Find Your State of Flow

Those who are best at what they do are the best at being themselves.

Can you get into a state of flow if you aren't being your true self? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi¹ described the state of flow as "...the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity."²

Imagine this scenario. You're asked to give a presentation in front of a group of high-power executives. The stakes are high but you know the subject matter. Now imagine you are wearing someone else's clothes, someone who is an inch taller and weighs 20 pounds more than you.

You can cinch up the belt and wear shoes with a heel in them. The C-suite group may not notice, but you will. You will feel out of sorts. You will be hyper aware of where the poorly fitting clothes hang on your body in the wrong way.

You will be out of your state of flow. This is what it is like to engage in activity that is outside your comfort zone. This is what it is like to pretend to be someone you're not.

There are several factors that enable you to reach a state of flow. You must be free from distractions. You must have high confidence that you can succeed. And you must be yourself.

If you are a logical, left-brained person, would you be able to get into a state of total focus and flow while attempting a creative right-brained task? Probably not.

Discovering who you are is the ultimate prerequisite for engaging in activities that match your innate hardwired personality.

This critical need for discovery goes way beyond the binary state of being left- or right-brained, creative or logical.

The field of psychometrics has come a long way since the voodoo of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™ and its antiquated brethren. Today, personality assessments like the Core Values Index can reveal your emotional hardwiring with surprising accuracy and depth.

Take the CVI and get the real scoop on your personality. Learn what makes you tick, how you see the world, the ways that you like to connect and communicate with others, and get closer to understanding what your ideal state of flow will look like.

The first and most important step toward finding your state of flow is discovering who you are. The second step is to wear your own clothes.

For additional information, be sure to check out our article, "Ikigai: Finding Your Personal Happiness" at erep.com/blog/ikigai-finding-your-personal-happiness/

Notes

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)