Transcripts
1. Welcome to Flow on Demand: Hello and welcome
to flow on demand, where I'm going to help you
create structure habits, and rituals to trigger
flow states to peak your performance,
boost your creativity. My name is Ana Sierra and I'm the founder of
the lucid collective. Where we explore the neuroscience
the anthropology and the psychology of
altered states of consciousness for
peak performance. What Are you getting
out of this class? The first thing you're gonna
get this deep understanding on what flow is, why you need it
for your personal, professional, and creative life. and how you can trigger it. I'm going to give you the tools and together we're
going to create a structure for habits and rituals to prompt you into flow. This is going to have
a tremendous impact on your productivity
and your creativity, but also in your
quality of life. We are going to uncover
your passion and get very, very clear on your
transformative purpose. This way, we're going to start training pattern recognition, which is essential
to trigger flowt. I want you to look
backwards and the amazed with how much
you have accomplished. while feeling great, serving your purpose and finding great
joy in your practice. For your class project, we're going to do
a flow protocol. This is the set of neurophysical practices that are gonna help you
prompt you in to flow. Before we get started
make sure you get a copy of the PDF that it's attached on the resources area
of this class. Don't forget to upload your project in the project
gallery of the class, where I'll be regularly
visiting and checking out to see if you need
extra guidance, extra help. And I can't wait to see
what you come up with.
2. What is Flow ?: Flow Is the uninterrupted
concentration in the present moments , commonly referred
to as being in the "ZONE". And Steven Kotler, the founder of the Flow
Genome Project, defines it as the state
where we feel our best. It's an optimal state
where we feel our best and we perform our best. In flow. your sense of self
vanishes and merges with the situation
and the task at hand. And it's a very
rewarding experience. So you get, you get
a lot of reward from the experience and not from
achieving the goal itself. Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, who studied flow and wrote a very important
book about it. He studied people, most
of them agnostics. So he de-mystified idea that flow was a
mystical experience. And he learned that
not only that flow is available to everyone by using , harnessing
our own biology. But he learned also that
the people that score higher in life satisfaction
experienced flow more often. So you're going
to expect some of that life satisfaction as well. Wonder what does this has
to do with productivity and how much more can I accomplish
while being in flow? Well, the answer is
a lot, a lot more. Every single field can and
has been benefit from flow, from businesses to top
creative minds, athletes, science, top executives in flow are five times more productive. While in flow. If you're not passionate
about what you're doing, it's not gonna be easy
for you to get into flow. We're going to do a very easy
adaptation of fun exercise by Steven Kotler that
I did time ago that helped me get really clear on
my purpose and my passion. So the first thing we
wanna do is find a list of the ten to 15 things,
were curious about. Things that we probably will binge watch YouTube
videos one evening. things that we would totally
go and buy a book about, and I'll see you in the next lesson to keep
uncovering your purpose.
3. Uncover your Passion: If you didn't get
ten to 15, curiosities, don't sweat it, You can always go back
to this exercise later. What we want to do now is find intersections in some
of these curiosities. So let's say for e.g. they were curious about hand
lettering with watercolors, but then you were also curious about how to launch a
successful business. And maybe you find the
intersection that could be launching an Etsy shop with hand lettering,
wedding invitations. So whenever you find an
intersection, write it in the, in the playing with curiosity worksheet on
the intersection area. These intersections are not always so obvious,
so don't worry, you will have to
go back and see .. if.. perhaps every day to start finding these patterns
or this intersection. to start recognizing
links between your curiosities and
what we wanna do is we want to start training
pattern recognition, which is totally necessary for flow and for creativity as
well and for problem-solving, we are stacking motivations. Having one curiosity is fine, but if you have more than
one and then start stacking them together and just start adding your talents
and your expertise. You will get your
transformative purpose and passion that will keep you excited and will
prompt you to flow.
4. Overcoming Resistance: Since flow, It's a very high
sustained energy activity, we're not aiming for
flow every single day. And what we're gonna
do is we're going to divide our our schedule
and set some days. There are exclusively
for meetings, some days that are
exclusively for flow, and some days are
exclusively for rest. And the days are set for flow. We're aiming for 6o min to 3hrs. of
uninterrupted concentration. And this means that we want
to make it uninterrupted. No phones, no phone calls, no meetings, no kids, no other responsibilities iI is a time, phone in airplane mode, and it's time only for flow. Since we're not
doing it everyday, we can certainly compromise. You may find resistance. And one of the
main reasons might be because you feel uninspired. If this is the situation, you're gonna write a list
of all the to-dos and all the things that come into your mind that are
related to the project. And another list with all the things that
you are gonna do. You're gonna get back to them. You're going to go around them, but not quite yet. Another for assistance we may find is that we may feel that the project is huge or too
big or too challenging. In this case, what we're
gonna do is we're going to break the project into smaller
tasks in bite-size chunks. And we want to make sure
that these bite-size chunks are a little bit
above our skill set. We want to make
them challenging, but we don't want
to make them too big that they feel overwhelming. So there's a challenge
kill ratio that it's four percent
above our skill set. We want to break
the project into smaller chunks that are four percent above our skill set. So we keep it fun and
we keep it challenging. But then will want to
notice what are the tasks. Once we break it down, we want to notice what
are the tasks that feel more problematic that
you dread the most, that feel that you
get the feeling that are the biggest monsters
that you have to slay. And we're going to
write those down in the worksheet of the follow protocol because we
want to tackle those first. Once we slayed our
biggest monsters, the whole project,
we're gonna get, first of all, going to
get a hit of dopamine That's going to make us excited
about the whole project. And we're gonna get the feeling that we can actually
accomplish the whole the whole huge project
that felt overwhelming. Do you wonder
why snowboarders, surfers, skateboarders,
getting flow so easily? Well, that's because they
have something at risk. Literally if they fall,
we can break a leg. So they have all their attention
in the present moment, they are making sure that all their attention and
all their concentration, it's in the here and now. Why? Because basically their
life, It's stake. So we wanna make
our projects risky. But here's the thing. You don't have to climb a mountain to have
our risky project. Our brain processes social risks in the same way as
physical danger. So we want to make our
project a little bit risky, a little bit out of
our comfort zone. Another thing to
consider is that we don't want to work
´till we're exhausted. We don't want to
work till we don't want to know more
about the project. We want to stop working
even though we're aiming for 1 h to 3 h of
uninterrupted time. We want to stop
working when we're feeling at our highest. Why? Because we want to save some of that momentum for
our next session. We wanna go back
excited because we felt that we have something that
we didn't quite finished. And we want, I'll leave
that for our next session.
5. Failure and Feedback : Another thing that we want to consider is we want to
leave room for failure. We want to be willing
to fall flat. We want to be willing
to make mistakes. The Google
slogan "move fast, break things " actually has reason, because if we don't
allow room for failure, we just won't dare
to try new things that might bring excellence
and that can trigger flow. So we want to be willing to make the fool out of ourselves, to make mistakes, to fall flat. As a perfectionist in
recovery, Actually, I struggle with this. This
Skillshare class wouldn't even exist if I don't allow
room for failure. Because I know I'm going to have I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to have maybe strange pronunciation
in the words because English is
not my native language. We want to make sure that
we leave room for failure. And that's going to
increase the risk and that's going to make the
whole project more exciting. And that's going to prompt us
into flow because actually allowing room for failure is
one of the flow triggers. by excellence. Another thing we
want to consider is we wanna get immediate feedback. and we want to get the
right feedback. So you have to find a trustworthy source that can give you feedback
in real time. You don't want to wait
´till the project is over to know that it was wrong. You want to get
constant feedback from a trustworthy source that
you actually can listen to. You know, maybe, maybe
your partner is not your trustworthy source
because you will take everything that
they say personal, but make sure you
find a person that actually gives you the
feedback that you want to listen and to get
this right feedback is also important that you know, what kind of feedback
you want Where are the questions that
you want to have answer? So be sure to have these
questions clear and the source clear before
you get started, and don't be afraid to ask
for a different opinion. So in your flow protocol or worksheet, we're
going to write. We have, we're gonna write
how can we make it risky? We need to know for
allowing room for failure. And we want to note who's our source are trustworthy
source for feedback. And what kind of feedback
are we looking for.
6. Tools for Flow: There are some tools that
gives us easier access to flow. These are tools that are
accessible to everyone and that you may actually use for flow in different occasions without
being aware of it. And one of them, It's novelty. A new environment
triggers flow easily. So if you're used to work every single time from the same spot, try switching to
a new coffee shop. Or if you work from home, try to go and work in nature, add some
novelty to your workspace. This is going to make you more alert and more focused
on the present moment. Music. It's a legal
performance enhancing tool that we all have access to. It shapes our brainwaves.
In real-time. It affects our heartbeat. It increases our sense of
connectivity and our sense of awe, and it's one of the best tools we have
to access the flow. But you have to be
careful because here, the music that may prompt you into flow may not work for me. It's a very personal tool. So check what kind of
music works for you, I'll normally try
to stay away from sudden vocals and I like consistent volume at
a high-frequency. So check what kind of
music works for you. Another tool we normally
wouldn't consider, we may find it's not one of the things that
might come to mind when we talk about peak
performance, its aromatherapy. And here we're talking
a little bit of that Pablova´s Dog
style of training. We want to use a smell
that we can relate, that can prompt us into flow. But that we can relate
with our moment of work, our moment of flow or
moment of concentration. So try not to use the same smell that you used to relax
or when you go to bed, try to use a different smell. Why? Because smell is one of the
strongest sense we all have. And it has direct
access to our brain. And it can immediately
affect. Snowboarders, surfers, skateboarders have
easier access to the zone They have the physical awareness required to get into flow. If you want to get
into flow easier, I will urge you to involve your body.
kinesthetic movement. It's one of the best
ways to get into flow. I remember that my sister told me time ago that
when she was in college, she used to take her
embroidery to class and that was because she
was falling asleep. And while she was with
her and embroidery, she will have to
pay attention to both things at the same time. This would prompt her,
well, first of all, she paid more attention and this will prompt
her into float, but this will also ,this will also get her kick
out of the class. So I'm not asking you to
multitask, just find ways where you can incorporate
movement to your practice. It might be doing mindmaps with sticky
notes around a table. You know, that way you can
get moving and you can start interacting
with your space.
7. Group Flow: A sense of community
allows for group flow. and group Flow is one of the most rewarding
experiences we can have. When we have a group of
people working towards one end or towards one
goal, flow comes naturally. The same conditions that
we found for a alone (solo) flow. We can use for group flow, we need uninterrupted
concentration. We need a challenge-
skill ratio. We need to make it risky. We need to allow
room for failure. We need, we can use all of the tools that I talked about previously, music,
aromatherapy. You don't have to, They're optional, but you can, and you can add
them as a ritual. Rich environment. It's also important you can get your group to work from
a different place. So all of these
conditions still apply, but there are some
conditions that are extra and apply
just for group flow. One of them is that they all have to speak
the same language. So if you have a
group of engineers and then you get a
musician in the group. It's going to be
complicated because all the engineers are
going to have to slow down and stop to explain
the musician what they're talking about
or their lingo. So you want to have the whole group speaking
the same language and have the same degree of
expertise in the task at hand. No one bosses anyone. So there's no hierarchy. They all, they all
have the same level or the same possibility to participate and every
single opinion is valuable. You want to, you want to
have all your group to be a "yes" group. "Yes" kind of people, this "Yes"" kind of
mentality to get all the ideas moving and merging and finding possibilities and
opportunities and completing the task in a more compelling,
happy, joyful way. Because if you have one member fighting the
ideas of the other, then you're gonna
lose the momentum. You're going to waste time and you're going to
accomplish nothing. So you want to make sure
that your group is a Yes group. You're full of "Yes" people, these people that it's
totally supporting ideas, supporting each other,
seeing how it can be done or giving good feedback. Interesting feedback, not just trying to avoid work or how
can I not make it happen. So these rules have to be very, very clear from the beginning. Prior starting to work. You want to make sure that all the group has, the phone's off. In airplane mode. You want to have
very clear goals. Clear goals have to
be very, very clear.
8. Recovery: So even though flow, even though flow can get
you to a very high, high, it can also
leave you depleted. It, it's it's a condition that
requires a lot of energy. And without the proper recovery, it can totally empty your
tank and it can lead to mood swings and
lack of productivity. So one of the most
important parts of flow is having the proper recovery
protocol and right recovery. Looks like saunas,
looks like steam rooms, looks like a massage, looks like a self massage. I like to Massage my head and my neck. But also looks like having the right the right
amount of sleep. Seven to 8 h of sleep are super important for us not
to totally empty tank, as I said before, it's just as important. our rest time is just as
important as our flow time. So we want to make sure
we give our bodies the right amount of recovery. So TV, you might say, I come back from work and
I sit down and watch TV. But TV, The thing is TV is
not the right Recovery. Tv is not even to recovery. Tv uses a lot of cognitive,
cognitive attention. In useless, it's useless
cognitive attention wasted. Even though binge
watching a show. It's super fun and it should
be done from time to time. It cannot be done or it cannot
be considered recovery. We want to make sure we
get the right recovery. Walks in nature. are Okay. yoga is fine,
light stretching Is amazing. I love light stretching. Things that don't deplete your tank and that will
actually help you refuel. And you should also consider
that from time-to-time, you want to take some time off. Actually, Steven Kotler
talks about taking a weekend off to go to ski, because for him that's recovery
from me It looks like my pottery
lessons where I just get lost. I don't have a high
goal at stake. So for me, it's super
relaxing if you're, if you're a ceramist then
maybe this is not for you. But since I'm not, I really
enjoyed just getting lost in the active recovery that
requires less cognitive load. And it involves so my senses
and it's something that I actually enjoy and leaves
me feeling great afterwards. Saunas, as I said, are amazing. I love saunas. They help you get your
cortisol levels down. So anything that helps you
get your cortisol level down, your cortisol levels down. Is amazing. It's an amazing way to recover.
9. Recap and Final Insights: I'm super proud of
you for being here. In lesson nine. We're, we're gonna do a quick recap of everything we learned. But since you got
here, I'm sure you have what it takes to
be at peak performer, and I'm super,
super proud of you. The first thing we learned
here was what is flow? Why we need it and
what triggers it? You learn also how to
uncover your passion. What's your purpose? I'm sure that by now you have a better idea if you're
pursuing the right goals or not. Learn that flow follows. Focus on that where your attention goes,
your energy flows, and you have in
your flow protocol, you're set times, how many days per week you're
going to work. And now you know that you don't have to work till exhaustion. To actually accomplish what
peak performers accomplish, you can focus better
and focus your time more and actually
find more joy in what you do in your practice. You learn how to break
your tasks in smaller chunks so they
feel more manageable. But then you also learn how to slay your biggest
monsters first. And you're gonna get that dopamine hit from
actually accomplishing the hard thing first and this gives us a sense of being invincible, of being able to tackle
anything we need to. By now, you must have
your flocw protocol. Be sure to fill up all your
worksheets and upload them in the project class gallery
where I'll be checking because I can't wait to see what you came up with,
stay in touch. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I hope you found great
value in this class and I can't thank you enough for being so committed to your development. If you want to
explore further on altered states of consciousness
for peak performance, be sure to follow us on
Instagram @the.lucid.collective.eng you'll find the link at the resources area or in
the About Me section. I can't wait to see you in
our next Skillshare class.
Ana R Sierra, Founder, The Lucid Collective.
