Authentic Achievements with Special Guest Diane Allen
Unlocking the Flow State: Insights from Diane Allen on “Authentic Achievements”
In the latest episode of “Authentic Achievements,” host Kim-Adele Randall engages in a deep and enlightening conversation with Diane Allen, an international speaker, violinist, and author renowned for her expertise on the flow state. Diane shares her journey and offers valuable insights into achieving flow, particularly through her experiences as a musician. This blog post will summarise the episode’s key themes and actionable advice, providing a comprehensive guide to understanding and harnessing the flow state for optimal performance and fulfilment.
Understanding the Flow State
What is Flow?
Flow is a psychological state where individuals are fully immersed in an activity, leading to heightened creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. Diane emphasises that flow is not just about “going with the flow” but actively engaging in an environment where everything aligns, allowing individuals to tap into their genius and creativity.
Key Indicators of Flow
Diane describes several indicators that signify being in a flow state:
Loss of Time Awareness: When in flow, individuals often lose track of time.
Sense of Ease: Activities feel effortless and enjoyable.
Fearlessness: A lack of inhibition and fear allows for bold and creative actions.
Diane’s Journey to Understanding Flow
A Pivotal Moment
Diane recounts a challenging experience during a performance when she struggled to connect with her music. This moment of disconnection prompted her to explore the flow state deeply. She realised that understanding the elements of flow could help her replicate the experience and achieve optimal performance consistently.
The Three Critical Questions
To unlock her flow state, Diane posed three critical questions to herself:
Where: Where do I most often get into flow?
What: What am I doing externally and internally when in flow?
Why: What is the deeper meaning or purpose behind my actions?
By answering these questions, Diane identified that she gets into flow on stage with her violin, sharing a message and experience with the audience, driven by a deeper purpose of unity.
Practical Tips for Achieving Flow
Recognising and Embracing Joy
Diane reassures listeners that embracing joy is essential and recognises that hard work can be enjoyable when in flow. She emphasises that feeling guilty for taking breaks or finding joy in work is counterproductive.
Minimising Distractions
Interruptions, both external and internal, are significant barriers to achieving flow. Diane shares a creative solution: a door hanger that reads, “Do not disturb, I’m in my flow,” highlighting the importance of minimising distractions to maintain focus.
Understanding the Neuroscience
Diane explains the neuroscience behind flow, detailing how specific hormones are released during this optimal state, leading to heightened creativity and performance. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for the inner critic and fight-or-flight responses, temporarily shuts down, allowing individuals to experience a sense of euphoria and peak performance.
Acknowledging the Inner Critic
Diane suggests a technique for dealing with the inner critic:
- Recognise it.
- Thank it for its concern.
- Set it aside to maintain a positive mindset.
This approach helps prevent self-doubt from derailing focus and productivity.
Kim’s Flow Strategy
Identifying Flow Elements
Kim shares her own flow strategy, revealing that she finds flow in her office while engaging in conversations and storytelling. She identifies her “where” as her office, her “what” as being curious and storytelling, and her “why” as the connection. This self-awareness enables her to engage profoundly and achieve the benefits of being in flow.
The Power of Storytelling
Kim believes storytelling is a universal connector, transcending age, race, and culture. For her, the internal process of being curious drives her, and she has a life mission statement focused on living a life of passionate curiosity.
Leading Others into Flow
Influencing Through Flow
Diane shares insights from her experience in orchestras, where she learned that the deeper she got into a flow, the more it affected those around her. Research from the HeartMath Institute shows that the human heart’s electromagnetic field extends three feet around a person. When someone is in flow, their positive energy can influence others within that sphere, creating a collective flow experience.
Leadership and Flow
Kim reflects on her leadership experiences, noting how sharing belief and enthusiasm can elevate a team’s energy and performance. Diane emphasises that leading oneself into flow is crucial for inspiring others and creating a shared sense of purpose and connectivity.
Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Change
Personal Struggles and Growth
Diane opens up about a difficult time when she experienced significant personal challenges. This led her to take a year off from playing the violin, a decision that felt confusing and disorienting. However, a few years later, she was inspired to pick up the violin again, realising she had outgrown classical music and found joy in creating her music.
Embracing New Paths
Diane’s journey highlights the importance of being open to new possibilities and recognising that our paths may only sometimes be linear. By embracing change and aligning passions with actions, individuals can achieve flow and fulfilment.
This episode of “Authentic Achievements” delves into the concept of flow, exploring how individuals can identify their unique flow strategies and the profound impact of flow on personal and collective experiences. Diane’s insights and Kim’s reflections provide valuable takeaways for anyone seeking to enhance their performance and joy in their work and life.
Key Takeaways
Understand the Elements of Flow: Identify where, what, and why you experience flow.
Embrace Joy: Recognise that hard work can be enjoyable when in flow.
Minimise Distractions: Create an environment that supports focus and flow.
Acknowledge the Inner Critic: Recognise and set aside self-doubt to maintain a positive mindset.
Lead Through Flow: Influence others by leading yourself into flow.
Resources
Listeners are encouraged to explore the resources shared in the episode, including a free gift from Diane that outlines the key concepts discussed, a flow strategy worksheet, and additional videos. Free Gift:
Flow Essentials: Tools to Unlock Your Best Self (Guide + Videos)
https://tinyurl.com/flowstategift
Diane’s Book:
Flow: Unlock Your Genius, Love What You Do
Kindle sale price: $1.99 (Now through the end of the day Sept. 22, 2024)
Diane’s upcoming book, “Flow: Unlock Your Genius, Love What You Do,” will be released on September 17, 2024, and will delve deeper into the strategies for achieving flow, offering practical tools for individuals and leaders alike.
By understanding and harnessing the flow state, individuals can unlock their potential, achieve optimal performance, and find fulfilment in their personal and professional lives.
Connect with Diane
TEDx/TED Talk (13 min.)
WEBSITE
SOCIALS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianeallenspeaker
https://www.instagram.com/dianeallenspeaker
https://www.facebook.com/dianeallenspeaker
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZOk_r1n2X2FmbRcoiUhIHQ
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Transcript:
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Kim-Adele Randall 00:00:08 Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Authentic Achievements. Where is my absolute delight to be joined by the fabulous Diane Allen? Diane, welcome.
Diane Allen 00:00:18 Thank you so much. I am so happy to be here with you today. Kim. I think we’re going to have a great time.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:00:25 So do I already. In our brief chat beforehand, I could tell that we could probably chat for hours. And before we get stuck into that, which is what I’m really looking forward to for those people watching listening that may not know about you, let me tell you a little bit more about my amazing guest. So Diane Allen is an international speaker, a violinist and an author. She’s a global authority on the flow state. She’s known for experiential keynotes, training and coaching programs that go beyond engagement, featuring her three step flow strategy, which empowers people to get into their flow state being their genius and love what they do. I mean, what an amazing, what amazing gift to give to the world. And I’m really interested in you must have had one heck of a journey to get here.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:01:11 Could you share some of that with us, please?
Diane Allen 00:01:13 Oh my. One heck of a journey, you know? gosh, it’s it’s, you know, the day I couldn’t get into the music was, the day that felt probably the worst day in my life. But then, of course, these days end up being the most pivotal ones. because, you know, for a musician to be on stage and to be going through the motions, right? We all talk about employee engagement, right? People just going through the motions. Well, you don’t expect that from a musician. You expect to hear a musician getting into the music. And I had a moment. I’ll share that with you in a second. But the thing is, is that I couldn’t get into this music one day, and because I knew the profound experience that that provides for the audience is because if I’m getting into the music. I’m providing a transformational experience for the audience, and there’s a lot of scientific evidence that goes behind that.
Diane Allen 00:02:17 But, the the thing is, is that when a musician gets into their flow state, they are, excuse me? When a musician gets into the music. There we go. They’re getting into their first stage. And so really, that day I couldn’t get into the music was like, wow, how do I really do this? And flow falls under the umbrella of positive psychology. Positive psychology is all about taking a look at what’s working well, so you can reverse engineer that and create more of that goodness in your life. Right? So without knowing what I was doing, you know, that night I’m sitting on the couch feeling humiliated, grilling myself with questions, and came up with a way that I discovered how I uniquely get into flow. and then if we backtrack. So that’s where I am, you know, today. And now that’s what I share. But if we backtrack, you know, as a young violinist, I studied, I went to, music school and in New York City did the whole New York City training.
Diane Allen 00:03:22 And, you know, the playing the violin is a high precision instrument. when you go to play auditions or concerts, whatever, it’s high pressure. so you’re expected to play a high precision instrument under high pressure as well as. Right, getting to the music. Right. Be in that heart space, provide provide that, inspiration for the audience. And so I was fine. How was it? Great student. I love being a student, but whenever I had to do A and like we had to do what they call juries which every year in college you would go and perform music for the violin staff. Right. The piano players would go to the piano. You know, teachers. Right? And every year I would just like, here’s my skill level and here’s how I perform. So like high skill level, low performance level, I would crush under the pressure. So not fun. and so the distance between how well I could perform and how well I did perform under pressure was huge. It was a huge gap.
Diane Allen 00:04:30 And I spent years trying to close that gap. and it always was getting into the music. I didn’t know that it was the flow state at the time. I just knew the more I got into the music, the better I played. So, that’s in a nutshell, how I got to this place, with how do you teach how to get into flow? how can you create that in your life? But, I also think that, you know, a lot of people might not know exactly what the flow state is. Yeah. Because, if you say go with the flow, that’s actually very passive. That means just kind of going with things and rolling with it, which I’m not dissing that. It’s just that. But the very nature of the flow state in positive psychology is such that you are very active and in an environment where, things click and it brings the best out into you. So,
Kim-Adele Randall 00:05:33 I, I love that. I mean, I’ve got so many questions what I’m writing thinking and my understanding of, of flow state, which I’m not saying is brilliant, is it’s where you’re actually in that space of intentionality.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:05:45 So you are you are intentionally making the choices and they’re the right choices, and they feel like they connect all of your senses. And it’s and things kind of just seem to flow, I guess. But as in, you’re kind of like, because you’re focusing on the positive of what’s going on and not allowing that part of yourself to be distracted by the the negativity. You know, when you shared your journey of being disconnected and you know you could perform better, but you didn’t perform better? I’m guessing that was because a large part of you was being, misdirected to share all the fears of what might happen if you didn’t perform as well as you could have done in those kind of environments. You know, you’re not almost fully present, are you? Because you half of you’s over here, or what if and the and the maybe and the and the potential lack of perfection. Yeah. Would that be would that be a fair understanding of it?
Diane Allen 00:06:45 Absolutely. I understand based on what you just said, that you have experience flow.
Diane Allen 00:06:50 You mentioned a lot of things that I call our key indicators of flow. And, and so I’ll just go through that list right now because, you know, the question is, is, you know, that that most people get into flow without realizing it. it’s not until you’re out of flow that oftentimes you realize that you were in it, and it’s not until you’re out of flow that you realize the benefits of that moment when you were just in it. So a big piece of figuring out how you uniquely get into flow is first, just recognize when you’re in it. And so that, you know, when we’re getting flow, we do lose all sense of time. mostly because we just love what we’re doing. We lose a sense of self. And that’s like a kind of a strange thing to say. But basically what happens is the inner critic and the fight or flight response literally get turned off when you’re in flow. So when people are in flow, they experience this feeling of being uninhibited and fearless.
Diane Allen 00:07:55 you have ideas and insights coming in from out of the blue. you’ve got, you get more done with a sense of ease. Like, have you ever gotten more done in 30 minutes than he had in the last three days?
Kim-Adele Randall 00:08:07 Oh, yeah.
Diane Allen 00:08:08 Yeah, that’s a that’s a perfect example of being in your flow and and you know it when you’re in it, but it’s like it feels elusive and it’s like, how do you create more of that in your life. Right. So that’s what we’re going to be talking about today. So we’ve got, you know, like I said, ideas and insights coming in from out of the blue, things coming together with the sense of ease. And then instead of being in a negative feedback loop where you have to use will and discipline, to pour yourself into your work, and it’s very draining and it pulls you down instead. When you’re in flow, you’re in a positive feedback loop where it’s like, the more you get into it, the more you get out of it, the more you get out of it, you more you get into it.
Diane Allen 00:08:49 And that’s that positive feedback loop. And then for the last key indicator, I’d say you are experiencing more meaning joy and fulfillment. And for those of you who are lovers of Adam Grant’s work, he’s an organizational psychologist. He gave a Ted talk, as well as wrote a New York Times article about this very topic. And in it he talked about the mental health spectrum and how halfway between depression and flourishing, there’s this midway point where you’re fine, but you’re not fine. You’re functional, but you can’t get motivated. You’re just kind of blah. And so the word for that is languishing. And what Adam Grant talked about is, is the key to go from languishing up to flourishing is to get into your flow state.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:09:35 I love that because we all have those moments, don’t we, where you feel like I’ve got to, you already feel your whole energy and you kind of like, you know, it’s like, oh, here we go. When I’m. And I’m forcing myself to. And versus those moments where you’re like, where did that last like two hours ago? And, you know, I used to have a team that dreaded a Friday because I work from home on a Friday and therefore because I had no stress and nothing else.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:10:02 They were like, we hate Fridays because by lunchtime we’ve got three weeks worth of work on our desk. Sure, like bang bang bang bang bang. And I was like, yeah, but I’ve got no distraction. I’ve not got to be anything. There’s nobody else there. I’m at home. And so actually I can just focus on what I, what I know needs to be done. And that’s the bit I enjoy the problem solve. but you had to know what it was that you enjoyed first to recognize that there the bits that go, these are the bits that bring you joy. These don’t feel like work. Yeah. This is you know, this is just fun. but it took a long, a long time to get that. And I’m still in that space of catching myself well out of flow and going, okay, yeah. What can we do? Like what can we do not beat myself up about it because I spend a lot of time going, oh, I know I should do this better.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:10:49 Like beat beat. to now go. Okay, so I wasn’t in flow for half an hour, an hour a day, a week. I don’t have to make that the rest of my life. I can actually go. Okay, well, what things do I know? Help me and for for me. And I’m not a musician at all. I mean, but music always helps me. so it always helps me find my sense of calm. And that’s where I usually find my sense of creativity. And you mentioned about ideas pinging in and, and all of a sudden solutions to problems that you’ve been banging your head about for days, just turn up and like, that’s so simple. That’s. Yes. but it’s finding those moments and it almost seems, I guess, early doors for me, If I’m honest, I’d love your insight on this. Is it felt counterintuitive when things weren’t going as well as you want it to. It felt counterintuitive to take a moment and step back, to go and find a moment of peace, to go and direct myself somewhere else and go and sit and do something that brought me joy because I felt a bit guilty, even if there was nobody else there.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:11:59 It was like, oh, well, it doesn’t look like I’m really taking it seriously. And I’m not, you know, I’m not really sitting down with this problem and not leaving my desk until it’s resolved. Yeah, but I did find when I did that, I got so much more done and I got so much more resolved. But it took a while. So how is that common? And is that something people see a lot of?
Diane Allen 00:12:22 Oh, you described it beautifully. I want to circle back to, to a couple of things. Well, the first thing I want to circle back to is what you just said, that guilt. It’s like, you know, there’s a stigma with being a musician because people say, oh, they play for a living because it’s so enjoyable. And I’m like, hello, why aren’t you playing at work? Let me show you how. Right. because you should not feel guilty. if you’re if you’ve bought into this, This this work is hard. And if you’re not doing the hard work.
Diane Allen 00:12:59 Right. of course, work is hard. But the thing is, is that when you’re working in flow, your hard work is joy. Yeah, right. That’s the first thing I want to circle back to. The second thing is, is you mentioned interruptions, right? So there’s interruptions external as well as internal. Right. You can interrupt yourself right quick. Let me check Facebook. Right. That kind of thing. turn off your text messages. Right. So, you know, I’m launching my book, as you know, and I, I made some swag. I have to show you this because you mentioned this. Okay. so I made a door hanger. So for those of you who are listening, I’m going to describe what what I’m showing right now. So in the back of the door hanger it says this interruptions are the number one killer of flow. Okay. Now on the front side of the door hanger it says do not disturb. I’m in my flow.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:13:50 Oh, I love that.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:13:51 I love, I love that because it’s so true, isn’t it, that the in fact, I think there’s, I think there’s, a science that’s proven that actually, if we get interrupted, it takes us 20 minutes to get back into, where we were working at our best, where we really flow.
Diane Allen 00:14:09 And that is, if you don’t know how to get back into your flow state, which we’ll get to in a second here. So, that will shorten that time tremendously. so the, darn it lost my my train of thought. I yes, I know it. I feel like we really need to just talk about one more background piece of flow before we get into more of our deep dive into how to get into it. I really feel like people should know the neuroscience of flow. So what happens is I already described the key indicators of being in flow and and those benefits. Right. Who doesn’t want to have ideas and insights come in from out of the blue, right. Who doesn’t want things to come together with a sense of ease? and you know, when we’re talking about flow, it’s really, you know, in a do, do, do world.
Diane Allen 00:14:58 When we’re doing, doing, doing, we’re just talking about how are you being when you are doing and how can you be in that place where you are in your excellence and, and you’re in that ability to lead yourself and lead others and, and be in that optimal state of mind. So Mike sent me. Hi. He’s the psychologist who did the largest body of psychological research into flow. His definition of flow is an optimal state of mind. When you feel your best and you perform your best. I like to describe it as when your genius in your heart become one. And so more recently, there’s been a lot of neuroscience, development where they can actually measure these things. And what they’ve discovered when people are in their flow state is that there’s a cocktail of peak performance hormones that get released, and those hormones are anandamide, endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. And because of this, we experience euphoria, evasion, peak performance and happiness. And there’s this like sense of rising to the occasion.
Diane Allen 00:16:06 So, those hormones produce that in us. And because all of those get flushed at the same time, the neocortex amps up, dramatically increasing learning speed. And as I mentioned before, when I said the inner critic and the fight or flight response shutdowns, that’s because the prefrontal cortex temporarily shuts down. And so literally your inner critic is turned off. So these are the neurobiological conditions that make creativity and outstanding performance readily available.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:16:41 I love that because so often it is a it is us that get in our own way, isn’t it? Us that hold us back? It’s it’s listening to that inner critic that fight or flight. And they can sound so plausible. You know, the things we tell ourselves sounds so plausible. and yet you’re like, would you say that to another human being? Would you ever, like, say those awful things that you’re saying to yourself, to anybody else? And I honestly say some of the things I’ve said to myself, I would never say it to another human being, even if I didn’t like them.
Diane Allen 00:17:17 It’s interesting because as a performer, this is a good time. For those of you who are listening, I’m holding up a picture of the orchestra I used to play in, and it’s looking top down on the orchestra so you can see the whole orchestra with the conductor. And then I am right there. I’m the lead violinist and the the concertmaster of the orchestra. And and so this is a leadership role and however well, I do is going to ripple effect throughout the orchestra. So I, I had a well trained habit because if that inner critic comes in, it does botch you up and is an interruption like my got all my props here like this. Right. So the hanger that says do not disturb, amend my flow. So, to keep a neutral mind is the key. And when your inner critic comes in, you basically have to acknowledge it and say, hi, I’m so glad you’re here. You are looking out for me. I’m so grateful. Would you mind go sitting over there in the audience and then afterwards you can give me feedback and we’ll talk all about it.
Diane Allen 00:18:29 But right now, let me just do this. The thing is, is that if you try to just stop the inner critic, it’s going to push against you, right? The more you push against it, the more it’s going to come back. But if you acknowledge it, high inner critic. Oh, you’re looking out for me. That’s okay. I’m doing fine. Let’s talk later. Right. Let’s definitely have a session later. That is, I got to the point where I could, like, acknowledge it and release it at very quick rates of speed, to keep myself from interrupting myself in that way. But then at the same time, the deeper you get into flow, the quieter your inner critic.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:19:08 Oh, I love that. That’s so much more advanced than mine. I used to find that I would have to acknowledge it and go, you know, yes, I can get it wrong. And particularly if I ever did public speaking, you know, it would remind me of the fact that 23 years ago, I stood up and told a roomful of people that one of the charities we supported was Imperial Leather, and I meant Imperial Cancer, and I’ve never said anything that stupid since.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:19:30 But the minute I go to do public speaking, there it is. Remember, you can’t do this. but I didn’t realise you could just go. Yes. In the audience. What I usually do with mine is. You’re right. I can get it wrong. I just wondered there was any occasions I get it right. And then I find my subconscious flows. All the times where people said thank you or came up and stood to talk to you afterwards or something. And then you can go, oh, let’s see how we get on today. See where we go. But I love you’ve made that so much more simple and so much quicker, which is just to acknowledge it and not need to find justification that the opposite is true. So powerful. And the simple things always are so powerful, aren’t they? And that’s why sometimes we dismiss them. Yeah.
Diane Allen 00:20:12 Haha.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:20:15 So so you’ve kind of, you’ve obviously you’ve, you’ve really learnt how to hone that flow, how to spot yourself potentially being interrupted in that flow and then very quickly putting that interruption kindly in its place.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:20:33 Yes, I acknowledged it. And I’m not getting angry about you. I’m not attaching emotion to you. Right. Thank you. And I’m putting you in the audience, which I love, because, so it’s really interesting.
Diane Allen 00:20:46 This is the perfect time for me to get back to the opening story that I alluded to. The day I couldn’t get into the music. Right. So I was the lead violinist for years. Thousands of concerts under my belt. Right? Getting into flow became routine. I took it for granted. I didn’t have any fancy way to get into flow. I just knew you showed up and it was there, right? It was a well-oiled machine. And so one of my roles as the concertmaster was to do cultural outreach Reach concerts. So I would take a small group of musicians and we would go tour some, you know, different communities. And there was this one event Saturday afternoon, 2:00. it was at a rural community center library. We’re in a meeting room. There’s about 50 people there are wearing jeans and t shirts.
Diane Allen 00:21:40 Right. It’s a super casual event, and we’re just there, right? There’s nothing to be nervous about here. Absolutely nothing. I’ve got a wealth of experience behind me. All right. No problem. And this wild idea comes into my head. I always love public speaking. I always love performing. Why don’t I do both? And without any planning, just spontaneous. I decide I’m going to do the pre-concert lecture. And so I bring the musicians out on stage. We sit in our places, I stand up, I give a pre-concert lecture. It was great. I was having a great time And then I turned around. Sit down. Give a big cue for the music to start. And for some reason, it felt like my elbows were frozen. Oh, no. And I couldn’t, like, really move them. It was. So talk about this was an interruption. I didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t my inner critic interrupting me. It was like this physical thing.
Diane Allen 00:22:41 It was like, what the heck is this? And so my first thought was similar to what we just talked about was, okay, what just happened? This is a stress hormone dump. Why? I had one, I think it had to do with going from speaking to playing violin, but we’ll deal with that later, right? I just know that right now I if I can’t move my elbows, there’s this stress hormones that are preventing them. And if I worry about it and if I start beating myself up right now, what’s going on? And, you know, getting into, like, I’m embarrassed this is all going wrong, right? Then I’m going to perpetuate that flow of those stress hormones. So I knew I had to keep a neutral mind and let it run its course. And I’m not kidding like that. My colleagues were like looking over the music stands like they couldn’t hear me and I thought, oh my gosh, I’m playing the melody. That means the audience can’t hear me either.
Diane Allen 00:23:32 But I had to just stay like I’m neutral, I’m neutral, and I literally I’m thinking, just keep moving, just keep moving. And, you know, felt like an hour. But it really, really was only a minute for me to regain the full use of my arms. So now I’m playing, I’m audible, we’re playing along. But now I realized I’m not putting any feeling into the music, and it literally felt like I forgot how. And I thought, okay, I’m having a transition issue going from speaking to playing the violin. And I did this spontaneous, I didn’t prepare. I had no idea that something like this would happen, right? This is why preparation is a good thing. So, it went south, and I, But then I thought, you know what? Really? It’s not about the shift from speaking to playing the violin. It’s really about the shift from being out of flow to being in flow. Yeah, that’s really what it is. And so that night after the concert, you know, I’m not the only one here who I’m sure is, like, been grilling themselves with questions, trying to crack some nut right in their life.
Diane Allen 00:24:43 Anyways, so it ended up where I asked myself three questions, and these were the three questions that helped me to unlock my flow and to know how I uniquely get into flow when I’m performing music. And so, the three questions are where, what and why. And what I’m going to do is I’m going to give my example first, and then I’m going to walk Kim, I’m going to walk you through figuring out your flow strategy, which, by the way, you have already given to us just without this language. Okay. All right. So, so the first question is where where am I when I get into the flow state the most? Well, it’s usually on a stage with the violin under my chin. Right. What am I doing? I’m playing the violin. That’s what I’m doing on the outside. But the second what question is what am I doing on the inside? And so when I was looking into this, I was like, you know, my friends, they would say, we’re creating the music.
Diane Allen 00:25:44 And of course we are. I totally get that. But I don’t know, it feels different for me. It feels more. It feels more like I’m sharing, sharing the message and sharing the experience. And I was very lucky that my son let me read out loud to him until he was 13 years old, because we got into everything from, you know, starting off with, you know, baby books all the way through Lord of the rings, like we read everything together. It was the same thing, sharing the message and sharing the experience. So that’s what. That’s what really lights me up. Well, that’s what I am doing on the inside when I get into flow. And then the last question, well, we’ve heard this question is zillion times why? What’s your why. Right. And when I’m thinking about why, I’m thinking of the highest values that are the things beyond us, the things that that pull, pull humanity forward. Right. There’s they’re so far beyond us. So we’re thinking about concepts like peace and love and well-being, and maybe it’s equality or self-actualization or expansion.
Diane Allen 00:26:51 Right. any of these. So what I’m thinking, okay, what I’m doing on the inside is sharing. Why is that so meaningful? Well, unity, that’s what touches me to the core. Because when I’m sharing, I’m creating a connection with people. And that connection is unifying. And all of the concerts I’ve ever played, oh my gosh, you should have seen me, Kim at the audience sing alongs. Yeah, I would literally have tears streaming down my face because you’ve had the orchestra on stage, the choir packed behind us, you’ve got the audience with the lights full on. Everybody’s doing one activity together and I am just bawling. It is so moving for me. Unity. That is something so far beyond me that just touches me to the core. So now I know what I do on the inside is sharing and unity is why it’s so important to me. And that’s how I get myself back on track. Because when you can define how you uniquely get into flow, then you can own it.
Diane Allen 00:27:59 You can replicate it. You know, there’s there’s a quote in my book, if you can dream it, you can be it. But if you can experience it. You can repeat it. So, Kim, you told me that where you get into the flow state the most, we’re going to do the three questions for you. Now, where where’s the first question? Where is in your office? Right.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:28:19 Yeah, absolutely.
Diane Allen 00:28:21 Okay. We already caught that. What you’re doing on the outside, just on the.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:28:26 Outside is one of two things. Am I the solving problems or doing things like this? I love talking to people and hearing their stories. so that for me, I never worry. I never I hate having my photo taken and I come on video 3 or 4 times a week because actually I enjoy what I’m doing. I’m more interested in what the person’s going to tell me than any of the other concerns, because it’s how we learn. So. So what am I doing on the inside is.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:28:52 But for me, I think storytelling is the universal connector. I think, relevant of age, race, gender, culture. We teach and learn through stories, and the best storytellers have the most stories and you can only get the most stories if you learn more stories. If you only if so.
Diane Allen 00:29:11 Where you are is in your office. What you’re doing is let’s just pick the podcast environment. It could also be other environments as well that that this happens. And what you’re doing is it sounds like you’re looking for the story. Yeah. And then conveying it.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:29:26 Absolutely. So so for me, I guess the what I’m doing on the inside is being curious. so I, I believe that, and me and my little girl, we’ve got a little life mission statement we created last year, which was to live a life of passionate curiosity and pass our thoughts, words and deeds. So is it kind? Is it honest, and does it add value? Because for me, I want to be curious.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:29:51 I want to learn. I want to believe that every day I’m going to I’m going to learn something new. I can I can evolve, and that will make me a better mother, and it will make me a better friend and a better human being. but it will also help me Help! I guess you I’ve not thought of the word unity I was looking at.
Diane Allen 00:30:09 Okay, you’re you’re looking at your Y right now. Yeah. So let’s just let’s just abbreviate where she is. Is in the office. What she’s doing. Let’s, it could be podcasts or other work, but what she’s doing is being curious. Yeah. Okay. And there was also a storytelling component in there as well finding and and and I think that’s part of the curiosity. Right. That’s how you find the stories and convey them. And then why is it so meaningful? What’s the first thing that comes to mind.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:30:42 connection.
Diane Allen 00:30:43 Connection. Why is connection so meaningful?
Kim-Adele Randall 00:30:47 Because I think when we can when we connect, we take away misunderstanding, miscommunication, misinformation.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:30:55 We find the commonalities. And that allows us to find community. We think with that before, but when you said the word unity, I’ll be honest, I really hit home and I was like, why have I never thought of that word? because actually, that is it. To find that space where there is togetherness. and it’s.
Diane Allen 00:31:19 Whatever word makes means the pulls the most to you, you know, community and togetherness. I, I kind of feel like there’s a tinge of peace in there. Yeah.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:31:30 Yeah, I guess it’s peace. It’s harmony. It’s that, commonality. We we’re so busy talking about where the differences are, but if we focus on where the commonalities are, that’s the position we can grow from. And for me, that, you know, I’m a mom, and you want your little one to come into an amazing world. And therefore, I think about everything you do every day and go, am I doing anything that makes the world better, that adds value? If I’m going to.
Diane Allen 00:31:59 Commonality, That’s your your what is commonality? Your favorite word of those.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:32:05 Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Diane Allen 00:32:08 So so just so the listeners know, I, I’m walking Kim through her flow strategy. I gave you mine. and I have a worksheet for you, so don’t worry. You. I’ll. This is all written out for you. we’ll share that with you later. But what I want to do is review the three questions again, just so you hear it again. So the first question is where? so you’re for Kim. She’s in office. What she’s doing is, could she she could be podcasting or doing some of her other work, but what she’s doing on the inside is being curious. And then there’s like a side subside of storytelling in there. And why it’s so meaningful for her is finding commonality, because that is like what touches her to the core. And so what you do on the inside is your most compelling internal self motivator, and knowing what you do on the inside means you can now shift into your flow state on purpose.
Diane Allen 00:33:08 And why it’s so meaningful is your most compelling external self motivator, and knowing why it’s so meaningful means you can shift into your flow state with purpose. And that’s what your flow strategy is. Those two pieces, what you do on the inside and why is so meaningful. And this is when you define this for yourself. This is your unique way of connecting what you love to what you do, so that you are always deeply engaged and able to get into all of those amazing benefits. And flow is the gateway to being in a world of doing.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:33:48 Oh, that’s amazing. I see parts of my life flashing before my eyes. I’m going, that makes total sense. You know, I always thought, well, curiosity is why I’m such a problem solver. But, you know, I’ve been so many times my career where I had no more problems to solve. So actually, that was me. Not in flow. That was me working hard. And and I realized probably about ten years ago, I can’t I have to do businesses that are in transformation because they need curiosity.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:34:15 They need to know what the problem is and where do we get to the minute you solved the problems and they need running? Oh I’m hopeless. I come right out of there now.
Diane Allen 00:34:24 Just just to be inclusive here. Yeah. Right now, every time I speak, I ask the audience to raise your hand. Okay? Raise your hand if you get into flow state. Working on an Excel spreadsheet. There are so many people that that’s where it happens. And so where you are is wherever you are, right? Let’s say you’re sitting in front of your computer. That’s where you are. What you’re doing on the outside is working on an Excel spreadsheet. What are you doing on the inside? Well, it could be problem solving. It could be strategizing. It could be visualizing, right? It could be, Oh, I heard one woman. She called it. what was it? It was, collaboration for her. She used her Excel spreadsheet for collaboration. And then why is it so meaningful? Let’s say, let’s say visioning is what you’re doing when you’re using, on an Excel spreadsheet.
Diane Allen 00:35:17 That’s when you lose all sense of time. You get those ideas popping, right. Why is that so meaningful? Right. you know, maybe you’re bringing something into the world. Maybe it’s, you know, because you’re visioning. You’re being a visionary. It’s it’s it’s unique. It’s everybody. This is why I like to say that when you could define your unique way of getting into flow and you know what your flow strategy is, you really know what makes you tick. Yeah. And that’s how, like when you have an interruption, that’s how you can get back on stride much quicker.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:35:48 Yeah, I love that. And everybody’s is uniquely theirs. And I think that’s the that’s the beauty of it, isn’t it? We. I see these people all the time. They look at their goals and they look at the people next them. I was like, no, your goals, not their goals. Your goal doesn’t have to look like that goal. It’s your goal. It’s your life. It’s like you may find this the most exciting, most fun thing in the world.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:36:08 They don’t have to. Neither do you have to find what they think is the most fun and exciting thing in the world. Fun and exciting. It’s like, because I think that’s one of our, one of and one of our challenges, isn’t it? Sometimes is we’re too busy looking externally. Is is this the right goal? Is this the right thing that I’m striving for? Is this the right part? Instead of going, what I love about the simplicity, but the power of what? What are you doing with those three questions is actually you’re connecting the outside with the inside and making sure that both are being honest with each other.
Diane Allen 00:36:42 And we all know it. In the end, it always is an inside job. Right. And so I think, knowing your listeners that we should really hit on one more point, which is I’m going to hold back up the picture of of the orchestra that I played in, because I’m in a leadership role, but I’m playing in an orchestra, which means I am leading without speaking.
Diane Allen 00:37:10 Right. How do you do that? What is that? Right? What is the energy of influence? So what I learned is that the deeper I get into flow, the deeper everyone around me gets into their flow state. Okay. And so the thing is, is that you have to lead yourself first to get into flow and other in order to enroll others around you. You know, how many of you have a friend who I don’t know, maybe every Friday night they, it’s pizza night and they make their own pizza and they’re totally enthusiastic about it. You might not be so enthusiastic about it, but they invite you over. And because they’re so enthusiastic, like you find yourself getting enthusiastic, right? That’s basically it. So later on, I’ve been doing that for years. I actually discovered the science behind it. So the Heart Math Institute is an organization that has been studying the human heart for decades, and they haven’t stopped. I don’t think they ever will stop just, you know, looking at all the capacities of the human heart.
Diane Allen 00:38:22 And so what they discovered is, is that the electromagnetic field of the human heart reaches out three feet all around you. So when you’re in your flow state from a purpose based, you know, place of mind, when you are in purpose, you are in the 40,000 neurons that you feel in your heart. You. That’s where you feel love. That’s where you feel, you know, purpose is in those neurons in your heart, and that is what sends out the energy three feet around you. So that means everybody in that sphere, my three foot sphere right around me, is going to pick up on that. Now they’re exuding their energy three feet around them because now they’re in flow. And as, somebody who played an orchestra for decades, the orchestra is consistently in group flow. We call it team synergy in corporate world. Right. But it is group flow. And that’s how you trigger it. You lead yourself to get into flow in order to lead others.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:39:26 I love that, I love that, that that it’s it’s so powerful because I can think of, you know, there’s moments in, in running teams in that where you’ve generated that.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:39:38 You. I used to think it was the passing on of belief. So, you know, one of the things I think is the greatest gift a leader can do is to share your belief with others that in them, and therefore they can hold on to that. And you know, when I’ve done that before, I’ve had amazing results from like disaster to like triumph, when it was something that everybody needed to do and you couldn’t possibly hold everybody’s hand and talk to them. But just setting the energy and actually now thinking about it and understanding the science that you’ve just shared, it was like it wasn’t just sharing that belief, it was raising the energy and creating a, a connectivity, and a commonality of goal, of purpose that allowed you then to, to kind of harness it all together. It honestly, I could chat to you all day to feel this. And I know we’ve, we’ve like scratch, scratch, scratch the surface. there’s so much more I would I would love to ask you, but I’m conscious of time what I, I want to get to as well.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:40:36 Like sharing about your amazing book and making sure that people know in the notes below, there’ll be the the free gift of getting those tools to to unlock. But before I derail is on that. Is there anything else that you could share with us that really brings to life, the impact that flow has?
Diane Allen 00:40:58 Yes. if you go back. I have this very vivid memory. I’m 15 years old in my room blasting the music. No, not rock n roll, because I’m a violinist. Right. So I’m listening to a violin concerto. And in my imagination, it was as if I’m the soloist, standing center stage, pouring the core of my soul into, like, every note I played. and and I remember that vividly. Okay. But why would I remember that? Right? Why? Because, like, in reality, I found myself playing in a lot of orchestras, right? Not as the soloist in front of it. So, you know, and I would get into flow for hours in, in the world of orchestral playing.
Diane Allen 00:41:49 But, you know, life happens and challenges come your way. and I had two enormous interruptions in my life. my mom had Alzheimer’s, and my son was at the height of his teenage rebellion. he was also very depressed. It was a really scary time. And I found myself sitting on stage playing a Beethoven symphony without any emotion. I felt like a piece of cardboard. It’s like I was completely numb. And I know a lot of people experience that at times in their lives. So, I asked the orchestra if I could take a year’s leave because it was that bad I couldn’t serve. and a year later, and I didn’t even play the violin that year. Like I just put it down. I was it was very confusing time. I didn’t know what was going on. and a year later, I came back and I said, I’m done. And I really thought that I was done with the violin. So, Fast forward. I sold my gorgeous antique violin. The whole thing, like, I literally was dun dun dun.
Diane Allen 00:42:53 so anyways, a few years later, I’m sitting in a, But I should say, I kept myself busy with the public speaking. And everybody would say, Diane, like, how can you just speak? Like, why can’t you combine the violin, right, with the speaking like, hello? And I was like, no, these two worlds were never collide, right? So, I was like, in my own way, big time, right? So, I’m in the, I was at a film festival watching a documentary about a group of counterculture artists who were looking at into creating their own museum. And let me tell you, they were questioning everything. Like, who’s to say this is art? Who’s to say this is not art? Who’s to say this? Art’s valuable, This art, it’s not valuable. Who’s to say we have to have leaders? Why can’t we all be equals? Who’s to say that this is how you run an organization? I mean, they were questioning everything, right? Curiosity.
Diane Allen 00:43:50 Right? Yeah. So, and for some reason, I found this incredibly riveting. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was thinking, thinking, thinking. And the next morning, I could feel the power of the violin coming back into my life. And so I played little Bach. I borrowed a violin from my friend Janet. I played a little Bach, and it was like, no, I played a pop tune. And I was like, yeah. And like Kim, it took me ten minutes to figure out I wasn’t done with the violin. I was just done with classical music. Yeah, but it just happened at a time when so many other things were happening. It was like a mishmash of, what do they call it? There’s a a poly crisis is the name for it. These call that a poly crisis. So it’s hard to discern what’s going on here. So a week later, I’m playing electric violin. Borrowed one of those six weeks later. Okay. Are you ready for this? I’m combining the violin playing with the speaking.
Diane Allen 00:44:45 Playing my own music. Right. Finally, I’m bringing all of my talents together. Right? Yeah, but here’s the deal. It feels just like. It felt like when I was 15 years old, in my room, blasting the music. It is the exact same feeling. And I was on a podcast interview, with the gentleman who he was winding up. It was towards the end of the podcast and he says, you know, Diane, you know, sitting where I sit, like, okay, you’ve told me you you taught Mei Lin for 28 years, you’ve played thousands of orchestra concerts, right? You were the concertmaster. you know, you put all that down and and, you know, you had this dream about being the soloist when you were 15 years old, but now you do give keynotes and you do perform, and that means you’re the only one on stage and you’re the only one performing. And from where I sit, it certainly looks like you’ve become the soloist. Yeah, I never saw it.
Diane Allen 00:45:51 And that was the day that I realized from Tyler that when we have these vivid flow state memories, that they show us what we are truly capable of. Yeah. And so many times when we have these ideas and insights come in from out of the blue, we shut them down. We brush them under the rug, we discredit them. That’s unrealistic. Oh, that would be guilt. I’d feel guilty doing that. But it was. It was planted in me when I was 15 years old.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:46:24 I love that.
Diane Allen 00:46:25 So, you know, I it’s my belief that to know how you uniquely get into flow is to not only know your unique strengths, but to open yourself up, to go beyond what you ever thought you were capable of. Because everything with the violin career was very linear. Go to school, take auditions, get a job. But the whole speaking thing, I call it the giant suck forward. Like I had no vision. It was pulling me forward. I never saw myself combining the violin with the speaking in the way and playing electric and writing on my own music and all that.
Diane Allen 00:47:02 Never saw it. So, that’s the that’s what I would say the answer to your question is, it’s like.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:47:11 So what a great answer. And I think what strikes me in all of that is very often we, we dismiss things because we’re viewing them from a particular perspective. so you’d viewed it from to be that I’d be the solo violinist on a stage just doing the solo violinist, and it would be this. But when somebody says, hold on, that’s what you’re doing, you’re on the stage. You’re the only person. Everyone’s looking at you, you’re performing, you’re speaking, you’re doing all of those that you kind of say, oh, actually, I can achieve the same thing. I just might need to alter my perspective of how that had to look for it to be the same, almost because it felt the same. it’s just it brings tingles of tingles that you just go that that moment of like reconnection, of going right.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:01 And and the.
Diane Allen 00:48:02 Wisdom I had at that young age that I didn’t know was in me the entire time.
Diane Allen 00:48:09 Right.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:11 Yeah.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:12 Because you did you well, as we as we all do. So this is not to do with society. I think we go, oh, that might be unrealistic. Maybe that’s not me, maybe that’s too big. Maybe that’s. And and back to where we started the conversation. That inner critic, which.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:29 Is.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:30 Now running.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:31 The show.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:48:32 It’s holding us back. It’s keeping us safe. But it’s actually not allowing us to reach our self-actualization until you do find it. And I mean the insight you shared with the stage just outstanding. But you do find that way to be able to get yourself back into that flow so that actually, you know, I’ve always I’ve always said, you know, we are the author of our own life, and sometimes it’s time to take back the pen. And not by often, not by that. I don’t necessarily mean from outside, I mean from which part of your inside you’re allowing to write the story on your behalf.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:49:06 All right.
Diane Allen 00:49:07 I guess I’m thinking of this for the first time. Back to our interruptions are the number one killer of flow. So like ask yourself, is this an interruption? Is this inner thought an interruption?
Kim-Adele Randall 00:49:17 Yeah. Yeah.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:49:19 It is. I think sometimes being intentional. But, you know, I find with myself and as we’ve talked about, curiosity is one of mine. I’ve tried to be really intentionally curious with myself and with others. Why am I so convinced I’m right? Why am I so convinced you’re wrong? Whose voice is actually talking right now? And is it trying to help me? Or is it trying to keep me safe? Is it is it my adult self or my child’s self? And, and I find sometimes just asking those questions allows me to start to see it from a slightly different perspective to then to then pull it through. But, for me, I mean, you’ve shared so very many things, and I love that. Acknowledge and invite them in and make them your friend, not your critic.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:50:01 I thought was was priceless. because we spend so long fighting them that they’re still winning, whereas you so eloquently brought them in, welcomed them. So thank you very much. And actually, your time will be later on. we’ll we’ll talk about it then. I loved, and I know the tools that you’ve shared, which are never going to be in the notes below. But before we go, I’d love for you to just share with the audience about your book, please?
Diane Allen 00:50:28 Yes. So, Flow. Unlock your genius. Love what you do. it’s, released on September 17th, 2024. Super excited. and it will have everything we talked about today, plus a lot more. So it will also include, another way to get into flow. so there will be two main content blocks of, of distinct ways that you can create more flow in your life. Very specific tools. and also, for those of you who are in leadership roles to make sure that not only you use these for yourself, but these are all designed as coaching prompts for you to be able to help other people, to figure out how they uniquely and get into flow, so that you can unlock their genius and help them to really connect what they love to what they do.
Diane Allen 00:51:23 So there’s all kinds of other things in there about leadership as well as designing a culture of flow.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:51:30 I love that I’m definitely going to get a copy when it comes out. you’ve already, blown my mind. I’ve got so many questions to go and ask. What we’ll also share in the notes below is obviously the resources that I’m so kindly offered. And there’s also links for you to be able to experience. Diana, Diana and also her Ted and Ted talk and ways to connect as well. So it’s jam packed in the notes below, right?
Diane Allen 00:51:59 I want to make sure everybody knows, there’s one link, in the show notes that says tiny url.com/flow state gift. And what this is, it’s just a free thing from me that has an outline of everything that we talked about today, plus other steps. It has that flow strategy worksheet that I was talking about, plus a couple videos, that’s just, you know, a gift from me. So I just want to make sure that you know about that as well.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:52:28 Perfect. And we have made sure in the notes below that they’re clearly headlined so Free gift to you. And here’s the book. Here’s how you can connect and understand the, you know, the videos and the Ted, Ted and Ted talk. So we’re trying to clearly signpost it to make it super easy because there is so much value that you have shared with us today, and you are continuing to share with us. So, Diane, it’s been an absolute delight. Thank you so, so very much. I’m really looking forward to next time, but I appreciate how much you’ve shared with us today. Thank you.
Diane Allen 00:53:02 Thank you. It’s been my pleasure.
Kim-Adele Randall 00:53:05 Thank you. And to everybody listening and watching, I hope you found it as fascinating, insightful and inspiring as I have. And until next time, take care. Bye bye.