![]() *It is also important to know that flow is not an all-or-nothing experience rather it’s a spectrum experiences this, as Fredrik Ullen reported in his great paper on the physiological components of flow (see further reading below): “degree of flow is a continuous variable that can be used to characterize the experiential quality of an everyday activity.” The gap between cause and effect is tiny-so we can always course-correct mid-flight. What’s critical is we know what we’re doing now and we know what we’re doing next so attention can stay focused in the present.ġ0. These are not big goals (like winning the Olympics in downhill skiing), rather they are much smaller chunks (like getting out of the starting gate fast). The challenge of the task at hand slightly exceeds our skill set so we have to push ourselves outside our comfort zone. ![]() Total focus on the right here, right now. ![]() More specifically, intense concentration on a limited field of information. We do it because the activity itself is so incredibly enthralling that it’s its own reward.ħ. The experience is intrinsically motivating. We are captain of our own ship master of this small slice of destiny.Ħ. ![]() We have a powerful sense of control over the situation. The experience becomes intrinsically-rewarding or-in technical parlance-“autotelic.”ĥ. Our sense of struggle and strife vanishes. Past and future disappear and we are plunged into an eternal present, a deep now.Ĥ. We experience an altered perception of time. In other words, actions feel automatic and require little or no additional resources.Ģ. From the perspective of consciousness, we become the action. Whatever the case, if you want to know if an experience qualifies as flow, you can use these ten items (or, if you agree with us, the first six) as a checklist.ġ. Currently, we’re attempting to take a deeper look at this triggers in our Flow and Creativity study and our Flow and Psychedelics study (see ongoing research below). That said, we’re not totally convinced we’re right either-so we’ve teamed up with outside scientists/researchers to drill down further. We also tested this idea within our community (see research methodology below) and got a bit more proof. We think this is true, because, in our research for The Rise of Superman, hundreds of athletes described using these four “characteristics” as ways to drive themselves into the state. This is not to say that these ‘characteristics’ aren’t present during the state, we are simply arguing that they tend to arise before the state itself and are actually drivers that propel us into it. Instead, we think these four are actually “ flow triggers” or pre-conditions that lead to the experience. While we absolutely agree that the first six of these characteristics constitute flow, we’re not yet convinced the last four (intense concentration, immediate feedback, clear goals, and the challenge/skills ratio) are characteristics of the state. Here at FGP, we deviate slightly from this notion. While each of these phenomena can be experienced independently, when they all show up together-that’s flow. The research of Csikszentmihalyi and a few other scientists uncovered ten core characteristics (see list below) that underpin the state. How the hell do you know if you’re in flow-or what’s a more technical definition of flow?
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