7.5 KiB
Outcomes
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They’re great.
How to keep them coming?
Flow brings outcomes:
- emotional - it makes us happy
- material - fruits of our labour
Outcomes are what we’re after.
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But sometimes...
we get derailed by bad mood
- by negative events or emotions around us
- due to our own failing
- by recalling a negative past
and lose our flow.
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Negativity captures our attention
more than positivity.
Negativity and pessimism reinforce themselves.
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Negative feedback loop may keep us down,
unproductive, in a bad mood.
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We need emotional stability to keep on going.
Hamster in a box
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Hamster in a box
- when put in a box with a lid, it will try to jump out
- and after a day or two it will give up and never try again
- ...even once the lid is removed
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Learned helplessness
[Martin Seligman]
Hamster Procrastination Cycle
- Do nothing
- Have regrets
- Doubt yourself
- Feel helpless
- GOTO 1
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Sounds familiar!
- Do nothing
- Have regrets
- Doubt yourself
- Feel helpless
- GOTO 1
Positive Cycle of Flow
- Do meaningful actions
- Feel good
- Growing skills
- Believe in yourself
- GOTO 1
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My morning routine of flow
definitely helped!
How to break out?
Time Perspectives
- positive past
- negative past
- present
- future
[Philip Zimbardo]
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Focusing on
positive past- negative past
- present
future
results in a hamster cycle, depressions.
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Refocusing on
- positive past
negative pastpresent- future
breaks out of the hamster cycle.
How to orient yourself towards the future?
Personal Vision
How to perceive your past positively?
Choice of attitude
TOOL: Choice of attitude
(originally named Inner-game; not related to Timothy Gallwey’s work)
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We are free to choose our reaction to events.
[Viktor Frankl]
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Interpreting seemingly negative events
as neutral or even positive.
Default:
Failure → 😟
Choice:
Failure → 😐/😀
Micro-habit that can be trained.
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My switched attitudes
- Burying past failures
- 😱 “I caused a car crash!”
- 😌 “No one got hurt, I learned from it and now I have an awesome story to tell!”
- Handling rejections
- 🤬 “They refused my merge request!”
- 🙂 “I got feedback, I can improve it and make it even better for next time.”
TOOL: Three Good Things
[Martin Seligman] (Learned Optimism)
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At the end of every day,
think about 3 things
that went well for you.
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Why?
Increases positive emotions, hope and optimism.
Strengthens your focus on positive past.
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My routine?
Done daily during dinner as a family.
Today, I liked that...
- I had a nice chat with my coworker
- I resolved one bug
- I finally gave my talk on procrastination!