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The Science of Adventure and Flow

A Talk by Jon Levy at Fortune​

[Music]

Jon Levy:

December 17, 2015.

I’ve just exited Antarctic waters—zero degrees.

I don’t feel my arms or legs.

I’ve outdone all of my shipmates by a factor of ten. I’m so disoriented by the intense cold that I wander Deception Island in my shorts, not realizing I have to get dressed.

Risk and Reality

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July 7, 2013. Pamplona, Spain.

I go for the Running of the Bulls.

I train for weeks. I make it through the run perfectly safe and into the stadium—

not realizing that once you’re inside, they let the bulls in one at a time to mess with the runners.

And something like this happens to me.

[Music]

[Applause]

In my case, as the bull was entering the stadium, it jumped, missed its jump, and landed on my back.

I thought I was paralyzed.

I ended up in triage in an emergency room.

Here you can see me delirious, in pain, with a hoofprint embedded into my back.

Beneath the Surface

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December 29, 2016. Bali, Indonesia.

I’m forty feet underwater, holding my breath.

CO₂ is filling my lungs, causing intense convulsions.

But instead of heading toward the surface, I continue deeper—into the wreck.

Why Do This?

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Now, you may ask yourself:

Why would any rational human being ever consider doing any of these things?

And no—it wasn’t to impress a woman.

Well… maybe a little.

It’s because I’m a behavioral scientist. And among the things I study—besides influence—is what actually causes us to live fun, exciting, engaging, and fulfilling lives.

I literally wrote a book about it called The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure.

And if you’re curious—no, I didn’t enjoy any of those experiences.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t benefit from every single one of them.

What Is an Adventure?

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I dedicated my life to understanding what gives us deep engagement.

What I discovered is that every adventure follows a predictable four-stage process. Each stage has specific characteristics that, when applied, make life exciting.

But before we can understand that, I have to explain what I mean by adventure.

When I began this research, I realized there was no unifying definition—so I had to invent one.

As I see it, an adventure is an experience that is:

1. Remarkable

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It has to be worth talking about.

For millennia, our species has passed down knowledge through oral history.

If it’s not worth discussing, it’s not culturally significant.

2. Risky (or Perceived Risk)

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It must involve adversity and/or risk—preferably perceived risk.

I know from experience there’s a huge difference between minute peril and perceived danger.

Skydiving? Incredibly safe.

Climbing Everest? Makes you about 2,222 times more likely to die than skydiving.

3. Transformational

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The person you are at the end is fundamentally different from the person who started.

If you look at any great hero’s journey, they are always changed by the experience.

And long after the wild stories fade, what you’re left with is an expanded capacity—a greater comfort zone.

You’ve pushed yourself through physical, emotional, or social boundaries.

Flow State

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As I continued researching engagement, I came across a brilliant psychologist many of you may know: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

For decades, he studied peak human performance.

He interviewed rock climbers, business leaders, artists, musicians, dancers, and athletes.

Overwhelmingly, they all described the same state—what he called flow.

Flow is the moment where you are fully engaged.

There’s zero distance between you and the activity.

You feel at one with it.

You lose self-consciousness.

Time disappears.

It feels ecstatic.

How We Enter Flow

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We are not most engaged when we are safe and secure.

We are most engaged when we are doing something that requires skill and stretches us beyond what we already know.

If something is too easy—we get bored.

If it’s too hard—we become self-conscious.

To enter flow, we need immediate, continuous feedback and a challenge that feels attainable.

This is what I call optimal anxiety.

And this is where adventure lives.

Why Adventure Is for Everyone

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We may not all become world-class musicians or famous artists—but we all have mastery in being ourselves.

Adventure is individualized.

I don’t get to decide what’s adventurous for you.

And you don’t get to decide what’s adventurous for me.

If you did, you probably wouldn’t let me do half the things I do.

The Comfort Zone Myth

The beauty of flow is that it’s available to anyone.

We just need to remove distractions—our phones, constant notifications—and allow ourselves to focus.

Because the magic in life always occurs outside our comfort zone.

Shane Snow describes it best with a jungle gym metaphor:

If the bars are too close together, you can’t build momentum.

If they’re too far apart, you fall.

But when the spacing is just right—you fly.

Work, Life, and Engagement

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Think about when you started a new job.

When asked how it’s going, you said:

“I love it—I’m learning so much.”

Engagement doesn’t come from ease.

It comes from difficulty that feels achievable.

So if you lead teams or run organizations, ask yourself:

Am I turning work into an adventure?

Am I allowing people to enter flow?

Closing

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If there’s one thing I’ve learned—from injuries, exploration, and decades of research—it’s this:

The magic in life happens outside your comfort zone.

It requires a willingness to be uncomfortable.

So I hope you all have incredibly uncomfortable lives—

and enjoy all the adventure and magic that comes with it.

Thank you.

[Applause]