If you want to Perform Better as a Leader, the Key to your Success will be Flow States.

Now, there is a very specific Cycle that you "Must" go through to get into Flow States Consistently.

The Flow Cycle goes:

Struggle
Release
Flow
Recovery

Then you Repeat that Cycle.

If you Fail to hit all 4 Steps of the Cycle, you will Fail to have Flow Consistently.

This further means that you will be blocked from:

Peak Productivity
Innovation
Creativity
Problem-Solving
Learning Capacity
Pattern Recognition
And More

If you are unable to do those Effectively, your ability to Lead will "Always" be Hindered.

So, if we are following this Process, you'll notice that "Recovery" is one of the Essential Steps which begs the question...

Do You Recover Enough as a Leader?

Well, if we look at the Statistics around this, the Answer Nearly "All" of the time is No.

Without even needing to know what you do in your Life, I can almost guarantee you Do Not Recover Enough.

How do I know?

Well, let's look at the Psychophysiology of this.

The Largest form of Recovery is Sleep.

How much Sleep do we need?

Well, it is "recommended" that we get 7 - 9 Hours of Sleep per night, but the Higher End of that Generally is Better.

But the Average?

6.8 Hours.

So right away, we are seeing there is a Deficit in one of the Most Important forms of Recovery for Most People.

However, it gets worse, because Sleep is not the "Only" Form of Recovery that We Need.

What other Forms of Recovery are you getting?

I know the Most Common Ones that People Say.

Exercise and Meditation.

Now, these are both Interesting, but there are some Challenges.

Exercise itself "Can" be a Form of Recovery, but it really depends on "What" Type of Exercise You're Doing.

The way most people Exercise is Actually More Detrimental than Positive in their Lives and becomes a Dis-Stressor instead of a form of Recovery.

See, for Exercise to be a True Form of Recovery, it must be done at a level that keeps your Heart Rate below a certain level and isn't Overly Difficult.

The Problem, as you can Imagine, is that usually people are both going into Very High Heart Rates and doing Incredibly Difficult Workouts for their Bodies.

Now, this isn't "Inherently" a bad thing, and Difficult Workouts "Can" have great Health Benefits, but "Only" if our Total Stressors are Low Enough and We "Also" have Plenty of Recovery.

When you do Difficult Workouts Frequently, and None that are Easy (as the Vast Majority Do), then your Exercise doesn't count as "Recovery".

Then we have Meditation, which can be a great Recovery Tool.

But how often do you Meditate?

For most people, it is Once a Day for 15 minutes or Less.

Now, if you're doing that, it's Awesome!

I'm not going to take away from that and you "should" continue to do it!

However, the Fact of the Matter is that "One" Meditation Session per day is Not Enough.

That is only 1 Instance of Recovery, and though it is Beneficial, you need Significantly More than That.

The other Problem with Both Exercise "and" Meditation is that Neither of them Heal Stress Damage (aka Oxidative Stress).

So, for most people, they are Not doing Enough Recovery.

How much Recovery do We Need?

Well, let's go back to Flow States.

A State of Flow can usually be maintained for 50 to 90 Minutes, assuming there are No Distractions that pull you out of Flow.

That "Rarely" Happens in Reality, but let's work with this "Ideal Maximum" to Understand the Problem with Recovery.

After you Finish this 50 - 90 Minute Flow Period, you "Must" have Recovery so you can get into another Flow State.

How Long of Recovery?

Typically it is Recommended for 10 - 30 Minutes after "Each" Flow State.

So, on the Low End, if you Successfully Speed through the Struggle and Release Phase (which is Rare), then you are looking at a 1 Hour Period for each Flow Cycle.

On a Higher End, you're looking at 120+ Minutes.

Throughout a Day, this means that you're "Ideal" would be 6 - 12 Flow Cycles Per Day (Though more than 8 is Rare to Accomplish, even for those Trained and Effective at it).

This means at a "Minimum", Excluding Sleep (which is Still Absolutely Necessary), you need "At Least" 6 Different Instances of Recovery Throughout Your Day.

If you are constantly Distracted and Pulled "Out" of Flow States, that Number Increases.

If you are Not Getting Enough Sleep, that Number Increases.

If your Exercise is mostly Intense, and you Are Not doing it Daily, that Number Increases.

If you are Struggling, and there is No "Release" to get into Flow, then that Number Increases.

If you Fail to get the Correct Nutrients to Fix Stress Damage (Oxidative Stress), which is something I haven't really addressed in this Article but is still necessary, then that Number Increases.

You also can "Not" get away with doing 2 Hours Straight of Meditation to "Cover it all" (or Any Recovery Activity).

That would still only count as 1 Instance of Recovery.

This is Why I Can Nearly Guarantee that You Are Not Getting Enough Recovery.

It is Rare for people to get 6 Instances of Recovery throughout their Day, totaling 1 to 3 Hours of "True" Recovery, Plus the 7 to 9 Hours of Sleep Necessary for Recovery.

That is 8 to 12 Hours of Recovery, split into 6 Instances Plus Sleep, as a "Minimum".

For many people, especially those who are Experiencing Burnout (which is 80% of Employees), it will actually be Higher than This.

So let me ask you again, with the Reality of Human Psychophysiology...

Do You Recover Enough as a Leader?

Do You Recover Enough As A Leader?

The Answer Helps Determine Your Effectiveness

What will you write today?