RMC Weekly Blog: True Feeling of Flow

 

To process complex information at rapid speeds we use our intuition to gather the data to assist us to make rational decisions. This process is highly subliminal and operates on a constant absorption level.

Some believe this process is not innate but created by us. However, this is not our belief. We at Rolo Mental Coaching believe, that just because you know how to drive a car does not mean you built it. 

The mechanism of intuition is a “built-in” process that is constantly learning and adding “data” to assist with decision-making. Intuition operates on a “quantum” level to guide our rational conscious. We can make decisions better by using this filter. However, sometimes events take place at such rapid speeds that our conscious self can not keep up and instinct takes over.  Instinct is an innate physical reaction or behavior to all stimuli. This basic process usually runs on adrenaline and does not allow the higher cortex to have much say in what is about to happen. 

In our society today we have grown distant from our innate qualities and have become custom to over-analyze and rationalize things leading us to sometime ignore our highest levels of consciousness (which run on a subconscious level). We rely too much on technology and techniques that we respond slower to in-the-moment events than we would have if we were more in touch with our “quantum self”. We also refer to the quantum self as Self-Two on some occasions. 

 

 

When we train a high-performance client we try to determine if the Self-Two can operate freely or is constricted by overthinking or fears of failure. This is very important because a top athlete is constantly dealing with high-speed and high-pressure moments where they do not have time to make decisions only on the rational self (which we, at Rolo Mental Coaching, refer to as the linear self or Self One).

Self-One can be imagined as the librarian and has access to all data on a rational conscious level. It knows all the rules of the game but is not as capable of managing the body response. It can move the body and help us make decisions, for example deciding to take a sip of a drink we have in front of us. When the cup suddenly falls off the table it will be Self-Two who has a chance to catch it before it shatters on the floor. Self-One would be too slow to react. The quantum self was probably already aware that the cup was going to fall and instinctively reacted with the reflex system. 

Training this process to become more natural again is immensely beneficial to high-performance athletes for obvious reasons. However, enhancing this process could benefit anyone. When realizing that fear, and all its ugly ripple effects, resides in the Self-One, a person could move through life easier when they operate mostly on Self-Two governed modes. Self-Two responds mostly to “now” moments, so danger (which is not equal to fear) gets its proper response. When this process is running optimally in succession we have a chance to reach a state we call “flow” or some refer to it as “being in the Zone”. 

Knowing what you know now, are you interested to see your hidden self perform at its full potential? Have you ever felt the harmonious and invigorated feeling of events just going smooth? Well, let us tell you that there is a way to feel like that more often and it will have a positive influence on your well-being and ultimately on your success in life as well. 

 

Written by: Dave de Haan

 

Rolo Mental Coaches are specialists in high-performance coaching. 

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