Flow is when you are in that state of mind where everything just comes naturally to you. The work you produce is pure golden art and deserves an Oscar of its own for that performance.
In blues music,I believe they call that “swings”. In boxing or dancing, it’s when you play with the rhythm. The state of mind you are in those situations is what flow is about.
Naturally, you could also use that state in your professional life.
When you are in that state you rely on instincts only. No overthinking, not a single thought, pure silence. In that state, you use your inner wisdom to read information forming in your brain at the moment you “see” it. Other people will be amazed at the thinks you can produce. The longer you hold that state, the longer it lasts. It’s a skill, but normally, you won’t be able to do that all of the time. So, you have to be mindful when using it.
Business is all about making decisions. Right or wrong, you have to make them. When you are in a negotiation with investors and you see an opening to hit a certain “button”, you take the leap. It’s a feeling. But to be able to detect that feeling, you have to be close to the state of flow.
You can learn to get into that state if you are ready. Personally, I do it by practicing boxing, dancing, and meditation. These are all activities where you need to be present to perform them. Part of mastering them is getting into the flow state.
On a professional level, I use that technique when researching markets. It basically looks like this:
I think a bit on the business idea. Say it’s a SaaS company that seeks to expand their market share. They want to acquire new customers. This means, they should either increase current spending on a working marketing campaign, which is likely NOT to yield much. This is because trends always change and one thing gets boring if it’s been seen too much. It’s the same in marketing. In marketing, you care about how many people you reach, and how many you convert, and was it worth it. Usually, it’s not. But…
If you are ready to go on another adventure and make life exciting again, then you want to find a new niche which will probably require a new angle. That task will be a good mind stretch.
If we are to adopt a customer-centric approach, then it’s natural we start with the customer. Can you feel the flow already?
All we need to do is examine what happens in their head. Glorious observation, I know. Well, the secret is to be a good observer. All of the studies focused on human behavior are based on observing humans. Your market is likely comprised of humans, too. So if you want to learn what they do, then go where they are and observe their behavior. Make your own test and see what you record.
Say by now you have validated your MVP and have a very vague idea of who to target. At the very least, you can hypothesize what kind of social networks those people would use. Then you only need to find the groups they hang out in. That’s how you answer the “where”.
The next one to answer is the “how”. This is where you sit and observe. You read comments, those comments provoke some emotions in you, and then you describe them in your document. By experiencing your market this way, you tune in to it. You get to understand it on a deeper scale. That’s how you produce insightful work. I like to think of that as a life shortcut.
That’s also the main technique we would utilize whenever we research something for you if you sought our help. Customers or competitors- these are groups made of people. People tend to behave in psychological patterns. All you have to do is notice them. If you can’t, then we can help. We provide market research services focused on helping SaaS companies find suitable markets to scale. Get in touch if you’d like to speak more, even to just say hi!
Being in the state of flow leads to many benefits in different aspects of your life. You could use it in dancing, cooking, business, sports, you get the point. The important thing is to flow on the waves life throws at you.
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