The Power of Flow

Introduction to Flow State by Steven Kotler

3 min readApr 29, 2021

What is Flow State? What are the benefits?

Flow state is optimal human performance. It is where your physical and mental performance goes off the roof. You gain 15% more strength. Top executives become 5 times more productive because their information processing and pattern recognition ability improve tremendously. Your creativity improves by 500% because you can take in more novel info and connect with old ideas, even in a lateral thinking fashion. You have less inner-critic and more motivation. You will learn faster with a more long-term relationship.

What are the symptoms of the Flow State?

Common symptoms of being in the flow, including slowing down/ speeding up of time, losing self-consciousness, and feeling great.

Flow State Explanation in Neuroanatomy and Neurochemistry

Neuroanatomy: In the flow state, your brain deactivates your conscious part of the mind (which is why time sensitivity alters) and allows the subconscious mind to take over, which could hold, process much more information faster.
Neurochemistry: In the flow state, our brain releases norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, anandamide, and endorphins. They are performance enhancers but at the same time addictive (most can be found in rewarding drugs).

17 Triggers of Flow

Flow follows focus- your attention into the now. Here are 17 triggers that can bring you into the flow state.

3 External/ Environmental Triggers

High Consequences: Physical, social (e.g. Public Speaking), intellectual, creative Risk
Rich Environment: A lot of novelty, complexity, and unpredictability (easily seen in adventurous sports). For example in Pixar, they built a giant atrium with all meeting rooms, mailboxes, café, and bathrooms, so people can bump into each other.
Deep Embodiment: Paying attention to all sensors, including 5 sensors and body environment. It can be achieved through learning by doing.

3 Internal/ Psychology Triggers

The Challenge & Skills ratio: The sweet spot is that your challenge is 4% higher than your skills, it is a ratio that you want to implement day after day. If it’s too challenging, you will be panicking and anxious. If it’s too easy, it will be boring.
For the other triggers, please refer to the book Rise of the Superman

1 Creative Trigger

For the details of the triggers, please refer to the book Rise of the Superman, because Steven didn’t cover it in the presentation

10 Social Triggers

For the details of the triggers, please refer to the book Rise of the Superman, because Steven didn’t cover them in the presentation

The Flow Genome Matrix

The Flow Genome Matrix pinpoints the neural-biological correction of flow and allows us to reverse engineer the experience for anyone.

4 Stage Cycle of Flow

Stage 1: Struggle

Overload your brain with information, it should feel like your head is going to explode
Your brain is in beta brain wave, where there’s a lot of active thinking

Stage 2: Release

Take your mind off the problem, and do low-grade physical work, like walking, building model toys, gardening, etc. (Don’t do hard exercise or watch TV, they block flow)

Stage 3: Flow

In the flow state, which pulls you high, and see far greater possibilities
Your brain is in alpha brain wave, the same as when you daydream

Stage 4: Recovery

You’ll feel down, and need self-control to stay calm
If you can recover from it, you can go back to the struggle phase again

If you love high-quality contents related to Wealth, Health, and Relationship like this one, sign up for my weekly newsletter where I share practical actions to become your best self: sendfox.com/jasonkwan