Foster your flow state
My opinion of being in a flow state?
Flow State = Magical State!!!!
When I am behind a camera during a branded lifestyle portrait session and you’re not involved in the session, don’t even bother talking to me…
...not because I’m being a jerk, but, because I can’t hear you.
My attention is extremely narrowed and focused - debating, negotiating, and experimenting with how to capture the client’s most flattering light.
Whatever aches and pains I may have going on, I forget about them.
Whatever issues or concerns I have on my mind, I completely ignore them.
Whomever is peeking in and watching us conduct the session, I can’t even see them.
My phone? I toss that shit in a bag and no one else matters for the next couple hours.
As a result, I am locked in to the person in front of my camera and am blind to the outside world - and that makes me very happy.
This feeling is one of the main reasons that I quit my job and pursued portrait photography - I live for this feeling, and am grateful to have discovered it, :)
This is what is referred to as a flow state - a mentality where you are fully immersed in an activity to the point where time stops, your emotions neutralize, you employ laser-like focus, and enjoy every step of the process.
During and shortly after, it offers an amazing, natural high state, which makes sense since there are large quantities of norepinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, and serotonin flooding our system.
When I talk to clients about flow state, they tell me how they lock into that feeling the moment they hit the stage, or have a one-on-one consultation with their clients, or conduct a workshop.
It’s an amazing state of mind, especially while sharing that moment with the people you serve, :)
Now, for many years, I was under the impression that being in a flow state was something that happened without my deliberate effort to do so - the feeling just happened by luck.
As I learned recently, that’s not the case - there are ways to induce a flow state within us through various methods of self-regulation.
One of the more interesting ways to achieve this is through smart leisure.
Now, I know that a lot of us love to shut it down once the day is over with mind-numbing content consumption because we want to give our brains a rest.
It’s during these times that I find myself laughing my ass off while reading Youtube comments on various podcasts that I listen to - I know, not exactly a beneficial activity, but, don’t judge me!
There are other times where I opt for the smart leisure route - for example, I’ll listen to a podcast, take notes and then look up references made in the interview. I get lost in a sea of information and I do find that process to be cathatic as well as educational.
Some other types of smart leisure activities include learning a new language, dancing lessons, creating art, working out, planning a trip, or having a deep conversation with someone.
When you engage in these types of deeply-focusing activities, this builds up your flow state muscles for future use, which will translate to deeper and more meaningful interactions in your personal and professional lives.
Sounds magical, doesn’t it?
What personal or professional activities put you in a state of flow?
Please share your story in the comment section.
PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you...because I care, :)