Power Acronym 114: F.L.O.W.
Flow like a 🦋 Sting like a 🐝
I'm not an expert on flow like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi or Steven Kotler, both of whom have researched and wrote books on the subject:
Here's a quote about what Flow is to each of them:
“Flow is an optimal state of consciousness, a peak state where we feel both our best and perform our best. It is a transformation available to anyone, anywhere, provided that certain initial considerations are met." - Steve Kotler
“A state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
And if you're really interested in learning more about flow, check out this article or sign up for Heroic, where I learned more about the subject from these two authors.
I decided to write flow into a Power Acronym.
Let me know what you think!
Power Acronym 114: F.L.O.W.
Focus
Focus is a superpower today.
The smartphone you're reading this on is a useful tool but a terrible master.
In the age of distraction, focus is a competitive advantage.
Here's another quote from Csikszentmihalyi:
“A state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”
Leverage
Alex Hormozi, a very accomplished entrepreneur who puts a ton of very good business information online talks about the importance of leverage.
Order
There must be some control over the task to achieve flow. Kotler talks about the “flow state” being the balance between skill and challenge.
Jordan Peterson speaks about Order in his book 12 Rules of Life:
“Order is not enough. You can’t just be stable, and secure and unchanging, because there are still vital and important new things to be learned. Nonetheless, chaos can be too much. You can’t long tolerate being swamped and overwhelmed beyond your capacity to cope while you are learning what you still need to know. Thus, you need to place one foot in what you have mastered and understood and the other in what you are currently exploring and mastering. Then you have positioned yourself where the terror of existence is under control and you are secure, but where you are also alert and engaged. That is where there is something new to master and some way that you can be improved. That is where meaning is found.”
Will
I like to call this “leaning in to life”.
That feels right to me.
The decision to move forward despite the fear.
That's will.
I love to collect antique personal development / positive psychology books.
This one was published in 1917.
Here are some quotes from the first pages:
"The Will is a way a person has of being or doing, by which itself and the body in which it dwells are directed."
"The Will is the Soul Itself Exercising Self Direction."
Flow like a butterfly. 🦋
Sting like a bee. 🐝
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