๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ (๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป’๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐ต๐ผ๐น ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐๐ด๐).
Despite all the recent talk about supercomputers and artificial intelligence, the human brain remains the most complex machine on the planet.
At the centre of this complexity lies the prefrontal cortex, our most sophisticated piece of neuronal hardware.
With this relatively recent evolutionary adaptation came a heightened degree of self-awareness, an ability to delay gratification, plan for the long term, reason through complex logic, and think about our thinking.
This hopped-up cogitation promoted us from slow, weak, hairless apes into tool-wielding apex predators, turning a life that was once nasty, brutish, and short into something decidedly more civilized.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ต…
No one built an off switch for the potent self-awareness that made it all possible.
As psychologist Mark Leary in his aptly titled book, ‘The Curse of the Self‘ puts it:
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
This is the downside of our prefrontal cortices.
The trade off for having a โsense of selfโ.
๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ.
Hereโs the thing:
When we experience a flow state that gives us access to something more, we feel it first as something lessโand that something missing is us.
Or, more specifically, the inner critic we all come with:
Our inner Woody Allen, that nagging, defeatist, always-on voice in our heads.
๐ฌ๐ผ๐โ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐. ๐ง๐ผ๐ผ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐. ๐ง๐ผ๐ผ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ผ๐ผ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐.
A relentless drumbeat that rings in our ears.
Scientists call this shutdown โtransient hypofrontality.โ
Transient means temporary.
โHypo,โ the opposite of โhyper,โ means โless than normal.โ
And frontality refers to the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that generates our sense of self.
During transient hypofrontality, because large swatches of the prefrontal cortex turn off, that inner critic comes offline.
Our inner Woody Allen goes quiet.
Without all the badgering, we get a real sense of peace.
Without self-talk to stir up negative emotions, tension melts and the experience is almost mystical.
And with tension out of the way, we often discover a better version of ourselves.
More confident and clear.
More able to look at life, and the often repetitive stories we tell about it, with fresh eyes.
Even if after flow, we slip back into the monotony of our everyday rolesโparent, spouse, employee, boss, neighbourโbut, by then, we know theyโre just costumes with zippers.
The experience of selflessness that flow brings gives us flexibility in how we respond to life and its challenges.
By stepping outside our thoughts, we gain perspective.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
We realise we can take them off, discard those that are worn out or no longer fit, and even create new ones.
Thatโs the paradox of selflessness and a key benefit of flowโฆ
๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐.
Yours optimally,
Scott