I would like to share with you 3 ways to find your flow in life. Can you remember a moment in your life when you experienced effortless focus while doing something that you loved, that time seemed to fade away?
Positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes this as flow, a mental state of complete absorption in one's current experience. In this state, you feel productive, happy, and 100% focused on the task at hand.
Oftentimes this experience is short-lived, but imagine how good it would feel if you could harness this feeling whenever your heart desired.
In the words of Csikszentmihalyi himself, “The flow experience has the potential to make life more rich, intense, and meaningful; it is good because it increases the strengths and complexity of the self.”
The question is, “How do you achieve this flow state?” It's a lot easier than you think. Are you ready to learn 3 ways to find your flow in life?
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Activities that lead to a flow experience are called autotelic (from Greek: auto=self, telos=goal), because they are intrinsically motivated and gratifying. They also have an end in themselves, rather than in some other end product.
Finding your flow is about losing yourself in tasks that you are passionate about. It allows you to experience enjoyment in the progress of doing something challenging, yet rewarding.
Let's explore 3 ways to find your flow in life:
1. Calm Your Mental Chatter
Mental chatter is the inner noise that plays out in our brains every day. Before you attempt to go into a flow state, ask yourself what is going on in your mind that will prevent you from fully immersing yourself in a task.
A great way to do this is through meditation. Consciously bring attention to your thoughts, without engaging with them. Doing so will allow you to become more aware of the conditions that allow you to enter into a calm state of mind so that the experience of flow occurs naturally.
2. Find Your Zone Of Focus
We all know how discouraging it can feel to sit down, with the intention of immersing ourselves in one task, only to jump onto the next thing.
Research shows that multitasking actually drains the energy reserves of your brain. If you want to find your flow, you need train your mind to become fully immersed in one task.
Turn off all distractions until you've done nothing but the thing you set out to accomplish, for at least 20 minutes. Once you hit that point, you will tap into your flow state.
3. Do Work That You Love
If you aren't passionate about the work that you do, you will have a difficult time losing yourself in it. The best way to find your flow is to find what it is that makes you come alive inside. Invest time and effort into it, and don't settle for less.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, said it best: “If you’re into kite-surfing and you want to become an entrepreneur, do it with kite-surfing.”
A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that flow is highly correlated with happiness, both subjective and psychological well-being. When you utilize your talents at work and accomplish challenging goals that are meaningful to you, the outcome is full alignment with your passion and purpose in life.
These are 3 ways to find your flow in life. Knowledge about flow is great, but it's not enough. It will do nothing for you unless you take action and find ways to implement more flow into your life.
Make the effort to find that state of effortless concentration and enjoyment that makes life worth living.
Do you want to learn how you can master every area of your life? CLICK HERE to join my Life Mastery Accelerator program!