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Your focus determines your reality.
- Anon.

FLOW
“A state of deep focus”.

A mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, Flows is characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. It is unrelated to the older phrase "to go with the flow" which means "to conform".
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

WHAT MAKES FLOW HAPPEN?
There are eight things:

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernable).
2. Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
4. Distorted sense of time - one's subjective experience of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

Not all of these components are needed for flow to be experienced.

A. The other important condition for getting into flow: a non-disturbing environment.
B. Group environment matters too. A couple of flow friendly space attributes:
C. Creative spatial arrangements: Chairs, pin walls, charts, however no tables, therefore primarily work in standing and moving.
D. Playground design: Charts for information inputs, flow graphs, project summary, craziness, safe place (people can say what is usually only thought), result wall, and open topics.

- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

THE EIGHT MIND/BODY SKILLS NECESSARY FOR REACHING THE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE
Learning from how successful sportspersons work.

1. Action Focus: Knowing how to successfully reach your long-term goals by focusing on the task you need to accomplish, rather than on the desired result, and by setting achievable goals as a stepping-stone to ultimate success.

2. Creative Thinking: Using your imagination to achieve your goals and solve problems.

3. Productive Analysis: Helps you stay confident, identify weaknesses and find ways to improve.

4. Keeping Cool: Helps you deal with anxiety and prevent panic. Top athletes recognize that they will be nervous before big competitions. They practice skills such as deep breathing and muscle relaxation so they can calm down when the pressure's on.

5. Concentration: Enjoy the present. Elite athletes learn to focus their concentration so that they pay attention only to the things that will help them succeed. As a result, their performance flows smoothly.

6. Emotional Power: Strong emotions are a natural part of sports and business. The best performers use their emotions constructively. They learn to deal with the inevitable negative emotions such as disappointment, frustration and sadness. It's important to be able to refocus after getting upset if you wish to be successful.

7. Energizing: Doing your best on a consistent basis takes lots of energy. The skill of Energizing enables you to keep going when you feel like quitting. You need Energizing if you frequently feel tired and worn out.

8. Consistency: Sport psychologists have found that the best athletes prepare very carefully for every performance. They often have a set routine that they follow exactly.

- Summarized from Shane Murphy's The Achievement Zone – An Eight Step Guide to Peak

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