Individual Flow Trigger: Autonomy
Individual Flow Trigger: Autonomy
How it's required to fulfill your destiny and lower cognitive load
In this edition, I’m breaking down how important this flow trigger is, real word examples of it being applied, and how it reduces fear of death.
Connect with me on LinkedIn so we can keep the conversation going.
Remember saying this to someone as a kid, or a teen…possibly even yesterday?
When, in reality, you needed it!
There’s scientific reasoning to back up why this feels so good to us.
But let’s focus on the inverse for a second…
One of the worst feelings has to be the perception that you’re not in control of your life.
Even renowned poet William Earnest Henley(1849-1903) penned this about the feeling:
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
― William Ernest Henley
This is not a new concept!
Whether it’s a kid not feeling safe in a household to play, an employee not having clarity on how to get promoted, or a player not being able to show their creativity on the court/field…
As humans, we thrive on knowing we’re not being restrained and have freedom in our life.
And here’s why…
Autonomy
Autonomy is a flow trigger because autonomy and attention are coupled systems. When we’re in charge of both our mind (freedom of thought) and our destiny (freedom of choice), our whole being gets involved.
In his 2014 paper “Attention and the Holistic Approach to Behavior,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the godfather of flow psychology, explains it this way:
If attention is the means by which a person exchanges information with the environment…then voluntary focusing of attention is a state of optimal interaction. In such a state, a person feels fully alive and in control, because he or she can direct the flow of reciprocal information that unites person and environment in an interactive system. I know that I am alive, that I am somebody, that I matter….The ability to focus attention is the most basic way of reducing ontological anxiety, the fear of impotence, of nonexistence. This might be the main reason why the exercise of concentration, when it is subjectively interpreted to be free, is such an enjoyable experience.
“Ontological Anxiety” is both our fear of death and our desire for this life to matter. It is a form of persistent cognitive load, what psychologist Ernest Becker called “the denial of death.”
When we focus attention in the present, we are taking attention off these forms of anxiety. This lightens the load and let's us repurpose the extra energy for focus.
And in the pursuit of a high-flow lifestyle, autonomy is one of the better places to start!
How I Use Autonomy 😎
Being in sales, I had 100% freedom and no ceilings (aka autonomy). There were no limits on how much you could work or how much you could make.
There was also the freedom of making your own schedule. And after my experience of working a handful of 9-5 jobs—where someone made your schedule, they could fire you whenever, and there was a glass ceiling on how much you could make—this was liberating.
There were examples around the division my office was part of that helped inspire me also. The District Manager in Huntsville, Brandon Glasser, was a paragon of what’s possible on the management side of things.
Glasser was a short, frail white guy that looked younger than me—but let him open his mouth during a talk and it became evident why he was a District Manager.
He turned his entire life around “going DM” and that gave me the freedom of thought and the freedom of choice to do the same—which I did!
How The Greats Use Autonomy 🤌🏾
If there’s anyone that could do whatever came to mind and was in charge of their destiny—it was Bo Jackson!
From playing two professional sports at a high level to displaying mind-blowing feats of ability in both; he was in full control!
Seeing her parents run so many businesses instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in Danica Patrick and gave her the mindset of, “oh I’ll just do it myself.”
Her dad constantly asked her “do you really want to do this?’, confirming she was willing to put in the work.
This freedom surely paid off on the racetrack and in her business life.
Marta undisputedly revolutionized and redefined women’s soccer. This excerpt from SBNATION fully encapsulates the freedom she has on the field, “no one could ever match up to the romanticism of Marta. This romance comes from both the way that she plays, the beauty and creativity that appeals to the imagination, and nostalgia for the time when she was taking over the world.”
This Week’s Book Recommendation📖
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness, unlock our potential, and greatly improve the quality of our lives.
Last Words…
At the end of the day, our brain is a predication machine.
It’s always trying to predict what is about to happen next and how much energy will be required by that situation.
To make those predictions, three systems come into play: information acquisition, pattern recognition, and goal direction.
We take in information, find connections between this information and prior experiences, and then filter those results through our goals to decide what to do next.
Autonomy is such a great flow trigger, driver, and intrinsic motivator because when we have freedom of thought and freedom of mind; we can better acquire information, connect the dots, and actually act on the concluding results without the external pending approval of someone.
By no means is this an excuse for you to do whatever you want. I am not an advocate of this.
But this is giving you permission to do whatever flows you toward human optimization, and helps you feel your best and perform your best.
Hope this added the fuel to ferociously launch your week! ♾️🔥🚀
See you next Monday! 😎
And when it comes to the infinite game of life…
Choose Flow.
Be Brilliant.
Ball Out.
Ready to invest in you?
Here are ways I can help:
Looking for the physical fuel to help implement the psychological fuel I’m providing you? Use my discount code, “CRC”, with The Ambrosia Collective to save on premium supplementation and make sure everything with nutrition is taken care of.
Ready to invest in your hair care, mental health, and self care overall? Click here to check out a brand that has EVERYTHING you need to serve these important areas.
Need help building a high-flow lifestyle or discovering your personal brand that’ll set you up for a positive transition? Click here to check out my coaching services and reach out so we can get the process started.
I spend my time speaking, coaching, writing, reading/researching, and thinking (and moving some major weight…as a powerlifter).
This newsletter is a completely reader-supported publication. If you love it and want to support it, the best way is to buy my book. Or if you want to donate to me directly using Cash App or your debit/credit card, that support will be immensely appreciated.