Mental Skills to Get Into Flow

You’ve felt it, right? 

You know…how sometimes when you’re involved with something everything just flows and other things simply fades away.  You’re mind is clear, you feel great and you’re more energized after your done then when you started.

That my friend is being in “flow” and being in the flow leads to success.

People from all disciplines and time periods have been in it, felt it and talked about it.  But only a select few have been able to teach people how to get into the flow.  Probably the easiest types of people to get purposefully get into the flow are elite athletes.  They know what it feels like, and how to get into it better then most people.

For other 98% of us that aren’t elite athletes we’ll need to first describe what the flow feels like, so that you can be aware, remember it and develop the mental strength skills to access it.  One key attribute to getting into flow is to possess the skills for the task at hand.

What the Flow Flees Like

When you’re in the flow you:

• Fell neither bored or anxious 
• Lose self-consciousness
• Feel somehow a part of something greater then yourself
• Are totally focused
• Feel in control without trying
• Feel like time disappears

These were just a few of the common feelings of being in the flow; I’m sure you’ve felt a few of them at one time or another haven’t you?

Learn to Flow

Looking at the elite athlete again as an example, they indicate that most factors for entering the flow are controllable by a developed strong mindset. 

Another part of learning to flow is to know what it feels like for you.  This would mean being aware of your felling when you’re in it and afterwards.  This may sound contrary and you may be thinking “If I notice that when I’m in the flow, won’t that take me out of the flow?” …No.  The noticing is a simple glance, not a stare and actually it’s more of awareness.

 Learning to flow is very much like learning anything…the more you do and notice the success the better you become.   Just like riding a bike, you didn’t know what it felt like to ride a bike before your rode a bike.  But the more you rode the better you got and now you can very easily explain what it fees like to ride a bike.  Learning to flow is the same process.

How to Enter the Flow

Two things are required to enter the flow.  The first is to have the skill needed in proportion to task.  The second are the fowling mental strength skills 

• Raise Your Attitude:  The more confident you are with your ability, the more resilient and yet realistic you are with the task at hand the more likely you’ll slip into the flow

• Make a Plan: Clarify your long, mid and short term targets.  You’re targets have to be challenging enough to keep you engaged, but not too challenging where you get frustrated and lose interest.   Setting a goal for each step that leads your to primary target.  NOTE: Target is defined as the end result, where goal is the process or step necessary to get to your target, i.e. write a book by the end of 12 weeks.  This would be your target.  Your goals might be writing a chapter a day.  To break that goal down, write a page an hour.

• Get Feedback: This could as simple as keeping a journey of your actives all the way to hiring a coach for accountability.  Which ever way you decide, getting feedback is critical in assisting you in finding and getting into the flow.

• Inward Focus: By giving full attention and concentrating on what you’re doing and only on what you’re doing allows for full emersion into the flow.  Basically you want to put on mental blinders and see nothing else then the task at hand.

These mental strength skills, when practiced, will become second nature to you as you enter the flow.  But practice and awareness is the key.

The Flow Your Way

We are all unique and different, as such, not all techniques work for everyone.  Experiment with different process, i.e. play music, don’t play music.  Have something to eat, drink tea…play around with different environmental aspects that assist you in developing the mind skills to enter your flow.

Once you have found your flow, teach others to find their flow.  Nothing reinforces something better then to teach it.  By teaching others you’ll not only deepen your mental strength skills you’ll be helping someone else develop theirs…and is that what life is about…help others to live in their full personal peak potential?

The e-book “How to Develop the Mental Strength of Warrior” has great exercises to help you get into flow.

I’d like to hear from you now…how do you get into flow?  Please provide your tips in the comments below.