Since creating a course and running your own business is a never-ending learning process, a huge part of that is discovering different methods and strategies for success. There are an endless amount of resources about “what works best”, formulas for success, and structures to follow in order to get a certain outcome. While these can be incredibly helpful, it’s also just as important to discover your natural flow state.

What is your flow state?

Your flow state is actually quite simple: It’s the state of doing an activity that feels natural and best for you. It’s about getting to a place where you feel a sense of ease and joy around all the various elements of creating and launching your course or whatever entrepreneurial endeavors you are undertaking.

Stepping into a place of flow isn’t exactly taught to us—or even emphasized in western culture. Instead, there’s a lot of value placed around hustling. Being very busy, working hard, and putting in long hours is an implied part of being successful or making a lot of money. This mindset is very structured and rigid. This can cause you to be in a constant state of “doing” and always wondering what needs to be done next. This then leads to feeling the need to be productive the majority of the time.

Breaking busy

While being in this mindset can elicit results, it’s also fatiguing and can put you on a fast track to burn out. When you bring an element of flow and softness into your business, things get easier. You can put in less time and not have the rat-race feeling of constantly needing to get more done.

The great news is that your flow state is innate to you. It’s actually your natural state of being in comparison with the structured, busy norms of hustle culture. Read on to find out ways to tap into your flow state in business.

The flow formula

There are many formulas when it comes to being an entrepreneur: How to have the most productive morning routine, specific steps to getting more sales through social media marketing…the list goes on. If there’s something you’re trying to achieve in your business, it’s likely that someone else is offering a how-to based off of their own success.

While there is absolutely value in this, the issue arises when you believe you have to follow each step precisely in order for to achieve success. Over time, you may find yourself in a place where you’re simply following everyone else’s blueprints instead of creating your own. Finding your own natural flow state means you can tweak your path and make adjustments based on what feels good for you.

If it sounds like a drag to wake up at 5 A.M. every morning to take a cold shower or to post multiple times on social media a day, then don’t do it. When you force yourself to do something but your heart isn’t in it, it’s either not going to last or it becomes a tasking chore to complete.

The important part here is to discern between the resistance to trying something new simply because it’s out of your comfort zone and not forcing yourself to do something because it’s just not optimal for your work style. This is a great opportunity to experiment with new things and find what feels good for you. That very well could be getting up a bit later and having a slow start to your day. It’s whatever works for you. And it doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else.

Embrace ease

Another commonly held belief when it comes to running your own business is that it’s impossibly hard. While it does take a certain level of tenacity (and inevitable challenges will arise), running a business isn’t impossible. You can cultivate a sense of ease and joy by reframing and being intentional with your business mindset. If you want to shift away from being ultra-busy and having a forceful mind, think about how you’d like to feel instead and take steps towards that.

When you sit down to write material for your course or to respond to client emails, ask yourself: “How can I make this easier? How can I bring joy into this situation?” That could mean figuring out how to streamline a process. It could also mean that you make yourself a warming cup of tea, light a candle, and turn on ambient music in your workspace.

Whatever it is that you’re working on is your choice. You created your business or course of your own volition. And that means you also get to create joy around what you’re doing that day.

The art of shifting

If you find you’re having to push through work, pause to find what you’re grateful for in that moment. Sure, answering emails might feel tedious, but how amazing is it that you even have this network and connections related to your business? Reframing your brain in this way can help you feel more at ease as you complete the task at hand.

Another aspect of finding your flow state is being flexible with yourself. Perhaps when it comes time to do a particular task, you notice that you’re just not feeling it. That’s OK! Instead of strong arming your way through it, evaluate if there’s something else that you can do instead that will still make a big impact in your business.

Maybe you work for a shorter burst of time or to change up your work plan for the day entirely. Be yielding with yourself and let go of the need for things to pan out exactly as planned. You’re going to be able to get more quality work done in less time when you are in your flow state as opposed to when you’re forcing it. Ultimately, this will also allow space for more ease and joy to get things done.

Self care above all else

Taking time for yourself has been a hot topic in business lately—with good reason. When you prioritize your own wellbeing over being productive, it means that you’re able to show up to your entrepreneurial endeavors as a better version of yourself.

Determine what self care looks like to you. But, remember self care isn’t just about recharging and relaxing. It’s also about having fun. Having fun and experiencing joy go hand-in-hand. If you’re not experiencing joy doing things that you love during down time, it’s going to be a lot more challenging to find that joy when it comes to working.

Whatever your self care is, be sure to rate that just as high (if not higher) on your to-do list as the essential tasks for work. This will help to balance out the more hyper-busy states you may find yourself in during a big launch or event. In turn, when you’re actually gearing up to work, you’ll be able to navigate what actually needs to be completed in an easier way.

Being more fluid when it comes to your business takes some time and consideration. Once you release commonly held beliefs around what it takes to be successful, you’ll be in a better place to make tweaks, tap into your flow state, and reach your optimal workflow.

The key is to find your own unique balance so that ease and joy can swirl in.