Getting Lost
When you consider “quality of life” what things come to mind?
Does your job add to your quality of life?
How do you fill your spare time so that you enjoy your days?
The immediate answer for many people about what makes for life quality often brings to mind the big moments, like holidays, family occasions and great achievements. However, upon further discussion, people often find that when they review their lives, it is the enjoyment in the moment and the collection of many small enjoyable moments that give life its overall “quality”.
If you take the time to explore this deeper, looking at the parts of your job you enjoy and what you choose to do with your spare time, it is highly likely that you will find the common thread is “getting lost”. When you're immersed in something that you enjoy and that provides a challenge in an area of your competence, you can enter a “flow state”. “Flow” is a term coined by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to capture the results of his investigations of "optimal experience." Mihaly wanted to understand what makes an experience genuinely satisfying. Study after study revealed that people found the state of consciousness, where time seemed to both simultaneously stand still and yet fly by, where they got so absorbed in the task at hand that everything else seemed to disappear, as their most enjoyable and productive space.
This getting into the ‘zone’ or ‘flow state’ is rewarding on multiple levels, so much so that there is a correlation between quality and enjoyment of life and the ability to ‘get lost’. There are books, studies and even institutes dedicated to exploring this topic in depth. It is one of my favourite topics to discuss and study. A common thread among all the research is that when a person is using their natural strengths and stretching themselves in an activity they are mastering their enjoyment increases significantly.
Mark Twain's quote, “Find a job you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life” is true because the “work” becomes more of a calling and mission. It is far more satisfying doing what you feel you are called to do, what you are created to achieve. Consider the hours you put into a hobby, pastime or sport you love. Understanding yourself and what motivates you helps to better understand how to find this ‘zone’ for yourself. If you can clearly identify this for yourself you are then able to create more opportunities and focus more time towards doing more of what you love.
Knowing your strengths and areas of skill and passion can help create these ‘zones’. Often people build careers and businesses around this. If this is you - well done! (A word of caution, ensure that the admin required to do what you love does not become so onerous as to require more time in the managing than in ‘flow)
May you find your ‘thing’, your space, craft, work, people, place and may it ignite you to the point where every day is memorable and life becomes an adventure you want to live!
