The block state

Short note: Welcome to Edition 05. I write about fighting through resistance and the opposite of flow state. Please reply to my email, comment here or text me with detailed feedback. I also write a newsletter with commentary on how businesses make money. Newsletter link here.

I know how to get better. It’s taken me a while but I’ve figured it out. I know how to improve my fitness, cut down on my screen time, build my business and spend more time with loved ones. I have the playbook in my hand. Now, if only I could move past the resistance and get to one or all of them.

I grit my teeth and scowl in annoyance. I know what to do. Every one of us knows what to do to get better. I blame it, you blame it on the spectre of resistance. It’s hard to do these things because you have to take out time. It’s difficult to push yourself because you missed your 5 AM cold plunge. I have more self-deprecating humour, but I also have the most ridiculous resistance to acting on what is important to me.

I have to solve it. I know this. This amorphous resistance is in my head. It’s a ghoul, a wraith, a make-believe spirit that stands between me and my reasonable goals. It has no name, but I like to call it the opposite of flow state. It is a block state in which you trudge through quicksand, and realise you just went round and round in circles till you tired yourself out.

You’re exhausted, the mud pulls you deeper and your goal is just as far. This is mental quicksand. You can be stoic and tell yourself that the only way is through. You have to go within to go beyond. The argument is sound. Your next steps however are just as shaky and uncertain. You are afraid of the next steps.

You want to sit and stay and wait for a better day to make a move. This strategy is bound to fail for me, you and everyone else. Today is the best day to move. Your next steps have to be taken, and they will push you forward as against your present catatonic state. Staring at your problems will not make them go away unless it’s Medusa and that’s moot by itself.

Your path forward is through the block state that holds you back from your true potential. You may still fail and realise your fears. However, you can also succeed, and there is zero probability of success if you never take the first step. It’s obvious. It always has been unsettlingly obvious. 

Your block state is one step away from flow state. Your life is a continuum between these two states. Sometimes, you have to exit flow and experience block to realise what you once had. You also have to cross block and arrive at flow to realise what can be. This flywheel perpetuates for everyone. Your block state is deeply personal but you can cross through and get to the other side. When it feels like nothing is going your way, remember that you can make your way.