State of Flow


I read a James Altucher post yesterday called “Steven Kotler– How You Can Step Outside Yourself and ‘Do The Impossible.’”

Mr. Altucher’s post is about flow.

You may have heard about flow – a state of mind where you become so focused on your task that you lose track of time.  An investment in energy is rewarded with a release in creativity. 

Have I experienced flow?

Yes, when I write a LinkedIn post.

I start off with an idea.

The idea to write this post was inspired by reading Mr. Altucher’s post.

On occasion I’m not awake when I come up with an idea.  Thoughts percolate in my sleep and when I gain consciousness in the morning an idea presents itself for a post.     

Much as I’d like to I can’t seem to force flow.

Recently a friend mentioned that to brand yourself you may want to consider sending out posts at a regularly scheduled date and time.  At first glance it sounds like an “impossible” task to turn “on” my creative writing juices at will so that I may consistently send out a post.  I will need to file this suggestion away and to revisit on another day.  

Once I have an idea, I jot down 3-4 bullet points to include in my post.

I write the post.  Words and sentences flow out of me.  When I finish the first draft, I read it a few times to make sure that the post flows.  I change words here and there and re-order and remove sentences as necessary. 

A post usually takes 2 to 3 hours to complete and includes the time to write the post, set up hyperlinks, find a suitable banner image and publish the post both here on my blog web site (thepositivepathfinder.blogspot.com) and LinkedIn.    

I like the song “It Goes Like It Goes.”  This haunting Oscar-winning song was written by David Shire and Norman Gimbel and was featured in a 1979 Sally Field movie called “Norma Rae.”  The song talks about things that occur naturally like a river flowing, growing old, etc. 



Writing feels natural to me.     

When I write I like being in a state of flow and expressing myself creatively.

I suppose that you experience flow if you engage in a creative endeavour like writing, songwriting, woodworking, painting, programming, etc.

Can you share a time when you experience flow?

Image Credit: Pixabay
Also Published on LinkedIn on February 24, 2017



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