so we'll want to stay in the zone. Four things knock us out of flow. Avoid the following. . . Distractions, Negative Thinking, Fatigue/Boredom (Getting to either end of the energy scale), Skill Gaps (If you start doing something you don't have skills for, or stop challenging yourself).

Flow Cycle Step 4) Recovery - Sleep, stretch, meditate, do things that fill your tank. During flow, everything feels/looks great. Now that you are out of flow. Take the time to reflect on what you learned and determine what is quality, and what only appeared good because you were in the zone (People are really bad at judging things when in a state of flow as everything appears awesome). Remember that after recover, you can't go directly back into flow. You'll need to struggle again. Get yourself to a place that you are ready for that struggle.

In Closing:

The purpose of life for many WCPs can be summarized by four things.

A) Find what makes you feel flow.

B) Invest in experiences that provide flow.

C) Enjoy living in flow.

D) Help others find their flow.

See www.level3leadership.com for more.