Direction – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

A state that brings focus and productivity

In his book Stealing Fire, Steven Kotler describes the four sensations we experience in a flow state: selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness and richness of information. In my own words: the ego switches off, time passes without our noticing, what we are doing takes no effort and the information about what we are doing simply flows. Flow is a mental state in which we are completely absorbed in an activity. It brings a feeling of energy, motivation and the ability to achieve great things. In flow we are often more creative, our productivity rises and our sense of well-being soars. So my question is this: how does flow relate to purpose? Is there a way to experience flow by doing things aligned with our purpose?

The first thing to be clear about is that the more faithful we stay to the mission we came into the world for, the more we find a sense of well-being we cannot find any other way. In my purpose statement I wrote that what I long for most is "to be the best father, husband and friend…" The more I act in line with that first part of my purpose, the more meaning I find in life and the more in tune I feel with something greater at every moment, so it becomes harder for me to do anything that clashes with my life purpose. Another very personal example is the framework of my Christian values and trying to feel happy for the simple fact of being a child of God. With those two levers, I could say God sent me into the world to fulfill a mission, and I discovered that mission in the statement that defines my life purpose.

The trouble comes when there is no frame of reference to guide our lives. I have written before that one important feature of a life purpose is that it only does good to others. An action guided by a genuine purpose cannot harm other people or the world. That does not mean perverse purposes do not exist, but that is a topic for another post. Back to the message I want to share here: the relationship between flow and purpose. Flow is just around the corner. It is simply doing what we love most and are most passionate about. In my case, three activities bring me into flow: swimming, flying and leading a coaching session, whether one-on-one or with a team. Those three show me what truly fires me up and fulfills me. One is a sport, another a hobby and the third the way I earn my living. All three matter equally, and all three give me the sensations I described above.

When we do things aligned with a purpose, we are more likely to enter a flow state, because we are more motivated by and engaged in the task at hand. We are also more likely to feel satisfaction and fulfillment when we finish it, since it carries personal meaning. Flow and purpose are two great tools any leader or team has on hand at all times, and they bring a whole new level of focus. I generally believe distractions come from not knowing our purpose: we end up doing many tasks aligned with nothing, unaware of the chance we have to achieve great things once we commit to working on something concrete that turns out to be deeply valuable to us.

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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