As I was getting my haircut done today, I noticed how my young barber was carefully making each cut. It reminded me of how in my early days driving a car I was very mindful to stay away from the curbside, careful to give the signal before turning a bend, and focused on every step of driving to make it smooth. My barber [his name was Krishna] was surely in his early months or even weeks of doing his haircuts too, and yet he did a fine job!
This experience got me thinking about how we go through cycles from deliberate and careful effort to instinctive effortless living. Within a few months of driving, it started becoming instinctive and almost effortless for me. Like I am sure Krishna's haircutting will become instinctive and effortless in a few months from now.
Taking this thought a bit further: On the other side of this cycle comes boredom. When we have practiced baseline tennis shots for a few weeks with a friend we like to raise the challenge a bit by either playing a game or playing with a tougher opponent. At first, the next level of challenge invariably causes some anxiety, and takes a lot more effort & concentration. The stakes are higher. But as we continue to play at this new challenging level for a few weeks, we get better at it, and once again we come into the zone of Flow and Effortless playing! We have grown through this cycle and we will enjoy being here for a while; until the inner human spirit compels us to raise the bar once again.
It’s the same cycle that we go through at work. As we enter a new role, we experience some sweat and anxiety of performance and delivering up to the new expectations. As we get better at it, we get into the effortless zone of Flow, and after a while of being in this enjoyable zone we feel ready to up the challenge. We have grown internally. If we stay in the effortless zone for too long we may feel a sense of boredom or stagnation.
The interesting thing is that both the stage of anxiety and stage of boredom are an essential part of getting to the Effortless zone of Flow. If we do not experience the anxiety of a new level of challenge, we will never feel the need to grow and up our game. On the other hand, if we never feel the sense of boredom we will never feel the need to raise the level of challenge! Interesting how the moment we hear the terms anxiety or boredom in isolation we feel they are somehow negative. But the moment we see them as an integral part of the cycle: [from anxiety to growth, to flow, and after some time again to bored, and to upping the challenge once again entering the phase of anxiety], they do not sound all that avoidable!
What do you think?
Concept Source: "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Photos by Hair Spies and Sam Bark on Unsplash
The Author is Founder of Three Circles - Coaching to create the Life that you love!
At Three Circles, we come with a deep understanding of what it takes to navigate the challenges that life throws at us. We partner with our clients, listen to their life aspirations, and support them to break through the obstacles that seem to be holding them back. Life is too precious to be unhappy, unsure, or unfulfilled. Give us the opportunity to partner with you as you re-imagine and re-create the Life that you Love!
Very true anuj. I keep wondering if effortless living could become