Running Down To The Wire

Flow is a crazy thing.

When you are going through it, you feel like you're experiencing jet-fuel.

It is this Pure, Wonderful Feeling where you begin to Believe that anything you go after is possible.

Many times, it ends up being true as well.

The Flow State allows us to access our Potential and literally drives us forward, even from what may seem Impossible to others.

Can you write out an entire article, without an Idea, plus editing and publishing in under 2 hours?

Most people look at a Challenge like that and back down.

However, in certain situations, it is "that" Pressure that Creates the Best in People.

I am often one of those people.

Some people call it the Deadline Effect.

My most potent memory of Accomplishing something using the Deadline Effect was in College where I had only about 75% of an outline.

By the end of the Evening, I had typed out 15 Pages, edited and turned in.

Got an A on that paper too.

It isn't a tool that works for everyone, and a lot of it has to do with what is known as the Challenge-Skill Ratio.

If the Challenge is Significantly Larger than your Skill, you'll feel too much Pressure and that will Block you from Flow.

However, if you Challenge Matches your Skill, then suddenly you can Ignite that Flow State.

Now, when it comes to the Deadline Effect, the "Reason" it works out for some people has to do with what happens when the Challenge is Lower than the Skill.

See, if a Challenge is too small, it Creates Boredom and we typically don't want to do things that make us Bored.

However, sometimes our Brains will play a bit of a Game around this.

"Maybe" we can Increase the Challenge to make it "Exciting" enough to get into Flow... "If" we wait to the Last Minute.

Now, today happens to be one of these days for me.

It wasn't my Intention in the Slightest of course, but it does happen.

I have Committed myself to writing for 1,000 Days Straight, and I'm a little over 500 Days in now.

I've been in the Process of Moving, and I had to put a desk together that was far more complicated that I thought it would be.

Then there has been the Mr. Health and Fitness Competition with the Wildcard Round which was "Very" Close.

I won't know until tomorrow if I made it to the next round or not, so prayers are appreciated!

Then, there have been other things I needed to do around the house to prepare for the week, and before I knew it, I saw it was 10:00 pm and I hadn't written my Article.

However, between the Excitement of how close the Competition was, the Excitement of the Desk being Complete, and knowing my Challenge-Skill Ratio pretty well, I knew what would happen.

Put the Laptop up, get to the Article, and Boom.

I started this Article, and in about 15 minutes I've hit over 500 words.

My minimum is only 250 words, so I would say that I'm doing great.

That is the Power of a Flow State when you begin to hit it.

It is made even more Powerful when you dedicate your Life to keeping your Stressors in check so that you can "nearly" have Flow on Call when you need it most.

As soon as I looked at my screen, I "Knew" Flow was here, and I just let it get to work.

The Title came Immediately, and the words have Flowed since - pun 100% intended.

When you set your Stressors up well, and take care of yourself, you begin to hit Peak Performance when you Want and Need it Most.

This is why I am such an advocate for getting "Out" of Burnout in my work.

Burnout is an Extreme end of a spectrum that will prevent you from reaching Flow States.

If you can't get into Flow States, you will always be working at a tiny fraction of your potential.

Before Burnout became common, it would be Estimated that not being in Flow you would be working at 20% of your potential.

In Burnout, I'd say you're working at a Single Digit Percentage of your Potential.

You want to get your Life to Work "For" You instead of Against You.

That way, in those moments where you "Need" to be at your Best, when things "Are" Down to the Wire, "You" are at Your Best!

PS - Looks like I will have completed this Article, from Nothing to Edited and Publish, with over 750 words, in less than 30 Minutes.