Flow Radio

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

Welcome to a new episode of the Flow Research Collective Radio with two seriously creative thinkers! 

Today, we have with us: Jason Silva and Will Kleidon.

Will Kleidon is an award-winning pioneer and futurist in the hemp and cannabis industry. Will is the founder of Ojai Energetics, a triple bottom line-driven cannabis technology company. 

Full disclosure: We are conducting research with Ojai and Steven serves on their advisory council. It is safe to say: We are fans.

Jason Silva is an Emmy-nominated and world renown TV personality, storyteller, filmmaker, and sought-after keynote speaker and futurist. 

He was the host of National Geographic documentaries: Brain Games and Origins.

You will know his talks and Shots of Awe videos on Youtube that made him widely popular in our community.

He is a long time friend of ours, here at the Flow Research Collective. 

We talk about trends about Cannabis, CBD, research. We also discuss creativity, flow, and the endocannabinoid system. 

It’s kind of a wild and choppy conversation in some respects—we went all over the place but it was fun. 

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉  Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉  getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

This episode is part 2 of a discussion between Collective cofounder Conor Murphy, Rian Doris, and podcast host Andrew Skotzko.

The episode was originally published on the ENLIVEN podcast and that is why it is hosted by Andrew, not Rian or Steven.

In the previous episode, we have discussed the conceptual foundation for training flow states. Now, we are getting really actionable.

This episode is really a deep dive into the tools and practices that we teach.

We kick off the episode by talking about goals.

Why clear goals as a flow trigger are so crucial

How the emphasis on distraction elimination and focus for flow can be reconciled with an emphasis on group flow and collaboration

The difference between the flow cycle and the flow triggers

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉 Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉 getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

We are super excited about this week’s episode.

This episode is a discussion between our Chief Science Office here at Flow Research Collective, Conor Murphy, Rian Doris and Andrew Skotzko.

This one is a table turn—Andrew is actually interviewing myself and Conor for his podcast ENLIVEN—which you should check out by the way. 

Andrew is, as you’ll find out, an incredible interviewer. Due to his charm and interviewing, we ended up riffing for three hours straight on all things flow science and peak performance. 

It’s a great opportunity to get to know Rian and Conor a little better.

We talk about all sorts of things:

The programmable nature of the human condition and what knobs and levers you wanna use to program yourself for optimal functioning

Whether flow hacking is a probabilistic or mechanistic process

The role data plays in peak performance and more!

So it’s a good one. In case you are wondering… this episode is very much related to our flow training.

 

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Rian Doris is a Co-Founder of the Flow Research Collective.

Rian lives at the intersection of entrepreneurship and academia—from starting his first business at age 18 to studying Philosophy in Trinity College Dublin and an MSc in Applied Neuroscience at King's College, London.

On the academic side, Rian has led research initiatives with Imperial College London, University of Southern California, the University of Zurich and Deloitte.

On the entrepreneurial side, Rian has worked intimately with numerous world-leading experts in peak performance such as Keith Ferrazzi, Dr. Dan Siegel, and Steven Kotler, his partner at Flow Research Collective.

Rian has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, TedX and Big Think.

 

Conor Murphy is a Co-Founder of the Flow Research Collective lives at the intersection of data science and optimal psychology, using data and technology to understand and reinforce the best parts of human experience.

He transitioned to the tech sector after spending four years leveraging data for more impactful humanitarian interventions in developing countries.

Since then, he has held a variety of positions including a faculty role for University of New Haven and Galvanize's Master of Science in Data Science program, principal data scientist and consultant for a number of startups and a data scientist and educator for Artificial Intelligence at Databricks. 

Outside of data, Conor is an avid skydiver, getting into the sport after reading Kotler's The Rise of Superman.

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉  Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉  getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

Today, we have a special episode with Dr. Glenn Fox who is a dear friend and advisor of ours. 

Dr. Glenn Fox is the Head of Program Design, Strategy, and Outreach at the USC Performance Science Institute.

Dr. Fox is at the forefront of research on gratitude and human performance.  He teaches “The Science of Peak Performance”, leads trainings with leaders and groups, and conducts research on mindset and physiology.

We talk about labeling emotions, the intuition of your brain, peak performance, judgment and of course, flow states.

We start with a personal story about Glenn Fox, his upbringing and how he started his first community as fifth grader: The tomato republic.  He talks about counterculture, power, Ken Kesey and being weird.

If you are interested in the intersection of intuition, decision making, learning and neuroscience - this episode is for you!

 

ABOUT THE EPISODE

In this episode, you will learn about:

Glenn Fox first community (5:15)

The importance of knowing where things take place (16:25) 

Dr. Damasio’s idea of consciousness  (20:59)

The relationship between emotion & decision making  (22:02)

The Iowa gambling task (22:36)

Intuition & long stretches of time (29:41)

The amygdala while doing the Iowa gambling task (31:40)

Emotion regulation for flow states (33:34)

Flow (35:07)

Intuition & gut instinct (37:00)

Labeling emotions (40:30)

What does peak performers know that other people don’t? (43:53)

How to tune into your intuition? (46:09)

Consumerism vs. Culture (54:13)

Gratitude (55:49)

Peak performance (1:03:09)

Mindset & Locus of control (1:06:21)

Challenge skill balance (1:12:10)

The heart command lift approach (1:15:03)

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dr. Glenn Fox is the Head of Program Design, Strategy, and Outreach at the USC Performance Science Institute.  

A neuroscientist by training, he began at USC working as a research assistant in the Brain and Creativity Institute, after which he went on to earn his PhD in the Neuroscience Graduate Program and complete a post-doctoral fellowship with Professors Hanna and Antonio Damasio. 

Glenn is at the forefront of research on gratitude and human performance.  Glenn teaches “The Science of Peak Performance” during the Spring Semester, leads trainings with leaders and groups, and conducts research on mindset and physiology.

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉  Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉  getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a world-renowned neuroscientist and advisor of the Flow Research Collective. 

In the first few minutes of the episode, Steven explains why he believes Dr. Gazzaley is at the forefront of understanding flow triggers as well as flow blockers.

His book ‘The Distracted Mind’ has shown why our brains aren't built for media multitasking, and how we can learn to live with technology in a more balanced way.

Lets quickly recap some flow 101 knowledge for context before we dive in.

Flow states have triggers or pre-conditions that lead to more flow. 

Essentially, flow can only arise when all of our attention is focused in the present moment, so that’s what these triggers do—they drive attention into the here and now.

On the podcast, we talk about distraction, notifications, technology - all the things that grab our attention and take us away from the present moment and flow.

We talk about the biggest challenges with having "ancient brains in a high-tech world".

You will also love to learn about gamification and why "gamification" is one of the most powerful high-performance strategies. 

In short: Dr. Gazzaley shares the most cutting-edge, science-backed techniques to fight distraction and recover from brain melt!

 

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at University of California, Berkeley. He is now the David Dolby Distinguished Professor in Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and the Founder / Executive Director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research.

He designs and develops novel brain assessment and optimization tools to impact education, wellness, and medicine practices. 

This novel approach involves the development of custom-designed, closed-loop video games integrated with the latest advancements in software (brain computer interfaces, GPU computing, cloud-based analytics) and hardware (virtual/augmented reality, motion capture, mobile physiological recording devices, transcranial electrical brain stimulation). 

These technologies are then advanced to rigorous research studies that evaluate their impact on multiple aspects of brain function and physiology. This utilizes a powerful combination of neurophysiological tools, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉 Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉 getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for y

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Paul Zak. You may have heard Dr. Paul Zak’s name mentioned in the same sentence as the word “trust” before. He is the author of the “Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies”.

He also wrote the “The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity”. In this book, he recounts his unlikely discovery of the neurochemical oxytocin as the key driver of trust, love and morality. 

In fact, Paul Zak’s research on oxytocin and relationships has actually earned him the nickname Dr. Love.

And I can tell you, Dr. Love suits Paul a ton. You're going to see why in this episode. 

He is just such a fun, great guy and Steven and I had an absolute blast kicking it with him when we were recording this episode. 

In today's episode with Paul, we draw on the ideas that underscore the work that he has done with everyone from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 companies to working with tribes in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. 

We talk about everything - from how to dump more oxytocin into your brain, to tools needed to become a high trust leader as well as the difference between faith and trust from a neurobiological perspective. 

We go broad, and we go wide on the topic of trust, and how it relates to flow and peak performance. It’s a super fun one. 

And we really began to hit our stride about halfway through the episode. So make sure that you stay tuned until the end.

 

ABOUT THE EPISODE

In this episode, you will learn about:

What happens to oxytocin in the era of physical and social distancing and increased remote work?  (4:00)

Background and details on oxytocin (8:10)

The relationship between the size of a group, community, company or country and trust (12:30)

The eight foundations for organizational trust (14:10)

Vulnerability is a very effective way to induce oxytocin release (21:10)

How to create candor and transparency in an organization (24:10)

Social bonding and love at work (36:50)

Trust, oxytocin and group flow (45:00)

Social media and oxytocin (49:00)

The dark side of our social nature (54:20)

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Paul is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. 

He has degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University, a Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania, and post-doctoral training in neuroimaging from Harvard. 

He runs an academic lab, consumer neuroscience company, and neuromanagement company. 

He also serves as a senior advisor to Finsbury, a global leader in strategic communications that advises many of the world’s most successful companies.

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉 Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉 getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fi

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Michael Gervais. 

Dr. Gervais is a high-performance psychologist whose client roster includes sports MVPs, internationally acclaimed artists, and Fortune 100 CEOs. 

Mike is also the co-founder of Compete to Create which has built a framework to enhance high-performance cultures by focusing on mindset training for individuals. 

You've likely come across his killer podcast Finding Mastery and you may know him as the Seattle Seahawks infamous mindset coach.

In this episode with Mike, he highlights the mindset needed to harness pain for your benefit so you can break through to the next level.

We discuss what "reaching your potential" actually means, from a scientific standpoint.

Mike also breaks down how to discover your personal philosophy and use that to steer your life in the right direction. It’s a killer episode, and Mike’s eloquence and nuance always blow me away. 

 

In this episode, you will learn about:

Warriors Edge (6:25)

Identifying Neurochemicals in your body (11:57) 

Pre-performance rituals (15:15)

The 3 levels of happiness (24:29)

What is a philosophy (25:57)

Personal philosophy (27:56)

How to set up your personal philosophy (29:45)

Philosophy, mission, purpose & vision (33:03)

Positive thinking (37:17)

Language is a framing function (38:55)

The difference between locus of control and a mindset (40:30)

How to regain optimism (45:40)

The upside of optimism (47:10)

Mental toughness (48:55)

Confidence on your one success (53:04)

The emergent property of mastery (57:36)

Psychological practices (01:01:27)

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉 Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉 getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

Join our flagship cognitive performance training.

👉 Zero to Dangerous helps you accomplish your wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in your personal life.

 

 

This episode is a section from one of Steven’s audiobooks, called ‘Mapping Cloud 9: Neuroscience, Flow and the upper possibility space of human experience’.

In Mapping Cloud 9 Steven goes far and wide. The overarching intention is to bridge science and spirituality to explore how our understanding of peak experiences has evolved over time.

He covers early inquiries into altered and mystical states; the birth of positive psychology and research on high performers; pioneering studies on meditation and near-death experiences; as well as current explorations of psychedelics, flow states, and technological breakthroughs.

Today, we’ve got the whole of chapter 1 of Mapping Cloud 9 as a special treat for you.  

You will learn about Friedrich Nietzsche and William James as the first peak performance philosophers. 

We will also talk about the fact that the history of flow research took a weird turn.

Hopefully, it inspires you to leverage the growing body of flow research to step into new realms of possibility.

In this episode, you will learn about:

Exponential growth in human performance (6:20)

What does it take to do the impossible (12:00)

What is Flow (13:13)

Where did Mapping Cloud 9 come from (17:45)

The actualization of self-actualization(28:28)

RAUSH (41:20)

Flow is ethically neutral (42:19)

Nietzche’s Superman (44:55)

Principles of physiological psychology (47:53)

Phenomenology (48:27)

Sweet spot for attention (50:17)

The science spiritually (51:29)

The first study of near-death experience (56:05)

William James and the timing of now (57:57)

The foundation of the modern science of high performance (1:02:10)

‍

ABOUT THE GUEST

Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning journalist. As the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective, he is one of the world’s leading experts on high performance.

Steven’s work has been translated into over 40 languages and appeared in over 100 publications, including The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired and TIME. 

He also appears frequently on television and radio, and lectures widely on human performance, disruptive technology and radical innovation.

 

OUR FLOW TRAINING

We are currently accepting new participants in our flagship flow training: 👉  Zero to Dangerous.

Our science-backed peak performance training is for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers like you wanting to accomplish their wildest professional goals while reclaiming time, space, and freedom in their personal life.

In Zero to Dangerous,

You’ll work one on one with our Ph.D. level peak performance coaches. They’ll help you implement flow practices and push you to where you want to go—and far beyond

You’ll master the maps and models of peak performance through our online video course.

You will get lifetime access to weekly calls with our community of peak performing business leaders who provide you with accountability, support, and feedback.

After the training, you will be able to access flow states on-demand, so you can spend your entire workday in that hyper-focused zone and say goodbye to the distractions of politics, colleagues, and trivial nonsense.

To apply for Zero to Dangerous, go to 👉  getmoreflow.com/ to book a call with our team who will help you assess if is a good fit for you.

Rooting for you!

About the episode

If you’ve seen the TV show Billions, you’ll know the character Wendy Roades. She’s the mindset coach for the Billionaire hedge fund manager, Bobby Axelroad. If you haven’t seen Billions, well it’s worth at least watching the first episode! 

Anyway, the producers of Billions based the character Wendy Roades on a real-life performance coach to financiers and hedge fund managers. Her name is Denise Shull, and I’m joined by her today. 

Denise is an expert in neuroeconomics, the founder of the ReThink Group and the author of Market Mind Games, which explains the deep psychological influences that can cripple Wall Street traders. 

In this episode, we talk in depth about Denise's style of coaching, the kinds of psychological blockages she helps her clients overcome, and how you can apply similar practices at home to unstick your own psychology and break self-sabotaging patterns. 

In this episode, you will learn about:

The Field of Neuroeconomics (6:00)

Anticipation & Performance (6:54)

Awareness of what you feel (12:00)

Kinds of physiological blockages (18:39) 

How to break self-sabotage patterns (26:30)

Billions & Wendy Rhodes (31:50)

Journalist exercises & book recommendations (41:14)

‍

About the guest

Denise Shull is a performance coach who uses neuroeconomics and modern psychoanalysis in her work with hedge funds and professional athletes.

She is also the founder of The ReThink Group. Shull focuses on the positive contribution of feelings and emotion in high-pressure decisions.

She is the author of Market Mind Games, which explains how Wall Street traders act out Freudian transferences in reaction to market moves.

Shull postulates that human perception contains fractal elements in the same manner as the fractal geometry of nature.

‍

Resources

Book: Market Mind Games by Denise Shull

Web: The ReThink Group

Twitter: Denise Shull

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Glenn Fox and Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, both of whom are dear friends and partners with the Flow Research Collective.

Dr. Fox is one of the world’s leading experts in the neuroscience of gratitude and the Head of Program Design, Strategy, and Outreach at the USC Performance Science Institute.

Dr. Kaufman is a humanistic psychologist He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University and was named by Business Insider, one of “50 groundbreaking scientists who are changing the way we see the world”.

In today’s episode, we talk about the neuroscience of creativity, how gratitude impacts the brain, and how it can boost both your creativity and level of baseline gratitude.