Unlocking Peak Performance

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Hey there,

What does it really take to tap into your full potential—to do the thing that once felt wildly out of reach?

While it sounds like something from a sci-fi movie montage (cue inspirational soundtrack), the answer is surprisingly simple: flow.

Flow is that magical state where time disappears, distractions vanish, and you’re fully locked in.

You feel your best and perform your best.

According to journalist and author Steven Kotler, unlocking this state is the key to doing what seems impossible.

Kotler’s obsession with flow started in the 90s while studying action sports athletes—think big wave surfers, BASE jumpers, and anyone who regularly tells gravity, “Not today.”

During a short window of time, these athletes pulled off superhuman feats that redefined physical limits.

Why? They were all tapping into flow.

High-stakes athletes don’t have time to overthink. They must be present, fully immersed, instinct-driven.

And Kotler realized: this state wasn’t just reserved for daredevils—it was the performance edge for creatives, executives, engineers, and really anyone doing hard things at a high level.

And the data backs it up.

Through a decades-long study, McKinsey found productivity jumps by up to 500% in flow. Creativity? Up by 400–700%.

The Department of Defense discovered that learning speeds up by 230% — even novice marksmen were trained to expert level in half the time when operating in flow.

Bonus benefits include more empathy, sharper awareness, and higher life satisfaction—basically, flow makes you a high-performing human and a decent one.

Best of all, flow can be trained. It’s not mystical — it’s neurological. And it starts with dopamine—the brain’s focus fuel.

To trigger dopamine and spark flow, Kotler outlines five key triggers: risk, novelty, complexity, unpredictability, and pattern recognition.

That’s why extreme athletes can drop into flow so fast. One backflip on a snowmobile ticks all five boxes.

But it doesn’t have to be extreme.

For one person, it might be surfing a 100-foot wave. For another, it might be making small talk at a networking event.

Same neurochemistry, different risk.

The good news is that you can engineer flow into your daily life.

Change your study environment for a hit of novelty. Try a challenging puzzle.

Start your workday editing something old instead of staring down a blank page—pattern recognition is a powerful trigger, and way less intimidating than the blinking cursor of doom.

Personally, that’s how I jumpstart my writing.

I skip the blank page panic and start by tweaking yesterday’s work. Word by word, edit by edit, I’m easing into the zone without even realizing it.

Before long, I’m fully immersed—and the words just flow.

Flow is personal. 

It takes some experimenting.

So rewind those five triggers: novelty, complexity, unpredictability, risk, and pattern recognition.

Which ones can you inject into your daily routine?

Sure, they might sound too simple. Not fancy enough. No cutting-edge tech.

But that’s exactly why they work. They’re minimal. Repeatable. Human.

And that’s peak performance in a nutshell.

Have a wonderful week, all.
Go forth and find your flow - Scott (@motivatedscott).

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