Chances are, at some point in your life, you have experienced flow. Athletes call it being “in the zone”, and Buddhist monks refer to it as a “heightened state of consciousness”. Flow describes those times where you get lost in the moment, becoming so involved in a task that you lose some sense of awareness of yourself and time.
As an entrepreneur and technologist, I typically encounter flow when I succeed in tackling complicated concepts, learning an obscure topic or developing new AI models. In these highly engaging sessions, it sometimes feels like a hour has gone by only to see it has been only a few minutes. Flow produces such a powerful therapeutic effect, that both me and any of my partners or staff (developers and data scientists) react to it extremely positively. We both complete the work, get great results and are often in awe, with my partners and staff often feeling like I “blew their mind” and myself feeling highly skilled and effective.
What exactly happens psychologically when we experience flow? And, why is this state of heightened consciousness inherently peaceful and relaxing? These mysteries are at the center of new moment in psychology (called “positive psychology”) which aims to better understand human flourishing and positive emotional states.
Flow was first described by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist who in 2002 wrote a popular book on the subject and became well-known for this research in the realm of positive psychology. Through Mihaly’s work, psychology discovered one of the first underlying mechanisms to happiness and relaxation. The concept of flow was exciting because it appeared to be universal across all cultures.
It has been found that flow occurs when we experience a state of psychological tension that is manageable for us. That level of challenge heightens our perception, but also preoccupies our consciousness with the task at hand. So, if flow is anything, it is simply a state of hyper-focus.
Flow is more likely to happen in situations of:
So what do you do when all signs point to having to go to University to gain any sort of advantage? Unfortunately it’s the current state of affairs that most employers will not hire you unless you have a degree for even junior or starting jobs. Once you have that degree, coming to my Mentor Program, with 1000ml with our Patent Pending training system, the only such system in the world; is the only way to gain the practical knowledge and experience that will jump start your career.
Check out our next dates below for our upcoming seminars, labs and programs, we’d love to have you there.