Woo HOO! Let’s dive into some more flowy goodness, shall we?
Reflect back on the results of your flow audit from the work you did in our Flow Primer.
Today’s work: Identify the risks in your primary flow state. They may be slightly different from the general ones I listed off in today’s vid, or they may be spot on.
How can you lean into the lower-risk territory of your secondary flow state (or any of your non-dominant ones) to maximize your time spent in states of flow without firing off the higher-risk areas that create a crash in creativity?
I am a crowd pleaser and it is interesting to hear you say that when I feel like there’s too much going on to give some more. It does make sense- get out of ego and back to service. I am going to be mindful of this and put it into practice. Also- addiction……yep. Thanks, Bon. x
I think to a certain extent *all* creatives have addictive personalities, whether the addiction be to chemicals, other people, the high of creation itself, the applause, etc., and managing that is part of our quest for balance. I know it’s odd at first to imagine “giving more” to be the fix but it’s such a good reminder of the real WHY behind it all. It unhinges the addictive brain and kicks in that flow state more completely, thereby reminding us at our core why we’re at this whole thing.
Yes!
Woo HOO!
My biggest risk for Deep Thinker is definitely isolation. I never thought of being a homebody as a soft addiction but it totally makes sense. When I’m alone for too long I go crazy and get nothing done, even though I still don’t want to see people.
With my secondary flow state being Flow Goer, I have found in the last year that yoga and meditation move mountains for my mental (and flow) state. One on one writing sessions are MAGICAL. OH here’s something I’ve never been able to put into words before! There’s that addictive feeling of flow when I’m sitting in my acting class, with so much love for the people around me and the work that’s being presented. Everyone is in the flow state together, making it all the more addictive.
Any thoughts on other ways I can use Flow Goer for strength?
Hmm… maybe put in your solo workspace photos of groups of people with whom you’ve created that flow-goer love-for-all-the-creation state? A playlist that takes you back to time you’ve shared? Something that allows you to use your deep-thinker space while leaning into some flow-going triggers?
So for clarification on Hard Charger downsides…. you said they keep pushing to go further and keep breaking records and beating PRs and all that. Growing up in sports, that was always a good thing- to keep challenging and pushing yourself. The risk comes in going so far you could either physically harm yourself, or cause a complete mental overload burnout, right?
Also, so much yes on the deep thinker thing. I have noticed that I’ll occasionally have days when I don’t leave the apartment, and 99% of the time I end up feeling absolutely horrible by the end of the day. I need to get out, absorb the energy of the people around me, interact with people too. I should know better as an ambivert, but I’ve been a bit off kilter since moving down here, and I’m finally starting to feel like I’m getting my old confidence back.
Harm yourself, burn out, or eventually hit the point at which there’s no where else to go. In pole, I say I’m always chasing the dragon of that one time I did X, Y, Z my best ever, every time. And once I know I can nail some element of that trick, any time I’m “less than” on that trick, there’s the risk of beating myself up about it, pushing myself TOO hard (hello… bed rest for nearly a week and a full two weeks away from pole as I healed from being too eager to hit that Helix ONE MORE TIME as well as I did it — to my surprise — on my first try), or tapping out because it’ll just never be that good again.
At 20, being a hard charger does not have the downside it has over 40. Basically, look at any professional athlete who never was able to recapture those glory days or find another career as a coach or in broadcasting after the playing days were over. Many of them turn to addiction and/or depression. Without balance, any of these four styles can cause problems.
Wow wow wow! SO true!
Excited to come back to this, because boy, was I aware of needing to balance my Flow today. My energy seems to come in extreme peaks as a Crowd Pleaser, which is my secondary, ironically. I wonder if I might have Flow Goer in there somewhere because I TOTALLY get high on the bliss of the”Life itself is creative” mantra. YES! And then I get burned out and want to go hide and recharge in my Deep Thinker side.
It helped hearing how you have to balance your creative “addictions,” when you “get battered,” Bon.
I’ve really been trying to notice when I’m entering burnout, because I can practically HEAR my body saying, “Rest, Laura.”
But I see the risk of my Deep Thinker side in which I become too internalized and get afraid of sharing my art in/with the world. That’s definitely something happening for me right now.
So how can I lean into the lower-risk territory of my secondary or non-dominant states to maximize time spent in states of flow without firing off the higher-risk areas that create a crash in creativity?
I’ve been listening to my intuition more. I’ve noticed, when I’m getting too deep in Deep Thinker mode, my gut will kick in an say, “Take action!” This might be calling upon Hard Charger, or even Crowd Pleaser, because when I get up and DO something, I feel like I’m reinvigorating my creative side. It’s when I DON’T think about it (after overly thinking about it) that I can reboot, so to speak.
This is SO interesting! Diggin it! 🙂
That’s really good, Laura. I like what you’re doing with your intuition and I’m with you in that as I read the test results, it gets me thinking I could be ALL of those things. LOL I think, as creatives, we use a LOT of ways to get into flow and a lot stimulates us to try and STAY in flow, like switching to the strengths of other styles because we know that’ll work… it’s like not BEING an adrenaline junkie but knowing you can shock yourself into a state of flow, so you’ll do something physically risky just to jumpstart it a bit.
I’m especially glad you’re listening when your body is telling you to rest. I struggle with that one the most because — even though I’m a master at self-care — I will push through and push through and push through to keep building things, creating things, doing things… because that just feels really good. I have to remember it feels good LONGER when I give myself breaks from it.
I suppose it’s a bit like getting a trim when you’re growing your hair out. A part of the brain says, “Don’t get a trim! We’re trying to grow this hair OUT!” but the smarter part of the brain says, “You’re actually NOT helping reach the goal by letting your hair get ragged on the ends and then BREAK OFF because it’s unhealthy, y’know?” and then you get a trim.
I think that image is gonna help me call THIS a stopping point and go to bed! LOL 😉
Dig it, Bon. Glad you’re getting some rest too! 🙂
At this stage, I admit I am a bit confused. Because it now seems to me that I actually engage my secondary DEEP THINKER in everything I seek to achieve a lot more than my primary FLOW GOER.
I’m not one for crowds, I like to be by myself. Which, yes, often ends in isolation. I’m just wondering whether it would be a better idea for my current state to increase the support for the FLOW GOER, as the DEEP THINKER appears omnipresent, yet secondary…
Very interesting.
Can you be open to playing with both? And maybe even all four? Try not to decide right away what will be the best, most efficient, most FLOWY state for you! Be willing to play with all of it and get data — do some dispassionate labeling — before deciding where to spend most of your flow energy! 🙂
More lumping, less splitting? 😉 I’ll definitely work on that!
As I listened to the breakdown of the four types, and reflected on my primary and secondary, it occurred to me that my intuition is becoming so strong when it comes to the danger side of my primary and secondary and finding the balance between the two.
I am hyper aware of when I and others around me are going into ‘bliss junkie’ mode and I reign that feeling in by using traits of the Crowdpleaser to check how and why the artistic expression or connection I am tapping into/creating is relevant in society/the world/the community right here/right now. This allows me to constantly check in on the balance of exploration vs. indulgence and always connect back to my WHY as an artist and human.
Through the GIG4NT tools in combination with other tools and resources (Artist’s Way being a primary), which I have accumulated in my toolbox, I am better able to tune in to when I need to tap into my Deep Thinker and take the space to process and heal. I have really strengthened my Intuition listening, and it is very clear to me as I move through my day when I need to move out of Deep Thinker and my healing introvert qualities, into my extrovert engaging flow state and vice versa.
It is really empowering to have these labels for the different states of being which i am constantly flowing (heehee) through on a daily basis, and understanding the dangers and strengths of each state. This is a really strong vocabulary to use as I continue to strengthen my intentionality behind all of my actions, especially in relationship to my business and artistry.
That being said, it is also now very clear when my resistance/fear/overwhelm taps in and I actively CHOOSE to avoid leaning in to the flow state which my being is craving, by indulging in self-medicative/self-sabotage/avoidance behaviours. This work is super helpful in helping me to identify those reactionary/reductive impulses and how I can use behaviours/actions which support engagement/leaning in to the flow state I am shying away from.
OOOooooooooooh! I am over here CHEERING for you, honey!!!!!!!
I’ve set up my home to support creativity because I want my home to feel like a “work” place first versus a “home” because I’m an actor and a freelance writer, and I know it’s easy to not want to work when you’re at home. I think this has helped me get into a state of flow when I’m working. However, I definitely got stuck in Deep Thinker mode. I realized this last month when it occurred to me that I spent more time in my pajamas than in my clothes. No shade against working in my pajamas. It was just that I was getting very comfortable in a routine that wasn’t very dynamic, and I was starting to feel a bit complacent. My two best friends have recently started their own creative design company, so they do a lot of work in coffee shops together. I asked them to either come over to my place, so I was with other people or to invite me out when they went out to work, so I wasn’t so isolated.
In terms of my primary flow setting as a Flow Goer, I’ve recently gone sober. I don’t drink alcohol anymore because it was getting in the way of how I wanted to live my life. I balance myself out with my morning flow of stretching, meditating, praying, and journaling. It’s done wonders for me in terms of manifesting a lot of things recently and just being in bliss. Becky still pops in from time to time, but I’ve learned to manage her. And if I can’t do it on my own, I have a great support system to fall back on.
How fucking fabulous. All of it!
Ah, the shadow of the Deep Thinker rings so true! That burnout is real (I’ve been there enough times, gosh). The risk/tendency to hold back pings off what you had me post-it note to my wall, too: How does this help the people I’m here to serve?
I’m so going to geek out on this class…
Flow Theory is some of my favorite go-deep-geek-outery stuff. 🙂