How to go with the flow?
This is the question that is running to our mind when we feel we are restricted or don’t know what to do next?
Going with the flow is not easy. But we always use the phrase “go with the flow” when someone asks for advice, and even I live by it.
Flow is a mindset. It is about allowing everything to happen in life, the good and the bad, with awareness and acceptance while embracing life’s natural flow.
Going with the flow is not opposing and rushing ahead, but understanding every moment and relying on the magic of life to let you live with assurance.
Here’s how to go with the flow based on my findings:
How to Pursue Happiness By Practicing Flow?
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist at University in Chicago, made the concept of flow. The flow became famous because of his book titled ‘Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience.
Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as a deeper state of thought or total absorption with the situation and happenings at hand in this original concept. He describes his theory that associates happiness with the frequency and length of a person’s flow state.
Csikszentmihalyi’s psychological idea is similar to the philosophical concept of moving with the flow of life followed for thousands of years before we were all born.
Modern psychological studies focus on flow as a creativity boost or productivity support, old studies, such as within the Stoic Philosophy, view this as the philosophy of acceptance.
In this article, we will discuss three tips from ancient philosophy and modern psychology to show how you can go with the flow of life and how you can be confident and feel happiness in every event of your life.
Going With The Flow Of Life Is Staying Present
One of the proven ways to go with the flow is to make room for what gives you joy and happiness. It would be best if you committed to being present every time you are engaging and interacting with people.
What do we mean by being present? It means you are focused on the good at hand instead of letting the bad stuff consume you. Going with the flow is a state where you need to deprioritize things that are less relevant and focus on more important things.
The advantages of being present mean good experiences. If you are not satisfied with some things in your life, you may choose to escape by hoping for a better future state of dwelling on the times of your past success that you think is better than now. Feeling regret about the past or troubled about the future restrains you from being present today.
Living in your Present
Its not wrong to think about your past and your future, but spending time thinking about it will just divide your focus. As you focus on it, it can cause depression and other mental health issues.
The key to staying present, in good times and bad times, is applying gratitude. Gratitude aids you in recognizing and appreciating good things. It magnifies the reality of experiences and enables you to create more of them.
How To Go With The Flow: Engage Yourself
To do what you love is another way to go with the flow. How many times can you commit to something and give only 50% or less of your effort? How much have you done half-heartedly?
Like a person learning a new language, they will shorten their time to fluency if they live in the place the language is natively spoken and live with people using the language rather than staying at home and learning it out of a book.
You must be Fully Engage.
Full engagement means to give yourself into the activity with a hundred percent of energy, effort, and enthusiasm. No holding back, no shortcuts. Go all-in on what matters most, and it will lead you to more profound experiences and a more significant appreciation for them.
Begin engaging yourself in more meaningful activities and relationships; give time for them. Remove irrelevant things that consume time, energy, and resources, then place that effort to what you want and what you need.
“Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
Flow State: Restriction Off
If you have seen someone in a flow state, maybe an artist, you may know that they are fascinated with what they are doing. Their thoughts seem so lost in what they are doing it’s as if no one else exists.
As you engage in something enjoyable, this experience will hook you and you will be lost all track of time.
When in flow, you turn off any restriction. If you are skilled in your work, your instinct takes the control. If not, you will do things with curiosity and excitement.
Letting Go During Difficult Circumstances
Furthermore, letting go during difficult circumstances is always the best way to push through them. To avoid burning out, it’s better to stop making the things that kindle the flame, then start doing what you believe will put the fire out.
It may appear counterintuitive, but the fundamental principle of minimalism and relative philosophies, like Stoicism, is to let go of the necessity for control, primarily when it is not necessary.
Tuning off restrictions in your creativity and will can lead to surprising outcomes, but doing otherwise can create anxiety and fear.
To be better at putting your restrictions off, consider reading about Stoicism to learn how to subdue your emotions, and endure all that life has to bring with gentleness, and see good things in every way in everyone’s lives.
Living In The Flow of Life
You must begin practicing flow, you need to obtain the mindset to stay present, engage yourself, and put restrictions off. There are dozens of books, workbooks, courses, and planners that can help you build and maintain a flow state.
We must build our lives powerful and free so that we can overcome a vast amount of anger, frustration, and stress. In doing it this way, we are giving help to our well-being to have strength in overcoming all the negative sources and negative perspectives in our lives.
Going with the flow of life is comparable to a river — storms may disturb the flow, but the water still runs on, and the waves calm after time.
Here are some tips on going with the flow in life.
- Understand that you can’t control everything.
- Become conscious of your negative thoughts.
- Breathe, take a deep breath.
- Step back get the perspective.
- Always Practice.
- Take Baby steps at a time.
- Always Laugh.
- Keep a journal of your day.
- Meditate Often.
- Understand that you can’t control others.
- Allow change and imperfection.
- Enjoy life as a flow of change, chaos, and beauty.
