flow the psychology of optimal experience by mihaly csikszentmihalyi

Rather than presenting a list of dos and don’ts, this book intends to be a voyage through the realms of the mind, charted with the tools of science. What a book can do, however, and what this one will try to accomplish, is to present examples of how life can be made more enjoyable, ordered in the framework of a theory, for readers to reflect upon and from which they may then draw their own conclusions. Because optimal experience depends on the ability to control what happens in consciousness moment by moment, each person has to achieve it on the basis of his own individual efforts and creativity. However well-intentioned, books cannot give recipes for how to be happy. In the quest for happiness, partial solutions don’t work. What would really satisfy people is not getting slim or rich, but feeling good about their lives. Yet even if their advice were to work, what would be the result afterward in the unlikely event that one did turn into a slim, well-loved, powerful millionaire? Usually what happens is that the person finds himself back at square one, with a new list of wishes, just as dissatisfied as before. Like cookbooks, they tell you how to accomplish a specific, limited goal on which few people actually follow through. There are literally thousands of such volumes in print or on the remainder shelves of book-stores, explaining how to get rich, powerful, loved, or slim. But what follows is not going to be a how-to book. Read moreĪlthough many articles and books on flow have been written for the specialist, this is the first time that the research on optimal experience is being presented to the general reader and its implications for individual lives discussed. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness, unlock our potential, and greatly improve the quality of our lives. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi ('the leading researcher into ‘flow states’' -Newsweek) demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of 'optimal experience' have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow.

The bestselling classic that holds the key to unlocking meaning, creativity, peak performance, and true happiness. T he manner in which Csikszentmihalyi integrates research on consciousness, personal psychology and spirituality is i lluminating.” -Los Angeles Times Book Review That is, it is not what happens to us that determines our happiness, but the manner in which we make sense of that reality. “Csikszentmihalyi arrives at an insight that many of us can intuitively grasp, despite our insistent (and culturally supported) denial of this truth.

Flow the psychology of optimal experience by mihaly csikszentmihalyi