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Meet Govert, a trainer and coach who has a keen interest in the mental side of performance.
Govert has worked as a coach and trainer in domains ranging from the sporting industry to the corporate world in Europe. Govert is also a field hockey coach in Holland at a Premier League level and played for the National team during his younger years.
Note: Due to the language barrier, we have shaped Govert’s interview into a narrative below. All comments have been derived from an interview and reflect the true story.
Govert first experienced flow at the age of seventeen, when he played in the National Championships for field hockey. He had previously missed the cut at 15, which he attributed to his mental game.
“I think my technical skills were more than okay, but mentally I was just not ready”.
With just five minutes left of the game, Govert recalls that he knew he was going to score the winning goal.
“I knew it for five minutes, so I was in a different kind of state”.
After taking a penalty shot which went through three people before hitting the crossbar and going in, Govert states:
“Everyone was jumping up and down and it was really special… and that’s when I first really felt flow and recognised it as a different state”.
Ever since then, Govert was interested in finding out more about this experience and how to replicate it. He did some courses on Flow but didn’t find the depth that he was looking for, which is when he reached out to The Flow Centre.
Goevert, first completed the Flow Certificate over two years ago, then went on to complete the Coaching Diploma, and then graduate from the Flow Diploma.
“The concept of winning and losing only exists if you make it so”.
Govert attests that understanding this concept of failure being nothing more than a construct in our minds played an integral role in enhancing his ability to let go of stress, expectation and rigid performances; and ultimately access flow states. Govert portrays this ability to shift his intention and approach as one of the primary takeaways that he experienced throughout his flow training.
“When you make everything about learning then stress will disappear… seeing stress as just a challenge to learn something new has been life changing”.
Govert explains that the courses’ guidance on incorporating and practicing daily flow routines helped him understand the role of flow in everyday life, outside of just sport and business.
“It’s not only helpful for your career as a coach or trainer but also for yourself as an individual in your life; with your wife, son, or even the dog. Flow has had a huge impact in all my relationships and almost everything I apply myself to...it doesn’t matter, you know you can use it everywhere and all the time”.
I was already working as a coach and very familiar with flow, but I was struggling to be the coach I knew I could be. I lacked a robust coaching framework and support system…
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Govert had read many books on flow, completed many courses, and even called himself a flow coach prior to training with the Flow Centre. He found upon the conclusion of the courses, however, that each provided their own unique and integral part in developing an insight into flow—deeper than he had ever previously imagined. He was surprised by how much he learnt considering his prior knowledge.
Govert describes how completing the Flow Certificate, Coaching Diploma and Flow Diploma has served to increase his knowledge of flow and helped him strive for more difficult challenges that he believes he would not have attempted prior to his learning.
Possessing the insight to view challenges as an opportunity for growth and development rather than a chance of potential failure has been fundamental in building Govert’s mental game and increasing his accessibility of flow throughout all aspects of his life.
Training to find flow offered Govert new skills to reframe his thought patterns and habits around his intentions and actions towards flow. Turning off the ‘automatic pilot’, for example, and finding purpose and goals in all that he does has been pivotal to the impact of integrating flow in his life.
“I just look at it differently now… I choose to go for more challenging environments”.
“I was always saying ‘Am I good enough, am I doing the best I can’... as soon as I let that go, I improved my game drastically”.
“It made it really clear how you can make flow trainable in your own life, as well as the people you coach. I have also learnt so many tools and scenarios to help coach others. I have a framework and structure that I can use for years to come”.
“The flow is nothing different than being completely innocent again”.
“Lastly, I would say dare to learn… dare to see everything as a learning experience”.
Govert has now integrated the techniques of finding flow into his training, coaching, and his personal life as a whole. Not only has it offered him new skills, but made his life exponentially richer.
This is a flow story to highlight real experiences from real people; sharing their stories for others to understand the impact flow has had on their lives. Personal experiences are conveyed in the hope of providing insight into what the Flow Centre is about, and demonstrating the value in what we do and why we do it. Please see other flow stories here.
