Dear reader,
You don’t mind if I take a brief foray into woo-woo territory do you?
Bear with me here…
Because although you might think I’ve been drinking a little too much of the good stuff, this is a topic that really matters for the right person.
The conclusion of this email COULD be that you quit your business.
Or equally, it could be that you realise you’ve found your calling.
Hard to say.
But I’m going to give it my best shot and we’ll see where we end up. Fair?
The topic: flow
(Not “flow” in the Csikszentmihalyi sense. Something altogether different.)
See, I have many friends who have immense “flow” in their business.
My friend M- for example.
She’s built a business in the mental health space, and has amassed a huge social media following.
Everything she puts out into the world just flies.
Word of mouth abounds, huge clients begging to work with her.
This is someone who’s found flow.
Where the passion, personality and energy of the entrepreneur meshes with the marketplace in a way that fits like a glove.
Like the zeitgeisty actor who you suddenly see everywhere and is cast in everything,
Everything feels easy and just “works”.
Then there’s my friend P-.
He runs a business that he started because it sounded like a good idea.
But it’s hard work.
It hasn’t really grown in years.
But not for lack of work…
P- hires the people, reads the books, consults the experts.
Has all the strategic explanations for why the business is stuck and how it can scale.
But…
Everything feels hard.
There’s no traction.
No energy.
No momentum.
When something works, it only “kinda” works. (It’s never a slam dunk.)
See, there’s something missing:
Flow.
Flow is what happens when the business you’re building fits you like a glove.
Where your personality, skill and natural charisma mesh with the world in an exciting way.
Like a nuclear f reaction.
The more you work, the more good things happen.
People start talking about you.
One opportunity leads to another.
This is what happens when you’ve found your groove in the world.
Where 1+1 routinely equals 781.
People with Flow in their business just go from strength to strength, and it seems effortless.
I once met a business guru in New York who spoke (with some jealousy) about another guru:
“It’s like… everything he touches seems to turn to gold.”
There’s nothing special about them.
They’ve just found flow.
But on the flip side…
I know others who work just as hard.
Often harder.
But the results just aren’t there.
Where 1+1 only ever equals 2. (No more)
Everything feels hard.
There’s no natural momentum.
There’s no…
What’s that word again?
Flow.
It’s hard to know what to do with this insight.
It’s hardly actionable.
You can’t “manufacture” flow through more activity.
You can’t motivate yourself into flow.
But you can notice where flow doesn’t exist, and potentially do something about it.
Because…
If you lack flow in your business, if 1+1=2, there may be a world where you put in the exact same amount of effort…
But the results are quite simply on another planet.
And when you have that, it’s pretty magical.
And you’ll wonder why you were trying so hard… for so long… fighting an uphill battle…
When there was another path out there that just ‘clicks’.
Something to chew on.
Namaste,
Olly
