Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - No Cost Library

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience 

   Author(s): Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  

                                    Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, Year: 2008                                           

 Description: 

Psychology Analyst Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's celebrated examinations of "ideal experience" have uncovered that what makes an encounter really fulfilling is a condition of cognizance called stream. During the stream, individuals ordinarily experience profound delight, imagination, and a complete association with life. In this new release of his earth-shattering great work, Csikszentmihalyi exhibits the manners in which this positive state can be controlled, not simply left to risk. Stream: The Psychology of Optimal Experience shows how, by requesting the data that enters our awareness, we can find genuine bliss and incredibly improve the nature of our lives.

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Book Review:

Flow is a classic book of the positive psychology world, and with good cause. It was published in 1990 by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of the founding fathers of positive psychology, after having completed decades of "optimal perception" studies. Csikszentmihalyi (he trains us to say "chick-sent-me-high" to get close to the right pronunciation) and his colleagues were after the very top of life; inquire, what do we do when we excel the most? How all of us envision is utter relaxation: let me end up lying on a beach for weeks, sipping cocktails and nibbling grapes, and that will definitely be the pinnacle of life. It shows that we need happiness psychology above everyone. While we picture complete satisfaction as the essence of life, we still forecast our own joy very poorly.

What Csikszentmihalyi considered together with his colleagues was not relief. As Flow states "In a collaborative attempt to do something daunting and worthwhile, the strongest moments typically come when a person's body or mind is stretched beyond its limits. Therefore, ideal perception is what we make happen. "Flow is" the environment "– the almost mystical state of mind in which you are totally immersed into something quite difficult, yet feasible. Since you are the edge of your capacity, change requires all of your mental strength. You don't have any extra moments to wonder "Did I do this right? "And" Do I have to get some milk back home? "Csikszentmihalyi states that flow is 'the situation in which people are so interested in an action that little else appears to matter; the interaction itself is so pleasant that people can even do so at considerable cost, for the sake of doing it.'

Flux

And how do we get to that incredible mindset? Through concentration. Totally. In this noisy world we live in, it's said much better than done. Yet dwelling solely on a problem is worthwhile, as doing so lets one get wind. Csikszentmihalyi writes "The shape and content of life depends on how care has been used ... attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience ... attention shapes the self, and is shaped by it in turn."

Part of why I loved Flow so much is the predictable link that Csikszentmihalyi provides between ideal games and experience. (As many of you know, my career has largely led the design and development of games and I am currently working on a game that teaches the science of thriving at work.) The author writes how "even routine details can be transformed into personally meaningful games that deliver optimal experiences."

But to achieve flow we don't need to be playing games. While many of us consider work to be a challenge and our spare time to be a good time, Csikszentmihalyi (and I) believe the right job offers enough incentives for success. "In reality, working people attain the flow experience — deep focus, strong and balanced tasks and abilities, a sense of power and satisfaction — approximately four times as much as they do while watching television on their jobs."

Tying games and working together, Csikszentmihalyi says when it is more like a game, work can be a better experience. "The more inherently a job resembles a game – with variety, suitable and flexible challenges, clear goals and immediate feedback – the more pleasant it will be."

Needless to say, perhaps, I highly recommend Flow to anyone who wants to reach the peak of life – at work and elsewhere.

Did you read Flow? Would you? How are you running at work? Why do you make your job feel like a fun game, which lets you get into flow? Why do you do less multitasking, to get more flow? I would love to read your replies. You could like reading Flow.

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