Flow state, that mysterious mental zone where time and the outside world seem to disappear, is one of the keys to peak performance. Frankly, your ability to harness the limits of your intelligence, creativity, education, or talents will be largely determined by your capacity to remain in flow while under stress.
Those who cannot suffer stage fright, writers block flop sweat and numerous other labels for the same phenomenoninability to access the deepest wells of confidence and performance in the actual arena.
The key to unlocking this particular inner vault is to look at the phenomenon of flow itself, separate from any specific usage or application.
We all experience the flow phenomenon. The last moments before we fall asleep or the first after awakening (also known as the hypnogogic state) have this quality. Ever gotten on the freeway, lost yourself in thought, and only snapped out of it when your exit appeared? Flow. Gone running, dancing, or walking and found time dissolving, so that an hour felt like mere minutes? Flow. One exceptionally powerful flow moment would be the last few seconds leading up to orgasm, when it feels like the barriers between you...