An exercise for understanding Flow States and Self-deception

[Bubba66]

Have you ever noticed that flow states hit you out of nowhere, when you least expect or force it? The other day it occurred to me that flow states do not come because we simply want them to. Instead, the probability of Flow states increases as a result of forward motion, of momentum, and of disciplined action over time. 

There is a strange interplay between 1.Self-deception, 2. Higher consciousness theory, and 3. Flow states. This occurred to me as I was attempting to figure out how to get into flow more often. Flow feels good, flow feels like your life is meaningful and on track. So how can you uncover your potential for positive forward momentum by understanding the interplay between self-deception and flow? Answer the following for yourself:

1. How often do I use the excuse of "feeling overwhelmed" or needing to feel "regrounded" in order to get out of doing something productive? 

 

2. Can I start to notice when my mind tricks me into inaction? What mechanisms are being used (journaling for hours, binge-watching Leo's videos, reading and never taking any action)? 

 

3. Have I genuinely given the following habits the time needed for them to provide me with momentum towards flow states? Examples of habits:

- Daily Meditation upon waking.

-Exercising every day

-Journaling to a 30 minute timer?

-Setting 3 priority actions per day and executing them, regardless of resistance to action.

 

4. What is the longest I can go with my good habits before I self-sabotage? 

 

5. How can I realize that the pay off for establishing my habits as standards is greater than the sacrifice and pain felt in the process? In other words, is feeling flow states every day worth breaking free of my self-sabotage cycles? 

 

These questions helped me uncover the fact that I often use meditation, journaling, or watching content on youtube as mechanisms of procrastination. Second, they uncovered how I never let any of my good habit gain the momentum to get me "in the zone" or in "flow," so my mind never had a frame of reference that felt worthwhile for breaking free of my procrastination mechanisms. 

Often we choose mechanisms of procrastination that feel like they produce flow or forward momentum. They often do so in a hollow, unfulfilling way if we are self-honest. We need to build the endurance of our awareness to realize that they produce FALSE FLOW states, and that discipline brings a much richer flow experience over time. 

If you feel stuck in a cycle of inaction, of being addicted to comforts of "over-journaling" and binge-watching youtube for hours on end, then the very first step in curing your predicament is building your awareness of this cycle. 

1. complete the exercise above. 

2. pick ONE habit, establish it as your new "mindfulness over procrastination" experiment.

*For example, I chose doing 50 pushups every day no matter what. I asked myself every day, "what kind of momentum do I feel towards pushups today? Does it occur before or after I start doing pushups? Is this feeling worth it to me to continue improving my flow state frequency?" 

3. forgive yourself for self-sabotaging in the past, move forward with your new lessons and experiences. 

*forgiveness is key, because self-guilt perpetuates the cycle of sabotage. You did not know or have the frame of reference before this point to do any better, so now is your chance to start fresh every day, and run the experiment of flow to see where it goes. 

 

If you complete this exercise, or have useful input on this insight, let me know! Good luck with achieving flow. 

 

[r0ckyreed]

Wow! Thank you for this wonderful post! Great work! I am gonna try to work on this this week.

[Preety_India]

I would use a more flexible approach. 

Times where I want to achieve a flow state by cutting out distraction and anything that stops me from doing things on the spot. And times where growing in random directions offers me a new perspective and leverages my position in tailoring goals. 

However, wanting to have a better perspective on things before you get into motion is not necessarily a lack of mindfulness or self deception to me. Sometimes it could just be that you demand a better framework to base your future goals on and maybe you're simply trying to refine your standards and strategies before you're ready to for a Kickstart. I won't take this process for granted no matter how randomized or ungrounded it appears. 

To me both processes are equally important and so I'll optimize both and use them interchangeably, the best of both worlds, of course there's some bit of a sacrifice in the process but it would be worth it. 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Preety_India