Flow Facilitator Spotlight: Novelty

Try something new! It's good for you!

This is the third in a series exploring the 21 +/- conditions that researchers have identified as helping to facilitate a state of flow. The list of conditions is certainly not exhaustive! I'd love to hear from you if you've found other ways to set yourself up for optimal experiences - please share your thoughts in the comments!

When I started taking karate, in September of 1994, it was because I was looking for something new. I had just begun studying at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, and was looking for a club or some kind of extra-curricular activity that would get me out of my basement suite and into something where I would meet people, learn something, and maybe get a little workout in the mix. But I didn't want to do just anything; I wanted to do something that no one I knew was doing, I wanted something I knew nothing about, and more than anything, I wanted to do something cool. Skimming through the student handbook, “traditional Shotokan karate” jumped out at me, and I thought, “aha, that’s it!”

Me circa 1991, mustering the courage; going for it!

Looking back now, more than 30 years later, I am surprised by the young person that I was, and I admire her. Back then, I was 100% a “yes” person - meaning, if given the option to do or don’t do, try or don’t try, give it a whirl or give it a pass, I was solidly in the, “I say we go for it” camp. I loved trying new things. That was the me who went bungee jumping in Australia, who ate street food in Shanghai – the prairie girl who signed up to learn to row and sail a Bantry Bay Longboat and represent Alberta as part of the inaugural year of Atlantic Challenge in Brest, France. That me was into cool, fun things!

Inaugural Team, 1992, Atlantic Challenge Canada

But somewhere along the way, that “yes” turned into a ”mayyyybeee…?”, then into a “I’ll think about it” and then a “yeah… no”. I say “somewhere along the way” but I know exactly where I lost my appetite for new things; rather, it was more like I gained a craving for comfort, predictability, control. Partly due to some terrible losses and crushing disappointments, and partly due simply to age and stage, over time I slowly began to retreat. Now, don’t get me wrong - I still set goals for myself, sought out opportunities, and embarked on interesting things. But spontaneity? Novelty? I allowed those things to cross my path less and less.

Novelty is new; novelty is unusual. By definition, it is fresh, original, unexpected, and interesting – all things that stimulate our attention and curiosity. And there are several reasons why novelty-seeking behaviours tend to decline -- not just for me, but for all of us – as we age.

Two umbrella themes in flow studies are attention and energy. I have touched on them both in other articles because in my view they’re really all we have: what we pay attention to and the energy we put into it. When we’re really young, our energy and attention are directed toward new experiences as we learn and begin to understand the world. Over time, as we become more skilled at navigating life, our brains begin to prioritize optimization over exploration – which is more demanding – leading eventually to “effort avoidance”. It’s cognitively more efficient!

We’re also often nudged away from novelty because of the very attributes that make some things novel: uncertainty and risk (both physical and social). Over time, because we’ve managed to learn how to navigate life by accumulating experiences, successes and failures, injuries and achievements, many of us develop an aversion to both uncertainty and risk. Growing up and “settling down” becomes a virtue, even though it can limit new experiences and stifle novelty.

And while I do believe that a certain degree of stability and risk aversion is necessary, especially as we take on the responsibilities of adulthood, I also believe that in our Third Act, we can begin to free ourselves from those constraints and open up possibilities for novelty once again. 

One way to do that, I think, is to redefine what novelty means to us, and challenge our relationship to risk. The key is not reckless risk-taking, but rather adjusting how we engage with uncertainty in our lives. The uncertainty is the risk. Challenging your relationship to it does not mean ignoring caution or safety, but rather expanding your definition of uncertainty to include growth instead of fear.

When we treat risk and uncertainty as pathways to novelty, we naturally activate curiosity, engagement, and flow.

Here are a few ways to recalibrate your relationship to risk:

Start small

Experiment with little bite-size risks: start a conversation with a stranger, share an idea that you may be nervous about, try out a new hobby. These little acts of novelty help prime you larger leaps down the road.

My best advice for starting small? Get back into reading. Books. Not articles, not video essays, books. And yes, audiobooks count! Expose yourself to new stories or complex ideas that require you to pay attention, think, and reflect. It’s how we widen our worlds in an era of ever-narrowing outlooks and perspectives.

Re-imagine your “what if?”s

When considering something new, instead of thinking about what could go wrong, imagine the possibilities of what could go right! This shift can trigger a dopamine response, increasing motivation and satisfaction.

Align your new, novel actions with things that are important to you

Pursuing new things that still support what truly matters to you – like creativity, community, contribution, for example – the uncertainty stops feeling scary and starts to feel purposeful. 

In other words, you don’t need to launch yourself (tethered, of course!) off bridges or dangerously flirt with gastrointestinal distress through questionable street food to access novelty. Allow yourself to get nervouscited. Say yes a little more often, challenge yourself to become a little more curious, and prime yourself for opportunity. It’s a delicious recipe for flow.