Performing at your very best is a game changer. To get into a flow state you have to be a state changer. Press the release button to shift from the day to day struggle and you’ll soon be in flow. But like many things in life there are always short cuts. But they are often expensive and damaging long term.
Various substances can change your state. Wander down any high street and in most countries you’ll find – alcohol, gambling, tobacco,
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In a recent posting (New learning needs new media) I shared an e-book on change. This time round it’s a 9 pager on The Art of Coaching that I use as a handout for my 1-day coach training workshops. There are two foundations to the ebook. Firstly, coaching needs to focus on states more so than skills. State trumps skills. If we are feeling confident, brave and in the zone then abilities accelerate. Secondly, it’s not about the coach. The
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The evaluation of learning often divides opinion. Should we spend the time and energy doing so? Can we accurately evaluate intangible results? If you can overcome some of the following challenges then yes it’s probably a worthwhile pursuit. If not you can be confident that evaluation may not be the answer you are looking for.
First up you don’t fatten pigs by weighing them. Evaluation therefore needs to confirm or change your approach. ROI often gets banded about, but what’s behind
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I presented at a conference recently on the familiar subject of authenticity. I want to share it here today because I managed to get this somewhat unwieldy subject down to 4 key areas – define, describe, develop and demonstrate.
Starting with definitions there are lots of different words attached to authenticity, in the video below I share some of the usual suspects. The etymology of the word value gets me every time. Making values valuable already gives an outcome to authentic behaviour.
When
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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal are the authors of Stealing Fire. Described by David Eagleman as “An electrifying, fast-paced journey into the deep potential of the human brain.” In their research they set out to define how much time and money we spend trying to get ‘out of our heads.’
Just think…in the last 24 hours have you reached out for a coffee or alcoholic drink? If you have then you are part of the $4 trillion dollar economy. The conservative estimates
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3 down (selflessness, timelessness and effortlessness) 1 to go and it’s less of a mouthful – richness. This time it’s not a lack of self, time or effort that dominates. It’s an increase in value. Intrinsic and extrinsic reward. Now you notice the pay off. You notice more of what’s around you. More of what matters to you. Optimal performance and its dividends. More P than L on the sheet at the end of year.
Richness is vivid, detailed and universal.
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Having explored selflessness and timelessness the third characteristic of flow revolves around effortlessness. The intrinsically rewarding nature of experiences compels us to do it again. I did it, I loved it and I’d like to do it again pretty soon. If you are deeply committed to a compelling goal it will not feel like a slog. As soon as an experience starts to shift us into a flow state our to do list is long forgotten. Passion, innovation and ease.
You
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In my last posting I explored the first characteristic of flow (selflessness), next up is timelessness. This is perhaps the easiest characteristic to notice in the moment because time goes a bit weird. It dilates. Either having the perception of slowing down or speeding up. Is that the time already? Because we are so time poor this perception is very much welcomed. Even in small doses we feel like we have more available time. More patience, more satisfied.
Past and future
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In a recent posting I introduced the 4 characteristics (selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness and richness) of a flow state described by Kotler and Wheal in Stealing Fire. Here I am going to take each characteristic in turn and dive a bit deeper.
Actually when we are in flow large swathes of the prefrontal cortex shuts down (transient hypofrontality) and we loose track. We loose track of ourselves. Silencing our inner critic and keeping the ego at bay. Risk taking increases as the
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Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (the founder/owner of outdoor clothing and gear brand Patagonia) is a classic read for anybody interested in organisations – their purpose, culture and values. The title alone is enough to challenge and support your philosophy of working lives. “We all needed to have flextime to surf the waves when they were good.”
There are some great tale of Yvon’s life and the values that he lives by – enjoyment, friendship, flexitime, personal image
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