Ep #7: How to Activate Flow and Performance to Market Your Small Business Online (even when the odds are stacked against you)

Mastering the Flow State: Moving from Inertia to Peak Performance

In this episode, we talk about how to overcome micro-moments of resistance and transform into a flow state. 

The differentiation between consistency and flow, highlighting the importance of having a strong reason or vision to achieve flow. 

Personal examples, including experiences with fitness and entrepreneurship, illustrate how emotional states and identity leveling contribute to achieving flow.

Key elements such as novelty, defined goals, and immediate feedback are essential for maintaining flow states. 

The episode also emphasizes the importance of reducing distractions, developing rituals, and adjusting according to one's productivity patterns. 

The speaker encourages listeners to reflect on tasks they are procrastinating on, understanding their bigger vision, and leveraging curiosity and purpose to break inertia. References to thought leaders like Stephen Kotler and James Clear are included to support the concepts discussed.

00:00 Introduction to Overcoming Resistance
00:20 Defining Flow vs. Consistency
00:45 Examples of Inertia and Emotional States
04:36 Understanding Flow Theory
08:03 Achieving Flow in Practice
18:59 Motivation and Mastery
21:06 Conclusion and Call to Action

Hey there, and welcome to the Visibility for Female Founders Podcast. I'm your host, Ika Lucas, and this podcast is for you if you're an impact driven, founder, coach, or consultant who wants to find your own voice to speak, present, and amplify your message Online. 

We explore how to get past the visibility roadblocks and grow your capacity to be seen so you can attract then chase your perfect audience, while staying connected to the most important things by building a business th

Solve your inner narrative with reframes to share your story without oversharing.

head to https://www.contenthalo.com/story/

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Transcript

0:28

how to overcome micro moments of resistance, or what I call periods of inertia into transforming yourself into a flow state, which is essentially what I have done multiple times over the last couple of years without necessarily needing to be visible all of the time. But before I launch into flow theory and how to get into flow I felt like maybe I should first quantify what flow is not, and what flow is versus consistency.'cause I think that people get. Confused between consistency and flow. And they are, related, but they're not necessarily the same. I have several examples to prove that. The saying that I used to hear all of the time, this was when a period of time when I was really wanted to get fit and be at the gym and all the rest was a saying was that, um, it's easier to stay fit than get fit And wow, I really wish I had taken that on a really long time ago and taken that advice a long time ago. But the issue with, uh, what I've noticed is. It noticed with that was that the excuses crept in. I made all of the excuses for why I couldn't go to the gym. I didn't have enough time. I didn't like driving. I couldn't wake up in the morning. Anything and everything that you can think of I had an excuse for. And then. I started thinking more recently after having experienced flow on what were the factors, and this was something that I'd noticed that a lot of my clients have kind of mentioned as well. I really want to be, you know, I just want to flow and I just want it to flow and for it to be easy and to achieve that flow and ease. I feel like there's something that really needs to be talked about, which is firstly our emotional state that affects inertia in the first place. But if I was to compare it with the gym example, the reason why I didn't go to the gym was because I didn't have a strong enough reason to go to the gym. Meaning that I didn't have some of the integral conditions that are necessary for me to be in a flow state with my consistency at the gym because. A really big part of, um, of going to the gym was because I was looking at it as a task rather than something that was actually an integral part of the vision that I was actually optimizing towards or wanting to achieve. So I'm not gonna sort of go down too much into the gym example, but it's really just to kind of place that as one of the, you know, one of the linked examples from, consistency versus. Flow and then follow through. So flow versus follow through and what you know, because you achieve flow through the process of follow through. And you'll only follow through if you are pulled towards the following through which is guided by an overarching vision of some sort, whatever that might be. Uh, whether that's an integral reason why you want to be in flow. Uh, versus like, following through on the process, words flow or towards consistency. So that is one example. And then the second example is, uh, that of inertia and emotional states. Now. I have transversed through many emotional states over the last couple of years in particular, and I have noticed that each time I have been in a dip I have managed to come out of the dip. Only to cycle back and circle back into the dip again. And a really big part of that has been an identity leveling up. So what I mean is because I'm a mission-driven founder towards wanting to help people with finding their voice and really optimizing towards their truest and highest version of themselves, what I find is that with every iteration and with every. Uh, cycle that I go through, it's me actually taking the time to level up. And the leveling up means that I dip, and during my dip I recalibrate and I decide on what my next move is going to be. And to prepare myself for the move, I actually have to almost prepare myself mentally as well as physically to make that move, uh, and to get into the next flow state. But there needs to come a point where. I feel like I can have a certain level of consistency to the flow once I have created the conditions to, for that flow to actually remain. And so, I just wanted to touch on, which is, what is flow theory? And so I just want us to imagine a scenario or a situation which is you are in an emotional state, which is in a dip, and you know you have to do X number of things. In order to even get to the flow, and sometimes that climbing up the hill feels like it's really uphill. So you've gotta exert all of that energy to push, push, push, push all the way up, and that exertion of energy, which is when the plane's taking off, and it's actually requiring all of that fuel and energy to propel itself forward. It needs to have, in a human context, in a flow context. There need to be. And this is what flow theory suggests is that there need to be a few elements, there are few ingredients to put into this, mix and for flow to be created. And so if I think about the emotional state, and I think about all of the things that you have to do, and most of those things that you have to do sometimes are in the mundane category. So for example, if you're wanting to be visible and you're putting yourself out there, well, you can put yourself out there and you can talk and speak and present. But if there's nothing for you to act for, nothing for people to actually do on the backend, whether it's listening to a podcast, whether it's downloading your freebie, whether it's. You know, inviting to a consultation, whether it's inspiring people to potentially build your brand online in some way, shape or form, so that you could be invited to speak, for example, or, invited into somebody's podcast or whatever the case might be. Whatever the ultimate aim or the of the actual visibility you are gonna need to have. Some systems on the backend, which is what the systems always come up as being the point of the category of mundane, uh, whether that be design, whether that be the thing that you actually are not skilled at and don't really want to do, and you wanna optimize towards the thing that you absolutely are good at doing and want to optimize towards what, whatever that might be. You've gotta go through this. Feeling of inertia. And this inertia is something that I have observed in myself, but broken through in it being in flow and for short sprints of time. Now, I remember my, my, uh, physical ed teacher in school had said to me, Ika, you are a sprinter. And you're, made, like an athlete who's a sprinter. Well, through the journey of. This entrepreneurship, what I've realized is that it's okay to be a sprinter, but what you really need is to be a marathon runner because the journey of entrepreneurship is more like a marathon than it is an actual sprint. And sprint will only get you so far, but it's the marathon, it's the long-term vision, the pull, the long term goals, the long term habits, and, and all of the long-term things that need to be in place for there to be sustainability. Otherwise, we just end up spinning our wheels and going nowhere. So with that being said, what did I notice, uh, is that there needs to be certain number of sprints that you need to do in order to gain momentum. Just like the plane needs a certain amount of actual sheer force for it to even take off before it can get to cruising altitude and then just cruise. So if you are in a season where you are wanting to have your voice out and you're wanting to be visible. Whether it be online or whether it be offline, or whether it be that you're starting out or whether you are wanting to create your brand voice in a way that people come into your world through, uh, maybe an ad that you wanted to create online so that people can find you. The thing that you will need to commit to doing is firstly the investing in the mundane, but you won't invest in the mundane unless you have certain things in place. For flow to take effect. Now, one of those things is that there needs to be an element of novelty. So having a goal in mind that is vision led, that is mission led, that is new, so, but draws on your own existing capabilities, whatever that it is that you might be doing, and then. But just enough to be outside of your comfort zone. So if the, if the gap or the stretch is too high, you'll feel frustrated and demotivated by it. But if the gap is just enough, then you're more likely to want to do it. But without there being a defined goal or an objective. On what it is that you're doing it for, you're not likely to want to carry through with it. Uh, the third thing that needs to be in place is that there needs to be a timely or immediate feedback on something that you're doing so that you feel like the efforts that you're putting in are actually gonna start paying off and following through. So those three things need to really be in place. And now if I think about, uh, the series that. I've run at least three times now, which is a three day event, which was really brought about through the creation from my soul, from the things that I'd observed from giving people the exact amount of insight into the issues that they were feeling. So for example, one of the events that I ran was to give people an exact roadmap on the visibility steps that they need to take based on their. Now based on that score, they found out, that this was the roadmap and this is what they needed to do. And it was a very successful event and I really enjoyed it because I was in flow from having been in inertia. So my very first, thing that I talked about was actually inertia and the concept of being in inertia and then going into flow. Uh, I talked about what that looked like, and then each week built on that towards the sales event. And I've done this now three times. And so each time I've had. A period of inertia and then needed flow. And I realized that all three things just happened to be in place. And I didn't realize that at the time. But now since having been in flow and having had people ask me how you can get in flow, I know that those three things were actually present in the recipe that I had created for me with using my own voice territories towards visibility. So if I look at breaking down. The most recent event that I did, which was, uh, in May, 2025, and the event was new. The content was new, uh, it was very topical. It addressed an issue that people already were feeling. And so it had topicality and relevance. But it also had ingredients like it was new to me, which means that there was an element of novelty. I had done it before, so I knew what format that this was going to run in. Uh, so I didn't have to exert quite as much pressure on the actual. The logistics of the three days because I had the systems that I'd already built from like having done it a couple of times. And so I had, I knew what I was in for. I was a bit more organized this time as well. In fact, I was quite a lot more organized this time and my backend, and so the mundane had been taken care of for nearly four or five months in the lead up to. The actual thing because, and so the push and the drive that I had was because I knew that I had a goal in mind. I, did shift my goal on when I was going to launch about a couple of times during that period because I realized that I needed more time to actually, prepare for the three day event, but it kept channeling me and pushing me or pulling me forward because I knew that there was a message that I wanted to get out there. And. Uh, that was really something that was motivating for me. And then the third thing was immediate feedback, because when I was doing the three day, three day event, I knew that I was going to get a result based off of previous events that I'd run where my events were successful. So it was. Immediate feedback based on what I have done in the past, as well as better preparation in the lead up. So when I think about my dip now and what I'm optimizing towards, or how the flow will take place next in relation to my visibility, this is not about being visible all of the time using this concept of consistency in like a negative way, but using consistency. To first deliver the result that you want so that you can take the best off. The learnings that you have into creating something that will then eventually give you consistency. So, um, so this is flow theory in essence and how flow has worked for me personally and how you can get past that inertia that you might be feeling into those, achieving those flow states and into peak perform where you feel like everything around you pretty much comes to a standstill or almost gets negated because you're so. In the rhythm of it and you're, you are feeling it, that you just completely lose track of time and, and time basically condenses down and becomes one. And you really don't mind being in that flow and doing the work because to you that is actually fun. Just like, to me it was fun. And so I didn't feel like I had that. I think the, the conditions though that need, you know, that need to be in place in terms of. Achieving flow is also important to discuss because if you might, be thinking, well, I've got young children, or, I've got caring responsibilities and all of that. So you really have to look at what your current situation is and determine, okay, is this going to be. Something that you can do right now. You know, like for example, in the, in the case of the three day event, you know, it requires a whole lot of planning. It requires a lot more time. It's a bit more advanced than say if you are starting out. And so if you are starting out, pick something small that you can do that you know is going to be outside of your comfort zone, but it's also gonna give you a challenge. And also think about, you know, the enabling factors. So what can you do to eliminate distractions? Can you do the workout when say someone isn't around? Can you create, inject a ritual within it, which is maybe, the ritual of having a cup of tea before you do the actual thing. Now this is an example that, James Clear and his book Atomic Habits talks about as well, is actually having a ritual around the thing that you have to do, because the thing that you have to do until it becomes a habit is a task. And then once you start doing enough of it, it starts becoming part of your identity. So, just like content creation, if you start to see the results of creating content, you're more likely to want to carry on with it because you know that the risk of not creating content is actually. Greater than the risk of, creating content because one negates out the other. So in, in from a visibility lens, and then look at your peak productive times, your peak productivity times are times when you feel like you can operate at your best. For me, that happens to be mid-afternoon. So sometime between three and five 30 or six o'clock is when I feel like I'm at my productive best, even though that seems to be a lot of the a time when most people kind of feel the slump. I've noticed that a lot of people feel the slump mornings are great for me to think ideate. Write all of that, so, really building those rituals in for yourself. So that you're doing the things that you love to do by achieving the things that you have to do and ticking off the things that you have to do. So just as we are coming near to the end of the episode, I wanted to ask you, uh, which is. Think about the task at hand, which you're really avoiding right now, procrastinating about, and ask yourself why you're procrastinating about that task. Is that a task that is achi that is aligned to a bigger vision? Or are you struggling with that task because you're, you are struggling to define what your bigger vision actually is? That is going to be in service of the highest and best. Use for you so that you know, fulfilling, uh, something that is off the highest achievement for you personally. Because theory suggests, again, this is a research done Stephen Coler, in the book The Art of the Impossible, which is he states that. We mostly pay attention to the task at hand when the challenge of the task slightly exceeds our skillset. And when you feel like you are good at, being comfortable with the uncomfortable, which feels like a stretch rather than a snap. And so if you're thinking about that, with that quote in mind. Ask yourself if that stretch task that you've got is something that can actually be done by somebody else if you are so bogged down that you actually cannot, even if it's stopping you from getting started. In other words, is that a task that can be given out to somebody else? Bearing in mind that your visibility is not something that you can outsource. Your visibility is your responsibility, and this is especially true if you're not a massive company. And you are the founder and you are wanting to set yourself up with a point of difference online or offline. And so it's your responsibility for your visibility. But some of the backend stuff which might be stopping you, could you give that out to somebody even if it is for one or two hours a week. You know, something for you to think about as you are thinking about, um, your emotional state leading you into inertia, which then causes. Lag and then stops you from being in flow. So you've gotta really start to identify the tasks that can free you up to be more of who you are so that you can get into those flow states. And then if I think about the motivation to get going and the things that have enabled me to get motivated enough to actually keep going. Then I want you to also ask yourself about that specific task. You know, what is gonna motivate you to get onto that task? Say if it's a task that's, uh, that's sitting with you, not with somebody else. Because motivation will need. A level of curiosity to see what's actually going to happen at the end for you to test and have a testing mindset when you go into,, breaking that inertia. And that's gonna be critical for you to unlock and break the pattern of sitting still and doing nothing, uh, and with the view to actually doing something. So approach it with a level of curiosity, which is what is this going to lead me to? Driven by purpose, which is, keep asking yourself why you're doing what you're doing. I think it's really important as. Founders to keep reminding ourselves about the reason why we are doing what we are doing. Each one of us has a deep answer, uh, within us, uh, as to what drives us to do the things we do, despite the difficulties. And then the third is mastery of the skills to pursue that passion or purpose. Do you actually have a drive to achieve mastery in something so that you can achieve? Your ultimate goal. Uh, and so here are five things that I want you to take away from, again, from Steven Kotlow, which is the reference that I had for this and the inspiration for flow states as I was, as I was, um, looking into it a bit more, was that motivation is what gets you in the game. Learning is what allows you to continue to play. Creativity is how you steer. So what you come out of that once you have unlocked your visibility. And lastly, flow is how you amplify all of the results beyond reasonable expectations because you have suddenly created what people otherwise referred to as the flywheel. So with that being said, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have loved it, I would love to get a review from you. So that more people can find this podcast and help amplify the reach to more people who need to hear this.