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Published: April 8, 2022, 8:48 a.m.

When was the last time you had the freedom to pursue things you were curious about? These activities are key to unlocking our peak performances. Find out more in this illuminating episode with our special guest, Steven Kotler. \xa0

What motivates you?

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It\u2019s a simple question that can be answered in a variety of ways. You can look at extrinsic motivators, which are things in the world that you work hard to get. Examples of this include money, sex, fame, a new house, and car.

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And then you can also have intrinsic motivators. This includes goal-setting, grip, passion, curiosity, purpose, autonomy, and mastery.\xa0

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When we discuss cultivating motivation, we\u2019re discussing how we can align and tune-up that entire stack of skills. Steven Kotler concedes that this isn\u2019t an easy feat\u2014but when you finally get the hang of it, the benefits are extraordinary.

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You may think that this isn\u2019t something you\u2019re capable of doing. Maybe you feel different from the \u201cgreats\u201d of this world. But in this episode, Steven Kotler and Alexander McCaig disprove that mindset. The reality is you are just as capable of peak performance as any other athlete.

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It\u2019s the first basic point of Steven Kotler\u2019s book: all human beings are foundationally hardwired for peak performance. Our biggest challenge is learning how to work with our natural biology so that we seamlessly enter a flow sequence that empowers us to become our best selves.

What Happens if I Just Push Through?

What\u2019s our instinctive response to getting something done? We try using raw grit to push ourselves through the task. And grit is trainable, but you have to work at it by pushing yourself slightly harder than you want to every single day. Grit without flow is a recipe for burnout.

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The way our system is wired, we need to get some flow from an activity before we\u2019re comfortable enough with learning how to get gritty.

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Extrinsic motivators can only do so much in propelling us forward. Once we get what we want, we need to start asking ourselves: what else can we look forward to?\xa0

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This is where intrinsic motivators come in. And Steven Kotler believes that it\u2019s best to start with curiosity. Look for different curiosities that introduce more passion into your life. Learn things that catch your eye: read some books, watch a movie, listen to a lecture, take a quick class\u2026there are so many ways to feed your curiosity.

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Once you start cultivating them, you can really start looking for where they overlap and intersect. And then you can start building something that\u2019s uniquely your own from these intersections\u2014something that fuels your passion because it gives you all the dopamine you need to focus.

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It\u2019s important to think of achieving peak performance as a marathon, not a sprint. This won\u2019t happen overnight.\xa0 It\u2019s all about getting a little today and a little tomorrow, until everything compounds into the peak mindset we\u2019re looking for.

The Role of Autonomy in Motivation

What does our personal autonomy have to do with cultivating motivation? This was a salient part of the discussion, as TARTLE is an advocate for human rights.

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If you have to do something that is not of your own choosing, Steven Kotler believes that the best way forward is to find something in the task that affords an opportunity for mastery.

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At this point, Alexander McCaig shares his personal experience with rowing. Sure, it helped him get through college and he was pretty good at it. But he did not have any motivation for the sport.\xa0

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\u201cMy life became a function of how low can you get a specific number over a set distance. That was the mastery, right? How do I get there? How do I get there the most efficiently?\u201d Alexander McCaig shared, \u201cEverything else, it paid for me to go to university at the time and all that other good stuff. But it wasn't truly something I had any passion towards. I wasn't actually intrinsically motivated to do this thing.\u201d

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When Alexander McCaig chose to leave rowing, he regained his sense of autonomy. And he shares that the benefits were twofold: first, there was a massive difference in his internal happiness. Second, he freed up more energy to focus on the things he really wanted to do.

Steven Kotler\u2019s Encounter With the Flow State

Steven Kotler shared his experience in being diagnosed with Lyme disease, a chronic autoimmune condition that can be fatal when it reaches the brain. He was incredibly sick, and described it as having \u201cthe worst flu you\u2019ve ever had crossed with paranoid schizophrenia.\u201d

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Neurologically, Steven Kotler struggled. He lost both short-term and long-term memory, suffered from hallucinations, couldn\u2019t see straight, and experienced pain everywhere. This was his life for three years.

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In the middle of this dark period, one of his friends demanded that he try surfing. Initially Steven Kotler laughed at this suggestion\u2014after all, he couldn\u2019t even walk across a room. But she insisted, and eventually he gave in. They took a trip to the beach, carried him to the shore, and handed him a board the size of the Cadillac.

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And then they walked him to the lineup and he sat on his board.

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\u201cI took all the energy I had left in the world, I think and decided I was going to try to catch that wave. And it was maybe, as I said, like a foot and a half on,\u201d Steven Kotler explained, \u201cBut I paddled and puffed my feet and popped up into a dimension that I didn't even know existed.\u201d

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Later in the episode, he described his feeling while surfing as a \u201cvery powerful altered state experience.\u201d And he found out that this altered consciousness is referred to as a flow state.\xa0

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This flow state is incredibly similar to the state of mind that athletes used to become superhuman.

So What Really is the Flow State All About?

How did Steven Kotler interpret his experience of the flow state, in the context of his Lyme disease? To this, he refers to a book called The Breakout Principle by Herb Benson.\xa0

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First, an autoimmune condition is caused by a nervous system going haywire. According to Herb Benson, moving into a flow state jumpstart a release of nitric oxide. This pushes stress hormones out of our system and lets in a variety of feel-good neurochemicals, such as dopamine and serotonin.

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When Steven Kotler entered the flow state, he effectively reset his nervous system to zero. In addition, these neurochemicals are huge immune system boosters.

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We most commonly see the flow state with athletes. But it can also take on a mystical form as well. Abraham Maslow, in his study of high achievers, found that their one commonality was a capacity to alter consciousness and place themselves into flow states.\xa0

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Suddenly, a common thread is established between high achievers, athletes, and Steven Kotler\u2019s experience on the waves. Everything boils down to shifting into the flow state.

Closing Thoughts

Our quality of life can be improved significantly if we understand how our biology works, and what we can do to build towards our flow state. Steven Kotler\u2019s life experiences and insights highlight the urgency for systems and foundations that give us autonomy, the freedom to pursue our curiosities and our passions.

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As it turns out, there is nothing that separates us from high achievers, athletes, and mystics. We\u2019ve got everything we need to be built into our human biology. What we need to work on is our capacity to induce our peak performance.

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Let\u2019s build a world where we can make that happen for everyone.

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What\u2019s your flow state worth?