Key Concepts In This Post
Flow: a mental state of deep focus and immersion where your skills match the challenge at hand. Time feels altered, distractions fade, and effort becomes almost effortless. In flow, performance, creativity, and learning naturally accelerate—making it a powerful tool for personal growth.
Antifragile living: Instead of just bouncing back from challenges, you bounce forward—growing stronger through stress, uncertainty, and change. It’s a mindset and lifestyle where disruption isn’t feared but embraced as fuel for growth, adaptability, and long-term success.
The Rise Forward Method: a six-step cycle for personal growth through change and uncertainty. It guides you from assessing your current reality, to adapting, upgrading, and ultimately rising forward stronger. This framework helps you turn disruption into momentum and align challenges with long-term growth.
My Antifragile Journey So Far on Bold New Quests
In my first few posts, I introduced the concept of antifragility—the ability not just to withstand stress and change, but to actually grow stronger because of them. Read my intro to antifragile living→
I’ve also shared parts of my personal story and why I chose this path. Together, I’ve laid down the foundation: a set of antifragile mindsets that help us navigate uncertainty with curiosity instead of fear. (Think of them as your mental toolkit for turning disruption into an advantage.) Explore antifragile mindset shifts here →
Now that we know the destination—building an antifragile life—it’s time to focus on the engine that accelerates the journey and helps make it real: flow.
What Is Flow?
You’ve probably experienced it, even if you didn’t have a name for it. Flow is that state when you’re so immersed in what you’re doing that everything else fades away. Time bends. Focus sharpens. The task feels both challenging and enjoyable.
It might look like:
- A lawyer preparing for a big case who loses herself in research and suddenly realizes hours have flown by.
- A corporate leader hitting her stride during a high-stakes presentation, where her preparation and presence click into perfect alignment.
- You on a long run or in a yoga class, fully absorbed in movement, breath, and rhythm.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi first defined flow state as “optimal experience,” and performance expert Steven Kotler has shown it’s one of the most powerful drivers of productivity and creativity.
👉 Learn more about the science of flow →
Why Flow Matters for Antifragility
Flow is more than just “being in the zone.” It’s training for antifragile living—a life that thrives on challenge instead of crumbling under it:
- It reframes challenge as play. Instead of dreading a tough project, you lean into it like a puzzle.
- It transforms uncertainty into energy. A last-minute curveball doesn’t derail you—it pulls you deeper into presence.
- It helps you thrive at the edge. Flow teaches you to operate where growth happens—where your skills meet your stretch zone.
In flow, you’re not bracing against disruption. You’re moving with it. You’re rising forward—not through control, but through presence, adaptability, and skill.
The Rise Forward Method
This brings me back to a tool I created: the Rise Forward Method. It’s a six-step cycle designed to help you grow through change, uncertainty, and disruption. It moves you from assessing where you are, to adapting, to upgrading your systems and habits—ultimately rising forward stronger than before. See the full Rise Forward Method here →
Flow is like rocket fuel for this method. It helps us not just think about change, but experience it in our bodies and minds in real time, accelerating the antifragile journey.
The flow state is accessible to everyone. By learning how to tap into this skill, not only does it make challenging tasks more enjoyable, I believe it can make daily life more effortless.
My Flow Experiments Ahead
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be experimenting with flow—specifically in the areas of movement and learning.
Here’s my hypothesis:
If I intentionally design the conditions for flow—by matching meaningful challenges to my current abilities, reducing the distractions that pull me away, and grounding myself in presence—then I’ll be more likely to experience those immersive, energizing moments where activities feel effortless and absorbing. Along the way, I expect not only to enjoy the process more, but also to perform at a higher level with less strain.
And if that’s true? Then I’ll not only enjoy the process more—I’ll also be sharpening my ability to thrive in stressful moments and live with greater ease.
This is where flow becomes the engine of antifragility.
Stay tuned—I’ll be sharing my experiments, what works, and how you can try them too.
FAQ About Flow & Antifragility
Q: What’s the difference between resilience and antifragility?
Resilience is about bouncing back. Antifragility is about bouncing forward—growing stronger because of challenge.
Q: Can anyone experience flow, or is it just for athletes and creatives?
Anyone can. Flow happens whenever challenge and skill meet. That might be leading a board meeting, learning a new recipe, or training for a half-marathon.
Q: How do I know if I’m in flow?
Signs include losing track of time, deep focus, reduced self-consciousness, and a mix of effortlessness + challenge.
