You Pay Money To See Someone In A Flow State
Let’s understand why, so you can level up your thinking.
Getting into a flow state is widely understood. There’s nothing new there, and I’m not going to bore you with yet another “how to get into flow ” article.
Why you pay someone money is a completely different topic.
In flow, you’re mentally, physically and financially in the best shape of your life. It’s from this position that you can achieve the impossible. There is so much content online telling you about how to be an expert, as though another book or popular quote will make or break you.
Experts, to me, are the ones who have mastered flow.
The best work doesn’t come from what you know; it comes from your ability to master your state so you can push through barriers and make your work look effortless to anyone who observes it.
Why do people pay to see premium content?
Some people pay to see my writing in the form of an eBook or online course. I wondered why that was. Then it hit me in the face the other day.
People pay to see my writing because they unconsciously want to see the output of a flow state.
The thing is, readers of my work don’t know that’s what they’re doing. Witnessing the outcome of flow is incredible.
There is standard content, and content created in flow. The two are completely different. One will change your life. The other will make you have a nana nap.
If you want to create content people will eventually pay for then don’t read another how-to guide or attend a seminar — practice getting into flow.
Figure out ways to get into flow faster.
I get into flow when I binge watch shows like The Voice and witness acts of extreme kindness.
Yes, my ways are odd and may not work for you. But they work for me. If I do one of these two things then I’m in flow faster than a Lambo.
All you have to do is find “flow triggers.” Experimentation is how you find them. Is it a walk? Exercise? Patting your dog? Watching a Hollywood movie? Going to the Opera? Juggling for an hour?
Find your flow triggers to enhance your work.
See how long you can stay in flow.
I treat flow like a marathon. At the start of my writing career I could only write for one hour in flow. The longest, so far, I’ve been in flow is 12 hours.
This was when my girlfriend was away in China and I had our tiny student apartment to myself. All I did was write everything I’d been dying to write but didn’t have time to before.
The better you get at staying in flow the longer you can extend your flow sessions.
Create like a human with 6 hours left to live.
A time limit enhances flow. When you imagine you’re going to die after your flow state session, it changes your thought patterns. I had a hospital visit last week. The day before, I scheduled a flow session. I imagined I wasn’t coming out of the hospital. I pictured the anesthetic creating complications.
Strangely, my worst nightmare became deeply motivating.
The time you have left on this planet can help enhance flow states.
Discover your own ways to enhance flow.
Coffee and warm showers enhance my flow states. Why? Coffee speeds up my brain; warm showers relax me. You’ll create your own list of flow state hacks when you practice being in flow more often.
Learn how to stay in flow.
I used to piss my flow time up against the wall. I’d work so hard to get into a flow state and then at lunchtime, I’d get out of flow to eat. Then I’d spend hours trying to get back into flow. What a waste of time.
Now I’ve learned to stay in flow. I leave my noise-canceling headphones on while I go and get lunch, drink water, and take a bathroom break. By keeping the headphones pumping with movie soundtracks, I stay in flow.
Now I don’t waste so much time getting in and out of flow.
It’s similar to writing. The mental energy you need to write and edit is completely different. Trying to do both tasks on the same day makes you ineffective.
Get into a mental headspace and then stay there until you’re done doing your work.
Premium content is stream-of-consciousness content.
I noticed something about premium content. Often, when you consume it, you feel like you are hooked into the creator’s stream of consciousness.
It’s less filtered. There are no interruptions.
When I read Ryan Holiday I can tell he was tucked away in a cabin, stuck in a flow state. It’s the way his stream of consciousness bounces off the page.
There’s less overthinking in flow states.
Observing someone in flow is secretly a desire to be in flow.
I go to concerts all the time. Earlier in the year, I went to Ultra Music Festival. I thought I was going for beer and popcorn. Turns out I wasn’t at all. Watching a DJ in front of 10,000 people with lasers pointed to the sky was breathtaking. The DJ seems to be in a world of their own. I was in a different world too.
Our secret human desire is to watch someone in flow. But why? Because observing someone in flow makes us want to be in flow.
Seeing someone in flow unconsciously reminds us we can be in flow.
That’s why when you come back from seeing someone in flow you may have a desire to sit down and pound away at the keyboard, or play a guitar solo, or go and draw an illustration.
You recreate the flow state you just observed. It’s phenomenal.
Flow states are more powerful than the concept of compound interest.
Albert Einstein said: “Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it; he who doesn’t pays it.”
I am going to disagree with history. Sorry.
Compounding interest and compounding on your investment returns are nice. But compounding in financial terms is weak compared to flow states.
When your flow states compound your entire life changes.
Think about when you go to a rock concert. You’re paying to see the singer in flow. Think about when you read Mark Manson’s latest “not giving a f*ck” about something book. You’re paying to see the output of Marky boy in his version of badass flow.
Think about teachers. You sign up to go to Harvard so you can see the best professors in the world give lectures in a flow state. You watch Formula 1 drivers to see them driving in flow. You watch football on tv to see athletes kick a big dirty ball in flow.
We’ve been taught about mastery in any field all wrong.
The skill that makes you money, changes your life, attracts an audience to you, allows you to sell premium content (if you choose), and compounds harder than any stock ever listed on the S&P 500 is FLOW.
Dear Creators…
Instead of looking for the next social media platform to go big. Instead of trying to hack headlines. Instead of trying to write better sales copy. Instead of following content trends. Instead of seeing your fellow creators as competitors. Instead of hurling a brick at Zuckerburger for ruining your organic reach. Instead of joining a toxic whatsapp group and complaining about everything.
Don’t do it. Stop. Take your sunglasses off. Dust yourself off. And…
Dedicate your time to mastering flow.
In flow, you’ll make more money than you could ever dream of. Then you’ll realize it wasn’t money you were after at all — it was flow.
