Related: Tim Ferriss: If You're Not Happy With What You Have, You Might Never Be Happy Self experimentation and individuality. While these compounds are still illegal, there is some hope that will change over time. Carhart-Harris suggests regions of the brain associated with creativity are affected under the influence of entheogenic compounds.įrom Silicon Valley to Wall Street, top executives are microdosing psychedelics to produce flow states, hack creativity, and produce breakthrough innovations. A brain imaging study conducted at Imperial College London by Dr. Using small doses of mescaline, 44 percent of the cohort found breakthrough solutions (including patents and tangible technologies).Įntheogenic compounds have gone unstudied for decades, but the newfound interest is already bearing fruit. Within the experiment, 27 individuals (including engineers, mathematicians, architects, and engineer-physicists) were told to bring a problem they had been struggling with for months. Before these substances were made illegal, researcher James Fadiman conducted experiments using entheogens to enhance problem solving. Take some time to relax and enjoy the whimsical wonder of Connecticut's fall foliage with this visual experience of Fairfield County.Įven though many are illegal in the western world, entheogens like LSD and psilocybin are experiencing a resurgence of interest and research. Literally meaning “generating the divine within,” these compounds have been used in traditional cultures for thousands of years. The term “entheogen” refers to psychoactive compounds, including LSD, psilocybin and mescaline, among others. Related: Mexico Joins Canada In Making Cannabis Legal, Leaving the US Far Behind in Marijuana Policy.Īside from this clearly defined formula, there are a host of other substances utilized for creativity and achieving flow. It isn’t sustainable, but it is a quick hack into this mental space (assuming you live in a part of the world where THC is legal). Marijuana - THC provides a chemical called anandamide used for lateral thinking.Īccording to Kotler, this essentially mimics the neurochemistry of a flow states.
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There are environmental, psychological and emotional factors that affect to our ability to achieve flow regularly.Īs new evidence and technologies come online, we better understand the neurochemistry of flow states and how to achieve it, including through supplements. Steven Kotler, author and flow researcher, recounted a simple flow hack using many commonly found techniques.Ģ0 - 25 minute jog to release endorphins.Ī cup of coffee - caffeine for brain chemicals called dopamine and norepinephrine. If flow states were easy to achieve, we’d all be using them nonstop. Related: How to Achieve a State of Total Concentration Nootropic interventions to achieve flow. Personally, as both an entrepreneur and a musician, I’m aware that my most creative and effective work comes when enjoyment, creativity and focus coexist. In part, what they’re seeking is actually a state of flow, where all other thoughts are suspended, stress drops away and creativity kicks in. Oliver Braithwaite, founder of the private tuition company Stars & Catz Teacher Network, said: “Many of our students are executives who wish to take up a musical instrument to take their minds off work, de-stress and ‘be creative’. Second, creativity is less of a skill and more of a state of mind: i.e: a flow state. First, creativity is essential for solving complex problems. In late 2016, after reviewing more than 30,000 research papers and interviewing hundreds of subject-matter experts, the project reached two conclusions. In 2013, phase one of the Red Bull Hacking Creativity Project started as a joint effort between MIT Media Lab, a group of TED fellows and other flow experts to better understand creativity and flow states. That alone would make flow states advantageous, but the true benefit is for creativity. Imagine working on a business venture with five times the productivity and the ability to learn new materials 230 percent quicker than your competition. McKinsey researchers studied top executives for 10 years and found they were five times more productive in flow states. Military researchers found that flow states can increase learning ability up to 230 percent in novice snipers.
The benefits of achieving flow states are manifold.
Since Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi labeled and analyzed flow states, it has become a hot topic for performance enhancement.Īs Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal’s book, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work shows, high performance individuals are using flow enhancing techniques across the board. These mental states are the objective of high performers from Sergey Brin and Google executives to elite special forces.