Flow states are the secret to life.
If I could only offer one piece of life-changing advice before I die it would be this. The feeling of bliss comes from the work you do. As you do the work you experience the sensation of progress.
Progress gives you a natural high.
No sugar. No naughty videos. No Netflix. No alcohol. No drugs. Flow states are a drug that offers real happiness.
We are happiest and most aligned in our flow state. Natural state of being — Godis Oya
Don’t wait for inspiration
Flow states are where your work feels effortless and hours pass by, yet it feels like only minutes have gone by.
Being in a flow state every day can feel hard. How do you access it?
Rock legend Paul McCartney showed me. In this video of him at 26 he starts a recording session with no ideas for a song.
Not long after a hit single is born.
Paul didn’t sit there and wait for inspiration to hit him. No.
He sat there and accessed his flow state habit. He put his mind into the same mode he’d done thousands of times before that recording session. Once in a flow state, he switched on his ability to be a creative genius.
The secret is Paul forced himself to get into flow.
You could say he demonstrated flow state confidence in this video that amplified the breathtaking results that look superhuman.
Coach Kavanagh noticed the same with martial arts legend Israel Adesanya.
“Israel seems to enter a ‘flow state’ with ease. It’s fascinating to watch. I can only imagine it’s from doing something he really loves.”
Israel’s mind is programmed to find flow. It’s because he spends 3 hours or more a day in this zone of genius. Now it’s child’s play to him.
Make your flow state easy to access. Make 3 hours of daily flow a habit.
Get addicted like this
Flow states have changed my life.
I don’t say that lightly. People think I’m a good writer, or a lucky writer, or a freak of nature. Nope. I’m a pretty sh*t writer and I’m okay with that.
My secret has and always will be flow states. I can publish ten articles a week because I’ve perfected the art of flow. It’s a science. It’s something I’ve studied in the same way historians study history.
It’s an obsession.
I work on my flow state like a marathon runner works on their practice sprints. Anything you do in life repeatedly can be perfected to exploit the upside.
The trick is to get progress from your flow state session.
Progress makes us happy. When we progress we feel phenomenal. Phenomenal feelings keep us coming back.
Alberto the mustache was right
What you do during a flow state is crucial.
If you pick an activity you hate or are doing for the wrong reasons, it won’t work. You can’t lie to yourself.
Your mind knows when you’re bullsh*ting a flow state, so it prevents you from accessing it.
Mr Alberto Einstein nailed it:
“That is the way to learn the most, that when you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes. I am sometimes so wrapped up in my work that I forget about the noon meal.”
That’s how I feel when I write. Today I moved house. I discovered after everything was unpacked that my new shack is close to overhead powerlines.
Many people know these cause cancer.
Now I probably have to move again. What sets me free are flow states. All my worries evaporate when it’s just me, my keyboard, and the potential to uplift another person’s day.
It sounds cheesy as hell…
But accessing a flow state for someone else’s benefit gives your work meaning.
This is the work I love. If today is my last day on Earth then this is what I want to be doing — writing words for you. This is my bliss.
What you must do is find your bliss.
The secret club you want to enter
Happiness is best shared.
I’ve spent years searching the internet for flow state relationships. These are people that have discovered the same secret to happiness I have.
The reason I look for these people is because many people haven’t accessed flow states. When I talk about it they look at me with a screwed up face, on the verge of laughter.
It sounds like a secret religion to them.
Whereas there are people that get it. I want to be around flow state people. I want to transcend the useless world of traditional work that is built on a mountain of shallow work that produces unhappiness.
I want to be around deep work. Why? I’m afraid I’ll lose this feeling. I want other people’s flow states to rub off on me. I want daily reminders.
I don’t ever want to live a life where Slack messages screw up every flow state for the sake of someone else’s agenda.
Find people who understand flow states. Trade shallow work for deep work.
The fastest way to teleport into a flow state
I have a stupidly simple trick you can steal.
Watch others in flow states before you start a 3 hour plus flow state session. If you don’t know what people look like who are in flow states, watch the video above of Paul McCartney demonstrating it over and over.
Flow is the secret to happiness. It’s how you automate the progress of your goals and change your life forever.
