What’s missing from career maps

When’s the last time you were so immersed in something you lost all track of time and the rest of the world fell away?

The NIH defines this “flow state” is the “intrinsically motivating state of optimal experience in which an individual fully concentrates on the current task.” Flow happens more often and more intensely when we’re at work than during leisure time, research shows, but it’s still rare. It’s the opposite of languishing, as described by Adam Grant in this brilliant article from the depths of the pandemic. In Pixar’s Soul, people in this zone are in “the space between the physical and spiritual.”

Flow is an essential component of navigating a fulfilling career. I’m not saying we’ll spend every moment of the workday in a state of immersed bliss. But there will be jobs that align better with our skills, interests and abilities. In general, they offer us more opportunities to find flow. I’m proposing we add an element to our understanding of progress in our careers, looking not just at where we sit in the corporate hierarchy but how we experience success in our work, too. 

Finding your flow