Stephen Collar

Flow follows focus. It only shows up when all our attention is the right here, right now. So that's what all the triggers do. They drive our attention into the present moment. If I wanted to get into the neuroscience, they do it a bunch of different ways. Some of them push dopamine to our system. Some of them push norepinephrine to our system. Some of them lower cognitive load.

Flow follows focus. It only shows up when all our attention is the right here, right now. So that's what all the triggers do. They drive our attention into the present moment. If I wanted to get into the neuroscience, they do it a bunch of different ways. Some of them push dopamine to our system. Some of them push norepinephrine to our system. Some of them lower cognitive load.

Cognitive load is just all the crap you're trying to think about at any one time. And if I lower cognitive load, this is why people will tell you, clean your office, right? If when you're totally distracted and you're all over the place, what do I do first? You clean your office. Why would you possibly clean your office? It lowers cognitive load.

Cognitive load is just all the crap you're trying to think about at any one time. And if I lower cognitive load, this is why people will tell you, clean your office, right? If when you're totally distracted and you're all over the place, what do I do first? You clean your office. Why would you possibly clean your office? It lowers cognitive load.

All the crap you're trying to think about starts to go away. And what happens? You liberate some extra energy. What does the brain do with that extra energy? It repurposes it for focus and attention. So complete concentration is the first flow trigger, the most important.

All the crap you're trying to think about starts to go away. And what happens? You liberate some extra energy. What does the brain do with that extra energy? It repurposes it for focus and attention. So complete concentration is the first flow trigger, the most important.

So it's worth backing it up one step because it's relevant. So I came out of college trained as a poet. So I came out of college with an absolutely worthless degree. But I became a journalist and journalism. They sort of pay you to be curious. And I was really geeked on a neuroscience thing.

So it's worth backing it up one step because it's relevant. So I came out of college trained as a poet. So I came out of college with an absolutely worthless degree. But I became a journalist and journalism. They sort of pay you to be curious. And I was really geeked on a neuroscience thing.

because i like i think like a lot of us i wasn't born with an instruction manual i wasn't a super talented kid there were better athletes these people were funnier these people were smarter i had big dreams and i grew up in cleveland in a steel mill town basically at a time it was a steel mill town and i didn't have an operating man i wanted an instruction manual i was really pissed that i wasn't born with an instruction manual and

because i like i think like a lot of us i wasn't born with an instruction manual i wasn't a super talented kid there were better athletes these people were funnier these people were smarter i had big dreams and i grew up in cleveland in a steel mill town basically at a time it was a steel mill town and i didn't have an operating man i wanted an instruction manual i was really pissed that i wasn't born with an instruction manual and

I figured out very quickly that neuroscience was that instruction manual. And that sounds really strange if you're not geeked on neuroscience, but it's the difference between psychology and neuroscience is about precision. Psychology is squishy. It's subjective. People figure out, oh, this is the model and it sort of relates to who I am. So I'm going to train you with it.

I figured out very quickly that neuroscience was that instruction manual. And that sounds really strange if you're not geeked on neuroscience, but it's the difference between psychology and neuroscience is about precision. Psychology is squishy. It's subjective. People figure out, oh, this is the model and it sort of relates to who I am. So I'm going to train you with it.

And it usually doesn't work and it doesn't help. Neuroscience is precise because it's shared by everybody, right? Evolution shaped all of us. So the way my brain works and the way your brain works and the way your brain works, it's very, very similar. So if you can get down to the level of neurobiology, suddenly you're dealing with mechanism.

And it usually doesn't work and it doesn't help. Neuroscience is precise because it's shared by everybody, right? Evolution shaped all of us. So the way my brain works and the way your brain works and the way your brain works, it's very, very similar. So if you can get down to the level of neurobiology, suddenly you're dealing with mechanism.

Suddenly you're dealing with something that like works like an engine rather than like this amorphous car in the sky. And that was really useful for me. And I was covering action sports, surfing, skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding and the like, and this is the part that matters. At the time, I was living in what was then Squaw Valley was now Palisades Tahoe. And I'm an old punk rocker.

Suddenly you're dealing with something that like works like an engine rather than like this amorphous car in the sky. And that was really useful for me. And I was covering action sports, surfing, skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding and the like, and this is the part that matters. At the time, I was living in what was then Squaw Valley was now Palisades Tahoe. And I'm an old punk rocker.

And Squaw Valley was like the punk rock mecca of the action sports world. When it was back, this is before it was a world. It wasn't an industry. It wasn't anything. It was a bunch of basically skate punks and ski punks and surf punks and whatnot. And the 90s in performance and action sports is often talked about as the era of impossible.

And Squaw Valley was like the punk rock mecca of the action sports world. When it was back, this is before it was a world. It wasn't an industry. It wasn't anything. It was a bunch of basically skate punks and ski punks and surf punks and whatnot. And the 90s in performance and action sports is often talked about as the era of impossible.

More things that had never been done got done in that era than ever before. Right. And if you knew anything about performance back in the 90s, it was all about like better have a lot of money. You better have the right coaches. You better go to the right schools. You better have the right parents. You have the right genetics. It was all this stuff that you couldn't control.

More things that had never been done got done in that era than ever before. Right. And if you knew anything about performance back in the 90s, it was all about like better have a lot of money. You better have the right coaches. You better go to the right schools. You better have the right parents. You have the right genetics. It was all this stuff that you couldn't control.