🔎To experience Flow, you must get clear and focused.

To create an opportunity for Flow, we must direct our attention on a clear goal (or at the very least, a strong sense of what we want to accomplish).

A clear, compelling goal locks our attention on a target.

When our attention is locked in, it becomes more impenetrable to other non-priority elements in our environment - and thus helps our attention reach peak absorption and Flow.

A smoother, more effortless, and more productive path toward our goals unfolds.

This is easier said than done, of course.

🛑Obstacles to Clear and Specific Goals (or Rules)

Idea Overwhelm

One of the main challenges that my clients experience is having too many possibilities. They have idea overwhelm.

Rather than "pausing" some possibilities and setting clear priorities for what to do next and why, they approach their creative or entrepreneurial work trying to move everything forward all at once. This leads to scattered attention and overwhelm (and thus, no Flow).

Making Things Too Big and Complex

Rather than simplifying and making their next goals more specific and smaller, they stay in the land of the fuzzier, grand creative vision.

When they sit down to actually bring their ideas to life, their goals are not clear and specific enough to find a way to get started and move forward.

Fear of Making a Decision

Further exacerbating the situation is the fear of decision-making - which often stems from perfectionism.

They're worried about making the "wrong" choice of what to focus on, so they don't make any committed decision at all.

This leads to unclear priorities, goals, and rules of engagement (and thus no Flow).

☝️These are all completely normal, by the way.

But also non-optimal for experiencing Flow

At the very least if clarifying specific goals is too challenging, it's helpful to identify a "set of rules" to constrain your choices.

✅ Ask Yourself: Do I have a clear goal of what I want to achieve? Do I have a clear set of “rules” to follow?

Ask yourself these questions before any creative work session:

• What is my priority? What matters most to make progress on next?
• What am I NOT focusing on or NOT doing?
• How could I make my goal more specific for this work session?
• How could I simplify my goal for this work session?
• What is the very first thing I will do? What is my starting point?
• How could I make getting started on this easier or smaller?
• If my goal still feels fuzzy, or I am still exploring - what constraints or rules could I create for myself?

👇These (and more) can all be found in the Find Your Flow Checklist👇