Another part that slows down during flow is your orientation adjustment area, the part of the brain that lets you assess your position in the world, relative to other objects around you.
This is what causes surfers to feel “as if they’re one with the wave” or writers to just “think their words onto the paper.”

Orientation Adjustment Area

Most people live in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.

Using years of research and interviews with adventure sports athletes, the New York Times best-selling author of Abundance and A Small, Fury Prayer attempts to unlock the secrets to ultimate human performance and the state of consciousness called “flow." 25,000 first printing.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

books

Books

An exploration of how extreme athletes break the limits of ultimate human performance and what we can learn from their mastery of the state of consciousness known as "flow" In this groundbreaking book, New York Times-bestselling author Steven Kotler decodes the mystery of ultimate human performance. Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand interviews with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes such as big-wave legend Laird Hamilton, big-mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of "flow," an optimal state of consciousness where we perform and feel our best.Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, The Rise of Superman explains how these athletes are using flow to do the impossible and how we can use this information to radically accelerate our performance in our own lives. At its core, this is a book about profound possibility, what is actually possible for our species, and where--if anywhere--our limits lie.

Steven Kotler

The Rise of Superman

The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

Ikigai is illustrated in four overlapping circles, as in a Venn Diagram which talks about a synthesis of:<ul><li>What you love to do.</li><li>What you are good at.</li><li>What the world needs.</li><li>What you can be paid for.</li></ul>

Ikigai: The Reason for Being

The concept of Ikigai aligns with everyday life, as opposed to a lifetime. It makes us appreciate our daily life, celebrating it, and experiencing the small joys of living.Ikigai is the reason you wake up in the morning for, that thing you live for, daily.

Everyday Life and a Lifetime

Make three small lists:<ul><li>Your values</li><li>Things you like to do</li><li>Things you are good at</li></ul>The cross-section or overlap of these three lists, is your Ikigai, something you should do for the rest of your life.

Make Your Ikigai

Ikigai is not a theoretical concept to be understood and left aside, and can only work in daily action and constant practice.Your work should make a difference in people's lives, and not necessarily would be just working hard.

Purpose of Action

Japannesse know something we in the West we ignore

For Japanese workers in big cities, a typical work day begins with a state called sushi-zum e, a term which likens commuters squeezed into a crowded train car to tightly packed grains of rice in sushi. The stress doesn't stop there.

health

Health

longevity

Longevity

Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

Some people go inward and are able to understand their own thoughts, fears, desires and emotions. They can ‘witness’ oneself and others and have a deeper level of human understanding.
Psychologists, spiritual leaders and Gurus are examples of people with high intrapersonal intelligence.

Intra-Personal - Self Smart

Some people are masters of language. They can learn multiple languages, write great poetry, prose or speeches. They can communicate well and explain complex meaning. This universal type of intelligence is found in journalists, public speakers and writers.
Radio jockeys, politicians, TV hosts, and lawyers are great careers for linguistic intelligence types.

Linguistic - Word Smart

Some people love interacting with friends, family and colleagues. They understand body language, and communicate better and are sensitive to others feelings, perspectives and viewpoints. This super-important intelligence type can be applied to most careers.
Interpersonal Intelligence types can have great careers as managers, psychologists, teachers and social workers.

Interpersonal - People Smart

Most of us think of intelligence in a one-dimensional way, that is thrust upon us in our formative years. Excellence in academia, passing IQ tests and the ability to retain facts and figures in our memory is generally considered the definition of intelligence. 
In the past few decades, this has completely changed, with intelligence now being considered as a learned skill, having multiple dimensions and variety.

Being Intelligent

Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner described nine different types of intelligence in his book Frames Of Mind: The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences.
Each ‘type’ of intelligence can be an area of strength to a certain degree, where one excels. Everyone scores differently in this and has different levels of each type of intelligence.

Multiple Intelligences

Some people are numbers-oriented. They love figures and are easily able to think quantitatively and symbolically. They are great at sequential reasoning, abstract thinking and inductive/deductive thought patterns.
Logical-mathematical intelligence types can be great economists, scientists, analysts, auditors and accountants.

Logical-Mathematical - Number/Reasoning Smart

Many people have an enhanced musical sensitivity, being able to understand and differentiate between pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone. 
They can be great music conductors, composers, music teachers, and DJs.

Musical - Sound Smart

There are people who find nature to be meditative and feel closely connected to trees, rivers and flowers. The natural elements around them like the clouds and the universe attracts them. 
They make great astronomers, botanists, geologists and landscape architects.

Naturist - Nature Smart

Some people have deep insights about life and the universe, being able to talk about existential stuff, evolution, human species and the meaning of life. 
Such ‘life-smarts can be great authors, philosophers, writers and motivational speakers.

Existential - Life Smart

The physical body is easily understood and handled by some people. They can dance well, use their hands to create things and have a great understanding of kinetics.
They are good at careers requiring body activity like a fitness coach, actor, athlete or physical therapist.

Bodily-Kinesthetic - Body Smart

Mazes and jigsaw puzzles draw some people towards them. These are the spatial intelligence types, who have great graphical skills, an active imagination, along with mental imagery and spatial reasoning abilities. They can understand blueprints with ease, and have an ability to think in 3D.
Career options for spatial intelligence types can be a graphic artist, engineer, photographer and pilot.

Spatial - Picture Smart

Many of us consider intelligence as an innate ability to learn and remember information. In recent decades, our understanding of intelligence has changed.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

problemsolving

Problem Solving

teamwork

Teamwork

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

What's Your Intelligence Type? | Science of People

Reading prepares your mind, even helps you avoid foolish mistakes, but at the end of it all there must be the result of some action: a failure, maybe a success, or a lesson.The purpose of education is to internalize knowledge but ultimately spark action and facilitate wiser decisions. Reading self-help books will, in that moment, make you feel inspired for a change. But are you following your principles when you have a troll, rude customer, or angry stranger in your face?

Read purposefully, and apply your knowledge

Etymologically, “procrastination” is derived from the Latin verb procrastinare — to put off until tomorrow. But it’s more than just voluntarily delaying.“It’s self-harm,” said Dr. Piers Steel, a professor of motivational psychology at the University of Calgary<ul><li>Keep a To-Do List.</li><li>Prioritize your To-Do List using</li><li>Become a master of <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_07.htm">scheduling</a> and <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_PPM.htm">project planning</a>.</li><li>Tackle the hardest tasks at your <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_79.htm">peak times</a></li><li>Set yourself time-bound <a href="https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_90.htm">goals</a></li><li>Use task- and time-management apps.</li></ul>

Remind yourself: you weren’t meant to procrastinate

I realize that everyday truly is an opportunity to improve, to learn to honestly appreciate what we are capable of achieving and how we are very responsible for the quality of our lives.This makes our self-respect, work ethic, generosity, self-awareness, attention, and growth evermore important. The last thing any of us wants to do is die with regret, hence why following principles of Stoicism puts your life into perspective. It humbles you and should also deeply motivate you.

Remind yourself that time is our most precious resource


You can spend months or even years on a project, only to watch it be criticized, or worse, ignored.That’s what failure feels like when you share a part of you. But recovering from that failure is a practice, a mindset—in fact, the lessons that I internalized from that experience is helping me do better work. The thinking goes: No failure, no growth.

Recognize there is life after failure 

People who do excellent work, who master their craft, do so because of their ability to prioritize. They honor every hour of their day.Although little breaks throughout our days are okay, we must be mindful of how we interact with our distractions (or is that addictions?).A lot of spectating and flicking our finger on Guerrilla Glass is time that could be spent creating the stuff that people want to see.

Reflect on what you spend the most time on

Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.

Whatever you do—create apps, draw portraits, write books, or make animation films—there are individuals that you can learn from. You can study their story, works, techniques, successes and failures.What’s important to realize is that this isn’t an exercise of comparison. How can you learn from your heroes? How are their teachings and principles helping you grow, learn, and create? Everyone, no matter how successful they are, has heroes/mentors to look towards.

Find someone you respect, and use them to stay honest

To be present as well as learning to be alone is a habit. Some people are really good at it because they make time to do it.Take a few deep breathes, put your phone on vibrate so there’s no chance of interruption, and just reflect on the series of events that took place throughout your day.Let your mind focus on the task at hand, what you’re trying to accomplish, and do it with diligence, patience, and care. Sooner, you’ll realize how much of an asset this is to your overall quality of life.

Put the phone away and be present

“Why, exactly, am I feeling this way?” Get to the bottom of that. Investigate it. Dissect it. When you feel resistance, use that as a cue to go forward. The challenge, of course, is training yourself to think that way.This isn’t about talent or some unconscious reflex. The practice of self-awareness—to think about your thinking—in how you think, feel, and behave is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

Challenge yourself to be brutally honest

It is not outside forces that make us feel something, it is what we tell ourselves that create our feelings. Many of us want to place blame and responsibility on external objects because it’s easy to do, but the truth remains that all conflicts start internally, in our minds.The next time you run into an obstacle and feel resistance, don’t look at what’s around you. Instead, look within.

Acknowledge that all emotions come from within

Act on your principles, not your moods. How the ancient philosophy of Stoicism can help us smash creative blocks and do our best work.

philosophy

Philosophy

The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos

Find places of happiness by:<ul><li>Ensuring you are around a happy community. You can make sure of this by checking those in your community are open, explore beauty, and constantly suggest social opportunities.</li><li>Finding time to spend with nature. You can do this by going for a walk or simply laying on your back in the garden.</li></ul>

Find Places of Happiness

You can be kind to others by:<ul><li>Being generous to those who both need your help and ask for your help. That means spotting areas in your life where you can give to others despite them asking or not.</li><li>Become a volunteer to help fight for a good cause.</li><li>Be kind to yourself through frequently planning to give yourself a break from everything.</li></ul>

Be Kind to Others

To take control of your mind do the following:<ul><li>Conquer negative thinking by treating yourself like a friend when negative thoughts come. Be empathetic towards yourself.</li><li>Challenge your negative thoughts to see if they are a true representation of who you are.</li><li>Write a brief story about your struggles, then rewrite it from a neutral observer perspective. For example:</li></ul>Your struggle: I have no money.From a neutral observation: Everyone struggles with money from time to time.

Take Control of Your Mind

Mastering the greatest pursuit there ever was: Happiness

habits

Habits

communication

Communication

How to Be Happy

Happiness isn’t something that just happens to you: Take these small steps to create a happier life.

The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

What's Your Intelligence Type? | Science of People

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos

CURATED BY

The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

Ikigai: A Japanese concept to improve work and life

What's Your Intelligence Type? | Science of People

It's time to Read like a Pro.

The Stoic: 9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos

CURATED BY

It's time to
Read like a Pro.