High Flow Lifestyle | personal growth for business owners: Recent Episodes
Josh Smith, PhD
On this show, I explore the flow state, peak performance, creativity, intuition, and happiness for business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives, freelancers, self-employed people and side-hustlers. I go deep into why flow is the Ultimate Personal Growth Solution! This show is designed to help you develop daily flow so you can reach your optimal human performance. As business owners, entrepreneurs, or small business people, we have unique challenges and mindsets and need to develop our own system of work/life balance, which I like to more refer to as Work/Life Synergy. For us, business is personal. Peak performance and flow state coach Josh Smith, PhD. guides you in different strategies for developing a High Flow Lifestyle, that’s living life to the fullest, heightening creativity and intuition, and reaching your peak performance. This is flow state training for everyone from entrepreneurs and small business owners to creatives and those thinking of starting with a side business first, anyone who wants to think differently and lead a more interesting, happier, and healthier life. Consider these solo shows with tips and advice as part of your flow state coaching, Through interviews with experts and successful people who access flow regularly you will learn how others also struggle and succeed in developing a high flow lifestyle and all of the benefits that come along with that. We cover a variety of topics centered on the main theme of flow, things like finding your purpose, passion, and identity, as well as gratitude, productivity, focus, and motivation. To continue your flow training check out the website HighFlowLifestyle.com for free resources and access to an intimate community of like-minded peers where you can take that next step in your training at the High Flow Lifestyle Membership. See you on the inside!
The eureka effect refers to the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept. In the book The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain by John Kounios he explored how light distraction plays a role in accessing flow and helps to create the right environment for insight to emerge.
It’s a little cliché, but this can stem from things like taking showers and afternoon walks, especially in the woods.
In a little bit of recent flow news, The Conversation featured an article called “Gamers know the power of ‘flow’ — what if learners could harness it too?” In it they start with the problem of how...
High Flow Lifestyle
On this episode I talk with Ikigai facilitator and coach Jennifer Shinkai about how to build in flow and ikigai in your workday.
Today I’m talking again with Jennifer Shinkai, an Ikigai facilitator and coach. Originally from the UK, Jennifer has been living and working in Japan for over 20 years. As a facilitator and coach for global corporate clients, she focuses on building inclusion and discovering ikigai in the workplace. As well as running her own business, she's a mother of two kids, a runner, a podcaster, the founder of a thriving online community for entrepreneurs and a lover of the creative arts: theatre, literature and art.
Jennifer finds flow through taking her weekly art class, giving workshops, and sometimes when running.
While facilitating group workshops she experiences what she calls a ‘meta-experience’ where it is sort of like an out-of-body experience. A place where time seems to pass effortlessly.
Some of her other flow activities are when she is giving workshops, writing, coaching etc. We are better able to access flow when we can “hold something lightly.” In the beginning when we are consciously learning something and building that muscle memory the inner critic is in the way, we are consciously incompetent, and it’s harder to reach a flow state.
But “if you can remove yourself and remove the expectations of what the outcome is and just be in the moment, that’s an important intention setting to get into flow state. “
Deadlines can get in the way because you are more focused on the outcome, not the journey. Finding Flow in the Workplace Entrepreneurs and business owners have a benefit of creating their own schedule for the most part, allowing time to focus. People in a corporate setting however can try to take opportunities to eliminate distractions.
The biggest hindrance to office settings and corporate situations are all of the disturbances and distractions that pop up, keeping us out us flow. The phones ringing, the gossip, the excitement all hinder flow. Sometimes the busy hum of the office can provide a rhythmic background to enable us to focus, but the chance of being distracted is much greater than if you fully separate yourself from the world for 45 minutes. No emails, no phones, no buzzers, no notifications.
You need to have a space to shut the world out. Make use of a meeting room, put “busy” on your calendar, and turn off your email. Evaluate Your Career Position Think about career changes you could make within your corporate roles.
Spend some time thinking about how your work makes you feel. Also, think about what you are good at.
Also, evaluate where you can be the most useful for the organization as well as for yourself. Role Creation Open up a line of communication with managers and let them know that maybe a particular role or project isn’t really working or a great fit for you.
Think about areas that could improve the organization and the possibility of creating a new role for yourself. Companies are always needing to change to stay with the times, the new demand from customers, competitor’s strategies are changing. Highlight ways you can take the lead in a developing area.
This type of Job Crafting may be easier if you are working in a company that is growing. However, we are in a changing business world post-pandemic and the jobs your organization have right now may not even be there in 5 years.
“Success comes from being in a state of effortless action, not from achieving self-created goals.” I see a connection between the ideas of ikigai, flow state, and Wu-wei.
The Daoist/Taoist concept of Wu-wei (無為) is literally translated as “non-action,” but leans more to the point of “effortless action.” This is action without intention, or “purposeless action.” I believe Alan Watts was the first to interpret Wu-wei as “purposelessness.” Wu-wei refers to behavior that stems from understanding that we are connected to the people around us, our environment, and nature. It comes from interconnectivity, not separateness. It is movement and action that is effortless and spontaneous.
This is represented by the saying of “going with the flow.” It’s the concept of being better off swimming with the stream instead of trying to go upstream. This is consciously becoming a part of life's flow.
Purposelessness is about fully living life in the moment. It’s not about focusing on the goal or questioning or doubting yourself about where it’s leading. It’s not about worrying about the future in which we cannot control, and it’s not about dwelling on the past which is already done.
Wu-wei in Business...
In this episode I talk with Ikigai facilitator and coach Jennifer Shinkai about my acronym for flow: freedom, leisure, optimism, and wonder. Over the next couple of shows, I’ll be talking with Jennifer Shinkai, an Ikigai facilitator, and coach. Originally from the UK, Jennifer has been living and working in Japan for over 20 years. As a facilitator and coach for global corporate clients, she focuses on building inclusion and discovering ikigai in the workplace. As well as running her own business, she's a mother of two kids, a runner, a podcaster, the founder of a thriving online community for entrepreneurs, and a lover of the creative arts: theatre, literature, and art. Freedom – Being an entrepreneur she gets to choose the projects she wants to work on and choose the people who she wants to work with. That variety and autonomy help her with flow each day. Leisure – Rereading the works of Shakespear in a Shakespear book club. She also does a weekly art class for kids. There is no pressure as she’s taking the class online with kids. It helps her pop into flow state. Optimism – With hopefulness, it’s hoping something will change and something good will come from it. She is always optimistic about people, hoping they will surprise her in great new ways. Wonder – She enjoys the feeling of wonder. It’s awe. Live performances, workshops with people. Always being inquisitive about how something was made or how someone came up with the idea to build or start something. People are creative and it’s interesting to see how human beings can make something from nothing. Also, asking the “What if?” question. What if this happened, or what if we tried it this way? Always being open to asking the "What if?" question keeps the door open for trying and implementing new ways of doing things. So how will you answer the acronym for flow? What is an area of your work/life where you experience freedom? What is something you do for leisure or just pure enjoyment? What is something you are optimistic about? What is something recently that brought about that feeling of wonder? Have a think about the FLOW acronym and I’ll talk to you soon. Connect with Jennifer Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifershinkai/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifershinkaicoach Website: https://jennifershinkai.com/ Ikigai with Jennifer Shinkai YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzhMsnrS6JkrFDVvf7PIQFQ Podcasts (Apple/ Spotify/ Google/ Stitcher) https://ikigai-with-jennifer-shinkai.captivate.fm/listen Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ikigaiwithjennifershinkai/ Can Giraffes Swim? Have you ever wondered if giraffes can swim? Follow the adventures of Georgie, a Tokyo zoo giraffe, who travels to Australia in lockdown.
On this episode I talk with Ikigai facilitator and coach Jennifer Shinkai about having multiple ikigai, and the different types of ikigai. Today I’m talking again with Jennifer Shinkai, an Ikigai facilitator and coach. Originally from the UK, Jennifer has been living and working in Japan for over 20 years. As a facilitator and coach for global corporate clients, she focuses on building inclusion and discovering ikigai in the workplace. As well as running her own business, she's a mother of two kids, a runner, a podcaster, the founder of a thriving online community for entrepreneurs and a lover of the creative arts: theatre, literature and art. A lot of Ikigai is connected to flow. Ikigai is the reason to live. Iki = life, and Gai = the reason for something or something that makes it worth it. Hasegawa sensei in Tokyo focuses his Ikigai research on being in the here and now, very close to flow. He says that there are 2 types of Ikigai: The feeling of ikigai An external or internal object of ikigai, something that can be the catalyst of ikigai This definition is all inclusive of the whole process around something. In my case, Ikigai can be the feeling of Ikigai I get when I am in the heat of the moment of doing a podcast. The catalyst is also all of the research and prep that I do before doing aa podcast. This continues afterwards into the editing and marketing of the podcast as well. The whole process. This all contributes to the feeling of being alive, iki, iki. Your Ikigai shifts as well. It changes with different ages and stages. As you learn and gather new information this all affects and changes your purpose along the way. This is one of the reasons it makes for a beautiful guide to life. Dr. Ken Mogi also says that he has 100’s of Ikigai moments throughout the day. Highlighting the fact that it’s not your Life’s Purpose in the sense that there is only one, but many things throughout the day. It doesn’t need to be about a big grandiose life’s purpose, it can be and that’s great if it is, but it can be just a very small moment within the day as well.
The dictionary defines flourishing as “developing rapidly and successfully; thriving.” It’s a little broad but positive psychology pioneer Martin Seligman describes it this way: “To flourish is to find fulfillment in our lives, accomplishing meaningful and worthwhile tasks, and connecting with others at a deeper level—in essence, living the “good life.”
Entrepreneurs and business owners all have the ability to structure their day so that they can live the “good life.” ...
Recently Philadelphia creatives and entrepreneurs shared some of their rituals and secrets for finding flow and thriving today.
31-year-old JORDYN AMOROSO is the CEO of the Philly-based medical shoe company called CLOVE.
“I’m in a flow state,” said Amoroso, adding that she’s particularly influenced by the Pixar movie Soul. “I’m thriving when time passes by and it doesn’t feel like I’m working. I’m excited to wake up every day and I’m contributing to something larger than myself.”...
I’m excited to let you know that the first book in the High Flow Lifestyle series is out now! I’m running a special limited-time promotion for the next 5 days on Amazon, you can get the eBook free. I would love it if you would leave a short review there as it helps the algorithms spread the word to the right people.
So Who Should Read This Book?
Even though this is a short, compact book, designed to even be read in one sitting, I don’t want to waste your time if it’s not a good fit for you. If you’re listening to this podcast then the High Flow Lifestyle series is probably a good fit for you.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
I am a huge proponent of music and nature as triggers for accessing flow, that’s why this new release sort of hits home.
If you aren’t familiar with Above and Beyond they are a British progressive trance and electronica group. I love a wide variety of music from hip-hop to traditional Japanese music, but I’ve come to find that when I’m getting into my early morning writing sessions I rely on more instrumental trap and electronica to get that continuous beat going in the background.
Although Above and Beyond titled it ‘Flow State,’ they’ve created this album with a slightly different intent...
KAJABI - Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
I get asked a lot about which nootropics work the best. Here are my thoughts on the whole trending issue.
If you’re not familiar with the subject, nootropics claim to have benefits of enhanced productivity and concentration. They claim to boost your overall cognitive functions. Basically, what they call “smart drugs.”
Do I wish I was smarter, who doesn’t? Do I wish my memory was ultra-sharp? Of course. Do I want a magic pill that could boost my brain functions? You bet, but unfortunately, they just don’t exist yet.
What people are searching for with these kinds of drugs is that elusive “flow state...”
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/Training
It’s about 2 years ago now that I was reminded of how important it is to have multiple flow triggers...
Are There Different Kinds of Flow?
In the past, Steven Kotler suggested there are several flow state triggers that can be divided into four categories...
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/Training
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.Embracing risk is an important part to developing your creative flow. Being comfortable with the unknown is an important skill and mindset we need to develop as entrepreneurs living a high flow lifestyle.
Risk stretches our creativity because it pushes us to think outside the box more in order to make the risk count. There are real stakes at hand, but there are also real rewards.
Risks also lead to growth, and if we aren’t growing, we are dying. As we grow, we learn to evaluate situations differently because each time we are building a larger body of experience to draw upon. ..
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.Working within a structure, a deadline, and a framework can actually force us to be more creative. I’ve found that it’s harder to be creative amidst chaos and complete freedom. Sometimes rules or traditions can be used to expand your creativity by thinking about expansion within a defined space.
I am not really one for reality TV or Survivor-type shows, but I came across an article in Surface about a show on HBO Max called Ellen’s Next Great Designer.
The finale featured designer and architect Arielle Assouline-Lichten, founder of the sustainability-minded Brooklyn furniture studio Slash Objects, and it highlighted how she accessed flow during the show and afterward, where she eventually took second place...
KAJABI - Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.In our search for happiness, meaningfulness, and peak performance, positive psychology has shown us that the quickest way there is to value other people. Our overall life satisfaction isn’t a solo pursuit, we bring along those around us we love and consider as part of our inner circle. Cue Robert DiNiro and Ben Stiller... Anyway.
For me, this is my wife and 2 kids and the rest of my family and others who provide social support. This is what the good life and a high flow lifestyle are built on and we can train this through practicing active listening and empathy...
KAJABI - Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
I don’t think anyone has given you the advice before to just run away from your problems, well I take pride in being the first then.
Let me explain what I mean by that though. What I’m really talking about today is runner’s high.
Running has become one of my flow triggers and I’m a big proponent of everyone getting into it. I love it for the ease of literally only needing running shoes, and technically there are even barefoot runners out there but I’m not that hardcore...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.Although there is growing research around the futility of brainstorming, businesses sometimes feel the need to gather and kick around ideas. This is only productive if you set things up right from the beginning. It starts with everyone coming into it with a positive mindset, they are free from judgment, restrictions, and not allowed to develop a herd mentality.
I’ve said it before but, “Effective creativity comes about when both individual and group brainstorming is allowed to happen.”
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Are you creating optimal experiences in your life? Are you encouraging your kids and others around you to seek out optimal experiences?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the grandfather of flow says that:
“It is not enough to be happy to have an excellent life. The point is to be happy while doing things that stretch our skills, that help us grow and fulfill our potential. ..
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
A new survey shows that creatives find brainstorming sessions a colossal waste of time. Is this the death of brainstorming?
It’s true that group flow can be even more powerful than individual flow, but many people aren’t provided the right environment to allow for creative flow to happen.
A Dutch file-sharing company called WeTransfer surveyed over 20,000 creatives across different genres and 190 countries, and one thing they found was that creatives don’t find brainstorming sessions helpful in creative problem-solving...
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
We are all familiar with Elon Musk and his many accomplishments from co-founder of Paypal to founder of Tesla and SpaceX. You can describe him as an innovator, a visionary, a futurist, an entrepreneur, but can we say he leads a high flow lifestyle?
Entrepreneur magazine recently had an article entitled “Why is Elon Musk So Successful? It All Comes Down to These 5 Key Personality Traits”
The goal of the article was to figure out why Musk was so successful and figure out ways that we could bring that into our own lives.
I’d like to focus on a few of the traits as it relates to the flow state, but I’ll go through them quickly to give you some background...
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
There is a great book out there by Gay Hendricks called The Big Leap where he discusses different zones that people are in in their life. I’m relating this to your business, which will help you prioritize your focus, and how it fits with a work-life synergy that emphasizes lifestyle freedom as well.
So how do you enjoy your business, stay profitable, and have a meaningful life? It’s all about honing your zone of genius and accessing flow.
Let’s look at his 4 zones:...
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Recently the family and I were on a vacation slash home scouting trip to Puerto Rico and I realized that my daily routine for flow was all off. I needed to figure out different ways of how I could keep up a high flow lifestyle even when I wasn’t in the comfort of my own home and familiar daily routine.
Regular travel may be a part of your high flow lifestyle, so let’s look at how we can use this time beneficially. I think a big misconception that I had at first was that I needed that routine, when in reality the magic happens outside of our comfort zone. We often practice in the comfort zone, honing our skills, but when the situation changes, we are thrown outside of our comfort zone. This is when we do less thinking and are more in the zone, more present to let yourself just handle it without overthinking the situation. ..
KAJABI - Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Do you have the Courage to Be Your Entrepreneurial Self?
I found this great quote from Erich Fromm about being yourself:
"If other people do not understand our behavior-so what? Their request that we must only do what they understand is an attempt to dictate to us. If this is being 'asocial' or 'irrational' in their eyes, so be it. Mostly they resent our freedom and our courage to be ourselves. We owe nobody an explanation or an accounting, as long as our acts do not hurt or infringe on them."
Many times, on our entrepreneurial journey we can forget that we are pioneers and it’s our courage to do the uncommon thing that has gotten us to where we are...
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
I think you should architect your free time. It may sound counterintuitive, but you’ll get more out of structuring your free time than letting it dwindle away.
To stay productive and on top of our game, we need to have a good balance of work and play. We take play and free time for granted and often consider it something that is just leftover for the times when we’ve finished our work. ..
KAJABI -Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Many people assume that entrepreneurs are hardcore risk-takers. It’s true that there is some degree of risk-taking, and being able to take that leap is necessary, but in reality, I’ve found that a lot of people I’ve talked with actually do a lot of research beforehand.
So a question beginning entrepreneurs often ask is if you’re starting a business should I quit my day job, or should I continue to work my day job and develop my business as a side hustle to start? ...
Kajabi -
Everything you need for your knowledge business. All in one place.
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Are you more prone to experience awe and creativity? How can we tap into this unfair advantage?
There is a quote from Eric Fromm that goes:
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
As business owners, we have to deal with a large amount of uncertainty in life. This pandemic threw us into hyperdrive with keeping up with new information that affected our business and lives in one way or another. I would say that it has probably honed most people’s survival skills...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Water has such a calming yet powerful effect on our well-being. Here’s how to get the Benefits of a Blue Mind, Even in a Rain Forest
Water provides the perfect balance of stability and change, like looking at a waterfall or a calm lake. And this balance of change and consistency allows you to enter a state of involuntary attention or the brain’s default setting. Some call it a mildly meditative state and I consider it a form of micro-flow.
My family and I were recently exploring the US’s only rain forest in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
You probably don’t question it, because it’s everywhere, but does it really pay off to focus on a big goal? And are you a lost soul if you don’t have some massively transformative purpose in life?
I’ve been working on my book for a little while now about work-life synergy and flow as the ultimate personal growth solution. In there, one of the major myths I dispel revolves around all of the media's push for us to have these earth-changing dreams and a purpose that transforms everyone’s life.
Well, that’s not how my life has unfolded...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Negativity Bias has been studied in a number of different fields and it’s affecting your happiness and quality of life. “Something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative.”
We have all been in the situation where we dwell on the negative, even though many positives surround us...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
As an entrepreneur or self-employed business owner, how are you continuing to learn and grow your business?
Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget is responsible for developing much of our modern theories of cognitive development. Back in the 1920’s he was studying children and how they learn and came up with two processes at work in cognitive development: assimilation and accommodation...
I’m your host and flow state coach Dr. Josh Smith and welcome to the High Flow Lifestyle show, where I take a unique approach to personal growth for entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners. These quick little shots will help you consistently lead a high flow lifestyle and live life to the fullest.
Have you been forgetting about the importance of awe in your daily life?
By definition, Awe is “A feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.”
Awe usually naturally happens, but I am encouraging you to create situations where you put yourself in circumstances where awe may happen more regularly...
How can entrepreneurs improve creativity?
High Flow Lifestyle is all about promoting flow and creativity for entrepreneurs and business owners. Entrepreneurs need new ways of competing with new problems that pop up. Improving your creativity is the key. I've got 3 simple ways you can boost your creativity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get some free Ikigai (purpose) and flow state training in my Ikigai (5-Day Purpose & Flow Bootcamp) -
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/ikigai-bootcamp
Check out the High Flow Lifestyle Membership -
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, we are talking about the balance of consistency and creativity that entrepreneurs have.
I was thinking the other day about the balance of consistency and creativity that entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners must have. I’m not saying it needs to be an even balance or that there is even a correct ratio, just that as business owners we probably tend to lean to one side or another. But flow can be found on either side you lean toward.
Take my wife Satomi for example, she is the executive chef at our 3 restaurants and she probably has a 80 percent consistency to 20% creativity balance. She often says she’s not creative, but I see her as extremely creative when she is in her flow.
Our restaurants revolve around Japanese cuisine and in Japanese culture the idea of craftsmanship is very important. Attention to detail in something like making ramen for example, is extremely important. Maintaining consistency is in itself an artform. That is, after you have created, tweaked, and improved your product and brought it to market. And truth be told there really is no finish line for a recipe, it is a living, breathing thing.
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, I am going to go over a few of the ways that, although work-life balance is somewhat of a myth, work-life synergy is achievable for business owners.
The term work-life balance has been used for a long time, but in reality, it is an elusive concept. Business leaders everywhere always for work-life balance. However, entrepreneurs and small-business owners have a unique relationship with trying to create a work-life balance.
The problem with the word balance is that implies there’s an equal sign to both work and life. The issue here is that as self-employed business owners our lives are not defined by a clear line between our personal and private lives. For us business is personal and is a part of our everyday life and by default is a part of our family's lives. So in essence, what we should be striving for is a work-life synergy.
To be clear, the definition of synergy is:
“The interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.” ...
Today on High Flow Lifestyle we are going to talk about a few of what are I see as some of the unfair flow advantages of self-employed business owners. We actually have a leg up on accessing flow so I want to make sure you are aware of it and taking full advantage of it.
As self-employed people, in most cases, we have chosen our profession or business for one reason or another. We naturally had an interest in something that pushed us to turn this into our business. Intrinsic motivation, personalities, and developed confidence have all contributed to what I consider an unfair flow advantage of self-employed business owners.
We naturally have some kind of interest and focus that gets rid of the negative thoughts, this creates a positive and happier environment.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says that, “If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble to pay attention to them”....
If you would like to surround yourself with other self-employed business owners who are structuring their day around creating a flow-prone environment and would like to join us for some fun group flow activities then I invite you to check out the High Flow Lifestyle Membership. You’ll have unlimited access to online video training, monthly live group coaching, a community of like-minded peers and a place to ask questions, get feedback and guidance on accessing flow regularly, and developing personal growth and business success.
Hey there, Josh here from High Flow Lifestyle and today I’ve got “5 Ways Flow is the Ultimate Personal Growth Solution”
I have seen so many self-help books and gurus promise the moon, and deliver nothing but a small piece of the puzzle.
- Sometimes they work, but they don’t last. You need something that is consistent and sustainable.
- Or perhaps they don’t even work for you, no matter how hard you follow the detailed routine or practices.
- Or maybe you realized that there are many programs that focus on a specific area, like productivity for example, but you know you need a little improvement in several areas.
What I’ve realized is that other programs focus on building a particular skill or technique, like time-management or productivity, but what you really need is an ultimate personal growth solution.
Normally there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but in this case, there is because we go deeper than surface techniques and focus on developing the underlying state of being. But how we get there and keep it year after year is unique to you, and this is what I help you discover in the High Flow Lifestyle Membership.
Download “17 Ways Flow is the Ultimate Personal Growth Solution”
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, I continue my discussion with peak performance coach and entrepreneur Eric Partaker and we discuss what it takes to develop a WorldClass version of yourself, which involves stress, discipline, and flow.
The pain of discipline vs. The pain of regret.
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”
― Jim Rohn
Eric believes too many of the speakers and literature is too slanted toward positivity. Life isn’t always so positive. Suffering is part of the process. Pleasure and pain go hand in hand...
On this episode of the High flow Lifestyle podcast, we’re going to discuss a new study done on how flow affects loneliness and how we can use flow to boost our overall well-being.
This may not be a topic that crosses everyone’s mind but, all people experience and need flow in their lives.
A recent study done in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing really caught my eye and made me think of my own situation where my grandmother is living in an assisted living facility. The study is called the Importance of Flow for Lonely Nursing Home Residents During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
An underlying theme of the paper, which is something that applies to all of us, is that the detrimental effects of loneliness can be regulated by positive emotions (Newall et al., 2013). Positive emotions, which flow produces, can destroy loneliness.
Flow in this study refers to a state of optimal experience arising from intense involvement in an activity when older adults have sufficiently high skills to meet challenges from the activity, enables them to become fully immersed in feelings of enjoyment and interest during the activity (Chang, 2020). Because enjoyment and interest are positive emotions, flow may be negatively related to loneliness. This study set out to examine the relationship between flow and loneliness in nursing home residents. ..
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, I talk with Eric Partaker about finding flow through intentionality and using what he calls his “Dream Team Practice,” exploring the 3 most important domains of life are: our health, our wealth, and our relationships.
As a Peak Performance Expert, Eric Partaker helps CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders reach their full potential, become better leaders, and build better businesses. Within his approach he draws from his time advising Fortune 50 CEOs at McKinsey, his experience helping build up Skype’s multi-billion dollar success story, and his own entrepreneurial journeys – together with behavioral science from Stanford University, as well as techniques from the worlds of elite sports and the military, areas where peak performance is key. On top of numerous awards such as being named “CEO of the Year” at the 2019 UK Business Excellence Awards, he is also the author of the new bestselling book The 3 Alarms: A Simple System to Transform Your Health, Wealth, and Relationships Forever.
Eric’s superpower is his determination to succeed, while at the same time accepting that the path is nonlinear. It’s similar to the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule. When you understand that it’s not linear, that helps you prioritize.
We are social beings and we need social support. Our partner can really help balance our days.
Sleep and exercise are essential elements to staying in flow and having balance in your life...
Check out the membership at: https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/membership
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast we are going to talk about how to develop a high flow lifestyle mindset of taking action first and letting action and exploration be your guiding light.
We need to reprogram our brain for action. A key aspect of flow is movement and action. It’s an essential part of accessing flow.
We are horrible at predicting whether we are going to be good at something. Similarly, we often enjoy the things we are good at, but if we don’t try new things then we will never get to find out all of the different things in life that excite us or inspire us.
The science behind mindset training actually says that we usually have things backwards. You need to do something first, in order to find out your feelings around that thing.
Action produces feelings, feelings don’t produce action. ..
If you’d like to continue this discussion around action and feelings and learn more about developing a high flow lifestyle then join me over in the membership at High Flow Lifestyle. The community would love to hear your thoughts and support you in taking that action first step.
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, I continue my chat with Christian Straka about mindfulness and flow, and we learn about his idea of Micro-Hits in Motion and changing people’s image of meditation.
Christian Straka has developed a unique approach to mindset training through methodologies for applying evidence-based mindfulness techniques in sports. Christian has been practicing mindfulness for many years, and is also now teaching and coaching mindfulness.
For the past decade his focus turned to mindset training for peak performance through evidence-based mindfulness skill development, which he incorporates in his function as the Global Mindset Coach for adidas Runners as well as with his personal and corporate clients.
The concept of meditation is so broad and vague that it means different things to different people. Similar to the idea of playing sports, we know in general what that is, but there is a wide variety of ports...
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle I talk with Christian Straka about mindfulness and flow’s impact on peak performance, and his 3 trainable skills for accessing flow consistently.
Christian Straka has developed a unique approach to mindset training through methodologies for applying evidence-based mindfulness techniques in sports. Christian has been practicing mindfulness for many years, and is also now teaching and coaching mindfulness.
For the past decade his focus turned to mindset training for peak performance through evidence-based mindfulness skill development, which he incorporates in his function as the Global Mindset Coach for adidasRunners as well as with his personal and corporate clients.
Christian focuses on building 3 skills among the numerous triggers for accessing the flow state...
On this episode of High Flow Lifestyle, we talk with Haley Hoover about 2 Skillsets to Elevate Your Business with Fun and Flow and she gives us some techniques for beginning to develop our intuition.
"Haley Hoover is a Success Coach + Intuitive Artist who helps female entrepreneurs elevate their business with fun, fulfillment and flow. An Amazon #1 New Release Author, her expertise is in Intuition, Success Mindset and Visionary Thinking in Business.
She has been featured in PositivelyPositive, Thrive Global, Thought Catalogue, and Hypnozine among others.
When she’s not sitting behind her psychedelic-colored laptop, she can be found wandering through nature with her boyfriend in northern California where they reside.
Everyone has a superpower of intuition. We just need to develop it...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Show, I talk with Faust Ruggiero about how we can develop our creativity and follow life’s natural flow.
Faust has been in private practice at the Community Psychological
Center in Pennsylvania for over thirty years, specializing
in individual, family, substance abuse, women’s issues, and marital/
couples counseling. During that time, he developed the Process Way
of Life, and has used it with over 2,000 of his clients, helping them
to realize and unleash the power they have inside themselves.
The Process Way of Life has now been developed
into a written version of the original counseling program, and
is now an award-winning book entitled The Fix Yourself Handbook.
Life’s Natural Flow - If you find yourself living in flow with nature, you don’t find yourself intellectually compromised. When you make a decision that goes against that, emotionally you find yourself all over the place. Spiritually there is a disconnect.
- You get there by slowing down.
- You get there by learning to gather facts. Without holding a predetermined decision.
- Keep the facts in line with what should be, not the way you think they should be. Be open to alternate paths. ..
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Show, I talk with Faust Ruggiero about how we can lead a Life of Flow By Developing a Passion From the Inside Out.
Faust has been in private practice at the Community Psychological
Center in Pennsylvania for over thirty years, specializing
in individual, family, substance abuse, women’s issues, and marital/
couples counseling. During that time, he developed the Process Way
of Life, and has used it with over 2,000 of his clients, helping them
to realize and unleash the power they have inside themselves.
The Process Way of Life has now been developed
into a written version of the original counseling program, and
is now an award-winning book entitled The Fix Yourself Handbook.
Faust has a superpower of passion. Which leads to flow in his life.
Getting strong on the inside gives you more control of the external stuff.
Internal Language and Brain Control - cognitive behavioral therapy – can people change?
Learning is simply repetition over time. The more we think negatively the more we ingrain that type of mindset. Retrain and reverse that, and think positively about yourself. ..
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast we're talking about health and diet in relation to flow.
Recently, in an article titled: Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: The ‘best solution’ is to not need health care and for Americans to change how they eat and live”
He’s made statements like this before so his position isn’t anything new, but it’s something that not enough people are listening to. With 71% of Americans being overweight and 42.5% considered obese.
“I mean, honestly, we talk about health care. The best solution is not to need health care.”
He continues with,
“The best solution is to change the way people eat, the way they live, the lifestyle, and diet,” Mackey says. “There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be healthy and have a longer healthspan. A bunch of drugs is not going to solve the problem.”
He says that “Clearly, we’re making bad choices in the way we eat... It’s not a sustainable path. And so, I’m calling it out.”
He is promoting a better lifestyle over expensive healthcare.
This really resonates with me and is also part of the reason I started the High Flow Lifestyle Community.
Exercise and health have always been important to me...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle we talk with master global communicator and humanitarian FIRDAUS KHARAS about creative peaking and flow stages throughout life, and from these changing times how we can develop a creative interconnected World.
Hailed as the “modern equivalent of Dr. Seuss,” Firdaus Kharas is a master global communicator and humanitarian who has influenced hundreds of millions of people’s lives for the better. Desmond Tutu calls his creative work, which has been viewed by more than a billion people worldwide, “outstanding” and “powerful.”
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he was named one of the world’s “50 Most Talented Social Innovators” and has received more than 110 awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award.
Getting over the barriers of human communications
Creative peaking and flow stages. You can’t perform at peak performance all of the time.
There is no age range when we peak. What we can do really well changes at different times of our life. ..
Creativity: The Key to a Remarkable Life by FIRDAUS KHARAS
https://amzn.to/3oRU4Jb
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast we are looking at some recent flow in the news and will discuss the benefits of the lost art of boredom and how it can boost creativity and intuition.
With all of the stimulation we have in our lives, whether it’s digital or just in the form of advertising, we’ve lost an important ingredient for creativity, intuition and flow, and that’s boredom.
I was recently reading an article on csnbc and they were talking about how Ellen, the mother of Sara Blakely, founder and CEO of the Spanx shapewear brand, had raised 2 successful entrepreneurs. The secret, she said was to let your kids be bored and let them figure things out...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast I talk with Anna Fitzgerald about flow and energy management for creatives and we get a ton of valuable advice for creating a high flow lifestyle.
Anna Fitzgerald is a lifestyle designer & coach for creatives specializing in Flow and Energy Management. She works with musicians, artists, & creative entrepreneurs. She holds a degree in Art Education & a master’s in Media Studies with a concentration in the history concert posters & music subcultures.
Her professional experience includes 17 yrs of volunteer & nonprofit management, music publishing, vinyl production, & administrative support. She plays the cello, writes songs when the muse strikes, and loves hiking in nature.
Anna has a superpower of recognizing inefficiencies. Examining things some people might be avoiding or the roadblocks that are in the way.
Imposter syndrome is a common fear people have that gets in the way of their success.
She finds flow during a coaching session as well as playing music. Repetition helped guide her into flow when she was playing an instrument and focusing on each note...
Grit and perseverance are essential elements to sustaining a High Flow Lifestyle, and that’s just what we’re going to talk about for kicking 2021 off like a chess master with a few lessons from the Queen’s Gambit.
If you want to get 2021 off to a great start then there is a big lesson from the Queen’s Gambit we can learn and a few of my own chess strategies for you at the end as well.
Inc magazine says that Netflix's Most Popular Show Is an Overnight Success that Took 30 Years to Make. This show, from the lead character to the producer is yet another example of how perseverance pays off. And perseverance is what we need to kick off 2021 like chess master...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle we talk with master global communicator and creator FIRDAUS KHARAS about where our creativity comes from, harnessing the flow trigger of risk, and what we should do with that creativity once we have uncovered it.
Hailed as the “modern equivalent of Dr. Seuss,” Firdaus Kharas is a master global communicator and humanitarian who has influenced hundreds of millions of people’s lives for the better. Desmond Tutu calls his creative work, which has been viewed by more than a billion people worldwide, “outstanding” and “powerful.”
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he was named one of the world’s “50 Most Talented Social Innovators” and has received more than 110 awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award.
Firdaus’s superpower is his creativity, but this is a superpower that he shares with everyone. Unfortunately, we lose that creativity along the way many times.
The educational system with standardized testing reduces our creativities...
Creativity: The Key to a Remarkable Life by FIRDAUS KHARAS
https://amzn.to/3oRU4Jb
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast we get entrepreneurial flow advice for business idea generation strategies and productivity from JD Speaker from his international entrepreneurial endeavors and his world record setting adventures.
Love of learning
Ideas come from sitting around in the jacuzzi, out playing sports, lying in bed on a Saturday morning.
1-page business/idea plan
Saving time in little places to be more productive...
Hey flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast we go talk with Travis Bays about reaching the flow state through surfing, body surfing, and yoga, and becoming an ocean guardian in the process.
Travis Bays is the co-founder of the award winning-B Corp Certified Bodhi Surf + Yoga camp located in Bahia Ballena, Osa, Costa Rica. An avid surfer and ocean steward, Travis uses his passion for surfing to inspire, educate, and empower his students to be ocean guardians. He arrived to Costa Rica in 2005 as a Peace Corps Community Economic Development volunteer and continues to apply 10+ years of experience developing creative grassroots community development programs...
- Today is a great day to start your own podcast. Following the link let's Buzzsproutknow we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1098656
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle we talk with Gretchen Wiese an actress, artist and fellow flow fanatic and go deep on topics like trauma and flow and explore empathy as a flow trigger
Gretchen Wiese is not a neuroscientist, PhD, or any type of doctor,
nor has she ever played one on TV. She is, though, an actress
and artist obsessed with learning, human potential,
expression, understanding, behavior & movement,
and all things story where the places in the heart can
connect, and heal. And laugh. So yeah, all things FLOW.
She’s lived as an athlete, coach, teacher and student. She’ll
forever live as a survivor of childhood abuse and trauma and is a
hunter of healing - personal and universal, but sincerely
hopes Lyme Disease, brain infections, concussions and
seizures will one day be a thing of her (and everyone’s)
ancient past.
She’s currently working on a one woman show and book that
investigates the journey(s) from victim to survivor to full-
blown-grown-up-human-champion and the ensuing adventures in adversity and humanity, healing, and flow. And, of course,
the messy, sometimes vomit-y contours of stuff in between. You know, life.
INSPIRE.EMPOWER.LOVE.TRUTH.
Dropping into other people’s experiences, or interconnecting experiences, and internalizing them. Empathy as a way of flow. ..
Hey flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast we’re going to be talking about a starting point for accessing flow with 6 tips for cultivating curiosity for flow.
Can Curiosity be learned? Curiosity is actually an innate quality within all human beings, we’re born with it, but unfortunately many of us don’t cultivate it along way. Well I’ve got 6 tips for cultivating curiosity for flow for you that I’ll get into shortly but I first wanted to give little background surrounding curiosity.
Getting into the flow state, where your body and mind seem to be connected, time slows down and we are completely absorbed in something, requires a certain amount of curiosity in the beginning. Curiosity is such an overlooked and underestimated skill that leads to so many great things if we take the time follow our curiosity and then listen to where it leads us.
Curiosity boosts creative thinking and this can help you in pretty much every field. And as you build your creative thinking you are building your creative problem-solving skills...
- Get weekly Flow Hacks for optimal human performance and happiness:
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/
- Freedom App Discount
Block distracting websites and apps. Stay focused on what matters most.
https://freedom.to/?rfsn=4889191.42e4d6
- Today is a great day to start your own podcast. Following the link that let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1098656
Hey flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast, we explore with Kristen Ulmer What we can learn from Extreme Athletes & Entrepreneurs About Stepping Out of our Comfort Zone, embracing risk and flow, and using fear as a motivation.
Kristen Ulmer is a thought leader on fear and anxiety who draws from her tenure as the most ‘fearless’ woman extreme skier in the world for 12 years, from intently studying Zen for 16 years and from facilitating thousands of clients on flow and peak performance.
The author of: The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won’t Work and What to Do Instead, Kristen radically challenges existing norms about what to do about fear.
What we can learn from Extreme Athletes & Entrepreneurs About Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone w/ Kristen Ulmer
Extreme sports as radical self-expression and enjoying yourself unapologetically.
Challenging existing norms
A lot of my motivation came from fear and anger. Subconsciously, I had something to prove to men....
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast we go deep into the relationship between flow and grit and get advice from Jonny Pardoe on how he became resilient through a self-esteem and confidence mindset.
Jonny Pardoe is the Author and host of The Self Esteem and Confidence Mindset and a Confidence Coach. Jonny initially followed into the personal growth world from his creative love of writing fiction. As Jonny began his personal growth journey, he became more self aware of his lifelong self esteem and confidence challenges. Jonny did everything in his power to build and create a new level of self love by investing time and money into coaching, books, and courses. Jonny realized how many others had challenges too, which led him to the creation of The Self Esteem and Confidence Mindset.
A superpower of resilience and generating a creating flow. Having grit and resilience is a major element of flow.
He finds mornings and evenings the highest time of day when he is in flow.
Internal locus of control and how we have control over our own lives. Finding what we have control over and what we don’t....
- Get weekly Flow Hacks for optimal human performance and happiness:
https://www.highflowlifestyle.com/
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast go deep with 4 tips for focus and flow.
In the search for how to focus to reach the flow state you have to start with the fact that flow follows focus. You can’t have flow if you can’t focus your attention first. Whether it’s in business and entrepreneurship, personal relationships, creative activities and artistic pursuits, or exercise and athletics, if I can help you focus better then you have the ability to enter the flow state, and with flow all of those activities I just mentioned will be amplified.
We are in an age of where your attention is the most sought-after commodity. 700 billion dollars are spent by company on ads to capture your attention. There are so many disruptors out there and you have to realize that their goal is to keep you out of flow, steal your attention by distracting you, so you can’t focus on the task at hand.
Hey Flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast I talk with the creative director at Tokyodex, Daniel Harris Rosen, about how he found flow his way by uniquely staying true to his passion for art while building a business, and how allowing space for spontaneity and splitting your time between spaces may be one of the keys to leading a high flow lifestyle.
Daniel Harris Rosen is a bilingual creative director based in Tokyo, with over 25 years of experience in the Japanese arts scene. Originally a visual artist himself, he is also a curator, VJ, film director, and art writer for The Japan Times & other esteemed media outlets. Daniel first formally studied art at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and went on to earn his MFA at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Through working with internet sensation Rinpa Eshidan he gained experience handling commercial work while also pursuing his own artistic career in contemporary art, exhibiting and selling his artwork worldwide.
After earning his PhD in fine arts from Tama Art University, he founded TokyoDex, a multifaceted creative agency that encompasses all of his artistic endeavors. Daniel’s creative vision, extensive network in the Japanese art community, understanding of the Japanese culture and international standards of business make him a highly sought creative director for exciting art-based projects in Tokyo and around the globe.
Eventually he began to take his own art more seriously. But he settled on aiming to build a bridge between corporations and artists as an art agency.
Creating your supportive entrepreneurial community...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast I explore how a tolerance of failure is an important part of building a volume of creative ideas, we have to put in the reps, build the skills, then we can enter the creative flow state.
There is a saying that “the enemy of great, is good.” Successful creatives know how to push beyond their good work and get to their great work. And in order to do this, you need to have a large volume of creative works and ideas to choose from.
Successful entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and famous musicians all go through the same process of building a large volume of ideas. We like to think they are just gifted or are naturally good at their work, but the reality is they are producing more than the average person and therefore have a larger pool of ideas to choose from in selecting their best. Even Mozart, who like to think of as some type of supernatural being that was just gifted, produced a tremendous amount of average music that we don’t hear about because it just wasn’t memorable. But he needed to create those unremarkable works in order to find his best work.
And sometimes we don’t always get to choose what those best works are. If musicians or entrepreneurs new what ideas or songs were going to be a hit they would simply duplicate that process over and over and create number 1’s every time. But this doesn’t happen.
We do need to develop a tolerance of failure and remember that it isn’t permanent and it doesn’t carry into the future. We haven’t been successful at all of our business ventures, but continuing to try new things and small pivots has been important
Hey Flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast I talk with Terrie Christine about Intuitive Development and Mastering Your Inner Greatness. Learn how to take guided action and follow flow.
Terrie Christine is an internationally recognized Intuitive Energy Healer; TV Personality; radio and podcast featured expert; and author of the “The Secret Power of You: A Guide to Mastering Your Inner Greatness”
For over a decade as a practicing Intuitive Energy Healer, Terrie has helped thousands of people access clarity, results, understanding, and a sense of peace and freedom.
Terrie helps her clients reconnect with the deeper forces and powers within themselves to create a fuller, more satisfying life. She helps pin point what you cannot easily see for yourself.
Hey flow fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast we go deep on passion versus flow and exploring your curiosities that can lead to passion as a flow trigger.
Differences Between Passion and Flow
Dr. John Hagel, the cofounder of Deloitte consulting’s Center for the edge, describes how he sees the differences between passion and flow:
Flow describes an “optimal experience,” which is frequently felt by those pursuing their passion. When someone is in flow, they concentrate deeply on “the moment,” caught up in the pleasure and challenge of an immediate task; they clear their minds of all else.
Both flow and passion welcome this state because it offers intrinsic satisfaction and enjoyment in our everyday lives. However, the differences become apparent as soon as one moves beyond the moment itself and attempts to identify the factors that lead up to “optimal experience.”...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast I talk with fear and anxiety expert and flow and high-performance facilitator Kristen Ulmer about how controlling your emotions and fear is a myth, but what you can do instead that will also allow you access flow by choice.
Kristen Ulmer is a thought leader on fear and anxiety who draws from her tenure as the most ‘fearless’ woman extreme skier in the world for 12 years, from intently studying Zen for 16 years and from facilitating thousands of clients on flow and peak performance.
The author of: The Art of Fear: Why Conquering Fear Won’t Work and What to Do Instead, Kristen radically challenges existing norms about what to do about fear.
- Accessing flow state by choice, not by chance
- Using intimacy with fear to enter the flow state.
“Extreme sports are notorious for taking people into that flow state. You know, into the zone, or sports in general, but especially extreme sports athletes because the athletes are dealing with a tremendous amount of fear. And I think the belief is that these athletes are fearless, and that’s absolutely not the case. What the secret sauce is, is that they are having an intimate experience with their fear. Then as a result they get into a flow state.”
Hey Flow Fanatics, on this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle Podcast we go deep on a flow trigger called intrinsic motivation and to encourage you a little bit I share one of my flow activities of playing the Shakuhachi Japanese bamboo flute.
A key aspect of flow is doing something for the sake of doing it. You just enjoy doing that particular thing and you don’t need anyone telling you you have to do it. We’ve all had these kinds of activities in our lives and we often have this kind of feeling of timelessness. When you are in the moment your perception of time is altered a bit and things can feel like they are really slowing down, or oppositely like we often say, time flies when you’re having fun.
Actively pursuing those things that we are intrinsically motivated to do (meaning that it comes from within ourselves) is a way of accessing the flow state. For both ourselves and our children, if you’re a parent, we need to continue to encourage exploration and finding those things that we may one day become interested in. The more things you try, the more likely you are going to find a few things that you really can connect with and enjoy doing.
But in order to do that you need to forget about the whole idea of a comfort zone, and whether you are in or out of your comfort zone. It’s a made-up field surrounding you and the only thing it’s keeping you in is a limited mindset. Get out there and try as many different things as you can, and as your curiosity develops, that too will help you access flow...
On this episode of the High Flow Lifestyle podcast, I talk with Jennifer Shinkai about Ikigai, or your life purpose, and how she’s re-evaluated her Ikigai and incorporated that into her Entrepreneurial and coaching career.
An essential element for accessing flow on a regular basis is understanding your purpose or passion. In Japan they have a concept for this called Ikigai, sometimes referred to as your reason for living, or your reason for getting out of bed in the morning- essentially, it’s your WHY.
There is a western Venn diagram that tries to simplify ikigai by having you list your passions, skills etc., but ikigai is much deeper than that. It is not only about your work and career goals, Ikigai also isn’t only about staying on your one true path, yes, you can re-evaluate your path.
And you don’t necessarily have to scrap your job and become a freelancer or entrepreneur. But my guest today did re-evaluate her situation and became a successful entrepreneur and coach in Tokyo.
Originally from the UK, Jennifer holds an MA (Oxon) in English Language and Literature from St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University.
With an interactive facilitation and coaching approach, she focuses on integrating ikigai (life purpose) into daily work, inclusion in a diverse workplace, resilient leadership development in times of change. As a Points of You® Expert, participants can experience “unexpected but precise” moments of insight and action.
Hi there, and welcome to High Flow Lifestyle. I’m your host Josh Smith and I’m a peak performance and flow state coach, entrepreneur, researcher, creative, and husband and father, and I love guiding people toward their most fulfilling, happy and High Flow Lifestyle.
Consider this podcast to be mindset training and motivation for making an important lifestyle and business transformation. This podcast aims to bring a High Flow Lifestyle to anyone who wants to think differently, find their true purpose and focus, and lead a more interesting life to their highest potential.
Each week I’ll be releasing multiple shows where I will talk with experts, flow fanatics, thriving creatives or entrepreneurs that you can also learn from. I’ll also have shorter shows on specific topics with some of my own strategies, advice and tips to motivate, inspire, and design your High Flow Lifestyle.
I refer to it as a lifestyle because contrary to common belief, flow and being in the zone is not an On or Off switch, it’s more like a volume knob. And being in a flow state, has lasting affects for days after the experience as well as heightens your overall creativity. Bringing flow into your lifestyle on a regular basis can have a huge effect on your wellbeing as well as your optimum peak performance.
It was during my Master's and Doctoral research in Cultural Sociology at Osaka University that I investigated identity formation and finding flow within cultural traditions and groups...