Is pride distracting you from your best game?

Your best game happens when you are in flow. One of the biggest obstacles to getting in flow — and staying there — is pride.

Pride is distracting.

Pride is external. It’s what you put on to look good to others. You might argue that point, and say you can be proud of yourself and your accomplishments for your own satisfaction.

But satisfaction is internal. Many people confuse pride with satisfaction, but satisfaction comes from being sated, or pleasantly full, like you’ve eaten plenty of a delicious meal. You can certainly feel satisfied with yourself and your accomplishments.

Flow comes from a deep personal satisfaction, whether anyone else is looking or not,and comes from completing a challenging activity which requires skill.

Flow is deep focus.

The term flow, as a state of being, was coined by author and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote the book on flow.

Flow is a highly focused mental state conducive to personal satisfaction and is different from pride.

Flow happens when we:

• confront tasks we have a chance of completing.
• are able to concentrate on what we’re doing.
• undertake a task which has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.
• are able to remove the worries and frustrations of everyday life.
• can exercise a sense of control over our actions.
• are able to let our sense of self disappear, yet paradoxically our sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.
• feel that time is altered; hours can pass by in minutes, and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours.

Find your flow strategy.

Please listen to this brief talk (about 13 minutes) by Diane Allen on finding your flow strategy, then come right back for today’s takeaway.

The takeaway: 

Find your where, what and why, which enable you to purposefully get into your flow state. You’ll find yourself immensely satisfied.

Read more.

I can help you find your flow strategy and find deep satisfaction doing what you do well.

And you have a couple of options for your next step. You could contact me and describe what you’re going through. And I’ll be in touch with suggestions. Or you can book a free session to make a time to get together and talk it over in person. Either way, I’m here to help you focus, overcome resistance, and get moving again.