FLOW or how we went looking for happiness in the mountains and what we actually found
The marketing specialists at Magenta Consulting are typical. We are curious to the backbone. We don't stop to investigate various topics even when we sleep. Also, we're interested in what happiness is. On this topic, we discovered the “Flow”.
Magenta Consulting went to search for “Flow”
“Flow” is a book written by a Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He confirms one of the theories ore and more popular these days: that happiness is within us. An idea from this book we drew attention to in particular is that we're happier when we overcome a difficult obstacle, whenever we feel challenged. That is when we enter this „flow” of inspiration, whenever only what we do right now matters. Time, distracting thoughts, even being tired or hungry – all this becomes insignificant. That is when we merge with the current activity and we feel that we don’t want to do anything else – here and now is the most important.
We have one more weakness: we want to learn in different ways than usual, we are the anti-training followers. No more sitting at the table with the presentations, coffee and cookies! We took our backpacks and went for an adventure. We like to learn by having fun.
“Flow” and the conquest of the mountain
This time, we chose a “Flow” destination. One that puts maximum pressure on us - the top of the Caraiman in the Bucegi mountains. 2000 meters is not much for the climbers, but for 23 people, some of who were hiking the first time, the route has turned into a real challenge.
Ana Cironîi, Magenta Consulting: “The climb to the top lasted 5 hours. Firstly we all took a hurried step, wishing to conquer the heights. Who would have told us that walking with small steps is the best for succeeding in this matter? It's no wonder that, already at the second mile, for most of us, walking began to be hard. However, we adjusted to the rhythm of the joint. Probably, the most difficult part was for those who wanted to break to freedom. We learned what it means to show empathy and to slow your pace when you know that without you, someone may not reach the top.“
No process, no matter how “flow” it is, doesn’t run without troubles
Then, the panic started. On the half of the route, it happened to us something that marathoners, climbers and all athletes go through. The brain refuses to believe that it will succeed. You don't want to keep going. You are asking yourself what you are doing there and how did it occur to you to set out voluntarily into such torment. Exactly then - it matters that someone tells you that everything will be fine and it's not allowed to give up when the remaining distance is so short and you have traversed so much. And after a few hours the triumph occurred. We did it!!! The tip of the Caraiman has been conquered!
Irina Stașcu, Magenta Consulting: “It's this feeling like you can do anything in this world, especially if you're with the right people. Honestly, I feel brand new after this teambuilding activity, I trust people around me more, I have more confidence in myself (I climbed a mountain, after all!), I have more patience and, overall, I feel like I did a restart of my mind and soul (even if my muscles hurt like crazy about 3 days after) :))”
At Magenta we learn every day and become more...“flow”
The same thing happens with projects. It’s like climbing a mountain. Without the help and support of your team it is hard and often impossible. But when you reach the top and see the world from above, you say: Hey! I did it! The impossible is possible! And to succeed, it's necessary:
• the distribution of tasks on small parts.
• Self-motivation, to not let the anxiety take control.
• Acceptance of each difficult task as the chance to learn something new that will serve us in the future.
• Transformation of tasks in a game, with well-defined challenges and the possibility of obtaining a feedback immediately.