I think what the author describes has a lot to do with relaxation and letting intuition take over (which is how I believe this “flow” state is achieved), instead of thinking too hard or making too much conscious choices and putting the mind under pressure with expectations of success.
It is natural that this “strategy” would lead to more success in the end, which applies to any kind of challenging activity. I like the description as “subtracting”, since you kind-of have to empty your mind before doing the thing. But I believe this does not apply to practicing, where you do have to make conscious efforts and “add to” yourself a lot of stuff in order to internalize it and hopefully build up the intuition required for this flow state to work.
As some here pointed out, doesn’t have to do anything with self-optimization. Although self-optimization may lead someone to believe that a lot of conscious effort is the key to success, when it can actually set them up for failure.
It is natural that this “strategy” would lead to more success in the end, which applies to any kind of challenging activity. I like the description as “subtracting”, since you kind-of have to empty your mind before doing the thing. But I believe this does not apply to practicing, where you do have to make conscious efforts and “add to” yourself a lot of stuff in order to internalize it and hopefully build up the intuition required for this flow state to work.
As some here pointed out, doesn’t have to do anything with self-optimization. Although self-optimization may lead someone to believe that a lot of conscious effort is the key to success, when it can actually set them up for failure.