“You know that what you need to do is possible to do even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.”
The quote above is from a Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the one who discovered flow, describing the state of flow. According to him, achieving the flow state on a regular basis is a key component of happiness. This is for the reason that Flow State can increase your level of productivity and creativity at the same time.
This article is for everyone especially Sports Athletes who want to enter the state of flow to achieve top level performance.
What is Flow
One of the amazing people who discovered the essence of flow is the Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. According to Csikszentmihalyi flow book, it is when you’re completely involved in an activity with intense focus and creative engagement. Some athletes called this “the zone”, a peak state where we both feel our best and perform our best. People in the elite flow state or in the zone explain that when they enter this ecstasy, it’s as if they don’t exist.
“Everything goes silent. Time slows down. My peripheral vision fades away. It’s the most peaceful state of mind I’ve ever known. I’ll take all the failures. As long as I know that feeling is coming, that’s enough to keep going.” – Danny Way, Professional Skateboarder.
Danny Way is one of those Action Sports Athletes who entered the Flow State. It is the only reason action and extreme sports athletes are surviving the big mountains, big waves, and big rivers.
For me, as the one who entered the Flow State, it’s the most amazing feeling I ever had on my sports training career. Before I discovered this state, I have been sick of those unsatisfying results, the feeling of not performing the best, and everything seems so hard. Well, not until I entered the Flow State.
How does it feel to be in Flow?
The following are the key components of the flow state. Every Elite sports athletes who entered the flow state already had these components and most of them made these their reason why they keep on entering the flow state.
- Clear Goals
- Strong Concentration and focused attention
- A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness
- Distorted sense of time
- Immediate Feedback
- Balance between skill level and challenge
- Personal control over the situation
- Absorption
If you want to learn more about flow and optimal performance, be sure to check out my video, Flow - The light Inside Darkness.
How to Enter the State of Flow
Think about it…
How great could you be if you’re able to do your best with the extreme focus and concentration wherein you have the full control of yourself and the environment that surrounds you?
Have you ever wondered how elite athletes, adventure sports and extreme sports athletes perform their best without thinking the fear and the danger that may happen during their top level performance?
They use this secret.
This secret drives them to the flow state where their full body and soul are on their task. Their minds have clear goals with full concentration, like a feeling of self-unconsciousness that the time seems distorted. And the skill level and challenge level are just balanced because they have the full control over the situation.
They’ve used this secret to put themselves into the zone.
All the extraordinary men in history have mastered this secret whether they are aware of it or not.
And now is your time to discover their secret and apply it to your training too.
Conclusion
To conclude, here’s a quote from Bruce Lee on the Flow State:
“There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”
You can begin or strengthen your connection to Flow right now, by accessing my Flow State Free Course Package. Flow Tutorials, The 3 Step Formula, Instant Flow Meditation and a powerful Flow Triggering Workout. Which I will send to you via email right now (if you want). Pretty cool right? Well, grab your access now:)
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Thanks for reading! And stay in Flow for more.