Build your Psychological Capital
NPR’s ‘Hidden Brain’ podcast series recently aired Dr. Kate Sweeney of UC, Riverside, CA talk about the tips on waiting well and the benefits of getting into ‘Flow’ during painful, uncertain times. I was delighted by the serendipity of how well it aligned with the topic of my writing this month.
Watch Dr Sweeney in this 1 min video on ’How to Survive Waiting’.
When I first read about ‘Flow’ I was aflutter with excitement as I related to what it means to be in this state of ‘ecstasy’. For Mihályi Csíkszentmihályi to have studied the concept and then present it to us is but a sublime gift. I invite you to integrate the factors necessary to cultivate and even better to sustain ‘Flow’. Even the most mundane tasks have hidden within them the opportunity to enter into flow provided the environment is cultivated to create it and then sustain it for a while.
We examined the first 3 of the 9 factors essential for the state of consciousness called ‘Flow’ in the previous newsletter. Here are the next three:
• 4. Action and awareness are merged.
• 5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness.
• 6. There is no worry of failure.
4. “Concentration deepens….. When the involvement passes a certain threshold of intensity we suddenly find ourselves deeply into the interaction or activity.” Spontaneity arises. You can no longer tell the difference between ‘self’ and ‘activity’. You are one with
the music you are playing, rock you climbing, or character in the book you are reading. “You are in an ecstatic state to such a point where you feel you don’t exist,” says Ralph Shapey, American composer.
5. “The present is what matters.” Attention has to be focused on the present moment only, where there is no room for past, future, or any rumination. Attention is a limited resource. It is ‘psychic energy’ which is being consumed. Multi-tasking is a construct that is impossible; only toggling between tasks is possible. Switching from one task to the next causes superficial attention to the task.
You are better off attending to one task at a time fully, until you feel ‘stuck’. At that moment you can get relief in switching to another task. You can always return to the first task recharged. Being in ‘flow’ is sometimes called escapism, but the end result is growth. “Flow is an escape forward from the current reality whereas stimulants like drugs lead backward.” This is desired escapism packed with potential.
6. “Control is no problem….. As long as we respect its (flow activity’s) challenges and develop the appropriate skills to meet them we stand a good chance to cope with the situation.” With that confidence comes a total surrender to the activity, immersed fully, trusting the process completely. More so, you trust yourself fully, engaged in that activity. “Rationale for the choices is poetic rather than sensible.” This is described as becoming a vessel where the activity flows through you. You do your best for the sake of the activity alone and knowing your best is enough.
What are you waiting for? I invite you to pick up what you most desire to do and slip into your own unique trance; get into flow. The world awaits. 2020 taught us to ‘wait well’. 2021 is just around the corner chockfull of promise!