High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 485: How to Find Flow

Episode Date: March 11, 2022

Think about a time that you were in flow. What did your flow zone feel like? What led to that feeling? What were you doing? Dr. Cindra shares with us three things we can do to get in the flow more often. Flow is like a muscle—the more you train and experience flow, the easier it will be to reach your flow zone.  Power Phrase of the Week: “I find my flow and do what I love.” Quote of the Week: “This is how memories are made….by going with the flow.” Amanda Bynes 

Hi friends, my name is Dr. Sindra Kampoff, a national leader in the field of sport and performance psychology. Every week I'm on the local radio sharing my top tips on exactly how to develop the mindset of the world's best, so you can accomplish all your dreams. Get ready for a jammed, packed episode focused on practical tips to help you get after your goals and step out of your comfort zone. Let's go. We check in with Cyndra Kampoff this morning and our topic today is how to find flow. Cyndra,

start us off with a quote. I love this quote by Amanda Bynes who said, this is how memories are made by going with the flow. Going with the flow. What inspired the topic of flow today? Well, today, actually, that's what we're going to be talking about. And I want you to think as you're listening, like, have you ever been doing something, you know, that you enjoyed so much that you forgot about what you were thinking about? You know, and what do you do when things, when time just flies? Chances are that you might have been experiencing flow. This is a term coined by a psychologist named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,

and he found that it's actually the secret of optimal performance when people reach the flow state, which is kind of the ultimate optimal experience where you're really so absorbed in what you're doing, it feels effortless. Yeah, I love that. You can always tell when you're there too. What does research say about flow? Well, research shows that when we experience flow, we're more likely to be satisfied with the work that we're doing. We can maintain the energy that we have, and it's actually connected to performing at our best. And so today we're going to talk about three ways that we can experience flow more often and what we can do to experience it more often. So, Cinder, what is one thing that we can do to experience

flow? First, we want to choose an activity that is So, Cyndra, what is one thing that we can do to experience flow? First, we want to choose an activity that is challenging, but not too challenging. So there's some research to show that, like, the activity should just be, like, 4% beyond our skill level in order for us to keep our attention and for us to experience flow. So kind of what I mean by this is we want to challenge ourselves a little, but we want to choose something that, you know, is not so outside our comfort zone that doesn't lead to flow. And so what's the second thing that we can do to experience flow more often? When we're doing the activity that we really enjoy, we want to set like a clear goal,

but we want to focus on what I'm going to call the process. And this means just the small things that we can do to be at our best. And so think of something that you really want, right? And then set a clear goal or objective. And we want to just focus on the small steps to get there. So we know that Olympic and elite athletes know this really well, that when they focus on winning or scoring or getting first place, their performance declines. So instead, we just want to focus on the small things that we need to do to stay in the present and flow is more likely to happen. So what about the third thing that we can do to experience flow? The third thing that we can experience or do to experience it is really to stay focused in the present and concentrate on the tasks that we're doing. And sometimes we think like doing multiple things at once is the key, but actually multitasking

is really not effective. And I was reading the study that says our productivity can actually decrease by 60% when we're trying to do multiple things. So for us to experience flow, we want to be in a distraction free place. And we want to feel like we're in control. And to do that, we just want to stay focused on one thing at a time. Cinder, do you have a final point for us today? Sure. For those people who are listening, I would say just think about a time where you were really in the flow. And what did it feel like? What led to you feeling that way? And what were you doing? And what were the activities that you were doing? And so choosing those activities more often is important.

And flow is kind of like a muscle. The more that you train it, the more you experience it, the more likely you're going to find flow more often. What is this week's power phrase? I find my flow and I do what I love. Find my flow and do what you love. Find your flow. Sindra, if people want to follow along with your work and maybe learn a little bit more about this or other topics that you cover, where can we go? You can head over to Dr. Sindra, so D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com.

And in my book, Beyond Grid, I have a chapter where I talk about flow and how to experience it more often. So you can check that out as well. Way to go for finishing another episode of the High Performance Mindset. I'm giving you a virtual fist pump. Holy cow, did that go by way too fast for anyone else? If you want more, remember to subscribe and you can head over to Dr. Sindra for show notes and to join my exclusive community for high performers where you get

access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can head over to drcindra.com. See you next week.