Written by: Natasha P. Trujillo, Ph.D., Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Life is not easy. The unpredictable and unforeseen can wreak havoc on our well-being, just as the expected and forewarned challenges can also do. What works in one situation may be completely useless in another, and the continued need to reassess, grow, and adjust are some of the only true constants in life.
Working with athletes, I talk a lot about the concept of “flow.” Other ways to think about this include finding your sweet spot or identifying the ingredients that when combined properly, result in a satisfying performance. Flow is a mental state of complete immersion and focus in an activity. This need not be focused only on an athletic pursuit. Even if you aren’t an athlete, you have responsibilities and obligations, all of which require you to perform. Figuring out how to find your groove is an essential component of optimal performance. You know that you’re in flow when you experience a sense of effortless performance and absolute absorption in the task at hand. Your actions are automatic, fluid, and immediate. You are entirely focused on the here and now, with a heightened sense of awareness and concentration. You are executing tasks and performing at your best without conscious effort. It isn’t uncommon to nearly lose track of time altogether because you are simply in the zone, locked in and walled up to any outside distractions. Even if the task is challenging, competitive, or pressure-filled, when you are in flow you feel a sense of pleasure, fulfillment, and gratification.
Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? Flow is something that anyone can achieve, but it takes practice and concentrated effort to know yourself and what situations internally and externally allow for such thoughtful thoughtlessness. Here are six common approaches I often emphasize with ALL the humans I work with who intend to build, progress, and elevate their game.
Cultivate total focus and a calm mind by removing distractions and practicing mindfulness (being in the moment). This can involve having a pre-performance routine, ensuring your basic needs are consistently and adequately met, connecting with values that allow you to live in the now, and using sensory grounding techniques to bring you fully into your task at hand (i.e., take a deep breath and identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste without moving. What do you notice about your surroundings and yourself now?).
Strike a balance between the challenge and skill level of a task. Stay away from too easy or too hard. As a warm-up or as part of a pre-performance routine you can begin with something too easy, but to achieve flow you can’t be bored, as too easy can encourage negligence. You want to be pushed and to know that you need to give it your all, but not too hard that it leads to anxiety, self-doubt, or avoidance. Flow is usually attained when the necessary skills are met with a stimulating level of antagonism (e.g., If the longest race you’ve done is a 10k, start by training for a half marathon before jumping into an ultra-marathon).
Focus on the process, not the outcome. Embrace the discomfort of a challenge. We don’t learn from doing easy things or avoiding failure. Identify what about your discomfort can be useful and remind yourself that the more exposure you have to the discomfort, the more it will lessen over time as you prove to yourself that you are capable of skillfully facing the problem. As you gradually push your own boundaries over time through focusing on small improvements, you will build trust to allow flow to… flow (e.g., as you return to training from time off or an injury, the way you stagger your training must be progressive, highlighting small improvements and avoiding a 0 to 100 mentality).
Know yourself. Develop a precise understanding of your skills. What are your strengths and how can you build upon them? What are your growth areas and what resources can you use to improve? To find flow, you must adopt a growth mindset that values feedback, even if hard to take in initially, and encourages opportunities to progress bit by bit (e.g., I know that I am a solid clinician in both general and sport psychology, while I also know that I strongly dislike marketing).
Know your why. Set appropriate goals that are focused on mastery and transcend the bare minimum. To set goals, you must know your aspirations and your values that guide you to their development. Knowing these parts of yourself can improve motivation and focus. When you know your why, you are more likely to push yourself to do hard things (e.g., I don’t just want to survive, I want to master the art of owning my practice, providing exceptional care to my clients, and changing lives, one conversation at a time).
Not every aspect of a task is meaningful, and there may be aspects of a performance that you love more than others. Regardless, ensure the activities you are executing are fulfilling in some way. Flow is incredibly hard to achieve when you hate what you are doing. If you can’t avoid something unpleasant, flow can still be achieved, but you need to engage in reflective practices to know why pushing through something unappealing is relevant to goals you have and the life you want to live (e.g., I find no enjoyment in taxes, but I can still achieve flow when I focus on how executing those tasks makes me feel productive, useful, independent, and build the future I want for myself. It’s a pep-talk, but a pep-talk that induces a solid rhythm to hold me accountable).
Now, what happens if you find yourself working towards flow and feel like there’s a block? Something in your way? You are stuck and can’t seem to find a path around it. Examples of mental blocks include no longer being able to dismount from the uneven bars after a hard fall, being riddled with self-doubt that prevents you from asking your boss for a much-needed raise, being afraid to speak up because you feel like an imposter in your supposed area of expertise, or believing that you simply cannot have a meaningful relationship because of this, that, or the other. Check out these four strategies you can employ to work through mental blocks.
Visualization and mental imagery: Tap into the power of your imagination. Visualize yourself seamlessly executing desired skills by vividly picturing each detail (i.e., flow). See, hear, and feel the success. Rehearse successful attempts of the task from start to finish. This will help boost confidence, reduce anxiety, and help you identify other stuck points you can address.
Adaptive self-talk: Your inner dialogue matters. Challenge doubt with empowering statements. You can hold doubt and persist simultaneously, but you have to put forth effort. Fuel yourself with affirmations and ideas that elevate you during tough moments. Recall past triumphs and moments of flow, and talk yourself through how you got there.
Break a task into smaller steps: Divide and conquer the process. Sometimes preparation efforts become too analytical and overwhelming, making flow a challenge. Consider manageable parts of your pursuit. One play, one move, one routine at a time. Building momentum step-by-step can assist with finding flow.
Relaxation techniques: Release the pressure. We know that copious amounts of anxiety can decrease performance. Practice deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or mindful meditation to find your calm. These techniques help to reduce stress, gain greater control, and keep you present, helping make room for flow.
Use these strategies to overcome mental blocks while experimenting with the right recipe of factors that will help you achieve flow. Practice, patience, and self-compassion are all foundational to finding your groove. Whether you’re an athlete, an executive, a barista, or a caregiver, we all have tasks in our daily life that flow can make easier. Go find yours!
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Natasha P. Trujillo, Ph.D., Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Trujillo is a counseling and sport psychologist dedicated to helping individuals, teams, and organizations build awareness of self, others, and the world to reach their full potential in and out of their craft. She owns a private practice where she seeks to educate, consult, and provide mental health and sport psychology services that are evidenced-based and collaborative. She works primarily with athletes, performers, and high-achievers to help them find balance in their pursuit of success and acceptance of their own humanity. She strives to help people learn how to simply “be”, and get better at what they do. She has specializations in grief/loss, eating disorders, trauma, anxiety, & identity development.
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