Using Your Talents to Find More Flow

I recently wrote about understanding your talents in a blog on resilience.  In this article I am going to explore your talents in the context of flow by diving deeper into flow.

Whether you fully agree with profile tools - I believe there are always things to learn.  Personally I think you can gain insight into who you are and where you operate at your best.  The trick is to not hold onto the results too tightly but spend time exploring what you can learn from them.  

I’ve managed to accumulate many profile results over my career including:

• DISC
• MBTI - Myers Briggs
• Insights Discovery
• LSI - Human Synergistics
• Strengths Finder - Gallup
• Talent Dynamics - Genius Group

If you’ve done more than one profile then maybe find them and review and see if you get any insights.  I have seen a theme throughout all of these assessments and looked at how I can use this information to design a life which is more fulfilling.

If you are anything like me, you may have read the results immediately you received them but they have since languished somewhere in your filing system not seeing the light of day again. 

The impetus for me to dig my results out was after completing the ‘Talent Dynamics’ test as I was intrigued by the way you are encouraged to apply the results to your day-to-day life.  This test was co-created by Roger James Hamilton and Michelle Clarke.  

Roger has a test he developed for entrepreneurs, called Wealth Dynamics which is based on the iChing (book of Changes).  When he met Michelle Clarke (former leadership development manager at Marks and Spencer) they created Talent Dynamics to help accelerate trust and flow in teams.

Much of the criticism of profiling tests come from the lack of scientific rigour and evidence to support the findings.  For me, if these tests help you discover more about yourself and encourage you to do more research and learning, then they can add value and support your personal growth.  Being part of a global entrepreneurial community which uses these profiles regularly to support the growth of businesses, the evidence suggests that through understanding people's strengths, trust and flow is accelerated.

Flow State

What is a flow state?  The father of flow is psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly.  In his TED talk he explains his theory of flow: (https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness).  

Regardless of the culture & education their research showed 7 conditions that seemed to be in existence when a person is in flow:

1. Completely involved in what we are doing - focused concentration.
2. A sense of ecstasy - of being outside of everyday reality
3. Greater inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done and how well we are doing
4. Knowing that the activity is doable - that our skills are adequate for the task
5. A sense of serenity - no worries about oneself and a feeling of going beyond the boundaries of the ego
6. Timelessness - thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes
7. Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward

The opposite of flow is apathy.  The challenge is how can you get more flow into  your life?

Mihaly believed that flow state is not reserved for a few great human beings but for everyone.  There are people who have developed their flow to such an extent that they are able to translate every potential threat into an enjoyable challenge, and thereby maintain an inner tranquillity as a continuous state of mind. He calls such a person an “autotelic self,” someone who “is never bored, seldom anxious, involved with what goes on and in flow most of the time.”

Through his work he discovered these 5 things people can do to grow into your ‘autotelic self’:

1. Setting goals that have clear and immediate feedback
2. Become immersed in the activity - remove distractions
3. Pay attention to what is happening in the moment
4. Learning to enjoy the immediate experience
5. Proportioning one's skills to the challenge at hand.

 

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Steven Kotler and Rian Dorris, with the Flow Research Collective, are continuing his work using the advances in technology which allow us to learn more about the neuroscience of flow.  Steven describes flow as:

“Flow is defined as an optimal state of consciousness, a state where you feel your best and perform your best. More specifically, the term refers to those moments of rapt attention and total absorption, when you get so focused on the task at hand that everything else disappears. Action and awareness merge. Your sense of self vanishes. Your sense of time distorts (either, typically, speeds up; or, occasionally, slows down). And throughout, all aspects of performance, both mental and physical, go through the roof.”

From their research and experience, people can experience significant improvements in productivity, freedom and happiness.

If people were able to work in their flow state what impact would this have on individual productivity & wellbeing?   

What would be the implications for organisations?

Tips for achieving flow:

1. Find out your natural talents /genius - use one of the profile tests you have already completed or contact me if you are interested in the Talent Dynamics test.
2. Design your daily and weekly schedule to create more time for using your talents - which in turn creates more flow
3. Schedule time for activities which create flow - dance, music, gardening, sport.

In my ‘Unleash Your Inner Superpowers Program’ we explore your individual talents and dive deeper into the science of flow.  

If you are interested in discovering a little bit more about your flow state and using your talents visit my free flow state quiz.

Charlotte Mawle is the Founder of Charlotte Mawle Coaching and Mentoring, delivering personal transformation programs and Founder and Co-director of Change Optimised, specialists in organisational change and transformation.