Learning is perhaps one of the key points of existence. We learn so that we can have new or different experiences. Being able to learn means we can do new things or do old things in novel ways. This ability to learn underlies the ability to solve problems. It also underlies the ability to create meaningfully.

Mental models, or more simply models, are what we create when we learn. Whether we are learning something that is outside of ourselves, some system we have to run, build, sell, install, fix or upgrade or whether it is something that directly involves ourselves, mental models are the result of that learning.

A key to effective learning, to understanding, is building these models from two points of view. So that learning is efficient and non-frustrating we can break what we are learning into clearly defined elements and focus on small groups of these in relative isolation.

A further element of learning is indexing the models that our brain builds so that we can call them up without having to think.

An additional key to learning is being able to check what we’ve learned, so that we can improve our models when necessary.

This books details a set of simple concepts, and includes principles (both first principles and basic principles) that can be easily adapted to make learning, problem solving, and creating easier.

These concepts and principles provide a framework for both thinking about how to do things and how to actually do them. 

Learn how to learn, and how to:

• Build better mental models (and how to scale and modularize them)
• Make learning efficient, effective and less frustrating
• Improve problem solving abilities
• Deal effectively with fear and frustration
• Use limits to become less limited
• Utilize mental models for better muscle control and body awareness
• Improve our understanding and the way that we do things

It all starts with the notion that our brain builds models, mental models, and those models form the foundation of our understanding, intuition and habits. At the same time, we can choose how we construct and index those models thus improving our understanding and the way that we do things.

Rather than looking at how lots of different people have experienced flow, Know to Flow is about my own experience of flow across a wide variety of activities. They range from motorcycle riding to Chinese calligraphy but also include 20 years of teaching (plus a few more of doing) yoga.

These experiences by themselves aren't enough to make me an expert on flow. I've spent a lot of time trying to understand flow and its opposite mindstate. And part of that understanding comes from having been an engineer as well as an armorer. In both instances, I've learned to understand the things I was working on and to fix them. How does this relate to the idea of flow? You could think of a problem as a lack or inability to flow. Anytime we have a problem, that's when we need to use our thinking mind (particularly if we don't have the necessary experience or understanding to know what the problem is.) When we solve problems, then we can flow, if we choose.

Going beyond the usual recipes or prerequisites for getting into the flow, this is how an everyday person gets into the flow easily.

This isn't to say that you can't learn from skilled people.

It's to say that anybody can access the flow mindstate and you don't need extreme activities or experiences to get there.

• You'll learn why habits (and memory) are an essential element of flow.
• You'll learn how clearly defined ideas make it easy to get into the flow.
• You'll also learn why being critical is the antithesis of flow.
• (But there is a time and a place for it).

There's more.

• You'll learn why being in the flow makes you more responsive.
• Plus you'll learn how to use your senses and how to adjust your sensitivity while flowing.

And have you ever heard that Bruce Lee talk about "being like water"?

With Know to Flow, you'll learn how you can be like water. (And why you can't be like water in space.)

Plus you'll learn one possible definition for "efficient learning" and how you can make your own learning more efficient.