I have so much running through my mind now, ideas that I would like to explore, and not enough time to coherently organize into written word, so I am merely going to introduce my thoughts today and work to elaborate in further posts.
As I returned to my hotel room, I explored a few websites and found an interview with Steve Kotler, from over a year ago, that will introduce you to the work he has been involved with, and will also help you understand why his comments grabbed my attention today.
Thinking of the ancient Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius, how is it possible to continue improving on these records in the future?
Kotler shares information he has learned through a decade of interviewing and studying elite athletes. This work has become the foundation for the Flow Genome Project. This search to expand human boundaries and understand how the impossible has been accomplished has led cofounders, Steve Kotler and Jamie Wheal, to take the best in action sports training, Quantified Self biometrics, performance psychology, and digital experience design to further explore how the extreme can be brought to the mainstream.
With my interest heightened, I also jumped on the offer to take the free Flow Profile. As with most profile surveys, I found some of the choices difficult to decide between, so I took the survey twice, so I could look at the results of both. As I read through those results, I feel like the combined analysis gives a pretty good assessment of myself.
1st Take Flow Profile Result: Hard Charger
Favorite website: Redbull.com Core piece of equipment: NorthFace Jacket Catch Phrase We Wish You Didn't Ever Say: "Bro...stoke...gnarly...epic"
You tend to be a focused go-getter who craves intensity in your personal and
professional life. You get bored easily with "run of the mill" and
seek experiences that have high challenge and high impact. When you learn a new
skill, you often seek out accelerated training from the best of the best, or
you put your head down and hyperfocus until you figure it out yourself--either
way, "slow and steady" middle-of-the-pack progress is not for you.
The same intensity and focus that pushes you to seek such high-impact experiences, tends to feed a pretty relentless inner critic that is always pushing you to raise the bar--others may experience this as intimidating or hyper-critical, but what they don't always know is that you judge yourself first and most harshly. For you, Flow offers one of the few escapes from that unforgiving scorecard, and when you do find activities that offer you this calm and relief, you often put them at the top of your list.
Typical Flow Hacks: Adventure sports: skiiing, snowboarding, surfing, skydiving, mountain biking, MMA, rockclimbing, race driving, paintball. Non-traditional travel: loose itineraries, unusual destinations, cultural immersion. Substance Use: stimulants, intoxicants and euphoriants that alternately deliver increased intensity or dampen down your RPM.
Special caution: due to your wiring for intensity and your persistent need to silence your inner critic, you are often more willing to take risks than many of your peers. Harnessed positively, this can result in you crafting a "life as a daring adventure" --rich and full of travel, adventure and new experiences--but it can also lead to "wrecklessness" in the realms of substance use, sexuality, adrenaline sports, and other edgy behaviors.
Pro-tip: In seeking Flow as a Hard Charger, pay close attention to where the risk/reward equation gets upside down, and stay on the recoverable side of that line. Rather than always going bigger and faster, try going deeper. Slow down, take time to develop discipline and mine your given pursuits for all they offer. Self-handicap so that you don't have to keep upping the ante on the Challenge line of the Challenge/Skills Equation. Lateralize--if you are already hucking 20' cliffs on alpine skis, try telemarking. If you're surfing big waves, try SUPing. If you're a Lothario, try practicing with a single partner. If you're a hard partying clubber, try mindfulness training.
Once you learn the mechanics of reverse-engineering your Flow states, you can realize that you've got more options and combinations to safely and sustainably get most of the goods without taking all of the risks!
2nd Take Flow Profile Result: Deep Thinker
Core piece of equipment: my "Away Room" Catch Phrase We Wish You Didn't Ever Say: "Not tonight..."
Your Flow dream date consists of you, yourself and you, getting (finally!) uninterrupted time to do what you love most. You tend to seek Flow through creative, reflective, often soothingly repetitive work that lets your mind wander, lets your nervous system relax deeply, and lets your muse come through with something delightful.
While you can tolerate and even succeed in the hustle and bustle of daily life, a part of you is always off in your sanctuary, or biding your time until you can return to recharge your batteries. You may also find yourself seeking out times of day--early mornings or late evenings--where you can feel free of conflicting demands and get that uninterrupted concentration you thrive on.
Typical Flow Hacks: how you personally express your Flow profile can range widely and defies easy categorization. You may engage in the classical arts--painting, pottery, music. You may have found a home in more contemporary expressions, like digital photography, gaming or coding or "making". You may seek out a kinder, gentler form of Nature than your Flow cousin the Hard Charger--preferring hiking, gardening, and birding, or working with animals to unplug from daily life.
Special Caution: Your nervous system may be particularly sensitive and mismatched to contemporary "always-on" society, and it may require dedicated effort for you to carve out and protect those experiences that give you the restorative Flow you so deeply need. What's more, in this age of hyper-commercialization, you may feel like you need to defend your pursuits if they're not earning you large sums of money or recognition. It's OK to write poetry even if you're not published. It's OK to throw pots or ride horses even if they never "win" you anything. Know that your passions are serving an essential purpose in helping keep you balanced and energized in life--they increase your resilience, your immunity, your creativity, and your optimism--not only is that enough, it's everything!
Pro-Tip: Given your relatively gentle nature and rich inner life, you "may" find yourself less than fully embodied. You might not have excelled in organized sports, and you may shun the vigorous and challenging in favor of the more contemplative and restorative. Consider boosting your resilience by easing into cardio and strength training, sign up for a fun race, test your boundaries (mentally) build some muscle (physically) and not only will you find yourself more resilient, you'll also be rewarded with more Flow when you do return to your happy place!
Well, this definitely gives me some things to noodle on! I hope this has been equally interesting for you! I look forward to comments and questions.
