Spoiler Alert

If you haven’t seen F1, stop reading. Find a theater, and go see it right now. 

Okay, now that you’ve done that, let’s get down to business. 

1. There’s flow. 
2. And then there’s flow.

If you play your cards right, we might just get you to second base. ⚾️

Athletes call #2 being “in the zone.” Gamers call it being “dialed in.”

Musicians have a better term: in the pocket. 

Cal Zones

Cal Newport is a lot of things. 

✅ Smart 
✅ Scientific 
✅ Articulate 
✅ Thoughtful

Cool — isn’t one of them. 

But what is cool exactly? 

By the standard definition – and the one that matters most – maybe I should reconsider. 

After all, what adults know – and what they tell their kids – is that being cool is most of all about being yourself. 

By that definition, I think Cal Newport is uber cool. Dude is himself. 

But… 🥴 He’s also not, y’know… cool. 

As in, awesome. Badass. 

Why This Maters

And this is relevant because there are two different levels of flow. Cal Newport popularized the first one with his book Deep Work. And he deserves a ton of credit for giving us all tools that have for millennia helped a select few “To Escape Mediocrity & Get Ahead Of 99% Of People.” 

Even if you’ve never heard of Cal Newport, I can guarantee that you have been influenced indirectly by his insights through teachers, peers, bosses, and other content creators. 

So, huge credit. 

But Cal Newport is also a huge nerd. 

He’s a PhD sorta guy writing mostly about PhD sorta occupations. 

• If you’re trying to be a champion gymnast, Cal doesn’t relate – at least publicly – to what you’re feeling. 

• If you’re a sales pro crushing deals all day, you likely feel a high that “deep work” doesn’t describe. 

• If you’re a Formula 1 driver, your body and mind experience something that few people on earth experience outside of the bedroom. 

• And what we did as Navy SEALs is a fundamentally different cognitive and bodily process than, for example, writing a newsletter. 

My introduction to flow was in the BC period, i.e. before Cal. 

My brothers and I watched a ton of baseball with our dad. (Let’s go Mets!) 

Great hitters described what they did – at their best – as being “in the zone.” 

At the age of 12, I assumed this meant just being on a hot streak. So, if someone was hitting .400 for his last 20 plate appearances, he was per se within aforementioned zone.

Perhaps that’s what people who’ve never experienced the zone think, too. 

But a hot streak isn’t what the zone (aka pocket) is – at all. 

Feeling the Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the godfather of flow. He coined the term in the 1970s and popularized it with a book in 1990. Notably, his most popular quote includes a physical aspect:

I would argue there’s an emotional component as well. When you’re in the zone, you experience a combination of peace and ecstasy. 

My favorite band in college was Led Zeppelin. Naturally my favorite guitarist was Jimmy Page. 

If you look at him mid-solo, you can see it on his face – bliss so deep it hurts. 

Look at any other contender for best guitarist ever, and you’ll see the same expression on their face. Angus Young. Jimi Hendrix. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Eddie Van Halen. Et al. 

(Just don’t say Joe Satriani. Technical proficiency ≠ art.)

Solitary Eternity 

The best example of the flow I’m talking about is the movie F1. Brad Pitt plays a washed up race car driver. There’s a love story and a buddy rivalry situation. A simplistic comparison would be “Top Gun in cars.” 

But F1 does something that Top Gun never did: It displays in vivid color – and through incredible sound thanks to Hans Zimmer – the visceral feeling of a warrior in the pocket. 

Look: You will be more effective if you can find this state.

But without it, you’re also robbing yourself of one of the best feelings a human can feel:

Invincibility. 

Use These Powers for Good 

It’s easy to let a feeling of invincibility bleed into destructive patterns: 

❌ chasing highs vs. patient building 
❌ disdain for others
❌ recklessness 

I have flirted with a couple of these myself. It took a long time to get control after the SEAL Teams. Like a pro athlete, it’s hard to walk away from all the adrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine. 

Meanwhile, as a mostly recovered procrastinator, I think there’s one factor that the literature overlooks. Academics dismiss the idea that someone “works best under pressure.” And yes, there are studies that support their point. 

But the all too familiar catchphrase above is in my belief a proxy for two really important truths: 

1. The procrastinator might not work at all without the pressure. Any output feels like a massive win. 

2. He actually enjoys the pressure. 

Once he’s in crisis mode, he’s all in – like a doctor in the emergency department working on the trauma that just burst through the door. 

The issue is that the procrastinator convinces himself that what he’s doing is okay (maybe even optimal) because he can get it done – and feels good doing it. 

🧰 Becoming Superman: How to Get in the Pocket

Steven Kotler explores these concepts in his book The Rise of Superman. The title can’t not be a deliberate reference to Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch.

Like Nietzsche’s ideal human, Kotler emphasizes: 

1. Transcending herd mentality

2. Pursuing peak experience 

3. Evolving the self

4. Mastering fear 

I’ll add three more: 

5. Intense internal drive (IID)

6. Taking risks

7. Mastery 

#5 and 6 speak for themselves. Meanwhile, mastery is critical. If you’ve never shot a basketball before, you’re unlikely to feel great at the park pickup game. 

Look – you can’t live in the pocket. 

Sometimes you can’t even find it.
It’s elusive. 

But you can train for it. 

So when you drop into it –
you’re flying.

❤️ Andrew

🔖 Coda

There’s also 3. Flo and 4. Flow. 

We love #3. I saw the newest Flo commercial on mute while in the gym. ‘Progressive Ranch’ was so hilarious without sound that I don’t need ears anymore.

For the guys here, #4 is an app – for women. Hope 2+2 is equaling 4 and it’s clear at this point what the app is for. . 

Maybe some members of The Warrior Poet team love it, but I don’t plan to ask them. It’s “Don’t ask. Don’t tell.” around here. 

Feelin the flow. Workin it. Workin it. 

🎵 Outro 

Iggy Pop has disdain for those who can’t seem to find the pocket.

Straight. Up. Banger.

Punkrocker by Teddy Bears feat. Iggy Pop

Cheers

🧠 Let’s talk: Lost your pocket? Grab a free slot to meet with me, and let’s find it together. 💥 🙌

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I’d love to hear from you.

Get unstuck, and crush it. Double period. 🔱