Which Flow And Why
It doesn’t sound that difficult. Just go with the flow. Out comes the metaphors to help because without examples we just don’t understand. So almost anything fluid is used to get the point over – water, traffic, life even. It sounds simple, just head in the general direction and most things will be fine. If it were that simple we would have achieved our life’s ambition and be wondering about what we might do next. Therefore what does going with the flow actually mean and how do you make it happen? Therein lies the challenge we face.
We do our best to prepare for the events we face in life, large and small. We do that with the tools and techniques gleaned growing up while academics and clinicians become expert in particular subjects. When it comes to the psychology of a person it depends much on which branch you choose to follow. Without going too deeply into the subject, flow comes from the positive psychology stream. No pun intended! It looks at how people can improve their performance in their chosen field.
Sport is the obvious example to point to. It’s easy to see the improvement an athlete makes because they win more events. That’s what we see on the outside. What has happened on the inside though? Flow can help answer that question and show that it can apply to business as well as sport.
In The Business Or On The Business
How often have we heard this phrase? The most basic advice on how to grow a business includes it and the logic is right. If you spend too much time delivering your product or service the overall purpose can get lost. However, there is a difference when you consider how you relate to your business. If you are an observer you are on the outside looking in, detached and objective. If you are a player you are in the mix, engaged and subjective. That’s where flow comes into its own.
Flow is about focus and practice to achieve a state of peak performance. Hence the common sport analogy. Externally it’s about physical fitness, internally it’s about mental resilience. Peak experience is another name for the phenomenom. How do we achieve this state? Well, we all know what it’s like to be so engrossed in something we lose track of time. Sometimes we are so focussed on doing something that we feel part of it. Take rock climbing or diving for example, we can feel at one with the experience. The key is that we suspend judgement, we cease to be objective, we just be. That’s is when we are open to doing our best.
The technical phrase is achieving an Alpha state. Practically it is about slowing down to experience the moment. Then accept it and learn through reflection. It can be the difference between building a successful business, or not.
At the Coaching Revolution we work on our business and in our business. We believe in our cause and love what we do. Purpose and passion. You deliver your passion and we can work with you to identify your purpose. Flow
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