Artist Date #4: Hedonic Calendaring 2018
My name is Kevin Votaw and I’m just a regular guy on a mission in 2018 to live a life north of happy. In other words, I am after my Metier: a life that I love and that loves me back.
Grizzly’s restaurant is fantastic. Wood-fired chicken sandwiches, juicy ribs, and great service, it has been a regular date-night spot for my wife and me. One of the best parts of Grizzly’s menu, before they removed it, was the seasoned, oil-based dip for their homemade bread. Intrigued, my wife figured we could make it at home. Any time you try something new, especially recipes, you have to make tweaks until you get the combination just right. A little more of this, less of that, and you’ve got it. The first time we tried Grizzly’s bread dip, we added too much cayenne pepper. Second time too salty. Third time? Just right.
Flow is the same way. With some strategic flow trigger tweaks, you can dial in your peak experiences at will, tapping into happiness wherever and whenever the Hedonic Calendar calls. Before jumping into my fourth Artist Date, a quick review on the Hedonic Calendar elements, and where I’m at in 2018.
The Hedonic Calendar Review
The Hedonic Calendar from the Flow Genome Project’s Jamie Wheal and Steven Kotler is a tool to plan your own ecstasis, giving you predictable and regular access to the states north of happy. To do this, identify your flow profile, list the activities that get you into flow, and place them in the following buckets:
- Weekly Artist Date
- Monthly Microadventure
- Seasonal Misogi (or Macroadventure)
- Yearly Grand Adventure
- Seneca (Festival + Fast)
This structure keeps you from “going off the rails” as the Hedonic Calendaring PDF suggests, but it also creates unbelievable anticipation, something to look forward to between the ins and outs of day-to-day life. With the temperatures dropping and the sun beaming all weekend, I couldn’t wait to grab my snowshoes once again for my fourth Artist Date.
Artist Date #4: Snowshoeing with a Challenge
My fourth Artist Date took me to our local Northland Arboretum to hit up their snowshoe trails. When I first went snowshoeing on Gull Lake for my first Artist Date, everything felt new and exciting as lots of first-time activities and experiences do. I was outside in my Deep Thinker world, locked in. My second Artist Date snowshoeing was at a lake close to home, weather miserable, wind terrible, and feeling wonderful. Skipping past playing my guitar and my Microadventure sledding, I knew an adjustment needed to be made on my next Artist Date to ensure my Adolescent Emoji Flow Scale-II scores remained high. The adjustment? Recognizing my secondary, or micro flow profile as a Hard Charger.
If you haven’t already, go take your free flow profile from the Flow Genome Project. It’ll tell you which direction you find flow and give you tips and tricks to hack flow more often. What that macro profile doesn’t tell you is that flow can be found on a continuum. Yes, we access flow in a fairly dominant way. But if we line up all four flow profiles: the excitement-seeking Crowd Pleaser (group flow), the insight-finding and creative Deep Thinkers, peaceful and totally chill Flow Go-ers, and the highly competitive and intense Hard Chargers, we see that we have a combination of more than one. Be sure to read all four in the Flow Profiles Unpacked to get a thorough overview of all four flow profiles.
My macro flow profile is a Deep Thinker. I find flow most often through isolated, creative endeavors wherein my mind can solve some wickedly and deliciously complicated problems with an even more delicious idea. I’m addicted to the lateral thinking of the neurochemical anandamide provides and the gamma waves that produce the “Ah ha!” eureka moments. My micro or secondary flow profile though is a Hard Charger. As a former three-sport athlete in high school and college baseball player, I love pushing myself competitively, winning against a worthy opponent.
How does that relate to snowshoeing and this Artist Date #4? Easy. Snowshoeing in and of itself is a Deep Thinking activity. Going to new lakes satisfies the novelty triggers a number of Deep Thinkers assuredly love. But as a Hard Charger as well, I need challenge. Even if it’s competing with myself, I need to push the envelope from my previous experience somehow. Therefore, I picked Northland Arboretum not only for the snowshoeing trail, but the twelve fitness machines along that path that I could combine with my frigid trek through the snow. This added challenge is exactly the trigger my scores up just enough higher past the ‘7’ (remember no 7's!) mark and make for another Hedonic Calendar item north of happy.
Artist Date #4 Reflection
For flow, I would give myself an 10/10. The exercises, some harder and some easier, were exactly what the doctor ordered. Since I haven’t done them before, it provided that little extra bit of unpredictability, an environmental flow trigger, to keep me focused on the task at hand: snowshoe, exercise, figure out where the path is going, snowshoe, exercise, etc.
For fun, I’d drop a little bit down to an 8/10. Why a lower score if the physical challenge upped my flow score? Because reflecting back, I enjoy the vastness and awe of a massive lake both at the beginning and the end of a long snowshoe. The Northland Arboretum is tucked right in the middle of Brainerd next to the movie theater. Though it is an escape from the town, I simply prefer the escape from the world that more remote locations can give. Even so, I was outside snowshoeing and still doing what I love to do. Hence the score.
For feeling, another 10/10. In the middle of my snowshoe I had this thought that maybe the combo wasn’t all that flowy. Getting to the end and finally sitting down in the car, it was as if a flood of endorphins rushed over and through me, an “Ecstastic High” if you will. For that and the gratitude for the beauty of a snowy and freezing Minnesota winter day, I easily topped out on the energy score.
Derek Sivers’ Stoplight Directional Test
Adding up my scores, where do I fall on the Derek Sivers’ Stoplight Directional Test?
- A “21–30” means “Go!” you’re in the green: This experience made me come alive! It gave me a TON of flow, fun, and feeling!
- A “11–20” means “Whoa!” you’re in the yellow: This experience wasn’t bad and a little fun, but it didn’t make me come alive.
- A “0–10” means “No!” you’re in the red: This experience didn’t make me come alive at all: little to no focus, fun, or feeling.
For Artist Date #4, I scored a 28/30. This recognition of my micro Hard Charger flow profile truly made the difference between a green and yellow experience. If it hadn’t been for the experiences, I’d been out of the “sweet spot” on the Challenge/Skills Ratio psychological flow trigger as the trail was far too short and far too urban for my liking. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind moving forward in 2018.
Stoke
Stoke is the flow trigger adjustments you make based on flow, fun, and feeling in order to maximize your Hedonic Calendar event(s). Again, here are the three questions I ask on each category, along with the seventeen flow triggers:
- For flow, I’d ask: how can I drive the experience into the deep now?
- For fun, I’d ask: how can I increase the engagement and enjoyment?
- For feeling, I’d ask: how can I increase the energy of the moment?
For flow and feeling, the flow profile combination is lethal. Consider that unless the environment and/or activity is totally brand new. In terms of fun, a 10/10 score for me means a very Rich Environment that satisfies my Deep Thinker need to escape and get away from the world for a little bit. Yes, I was snowshoeing, a Deep Thinker activity. Yes, I was somewhere new to snowshoes, a Deep Thinker flow trigger. Despite these two facts, environmental awe is important to me and something I’ll keep at the forefront even if the activity (snowshoeing, rucking, SUPing, etc.) stays the same throughout a given season. If not, I know I have to ratchet up the two environmental triggers the Challenge/Skills Ratio and/or High Consequences to appease my micro Hard Charger flow profile. Live and learn.
Conclusion
For Artist Date #4, I went snowshoeing at the Northland Arboretum, completing twelve physical exercises along the trail and scoring a 28/30. This combination added just enough challenge that my Hard Charger micro flow profile needed to remain a high-scoring activity on the Adolescent Emoji Flow Scale-II. Next Artist Date I’ll choose a novel environment that inspires awe, adding challenge and high consequences as needed. Just like our Grizzly’s recipe, it’s all about the adjustments on this journey towards a day, a week, a month, a season, a year, and a life north of happy.
Until next time, keep stealing fire and living life north of happy.
