When you are in a state of flow, is it like time stands still? Does it sometimes feel everything else has stopped except for what you are doing at that moment? Or maybe, the state of flow is a new one to you – something that others can achieve but is so far elusive to you?
When we are talking about states from an NLP perspective, we are talking about a mood or emotion. The state of flow, a term coined by Positive Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chic-sent-me-high) is a state of complete absorption with the activity or situation you’re involved in. It is a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. Some people call it in the zone or in the groove – everyone experiences it at some point and describes it using phrases like a feeling of great absorption, engagement, fulfillment, and skill—and during which concepts of time, food, self, etc, are typically ignored.
In fact, while in a total state of flow at an airport, sitting at the gate, I (Heidi) missed a flight! They were even calling my name! I’ve now put in measures to stop that from happening!
So, now that you know more about what it’s like to be in the flow – what does NLP have to do with it? Anything you want!
With your NLP skills, you will be able to create an anchor which will trigger your state of flow anytime you want. An anchor is a stimulus that creates a response. For me, I’ve created an anchor using the word ‘now’ – and that word (and how I say it), trigger a feeling like a cone of silence coming down around me – and I have total focus and concentration on what is happening… now.
Since the airport incident, I have adapted it to have my unconscious mind check in every few minutes to my immediate surroundings to attend to anything I need to – and I have also chosen to never use it in a situation where I may be needed to respond, such as getting on an airplane!
When you choose to use your anchor and help yourself create the flow state, there will be nothing that can get in your way!
