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Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) Paperback – July 1, 2008
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“Csikszentmihalyi arrives at an insight that many of us can intuitively grasp, despite our insistent (and culturally supported) denial of this truth. That is, it is not what happens to us that determines our happiness, but the manner in which we make sense of that reality. . . . The manner in which Csikszentmihalyi integrates research on consciousness, personal psychology and spirituality is illuminating.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
The bestselling classic that holds the key to unlocking meaning, creativity, peak performance, and true happiness.
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. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. 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. 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.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Perennial Modern Classics
- Publication dateJuly 1, 2008
- Dimensions5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100061339202
- ISBN-13978-0061339202
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Documents a set of scientific discoveries about human nature that actually illuminates the life experiences of all persons." — Howard Gardner, author of Frames of Mind
“Flow is important....The way to happiness lies not in mindless hedonism, but in mindful challenge.” — New York Times Book Review
“Rethinks what motivates people.” — Newsweek
"An intriguing look at the age-old problem of human happiness." — Library Journal
“[A] passionate and eloquent defense...[of] intellectual as well as emotional commitment to pleasure, for society’s sake as well as our own.” — Booklist
“Csikszentmihalyi arrives at an insight that many of us can intuitively grasp, despite our insistent (and culturally supported) denial of this truth. That is, it is not what happens to us that determines our happiness, but the manner in which we make sense of that reality. . . . a deep cultural critique . . . the manner in which Csikszentmihalyi integrates research on consciousness, personal psychology and spirituality is illuminating.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Explore[s] a happy state of mind called flow, the feeling of complete engagement in a creative or playful activity” — Time magazine
“The insightful analyst Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues that the key to gratification is completely absorbing work—he calls it ‘flow.’” — Salon.com
From the Back Cover
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. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives.
About the Author
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021) was a professor at Claremont Graduate University and former chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. His books include Creativity, The Evolving Self and the national bestseller Flow.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Flow
The Psychology of Optimal ExperienceBy Mihaly CsikszentHarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2008 Mihaly CsikszentAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780061339202
Introduction
Twenty-Three Hundred years ago Aristotle concluded that, more than anything else, men and women seek happiness. While happiness itself is sought for its own sake, every other goal--health, beauty, money, or power--is valued only because we expect that it will make us happy. Much has changed since Aristotle's time. Our understanding, of the worlds of stars and of atoms has expanded beyond belief. The gods of the Greeks were like helpless children compared to humankind today and the powers we now wield. And yet on this most important issue very little has changed in the intervening centuries. We do not understand what happiness is any better than Aristotle did, and as for learning how to attain that blessed condition, one could argue that we have made no progress at all.
Despite the fact that we are now healthier and grow to be older despite, the fact that even the least affluent among us are surrounded by material luxuries undreamed of even a few decades ago (there were few bathrooms in the palace of the Sun King, chairs were rare even in the richest medieval houses, and no Roman emperor could turn on a TV set when he was bored), and regardless of all the stupendous scientific knowledge we can summon at will, people often end upfeeling that their lives have been wasted, that instead of being filled with happiness their years were spent in anxiety and boredom.
Is this because it is the destiny of mankind to remain unfulfilled, each person always wanting more than he or she can have? Or is the pervasive malaise that often sours even our most precious moments the result of our seeking happiness in the wrong places? The intent of this book is to use some of the tools of modern psychology to explore this very ancient question: When do people feel most happy? If we can begin to find an answer to it, perhaps we shall eventually be able to order life so that happiness will play a larger part in it.
Twenty-five years before I began to write these lines, I made a discovery that took all the intervening time for me to realize I had made. To call it a "discovery" is perhaps misleading, for people have been aware of it since the dawn of time. Yet the word is appropriate, because even though my finding itself was well known, it had not been described or theoretically explained by the relevant branch of scholarship, which in this case happens to be psychology. So I spent the next quarter-century investigating this elusive phenomenon.
What I "discovered" was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.
Yet we cannot reach happiness by consciously searching for it. "Ask yourself whether you are happy," said J. S. Mill, "and you cease to be so." It is by being fully involved with every detall of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly. Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychologist, summarized it beautifully in the preface to his book Man's Search for Meaning:"Don't aim at success--the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue ... as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself."
So how can we reach this elusive goal that cannot be attaitied bya direct route? My studies of the past quarter-century have convinced me that there is a way. It is a circuitous path that begins with achieving control, over the contents of our consciousness.
Our perceptions about our lives are the outcome of many forces that shape experience, each having an impact on whether we feel good or bad. Most of these:forces are outside our control. There is not much we can do about our looks, our temperament, or our constitution. We cannot decide--at least so far how tall we will grow, how smart we will get. We can choose neither parents nor time of birth, and it is not in your power to decide whether there will be a war or a depression. The instructions contained in our genes, the pull of gravity, the pollen in the air, the historical period into which we are born--these and innumerable other conditions determine what we see, how we feel, what we do. It is not surprising that we should believe that our fate isprimarily ordained by outside agencies.
Yet we have all experienced times when, instead of being buffered by anonymous forces,we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.
This is what we mean by optimal experience.It is what the sailor holding a tight course feels when the wind whips through her hair, when theboat lunges through waves like a cblt--sails, hull, wind, and sea humming a harmony that vibrates in the sailor's veins. It is what a painter feels when the colors on the canvas begin to set up a magnetic tension with each other, and a new thing, a living form, takes shape in front of the astonished creator.
Continues...
Excerpted from Flowby Mihaly Csikszent Copyright © 2008 by Mihaly Csikszent. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial Modern Classics; 1st edition (July 1, 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061339202
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061339202
- Item Weight : 8.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #22 in Creativity (Books)
- #56 in Happiness Self-Help
- #161 in Personal Transformation Self-Help
- Customer Reviews:
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Customers find the book readable and insightful, with one describing it as the greatest non-fiction book of all time. Moreover, the flow concept receives positive feedback for providing a framework on how people find flow, and customers consider it well worth the investment in time and cost. Additionally, they appreciate the enjoyment aspect, with one noting how even the simplest physical act becomes enjoyable. However, the pacing receives mixed reviews, with several customers finding it dull.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book readable and enjoyable, with one customer noting the author's eloquence.
"...The first one is clarity: the teenagers feel that they know what their parents expect from them—goals and feedback in the family interaction are..." Read more
"...It sounds simple but it is rather complex. The book is written by an intellectual and at times its seem for intellectuals...." Read more
"...It is rather short and very readable and guaranteed to make you analyze your life and the life of your friends and family through the lens of the..." Read more
"...A magnificent Book." Read more
Customers find the book insightful and profound, with one customer noting it provides answers to life's difficult questions.
"...decades of research on the positive aspects of human experience—joy, creativity, the process of total involvement with life I call flow...This book..." Read more
"...a few things happens, one time is distorted, you derived enjoyment in you life, the reward of life is established, and regardless if you have stress..." Read more
"...But this book (Flow) goes a long way to explain this term in a sensible manner and using examples from daily life that everyone of us can relate to...." Read more
"...Despite this, the author is still capable of conveying a decent amount of science and methodology behind his discovery and analysis of the optimal..." Read more
Customers appreciate the flow concept in the book, finding it beautifully described and providing a framework for understanding how people achieve this state. One customer notes that flow can make many activities enjoyable, while another mentions its usefulness for managers and team leaders.
"...17- "To realize the body's potential for flow is relatively easy. It does not require special talents or great expenditures of money...." Read more
"...However, the flow concept is very important and I am grateful that someone went a long way to put it accesible and in simple terms...." Read more
"...The theory of flow does an excellent job describing many aspects of our lives and most importantly sheds light on the conditions of happy and..." Read more
"...Then, the book gives some conditions for achieving flow -- basically finding tasks that are challenging enough, but not too much, together with..." Read more
Customers find the book well worth the investment, appreciating its superb price and noting that it does not require special talents or great expenditures of money.
"...It does not require special talents or great expenditures of money...." Read more
"...Yes, being engaged in activity at proper challenge level can be very rewarding. Is it an answer for everything?..." Read more
"...When we're in flow, time disappears, effort feels effortless, and we’re fully absorbed in what we’re doing...." Read more
"...Something difficult, but doable, with a clear goal, and that requires a specific set of skills to perform a specific set of actions to get there...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and enjoyable, describing it as a process of total involvement with life.
"...aspects of human experience—joy, creativity, the process of total involvement with life I call flow...This book tries instead to present general..." Read more
"...When a human being reaches this state, time seems to stop, enjoyment is superlative and self-consciousness disappears, as if one reached the state..." Read more
"...To use the author's own language it put me in a very deep and enjoyable "flow of thought"...." Read more
"...When experience is intrinsically rewarding, life is justified in the present, instead of being held hostage to a hypothetical future gain...Lost in..." Read more
Customers praise the book's feedback quality, with one noting its unambiguous and fast nature, while another mentions how it provides great happiness through excellence in performance.
"...possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback...." Read more
"...are amazing and are able to achieve flow with positive and outstanding results. He says the trick is that one has to believe in themselves...." Read more
"...But whenever we try it, we realize that excellence in performance provides great happiness...." Read more
"...are challenging enough, but not too much, together with unambiguous and fast feedback (I found that part somewhat vague)...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it dull while others appreciate its thought-provoking content.
"...time, allowing you to fully express your skill level all the while remaining calm, focused and oftentimes creating a feeling of happiness...." Read more
"...It sounds simple but it is rather complex. The book is written by an intellectual and at times its seem for intellectuals...." Read more
"...Flow could be seen as a religious experience, hedonistic self-indulgence, or the answer to all of our problems...." Read more
"...Should blend in nicely with my other books and will look forward to handing these down to my future generations after I'm long gone." Read more
Customers find the book repetitive and boring.
"...15- "Without interest in the world, a desire to be actively related to it. a person becomes isolated into himself...." Read more
"...The book does have a small blemish in the fact that it gets a bit repetitive when it goes into listing the occurrence of flow in everyday settings...." Read more
"...This book seems kind of lazy in avoiding intellectually interesting and practically important questions like these...." Read more
"...However, not all pages are enjoyable to read, as sometimes the chapters feel repetitive, preachy and downright esoteric...." Read more
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2014Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1- "This book summarizes, for a general audience, decades of research on the positive aspects of human experience—joy, creativity, the process of total involvement with life I call flow...This book tries instead to present general principles. along with concrete examples of how some people have used these principles, to transform boring and meaningless lives into ones fill of enjoyment."
2- "What I "discovered" was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy."
3- "From their accounts of what it felt like to do what they were doing, I developed a theory of optimal experience based on the concept of flow—the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it."
4- "The most important step in emancipating oneself from social controls is the ability to find rewards in the events of each moment. If a person learns to enjoy and find meaning in the ongoing stream of experience, in the process of living itself, the burden of social controls automatically falls from one's shoulders. Power returns to the person when rewards are no longer relegated to outside forces. It is no longer necessary to struggle for goals that always seem to recede into the future, to end each boring day with the hope that tomorrow, perhaps, something good will happen. Instead of forever straining for the tantalizing prize dangled just out of reach, one begins to harvest the genuine rewards of living. But it is not by abandoning ourselves to instinctual desires that we become free of social controls. We must also become independent from the dictates of the body, and learn to take charge of what happens in the mind. Pain and pleasure occur in consciousness and exist only there. As long as we obey the socially conditioned stimulus-response patterns that exploit our biological inclinations, we are controlled from the outside. To the extent that a glamorous ad makes us salivate for the product sold or that a frown from the boss spoils the day, we are not free to determine the content of experience. Since what we experience is reality, as far as we are concerned, we can transform reality to the extent that we influence what happens in consciousness and thus free ourselves from the threats and blandishments of the outside world."
5- "Control over consciousness cannot be institutionalized. As soon as it becomes part of a set of social rules and norms, it ceases to be effective in the way it was originally intended to be. Routinization, unfortunately, tends to take place very rapidly. Freud was still alive when his quest for liberating the ego from its oppressors was turned into a Staid ideology and a rigidly regulated profession. Marx was even less fortunate: his attempts to free consciousness from the tyranny of economic exploitation were soon turned into a system of repression that would have boggled the poor founder's mind."
6- "Over the endless dark centuries of its evolution, the human nervous stem has become so complex that it is now able to affect its own states, making it to a certain extent functionally independent of its genetic blueprint and of the objective environment. A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happy "outside," just by changing the contents of consciousness. We all kn»now individuals who can transform hopeless situations into challenges to be overcome, just through the force of their personalities. This ability to persevere despite obstacles and setbacks is the quality people most admire in others, and justly so; it is probably the most important trait not only for succeeding in life, but for enjoying it as well."
7- "Whenever information disrupts consciousness by threatening its goals we have a condition of inner disorder, or psychic entropy, a disorganization of the self that impairs its effectiveness. Prolonged experiences of this kind can weaken the self to the point that it is no longer able to invest attention and pursue its goals."
8- "Following a flow experience, the organization of the self is more complex than it had been before. It is by becoming increasing complex that the self might be said to grow. Complexity is the result of two broad psychological processes: differentiation and integration. Differentiation implies a movement toward uniqueness, toward separating oneself from others. Integration refers to its opposite: a union with other people. with ideas and entities beyond the self. A complex self is one that succeeds in combining these opposite tendencies. The self becomes more differentiated as a result of flow because overcoming a challenge inevitably leaves a person feeling more capable, more skilled. As the rock climber said, "You look back in awe at the self, at what you've done, it just blows your mind." After each episode of flow a person becomes more of a unique individual, less predictable, possessed of rarer skills. Complexity is often thought to have a negative meaning, synonymous with difficulty and confusion. That may be true, but only if we equate it with differentiation alone. Yet complexity also involves a second dimension—the integration of autonomous parts. A complex engine, for instance, not only has many separate components, each performing a different function, but also demonstrates a high sensitivity because each of the components is in touch with all the others. Without integration, a differentiated system would be a confusing mess. "low helps to integrate the self because in that state of deep concentration consciousness is unusually well ordered. Thoughts, intentions, feelings, and all the senses are focused on the same goal. Experience is in harmony."
9- "There 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. For instance, feeling secure is an important component of happiness. The sense of security can be improved by buying a gun, installing strong locks on the front door, moving to a safer neighborhood, exerting political pressure on city hall for more police protection, or helping the community to become more conscious of the importance of civil order. All these different responses are aimed at bringing conditions in the environment more in line with our goals. The other method by which we can feel more secure involves modifying what we mean by security. If one does not expect perfect safety, recognizes hat risks are inevitable, and succeeds in enjoying a less than ideally predictable world, the threat of insecurity will not have as great a chance of marring happiness. Neither of these strategies is effective when used alone. Changing external conditions might seem to work at first, but if a person is not in control of his consciousness, the old fears or desires will soon return, reviving previous anxieties. One cannot create a complete sense of inner security even by buying one's own Caribbean island and surrounding it with armed bodyguards and attack dogs."
10- "As our studies have suggested, the phenomenology of enjoyment has eight major components. When people reflect on how it feels when their experience is most positive, they mention at least one, and often all, of the following. First, the experience usually occurs when we confront tasks we have a chance of completing. Second, we must be able to concentrate on what we are doing. Third and fourth, the concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback. Fifth, one acts with a deep but effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life. Sixth, enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions. Seventh, concern for the self disappears, yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over. Finally, the sense of the duration of time is altered; hours pass by in minutes, and minutes can stretch out to seem like hours. The combination of all these elements causes a sense of deep enjoyment that is so rewarding people feel that expending a great deal of energy is worthwhile simply to be able to feel it."
11- "The same situation holds true for the artist painting a picture, and for all activities that are creative or open-ended in nature. But these are all activities that are creative or open-ended in nature. But these are all recognize and gauge feedback in such activities, she will not enjoy them. In some creative activities, where goals are not clearly set in advance, a person must develop a strong personal sense of what she intends to do. The artist might not have a visual image of what the finished painting should look like, but when the picture has progressed to a certain point, she should know whether this is what she wanted to achieve or not."
12- "As this example illustrates, what people enjoy is not the sense of being in control, but the sense of exercising? control in difficult situations. It is not possible to experience a feeling of control unless one is willing to give up the safety of protective routines. Only when a doubtful outcome is at stake, and one is able to influence that outcome, can a person really know whether she is in control."
13- "In our studies, we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality. It pushed the person to higher levels of performance, and led to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness. In short, it transformed the self by making it more complex. In this growth of the self lies the key to flow activities."
14- "There is ample evidence to suggest that how parents interact with a child will have a lasting effect on the kind of person that child grow up to be. In one of our studies conducted at the University of Chicago, for example, Kevin Rathunde observed that teenagers who had certain types of relationship with their parents were significantly more happy, satisfied, and strong in most life situations than their peers who did not have such a relationship. The family context promoting optimal d experience could be described as having five characteristics. The first one is clarity: the teenagers feel that they know what their parents expect from them—goals and feedback in the family interaction are unambiguous. he second is centering, or the children's perception that their of parents are interested in what they are doing in the present, concrete feelings and experiences, rather than being preoccupied with whether they will be getting into a good college or obtaining a well-paying job. Next is the issue of choice: children feel that the variety of possibilities from which to choose, including that of breaking parental rules—as long as they are prepared to face the consequences. The fourth differentiating characteristic is commitment, or the trust that allows the child to feel comfortable enough to set aside the shield of his defenses. and become unselfconsciously involved in whatever he is interested in. And finally there is challenge, or the parents' dedication to provide increasingly complex opportunities for action to their children."
15- "Without interest in the world, a desire to be actively related to it. a person becomes isolated into himself. Bertrand Russell, one of the greatest philosophers of our century, described how he achieved personal happiness: "Gradually 1 learned to be indifferent to myself and my deficiencies; I came to center my attention increasingly upon external objects: the state of the world, various branches of knowledge, individuals for whom I felt affection." There could be no better short description of how to build for oneself an autotelic personality. In part such a personality is a gift of biological inheritance and early upbringing. Some people are born with a more focused and flexible neurological endowment, or are fortunate to have had parents who promoted unselfconscious individuality. But it is an ability open to cultivation, a skill one can perfect through training and discipline. It is now time to explore further the ways this can be done."
16- "Even the simplest physical act becomes enjoyable when it is transformed so as to produce flow. The essential steps in this process are: (a) to set an overall goal, and as many subgoals as are realistically feasible; (b) to find ways of measuring progress in terms of the goals chosen; (c) to keep concentrating on what one is doing, and to keep making finer and finer distinctions in the challenges involved in the activity; (d) to develop the skills necessary to interact with the opportunities available; and (e) to keep raising the stakes if the activity becomes boring."
17- "To realize the body's potential for flow is relatively easy. It does not require special talents or great expenditures of money. Everyone can greatly improve the quality of life by exploring one or more previously ignored dimensions of physical abilities. Of course, it is difficult for any one person to reach high levels of complexity in more than one physical domain. The skills necessary to become good athletes, dancers, or connoisseurs of sights, sounds, or tastes are so demanding that one individual not have enough psychic energy in his waking lifetime to master more than a few. But it is certainly possible to become a dilettante—in finest sense of that word—in all these areas, in other words, to develop sufficient skills so as to find delight in what the body can do."
18- "But for a person who has nothing to remember, life can become severely impoverished. This possibility was completely overlooked by educational reformers early in this century, who, armed with research results, proved that "rote learning" was not an efficient way to store and acquire information. As a result of their efforts, rote learning was phased out of the schools. The reformers would have had justification, if the point of remembering was simply to solve practical problems. But if control of consciousness is judged to be at least as important as the ability to get things done, then learning complex patterns of information by heart is by no means a waste of effort. A mind with some stable content to it is much richer than one without. It is a mistake to assume that creativity and rote learning are incompatible. Some of the most original scientists, for instance, have been known to have memorized music, poetry, or historical information extensively."
19- "External forces are very important in determining which new ideas will be selected from among the many available; but they cannot explain their production. It is perfectly true, for instance, that the development and application of the knowledge of atomic energy were expedited enormously by the life-and-death struggle over the bomb between dited enormously by the life-and-death struggle over the bomb between Germany on the one hand, and England and the United States on the little to the war; it was made possible through knowledge laid down in more peaceful circumstances—for example, in the friendly exchange of more peaceful circumstances—tor example, in the friendly exchange of over to Niels Bohr and his scientific colleagues by a brewery in Copenhagen."
20- "The bad connotations that the terms amateur and dilettante have earned for themselves over the years are due largely to the blurring of the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic goals. An amateur who pretends to know as much as a professional is probably wrong, and up to some mischief. The point of becoming an amateur scientist is not to compete with professionals on their own turf, but to use a symbolic discipline to extend mental skills, and to create order in consciousness."
21- "At the same time, it would be erroneous to expect that if all ill jobs were constructed like games, everyone would enjoy them. Even the mos favorable external conditions do not guarantee that a person will 1 be in flow. Because optimal experience depends on a subjective evaluation of what the possibilities for action are, and of one's own capacities, it happens quite often that an individual will be discontented even with a potentially great job."
22- "A community should be judged good not because it is technologically advanced, or swimming in material riches; it is good if it offers people a chance to enjoy as many aspects of their lives as possible, while allowing them to develop their potential in the pursuit of ever greater challenges. Similarly the value of a school does not depend on its prestige, or its ability to train students to face up to the necessities of life, but rather on the degree of the enjoyment of lifelong learning it can transmit. A good factory is not necessarily the one that makes the most money, but the one that is most responsible for improving the quality of life for its workers and its customers. And the true function of politics is not to make people more affluent, safe, or powerful, but to let as many as possible enjoy an increasingly complex existence."
23- "Why are some people weakened by stress, while others gain strength from it? Basically the answer is simple: those who know how to transform a hopeless situation into a new flow activity that can be controlled will be able to enjoy themselves, and emerge stronger from the ordeal. There are three main steps that seem to be involved in such transformations: 1. Unselfconscious self-assurance...2. Focusing attention on the world...3. The discovery of new solutions."
24- "THE AUTOTELIC SELF: A SUMMARY - 1. Setting goals...2. Becoming immersed in the activity...3.Paying attention to what is happening...4. Learning to enjoy immediate experience."
25- "But complexity consists of integration as well as differentiation. The task of the next decades and centuries is to realize this underdeveloped component of the mind. Just as we have learned to separate ourselves from each other and from the environment, we now need to learn how to reunite ourselves with other entities around us without losing our hard-won individuality. The most promising faith for the future might be based on the realization that the entire universe is a system related by common laws and that it makes no sense to impose our dreams and desires on nature without taking them into account. Recognizing the limitations of human will, accepting a cooperative rather than a ruling role in the universe, we should feel the relief of the exile who is finally returning home. The problem of meaning will then be resolved as the individual's purpose merges with the universal flow."
- Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2025We can bring more enjoyment into our lives by structuring conditions that promote flow. Csikszentmihalyi lays out what makes this possible—clear goals, immediate feedback, focused attention, and a challenge that matches our skills. When we're in flow, time disappears, effort feels effortless, and we’re fully absorbed in what we’re doing.
One of the most interesting ideas in Flow is the autotelic personality. That is, people who can create flow anywhere, regardless of circumstances. Csikszentmihalyi suggests we can cultivate this by setting goals, immersing ourselves in what we’re doing, and choosing to engage with the present moment. He also explores meaning by examining how purpose, intention, and action shape a cohesive, fulfilling life.
As he describes how the self becomes more complex over time, I found myself thinking about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the idea of transcendence from an Eastern perspective. He outlines a shift from self-interest to community, then self-actualization, and, for some, transcendence. But what he means by transcendence is never fully defined. He also doesn’t clearly address how our needs evolve as we move through this proposed model of complexity. Or, for that matter, if he’s suggesting an additional tier to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
I recently made changes to my own work approach based on Deep Work by Cal Newport, which helps create conditions for flow. Csikszentmihalyi says enjoyment happens at the edge of boredom and anxiety. That gives me a useful way to check in with myself within these deep work blocks. If I’m bored, I can raise the challenge. If I’m anxious, I can bring it back into the realm of what feels possible.
Beyond work, I started looking at where I struggle with flow. Networking is a big one. I often go in without clear goals and tend to get stuck in my own head instead of immersing myself in the environment. Next time, I’ll set an intention and focus outward rather than inward.
As an executive coach, I also see how this applies to leadership transitions. Many of my clients come from flow-heavy roles—design, development, research—only to find management scattered and disengaging. If they’re struggling, a lack of flow might be part of the problem. That’s something I plan to explore more in my coaching.
Flow is worth reading if you're interested in creativity, focus, or purpose. It made me rethink how I approach work and life, and it gave me a practical way to gauge whether I’m stretching myself in the right ways. If you want more enjoyment in what you do, this book is a solid place to start.
Top reviews from other countries
- Rita SalibaReviewed in Egypt on November 14, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic
Original book. Not a copy. Very good condition.
- AlexReviewed in Singapore on April 16, 2023
1.0 out of 5 stars Slightly long-winded
The content is quite interesting, just finished two chapters. The author brings out many examples and scenarios which illustrates the point he is trying to bring across. For impatient readers like me, perhaps he should cut down on them and get to the "main course" earlier.
Some information was scrapped off from the back cover below the barcode though (see pic).
AlexSlightly long-winded
Reviewed in Singapore on April 16, 2023
Some information was scrapped off from the back cover below the barcode though (see pic).
Images in this review
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Client d'AmazonReviewed in France on January 23, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Bien, mais en anglais
Bien mais en anglais (évidemment)
- gauravReviewed in India on March 7, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!
This is a masterpiece. A great insight into what the author calls the flow state where a person is so immersed in an activity that he loses track of time and space. The book will seem little difficult to read in the first chapter because of the writing style but soon you will get in the flow 😉. This is a must read if you are exploring psychological aspects of meaning and happiness.
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Micha K.Reviewed in Germany on April 5, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Leseempfehlung
Wissenswert, wunderbar formuliert und mitreißend. Gut