Flow State: Unlock Your Genius & Boost Productivity with Diane Allen

In this episode, Jennifer Dawn sits down with international speaker and violinist Diane Allen, author of Flow: Unlock Your Genius, Love What You Do, to delve into the transformative power of the flow state. Diane, a pioneer in understanding how professionals can harness this elusive mental space, shares her unique journey from concert stages to corporate speaking, revealing how getting into flow state can revolutionize your work and life. Listeners will discover the science behind optimal performance, learn practical steps to intentionally enter flow state, and understand how this heightened state leads to increased happiness, productivity, and a deeper sense of fulfillment. This conversation is packed with actionable insights for any business owner or individual ready to tap into their full potential.

Transcript

Jennifer: Hey, hey, everybody. Welcome to a new episode of the Happy Productive Podcast. I am so excited to be talking to our guest today, Ms. Diane Allen. Welcome to the show, Diane.

Diane: Thank a you so much, Jennifer.

Jennifer: We’re so happy to have you here. What you guys don’t know is that Diane is an international speaker, but she’s also a violinist. Many of you maybe don’t know that. I also play the violin, not well, but I do play it and started to learn as an adult. So I cannot wait to jump into this conversation today with Diane. One of the things that she really focuses on is her book, Flow: Unlock Your Genius, Love What You Do. I know that you bring the whole violin thing into this, so I’m just so excited to have a conversation with you today.

Diane: I am too. My idea of fun.

Jennifer: Yeah, absolutely. So Diane, tell us a little bit about you, your background. How did you get to where you are today?

Diane: Well, that’s a loaded question.

Jennifer: I know.

Diane: Why don’t we just jump straight to here? I’m holding up a picture of. The orchestra that I used to play in. And here I am, I’m the lead violinist, second in command to the conductor. So, if you imagine this picture, like somebody crawled up onto the ceiling of the stage and they’re taking a shot of the orchestra from the top down, that’s what you see. You see all of our heads, you see all the silhouettes of our instruments.

Diane’s Journey: From Orchestra Pit to Flow State Expert

Diane: In this position, there’s a lot of things that was going on. Number one. I’m second in command to the conductors, right? However poorly or well I performed, would have a ripple effect throughout the orchestra, right? So I always had to be at the top of my game. That’s the first thing. Second thing is, is I had to lead without talking. How do you do that? We’re playing music, right?

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: That’s another thing. And then, you know, something that’s much more direct to, how did we get to what I’m doing today? I don’t play in the orchestra anymore. I actually do corporate speaking. And I, I do perform when I speak. How did I get to there, right?

Diane: So, as one of the many jobs that I had. For the orchestra, there’s a lot of different things that I had to do. One of which was I had to take a small group of musicians to do cultural outreach concerts. And you know, I’m talking like I’ve had the whole New York City violin training. I’ve had hundreds actually. Over a thousand, concerts under my belt. My husband and I stopped counting after we hit a thousand. He’s also a musician. And, you know, rock solid performances under my belt. Turning on that light switch, getting into the music, which is a musician’s version of getting into their **flow state**, right? Getting into the music, getting into the **flow state**, became routine.

Diane: So I’m at one of these concerts, these cultural outreach concerts. Rural community. Okay, we’re talking Saturday afternoon, two o’clock maybe. There’s 50 people there, jeans and t-shirts, super casual. And I’m running the show and I have this wild idea. I thought, wow, I love public speaking. I love playing the violin. Why don’t I combine the two? So without any preparation, all I do is I walk out. I start giving the pre-con lecture having a great time. As soon as I finish, I turn around and sit down and give a big cue for the music to start. Jennifer, I don’t know what happened, but it felt like I couldn’t move.

Diane: Like it was like my elbows froze and I knew that I had a stress hormone dump into my system. That is what I knew. I didn’t know why it happened at that time. I also knew that once you have a stress hormone dump into your system like that, there’s only one way to deal with it, and that is to let it run its course. You can’t. Continue to be stressed out ’cause then you’ll just continue to perpetuate the stress hormone dump.

Diane: So I’m like, oh my gosh, here I am. I can barely move. My friends are looking over the music stand, like wide-eyed at me. Like, where’s her, where we can’t hear her melody, right? They’re playing the harmony. That means neither can the audience hear me playing the melody. So I’m like, should I, I theoretically I should be freaking out, but I knew no neutral mind. I will beat myself up later.

Diane: Stay neutral. And I had this mantra, just keep moving. Just keep moving, just keep moving, you know? And it felt like an hour but it really only took about a minute for me to regain the full use of my arms, right?

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: But then there was this disconnect. I wasn’t putting any feeling into the music, and it freaked me out because now for the first time, something that I’d taken for granted. Getting into the music, my reputation in job security will now be at stake if I have a problem with this. So that night, is like, you know, one of those defining moments that I had in my life where I literally sat down and I reverse engineered how do I get into the **flow state**?

Diane: And that turned into, a TEDx talk. It turned into my book *Flow. Unlock your genius, what you do*. It turned into my platform as the speaker. And it, it’s, it’s what catapulted me to what I do now, which is combining the two loves: the speaking and the violin. Right? And it wasn’t a linear path, I’ll tell you that. But it was a path that I followed. And it, you know, when I was getting to that place where I played in an orchestra, that was a very linear path, right? I love the violin. I’m gonna study, I did all the practicing, all the hard work. I did all the auditions, right? Very linear, but once I got to this place was like, what, how? How is it that I can’t get into the music? And I started reverse engineering it. It just took me in a whole new direction and I followed the breadcrumbs and here I am today.

Jennifer: Such a beautiful story. Let’s talk a little bit, let’s dive into that **flow state**, because I am, I would really love to understand this a little bit more too, because I started playing the violin, I don’t know, maybe like four or five years ago as an adult. I’m just gonna throw it out there. I don’t practice like I’m supposed to. I don’t, I’m a very busy, person and I tell my teacher, I’m like, I’m here. I, I’m committed. I show up, but I don’t practice. And I know that if when I do have war time and I practice more, I’m gonna get a lot better.

Jennifer: But one of the things that I have noticed with the violin. I didn’t realize it was one of the hardest instruments to learn when I’m just like, I wanna play something, but I don’t know what, and I just sort of picked the viol in. like when I start overthinking it, everything goes to crap. And I even tell my teacher, I’m just like, I sit down, I look at a piece of music, I have no idea how I’m gonna play it, and I just start playing it. And there’s something that happens there where you just have to like stop thinking and you let a different part of your brain sort of take over and.

Jennifer: It, I, I don’t know if, like, is this part of our **flow state** that we’re talking about where you’re just, you just kind of surrender to it and then like, I don’t even know sometimes how I’m playing. It’s happening in the brain and the hands and all of that, but when I start to think about it and break it down and really get analytical, like I just literally, I can’t put two and two together. And so talk to me a little bit about what is the **flow**, help our listeners and me understand this better.

What is the Flow State? Key Indicators & Neuroscience

Diane: So if we take your experience, okay. I’m gonna ask you a few questions. Okay. And we’ll see to what degree you were in **flow**. Okay. So when you have those moments, when it does feel like, you know, you put your thoughts aside and it’s coming from a different place, right? Do you lose a sense of time?

Diane: And how would you know that? Well, maybe the time feels it go like it goes by really quickly, or maybe it goes by slowly, but in a good way,

Jennifer: I definitely lose a sense of time. And when you’re really in it, it doesn’t feel rushed. It just feels like beautiful and we’re just, we’re playing, and then it start, okay, this, it starts to actually sound like music, and it sounds good to my ears instead of like ear, oh God.

Diane: Yeah. So that sense of time, losing a sense of time is one of the key indicators of being in **flow**. Now let me ask you another question. The, they say, do you lo another key indicator is losing sense of self, which is a very weird thing to say. Okay. So there are things that get turned on in your brain, and there are things that get turned off in your brain when you’re in **flow**.

Diane: Okay. So, and, and this is what contributes to losing a sense of self. So I’m just gonna kind of go into the background a little bit because it’ll explain it. So, so when, when the thing, the things that get turned on are a cocktail of peak performance hormones. They’re in end day endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.

Diane: And because of that, we experience. Euphoria. We experience motivation, we experience peak performance, and we experience happiness. We also can get more done in 30 minutes than we had in the last three days, which is why **flow state** and happy productive podcast is like we’re gonna go into why this is like the perfect match for us to be talking.

Diane: So those are the things that get turned on. Now, here are the things that can turned off in your brain. When you are in **flow**, your fight or flight response and your inner critic are shut down,

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: Which means people feel fearless and uninhibited. So that sense of self is literally the more you’re in **flow**, the quieter, the inner critic. So when you are in that state, when you does it feel like you lose a sense of self and the inner critic is just shut down.

Jennifer: It does, and it’s so interesting that you’re saying this because I will often, I’ve gotten way better at it, but I will often have to just say to myself, so first of all. Just be brave and put yourself out there and know it’s not gonna be perfect. Like this was a big part of playing because when you’re in business like at a high level and people are coming to you and it’s just like, you need to have those answers and I do, and blah, blah blah, then you go to play the violin and talk about an ego check of just like, I am really not good at this. And so.

Jennifer: Having to set that aside, tap into just like some courage of just like, I’m just gonna be brave. I’m just gonna put myself out there. It’s okay. And let me just push through this. Like the violin has helped me to do that so much of just set the inner critic aside and be willing to just jump in and play. And then if I mess up. You can tell when the brain starts to get involved and then it’s a, it’s just a disaster after that. But if I can shut that off and just be like, it’s okay, just push through and keep going. That sense of euphoria, that sense of just like, ah, I did it. It’s there and, yeah, yeah.

Diane: We have talked about losing sense of time, losing sense of self. So for those of you who are listening it, I want you to see if you can remember a time when you’ve lost sense of time, lost sense of self ideas and insights. Come in from outta the blue. That’s another key indicator that you’re in **flow**. And so a lot of times people experience that, maybe out on a walk or in the shower or driving right. And, and those circumstances, they, that’s literally like not. Not exactly **flow state**, but similar things happen in your brain, like when you have shower moments and ideas come in, the prefrontal cortex is temporarily shut down. And when that happens, that’s what turns off your inner critic.

Diane: So if you just, I want you just to start noticing where do you experience these key indicators, things coming together with this sense of ease? You’ve described that like, like. Your, your inner critic is checked out and you, you have like an ease with playing the violin. Right? And that’s also what I explained before, which is like that those times when you get more done in 30 minutes than you had in the last three days, right? That’s when things come together with that sense of ease that is being in **flow**. Another key indicator is. Instead of being in a negative feedback loop where you’re pouring yourself into whatever activity it is and it’s draining you, and you get into this negative feedback loop when you’re working in **flow**, whatever it is that you’re doing, it’s so rewarding that your own experience refuels you and you get into a positive feedback loop. Do you experience that too?

Jennifer: I do. Yeah. I, I, I, I really do. And even just like the, the, the setting aside, the inner critic, the playing music, and there’s just something about music that when it just sounds beautiful and it just sort of carries you away. And I, and I do get that at work when I’m working with clients and things like that, but not as much outside of work.

Diane: Okay.

Jennifer: It’s almost like in the violin. There’s a different part of my brain that engages, and it’s not that analytical, you know, out of the numbers, the math, there’s a different part of the brain that just seems to engage, and when you can get into that space, it’s just beautiful.

Diane: Yep. That’s ’cause the prefrontal cortex is shut down. That’s where a lot of that analytical stuff happens, and the neocortex is amped up, which dramatically increases learning speed. So the last key indicator is experiencing more meaning, joy, and fulfillment.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: Right. So, organizational psychologist, Adam Grant, he gave, a TED talk and he wrote a New York Times article on this very topic, and he talked about the mental health spectrum and how halfway between depression and flourishing. There’s this midway point where you’re fine, but you’re not fine, you’re functional, but you can’t get motivated. You’re just kind of blah. And the antidote. He specifically says this. In, I think it’s like even in bold writing in the New York Times article, the antidote to getting into from languishing the flourishing is to get into your **flow state**.

Diane: So what we just did was we talked about the key indicators of being in **flow**. We also talked a little bit about the neuroscience of being in **flow** and the benefits of being in **flow**. We talked about happiness. We talked about getting more done right, productive, ideas and insights coming in from outta the blue. 95% of thoughts are repeating when you’re in **flow**, you have new thoughts. So I could see how you’re, this is happening for you at work and it’s happening for you at, with the violin and it feels very different, right?

Jennifer: Yeah,

Diane: So, does that help to like, so the thing is, is that most people don’t realize **flow**. Actually, let me backtrack. **Flow** is not a mindset.

Jennifer: Okay.

Diane: It is a state.

Jennifer: Oh,

Diane: Because it is, under positive psychology. It is positive. Psychology is all about what’s working well. In your life, reverse engineering it so you can create more of that goodness in your life. And the neuroscience is all, you know, proof that there is a very specific thing that, those peak performance hormones that get released in our brain, what parts of the brain get lit up, what parts of the brain get turned down. So, it is a real thing.

Diane: And oftentimes we experience it like we are so in **flow**. We don’t realize it. And it’s not until you’re out of **flow** that you realize that you were in **flow**. Right. And it’s not until you’re out of **flow** that you realize the benefit of being in **flow**. This might sound a little extreme, but I’m gonna go for it.

Diane: So I had there’s a really cute little bookstore downtown where I. Live here in Bend, Oregon. And I had an author event since my book has recently launched. And there was a lot of my friends and you know, colleagues were there. And then there were some people that I didn’t know,

Diane: and I’m explaining what **Flow state** is because a lot of people say, I didn’t know there was a name for that. You lose all sense of time ’cause you love what you’re doing and you know, it could be Friday night, you know, with a friend of yours that loves making homemade pizza. Right. And they’re so enthusiastic about it and they, they spend all Friday, they just talk about it all week. They can’t wait for it. Right.

Diane: It’s, there’s just so something that’s so fulfilling about it. We’ll get back to that story in a second, but, that, you know, when you go through and you ask were, you know, did you lose sense of time? Did you lose sense of self? You know, go through all of those things, they’ll probably like, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Right. They were getting into their **flow state**.

Diane: So, as I’m explaining this, this woman has a revelation. I would say she was probably in her mid seventies, maybe even eighties. She was elderly. And she said. I had a job that I loved for years and I it was in the caregiving business, which is interesting because that’s a high burnout. Business right now, but she said I had to wake up at five in free morning. I would work a long day. I would get in bed by eight. I loved it. The day felt like it went by in no time at all, and towards the end of my career, they, they put me in a different position

Jennifer: Mm

Diane: and I hated it.

Jennifer: oh.

Diane: I couldn’t figure out what happened. The, the magic that of my career for so many years, it was gone. And I I, I retired early because of it,

Jennifer: Oh

Diane: and my thinking was she was so, like, she was vis visibly upset. And I think she had a revelation. And I think what the revelation was is that. This could have been preventable.

Jennifer: Yeah,

Diane: Okay. On two sides, because I go and I train a lot of people. I’ve, I’m speaking to leaders, I’m speaking to HR professionals and I’m teaching them how to get into your, their **flow state** on demand, number one, and I’m giving them the steps so that they can coach the people that they serve to do the same, to make sure that your people are loving their work. How can you do that?

Diane: Well, it’s the steps that we’re gonna go through in just a minute here. And then the other thing is if she had known that it was the **flow state**, and if she knew her own unique way of getting into **flow**, she could have been able to do the best she could in the new position to get back into her **flow state** if she could have defined what that is for herself.

Jennifer: Yeah, so cool. I mean, really, really powerful. I love this so much. All right, so you already did the lead in and that’s exactly where I want to go. So everybody who’s listening right now I know is like, Hey, okay, so how can I intentionally get into my **flow state**, especially if I’m not feeling the **flow** right now? Like what are some things, Diane, that people can do to actually intentionally get into their **flow state**?

How to Intentionally Get Into Your Flow State: The 3 Prompts

Diane: Yeah. There’s two different models we could talk about. Let me, let me start with the one about how you uniquely get into **flow**, because I think it, it kind of fits with the storyline that we have going on so far here.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: And and it doesn’t matter. It sounds like, Jennifer, that you, that where you get into the **flow state** occurs in a lot of different places,

Jennifer: It really does. When I’m out at the barn with my horse, I lose all sense of everything. I’m just in joy. I just love it. When I’m playing a violin and I can set that critic aside and just really get into the music in my work, my day-to-day work. Yes, a hundred percent. And then and then there are times, of course where it is harder to get into that **flow state** and so. Yeah, if it’s not something that just comes easy, comes natural for us, like what can people do to really intentionally get into that?

Diane: Yeah, so we’re gonna go through three prompts. And so they are where, what and why. And the first thing is and I’ll give some examples. So, where I that night when I was sitting on the couch, right, figuring out, you know, after that horrible concert I literally was grilling myself with questions. And the first question was like, okay, where am I when I get into the **flow state** the most, it’s on stage.

Diane: What am I doing? I’m playing the violin. Right? That’s what I’m doing on the outside. But the real question is, what are you doing on the inside?

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Diane: And I remember thinking, you know, well, my friends would say, well, yeah, we create the music. That’s what we do. You know, we, people wouldn’t hear it if we don’t create it. And I’m like, yeah, that’s what, that might be still what we’re doing on the outside, you know? And I, and when I think about it, okay, you know, it feels like I’m sharing the message.

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Diane: It feels like I’m sharing the experience as well. And then I thought, you know what? I, I feel like that when I read out loud to my son, I’m sharing the message, I’m sharing the experience, it feels the same. So I’m like, okay, that’s what I’m doing on the inside. And the more I get into telling the story, you know, through the music, the more I get into it. Right?

Diane: And then why is that so meaningful? That’s third question. Why? Why and when I’m talking about why, because we asked this question so many times. What’s your why? What’s your why? I’m talking about the values that are so beyond us. That, that, that we strive towards ’em. They pull stuff out of us, right?

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: And I’m thinking, okay, share the message. Share the experience. Why is that so? Experience, why is that so meaningful? Well, music unites us and, and unity like. That’s what touches me to the core. Like anytime we had an audience sing along, you’ve got the choir behind the orchestra, you’ve got the house lights up, you’ve got thousands of people combined together through one activity. I’m up there crying in a concert. Same thing. Walk for Alzheimer’s. You got thousands of people, you know, coming together to for a cause. And I’m sobbing, right? I can’t help myself. So what you do, you know what I do on the inside was, you know. Sharing the message, sharing the experience. Why is that sense of unity? And when you could define this for yourself, you have a strategy, what I call **flow strategy**. My **flow strategy** is sharing is how I shift into the **flow state** on purpose and unity is how I can shift into it with purpose.

Jennifer: Mm.

Diane: So the chief operating officer of a medical center, she was having communication issues with her people. She’s an introvert. She does not want to try to do something that’s outside of herself because she will burn out. She knows that. She says, I really need to be authentic here. And I don’t know, you know, they, they interrupt during meetings. The specific issue is they interrupt during meetings and they point to finger at me for lack of leadership.

Jennifer: Mm.

Diane: So we went through this process. Where, where are you when you get into the **flow state** the most in my office. What are you doing? Having a one-on-one conversation with people? Now, what are you doing on the inside?

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Diane: And she says, I’m putting aside my thoughts and I’m deeply listening. Why? Why is deep listening so meaningful for you?

Diane: Well, because the deeper I listen, that deeper I connect and connection is what touches me to the core.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: So she knew exactly what to do. She went to their next team meeting and she just opened by stating the main objective, and she told everybody that she wanted to take the time to listen to each person’s point of view. She set herself up and as she tapped into her deep listening superpowers, so did everyone else, like not a single interruption. And as soon as the last person finished speaking, the room burst into this spontaneous conversation where they solved all kinds of issues and. By setting herself up to get into her **flow state**, not only did it inspire the other people to get into theirs, but it sparked group **flow**, which is that team synergy that everybody craves for.

Diane: And what this takes us back to, I know many of you are leaders, is now if we go back to me and the orchestra, I’m leading. Without talking. Right? And so this chief operating officer experienced the exact same thing that I experienced leading an orchestra. It’s the exact same thing that that person who loves making pizza on Friday nights is doing, you’re getting into something by getting into right your **flow state**, by using what you uniquely do on the inside.

Diane: And you get into that sense of purpose, okay? You are igniting the 40,000 neurons in your heart, okay? The electromatic, the electromagnetic field of the heart reaches out three feet around us. Everybody in that three foot circumference is gonna feel our energy. They’re gonna then sync up. Now they’re exuding their three foot circle, right?

Diane: This is how you ignite group **flow**. So you have to lead yourself first by using your **flow strategy** to get into **flow**, in order to lead all of those around you, and to get that ripple effect going. So **flow** is, I have a whole chapter on leadership in my book **Flow** is the energy of influence. I.

Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah, so powerful. Like I love this so much. You know, one of the things on having you on the show today, it’s like, okay, how can a concert violinist, you know, help people in the corporate space, the executive space, like how in the world? But you have answered that question a hundred percent and you’re so right when now you start to bring it into a group situation.

Jennifer: Even in the violin. I now play, I, I was only with my teacher, but now we play in a small group of four or five other musicians and it really just enhances the whole experience when everybody now is coming together and, and playing. And it is just like a. It’s like that **flow state**, but like elevated when now you bring other people into it and now everybody else is also in **flow**.

Jennifer: And it’s really no different than being a leader in our company and getting ourself into that **flow state** first, and then being able to now help and lead our team in getting into their **flow states** as well.

Diane: Yes. It’s interesting ’cause I have a speaking engagement coming up and part of the process is I talk with the leaders and I ask them, what’s going on with your people? I.

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: How can I tailor the message to them? And this is an organization where they specifically told me that their leaders experience loneliness.

Diane: And I was like, yes, I do get that. Because I, you know, being in music is a very social event. And just because I had a leadership role, people would not. Socialize with me as much like the, the, the other leaders, we would talk to each other. And it’s not like, you know, it’s not like I wanted that, I wanted to be able to just like freely talk with everybody. Right.

Jennifer: right.

Diane: And I get that, you know, people kind of have their own ideas of, you know, well I shouldn’t be, you know, socializing with a leader. I don’t know, whatever they’re thinking, right? But I think that the nonverbal connection. That I created,

Jennifer: Mm-hmm.

Diane: the, the conductor and I would really sync up together and exude our energy as much as we could. And I think that you know, it, it’s a deeper level of connection and I just would have to remind myself that, okay, we’re not socializing, but we actually are. Right? We actually are in this together and I’m able to. Create that, you know, be part of that enthusiasm, change chain Right. Reaction that happens. The ripple effect. Right. And so, you know, are we really lonely? No. But but kind of, you know, I’m just trying to figure out a way to put it into perspective for them because I totally get it. Sometimes it is lonely, but when you know, you know, and that’s why it’s great to listen to podcasts like this. It’s great to be in groups where you’re, you’re with other leaders and you’re able to talk about these things, so you have that comradery.

Jennifer: Yeah. Agreed. Completely. So important. I have a client right now going through this that she’s the executive and she was just promoted to a managerial role on the team. And she was just like, Jennifer, I do feel alone because it’s like things are different now. Like she’s not on the same playing field, she is the manager. Now she’s having to enforce things and. There was a whole lot of stuff going on in their office, and so she has now become that leader, that manager, and she’s like, they seem to treat me different. And so it’s, it’s not her imagination. It’s a very real thing, but I love that there are things that we can still do to bring ourselves together, bring our teams together.

Jennifer: We see this too, even at our retreats when we take, you know, 30 entrepreneurs and we’re all in the same room, and I hear this all the time of the entrepreneurial isolation, the loneliness. It’s a very, very real thing. But when you can come together with other business owners and we see that, hey, you know, we’re all the same, we’re all going through the same stuff. Like, it just, it does, it creates such a beautiful. Sense of community and fulfillment and that that loneliness thing kind of starts to go away. You know, when you’re feeling really surrounded by other people and you’re all together. I mean, even some of like our, our masterminds when we do this and just that, that conversation and that dynamic and everybody’s so connected. It’s just, it’s a beautiful thing.

Diane: You know when managers understand their own unique **flow strategy** and they know those three steps where, what and why,

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: then oftentimes they’re the ones who are working directly with the frontline. People. And when they have that tool in their pocket, and if somebody is having an off day,

Jennifer: Yeah.

Diane: you, you can take that person aside and say, you know, let’s talk about this. You know, tell me what do you like, you know, use, you know, and, and I like to use all of the language. I talk about this in my book, like, how can you, you know, ’cause I just gave. We all have had some **flow** education, right? If you’re talking to somebody this woman, she told me she said, you know, “I work for this enormous plumbing company.” She said, “I think that our people totally understand getting into your work like a musician gets into the music.” So that’s an easier entry point than saying get into your **flow state**. Right?

Diane: So, so instead of saying, “where are you when you get into the **flow state** the most.” You’re gonna say, “where are you when you lose all sense of time and you just love what you’re doing?” “Where are you when, when ideas and insights come in from outta the blue,” you use the key indicators. “Where are you when,” and then you insert key indicator there, right?

Diane: Okay, what are you doing? Well, you’re doing this, but what are you doing on the inside? You know? And you coach them through it, and then you ask them why it’s so meaningful. And then oftentimes you’re able to have that, create that ripple effect throughout your organization.

Jennifer: Yeah. Oh, I love it so much, Diane. I could just sit here all day and talk **flow state** with you, like, it’s so beautiful. I, I know. And we need it so much these days. I know people right now are wondering like, where can they go to find out more about you? Where can they buy the book? Where can they find out more about you? Or if they wanna bring you in as a speaker please tell everybody where they can find you.

Connect with Diane Allen & Embrace Your Flow State

Diane: Yeah, well. You know, if you wanna be more happy and productive, that’s what we’re here to talk about, right? I have the cliff notes of a lot of things that we talked about today. And this is my gift for you. There’s also a couple of videos and, and. It’s just go to, we’ll have the link down below, but it’s tinyurl.com/flowstategift. There’s also a **flow strategy** worksheet in there, as well as next steps. My book also has the worksheet in it. It has exercises. It has all the background and, and more examples. It has that chapter on leadership I mentioned as well as a lot of different stories of different people and how they use their **flow strategies** and. Things like that. So that’s on Amazon. It’s easy to just find, you know, if you just say Diane Allen flow, it comes right up. And that’s what I have for people. And I’m just super happy to share. And the, the, tinyurl.com, it’s also a way to, you know, for us to connect. So.

Jennifer: I love it so much and everybody, we will absolutely put all of Diane’s links and information in the show notes, so absolutely. Please go grab a copy of her book. Please check out some of the freebies. Diane, thank you. Thank you so much for being here with me today. You have in. Fired me to keep going with my violin.

Jennifer: Not that I’m gonna stop, but it just, it’s inspiring to talk with somebody else. And honestly, I didn’t even realize some of the, the benefits that come from playing a musical instrument and especially the violin. So, you’ve helped me today to just really understand a little bit more about myself and my playing, so I really appreciate that.

Diane: That’s exactly what I hope for you and for anybody who’s listening to this. That’s awesome.

Jennifer: Nice. I love it. Alright you guys, that’s it for today’s episode. Definitely make sure that you take an action from today’s show. It’s one thing to sit and listen and be inspired and be motivated, but, you know, jump in there, see what you can do to improve your **flow state**. Go grab Diane’s book, take some action and that’s where you’re really and truly gonna get the result. So that’s it. Thank you guys for being here with me today. Get out there and have a happy, productive day y’all. Bye.

I really hope you found today’s episode of the Happy Productive Podcast inspiring. Every successful business is formed by sets of small, consistent, and attainable steps. If you want to learn more, come visit us at jenniferdawncoaching.com to take your next step and learn how to meet your business goals and really to knock them out of the park.

On the website, you’re going to find free resources along with links to all of our life-changing coaching programs that have transformed the lives of so many of our clients, including the Coaching Academy and our Unbreakable Retreats. Many of them started their journey by listening to this podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today and stay tuned for our next episode.

Links

• Connect with Diane Allen:
• Book: Flow: Unlock Your Genius, Love What You Do (Available on Amazon)
• Free Gift & Flow Strategy Worksheet: tinyurl.com/flowstategift

• Connect with Jennifer:
• www.jenniferdawncoaching.com
• www.jenniferdawncoaching.com/our-retreat
• www.jenniferdawnacademy.com