flow

flowThe psychology of optimal experience

By mihaly csikszentmihalyi

What should you know as we begin?This book is not a how to book, or a recipe for happiness. However, if taken to heart, the information presented can have a lasting change on how life is experienced.The author challenges the reader to take the work from theory into practice in their own life.

csikszentmihalyis credentialsPh.D., University of Chicago, 1965B.A., University of Chicago, 1960

Professor Csikszentmihalyi is the founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC). The QLRC is a non-profit research institute that studies "positive psychology"; that is, human strengths such as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility.The author is currently a professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.

Chapter 1Happiness revisited

Why are we so discontent?

Happiness is

Reclaiming the experience

Chapter 2The anatomy of conciousness

The limits of conciousness

The self

Disorder and order in conciousness

Flow and the growth of the self

Chapter 3The enjoyment and the quality of life

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Quality of lifeThere are two main strategies we can adopt to improve the quality of life. The first is to try making external conditions match our goals. The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 43).

Pleasure is a feeling of contentment when either a biological or socially conditioned expectation is met (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 45).

Taste of foodRestingExperiencing an exotic localePleasure does not bring happiness, rather it helps maintain orderpleasure

What makes experience enjoyable?Eight major components to enjoyment (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 49)Confronting a task one has a chance of completing.Ability to concentrate on what one is doing.There are clear goals.Task provides immediate feedback.During the task one gets lost in the process.One has a feeling of control over his or her actions.Concern for the self disappears.One loses track of time.What makes experience enjoyable?

The autotelic experienceA self-contained activity where the doing is the reward.

When experience is intrinsically rewarding life is justified in the present, instead of being held hostage to a hypothetical future gain (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990,p. 69)

Chapter 4The conditions of flow

Flow activitiesActivities that were designed to make optimal experience easier to achieve (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 72).The Four Types of Activities:Agon - games feature competitionSportsAthletic eventsAlea - games of chanceDiceBingoIlinx or Vertigo - activities that alter consciousnessMerry-go-roundSkydivingMimicry - alternative realities are createdDanceTheater

Flow and cultureCultures are all-embracing; they specify how a person should be born, how she should grow up, marry, have children, and die (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 81)

The autotelic personalityIt is not easy to transform ordinary experience into flow, but almost everyone can improve his or her ability to do so (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 83).Obstacles to Achieving FlowPsychological disorders such as schizophrenia and attention disordersExtreme self-consciousnessExtreme self-centerednessSocial conditions

Influences on The Autotelic PersonalityAbility to focus attentionEarly childhood and family life

The people of flowWhen adversity threatens to paralyze us, we need to reassert control by finding a new direction in which to invest psychic energy, a direction that lies outside the reach of external forces (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 92).

Chapter 5The body in flow

The body in flowThe easiest step toward improving the quality of life consists in simply learning to control the body and its senses (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 94).

The body and the senses in flowPhysical ActivityWe find joy in surpassing what we thought were limits in our own bodies.AthleticsSexYoga and Martial Arts

The body and the senses in flowFlow Through the SensesSightListeningTaste

Creating a flow activitySet an overall goalFind ways to measure progressConcentrate on what one is doingDevelop skills to create and interact with opportunitiesKeep raising the stakes

Chapter 6The flow of thought

Chapter 7Work as flow

Chapter 8Enjoying solitude and other people

Chapter 9Cheating chaos

Cheating chaosHappiness does not come from good health, an abundance of money, or good looks!Transform your tragedies into lemonade.

A mature defense to stress

Transform your tragedies into lemonade.

Transformational copingOne enlists:

Courage

Resilience

Perseverance

& Mature Defense

To move away from suffering.The Autotelic Self.transforms potentially entropic experience into flow. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Set goals

Become immersed in your activities

Pay attention to what is going on

Learn to enjoy immediate experience

Chapter 10The making of meaning

The making of meaning Bring Order to the Contents of the Mind by Integrating Your Actions into Flow

EXPRESS your intentions in your actions

Cultivate a Purpose Resolve yourself to be serious about goals and get to know yourself so inner conflicts can be sorted out and allow energy to flow towards positive activities and reflections.

RECOVER Harmony by knowing when to rest, when to engage, and when to plot a new course.

Make your life theme a powerful movement towards flow consciously.

conclusionYES! Recommend the book to friends, BUT keep your copy and read it each year.

FLOW is progressively attainable, and we, as humans, can benefit from reading this book often!

Listen to those sad songs, cry, and then listen to:Keep listening to the following songs...music heals!

Are you feeling a flow?

I got a feeling