Day 39: Find Your Sweet Spot

39

of 120

120 Days to Christmas

Find Your Sweet Spot

Not too easy. Not too hard. Just right for you.

Come here, let me tell you something gently, because I think you need to hear it kindly today. You are not meant to feel bored, and you are not meant to feel overwhelmed either. There's a little space in between those two feelings, and that's exactly where you're supposed to be.

Researcher Steven Kotler has spent years studying what makes people feel fully absorbed and genuinely able to grow, a state he calls flow. And what he found was lovely in its simplicity. The sweet spot sits right where a task is slightly harder than what you can already do easily. Not so hard it frightens you, not so easy it bores you. Just a little stretch, that's all.

A little bit of a stretch, every day, is how you grow without ever breaking.

GENTLY NOW

Too easy won't grow you

If something feels like nothing at all, it isn't building you. That's alright to notice, not as a failure, just as information. You're allowed to reach a little further.

GENTLY NOW

Too hard will scare you off

If something feels like too much, be kind to yourself and bring it down a size. There's no medal for overwhelming yourself. Small and steady always wins.

GENTLY NOW

Just right is where you grow

Somewhere between those two feelings is a stretch that's just enough. That's where real focus shows up, and where real progress quietly happens, without you forcing a thing.

So today, be gentle with yourself. Find that little stretch, the one that isn't too much and isn't too little. That's all growing ever really needs.

81 days left.

Love, Vikki

This post references publicly available research on flow states by Steven Kotler and the Flow Research Collective, summarised in my own words. It's general interest content, not personalised advice.