HOW TO ACHIEVE AN IDEAL FLOW STATE ?

 

In one of the sporting events I happened to be a part of, Geet Sethi (9 time world champion in Billiards/Snooker) said that practicing for a sport like Billiards can be quite repetitive in nature where players practice for hours.
I recall a story about his formative years that I read in his book- Success vs Joy. He says that in his early years when he was still learning the nuts and bolts of the sport, one of the things that kept him going amidst hours and hours of practicing same shot was a sound. Yes, a sound!
He says that he loved the sound of a perfect shot when the cue hit at the right spot of the spherical ball from shot made at a perfect angle. He obsessed over hearing that sound and chased it with intensity in several practice sessions. That feeling of being in a flow is something that kept him going.

Flow is a state of mind that helps us perform at our peak and often feels profoundly spiritual. In sports parlance, it is often referred to as "In the zone". Being in a flow is as much important to the success of a sportsperson as it is to a professional. We often use the phrase "lost track of time" to describe the flow state. One of the characteristics of flow state that i quite like is:
"People who are in a flow state often experience egoloss, i.e., the sense that they don't exist as an individuals. They become their sport (or profession)." [Source: Book- The Rise of the Superman]

Are their any practical ways one can try to achieve an ideal flow state ? Very hard, one might feel. But certainly worth a try.

I found it quite relevant how Dr. Julie Gurner broke the whole challenge of achieving the ideal flow state in her tweet thread https://bit.ly/3lLKfht
She says:
"People can give instruction books worth of info on how to “get into” a flow state, but it has 2 powerful conditions:
1. Being entirely present in the moment. That is the secret sauce. No thinking of the past, no worries about the future.
2. What pushes “being present” into flow, is condition #2: Engagement."

Catch the summary of the tweet thread in my sketchnote.

Have you experienced the state of flow ? What are some of the strategies that have worked for you ?

My LinkedIn Post:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anujmagazine_how-to-achieve-an-ideal-flow-state-in-activity-6854991404075233281-R7LS/