Customer Reviews

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

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If anyone is seeking a "recipe" for "optimal experience" do not read this book. This book is not a step-by-step self-help guide. Neither is it a pedantic overview of psychological studies replete with statistical analyses, i.e., hard data, proving "flow" exists. The simplest way to summarize this book is, it describes how different people create meaning in life with full intention and focus and thereby achieve an ongoing state of satisfaction and sense of fulfillment.

The book begins with an overview of how people define and achieve happiness. Essentially, the author contends, most people are not happy because the universe was not created to make us happy but on the contrary, it serves to frustrate us and help us grow ... The primary focus of this book is to show us that "flow" states happen to people despite the challenges of the universe, it happens to people from all walks of life, from all cultures, throughout the world.

Flow is a state of consciousness which can be achieved on an individual path. It also has common elements which anyone who is experiencing the state can identify. The author examines the common experiences which people who are in a state of "flow" describe. It seems people who are in "flow" achieve a state of consciousness that is in harmony with their surroundings and feelings. They do not make distinctions between work and play ... people in "flow" create an inner state of being that brings them peace and fulfillment that is separate from their external environment. They are focused, what they do is meaningful and has purpose, they are absorbed in their activities and they have a sense of connection to their inner self and and also with others. The state called "flow" pertains to enjoyment and satisfaction with one's quality of life. The basis for the flow experience seems to be creating meaning and controlling consciousness where a state of unity exists which is consistent with a person's life themes. Some people experience it for minutes, some for hours, some for days on end ... evidently it can be sustained for long periods of time by some people. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the "psychology of being alive here and now."
Erika Borsos (erikab93)

First, the name is pronounced chick-sent-mih-high. And it is worth remembering because this is one book that will probably be around in 100 or 200 years. It is that important. Certainly, it is one of, if not the most important books in the positive psychology field. The author has spent his life researching the Flow state, and in the process, has inspired hundreds, if not thousands of other researchers to further pursue this profound, yet simple concept.

Flow is a state that artists experience when they are feeling in the groove, when time seems to just fly and the "work" seems to soar.

One key ingredient of flow is a challenge that can be reasonably responded to with existing resources. That tells us that it is important, if we are going to achieve Flow States, to challenge ourselves regularly.

The book walks the reader through some of the basic research and then, to conclusions about how this amazing concept affects us all, and how it affects people who insist on finding the flow in their lives.

I discovered MC's work about 12 years ago, and while working on a book titled THE HAPPINESS RESPONSE, had my first conversation with him. He's one man who walks the talk-- kind, accessible. His book opens a door to a new way of thinking about living, about psychology, and it has had a major role in the development of the field of positive psychology. Matter of fact, if you are interested in positive psychology you absolutely must have this book.

If you want to get a handle on some concrete aspects of finding more meaning in your life, on specific strategies for feeling more alive, then read this book.

In my lectures and workshops, I present the Anatomy of Positive Experience. One key element is the optimization of the moment-- Once you realize you are having a positive experience, there are many strategies you can use to make the experience longer, stronger, deeper, more meaningful, shared with someone you love, etc. This book gives you many specific ideas on how to do just these things.

In the annual meeting I organize, The Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology Meeting, it is common for trainers and researchers to describe how winners stay in the moment to perform their best. Flow is about the same phenomenon. But not just about winning, it's also about the little moments too.

You don't have to paint a masterpiece or climb a mountain to find flow. Just stretch a little. And this book and MC's other works help you learn HOW to stretch so you feel the FLOW. This is one of those books I've recommended to hundreds of people. Try it. You won't go wrong.

Flow is a concept Csikszentmihalyi developed to describe his observations of human's happiest states. Flow he says is more or less being heavily involved in an activity - be it work, a hobby, sex, music etc. - in which you've tuned out to everything else. I saw this as sort of zen-like living in the present through immersion in an action.

I immediately identified with this concept, and he did an excellent job of showing the connection between flow and happiness in all areas of life. This is a very clear writer with an easy style. However I was left feeling that I can now identify past flow experiences I've had but can't exactly find in this book the key to increasing either the frequency or quality of those experiences in the future. That seems to be the trick. But maybe true happiness doesn't come easily.

I would certainly recommend this to any thoughtful reader.

This seems to be the kind of book that either you love or you hate. I loved it. This is why:

It made sense to me. It helped me understand things about myself that I didn't realize, and it made a difference. Why do I sit and watch TV when I hate TV and there are a thousand better things to do? Why do I choose an activity knowing at the time I will regret it later (such as reading a not-great book I've already read, instead of going for a walk or reading one of the great, challenging books on my shelf I haven't read)? Why do I have so much trouble starting a project I'm really excited about? Why when I'm doing a routine task like laundry do I start obsessing about past conversations and what I should have said? I thought it was a character issue - I just don't have enough willpower.

What I understood from this book, the mind needs structure for keeping pyschic order (This is the interepretation that made a difference to me - it may not be a scientifically rigorous representation of his work). There are two kinds of structure - low level, meaning low challenge and low use of skills. It doesn't take any psychic energy to get there, but it doesn't provide much growth either. Examples are watching TV, reading predictable, unchallenging books, redundant social chatter, etc. Higher level structure means higher challenges and higher use of skills. Examples playing tennis, brain surgery, model building, drag racing, challenging, thinking conversations or books, basketball, pretty much any work or hobby you enjoy. It takes some energy or effort to get started, but you get so much more out of it, and generally feel better afterward. With no structure, the mind tends to wander and get caught by problems or concerns.

In moments throughout the day, having this distinction had made a difference. Knowing that the pull to do something mindless and easy is not a character issue, but the mind's need for order, I find myself choosing more challenging activities sometimes. I'm not sure I've experienced what he calls flow, but I know I feel better if I put forth the energy to do a jigsaw puzzle rather than watch TV, or take a walk rather than eat a pint of ice cream, or work on my writing instead of reading a book.

I found the follow-up book, "Finding Flow", less satisfying because it was less dense and more chatty, and it was mostly a repeat of "Flow". If you are interested in the ideas but want something less scientific and easier to read, you might start with that.

The publications and blather out there are endless! The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Personal Power, First Things First (duh!) are great feel good books, but what does one really get out of them? Well, after reading them, one supposedly knows what successful people do, what to do first, or maybe have an increased sense of personal power. Somehow, I don't think so.

Enter Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and the idea of Flow. Flow is about finding meaning in a particular activity, profession or if one is really fortunate in life. The bottom line is that to achieve maximum happiness, enjoyment, or even "success" a person will often have "flow" experiences. It's when worries slip away, when a person or a team is engaged in an activity, and is so focused that it seems effortless.

Covey, Robbins, and the rest of em', will present you with a square peg which you may be able to smash into a round hole if you keep hitting it hard enough. Understanding, yourself and what brings you satisfaction in life must come before following any prescribed method for improvement or success. If you love what you do, and do what you love, you don't need some guru to give you the steps to success.

Flow can help you find and understand that. You've got to start with the basics, and this book can provide insight on what flow is, what conditions facilitate it, how to achieve it, and where to start. Highly recommended!

For me, this book provided my first insight into how people really become happy. We're happy when we are in flow. Unlike many of the "happy psychology" books that are available, this one feels true. It's also backed up by real research; the author is not a pop psychology dude but a real researcher. (I understand from the university psych community that M.C.'s work may not be universally admired, but that may simply be because it is approachable and understandable by your average educated person.)

It's rare to find a book that agrees with both what I think and what I feel. For anyone who wants to have new insights into what makes us feel happy (and who doesn't?), I highly recommend this book.

Additionally, I recommend his latest book, Creativity. I would skip much of his second popular book, Finding Flow, which gets into a lot of metaphysical stuff that doesn't agree with either how I feel or how I think. Flow, however, is the key to understanding the rest of his work.

When I read the characteristics of "optimal experience" or "flow" (see p. 71), I found myself saying "Yes! That's it!" I had never had a concise description of those experiences in life that practically give meaning to our existence.

As a developer of online environments (MOOs) for language learning, I have had to describe to educators in presentations and published articles just what it is that makes a low-level learner of Spanish stay hooked to the Internet for *hours* while chatting away in a foreign language, and why that experience was so highly motivating that these students were neglecting other studies (in favor of a foreign language??!!) or even missing Spanish class. I have quoted Csikszentmihalyi many times because his is the best description of that experience. The students were "in flow" - the experience had just the right balance of stress (they might not understand me if I don't communicate clearly) and pleasure (I'm enjoying getting to know this person!) to make it highly motivating.

He says on p. 74: "In our studies, we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or any other dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality." And that is precisely what was happening to my students when they got involved in using MOO (Multi-user-domain, Object-Oriented) for language learning. They were able to create and "live" in a new reality - but all in Spanish!

I suspect that some of the readers of this book either have not had many flow experiences, or have not recognized them as such when they were having them. This book clarifies what they are and thus, bringing this understanding to consciousness, makes it easier to replicate them and increase the time spent in moments of happiness.

Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chick-ZENT-me-high) did some original research into enjoyment. He strapped pagers onto people and it rang 8 times a day at random. Whenever it rang, the subject was to write down what they were doing and rate their state of happiness and enjoyment on several scales. After 100,000 of these reports, he has found out some fascinating (and USEFUL) information about work, enjoyment, and creativity.

I have read this book several times, and I'm always forcibly struck by the profundity of the first few chapters. The writing goes deeper and more to the heart of the human condition than anything else I've ever read. Csikszentmihalyi lays it out so straight and honest that it is almost a shock to the system.

The chapters that follow are pure genius in my opinion, and they all have a solid, practical value. If you would like to "get into" your work more, if you would like to ENJOY your work more, you should read this book. I am the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I'm an expert on what is practical and helpful and what isn't. It's not often a book is both profound AND practical, but this one is. I recommend it highly.

You will not learn to reach flow from reading the book, but you will understand that you time to time, unkown to you, are engaged in the wonderful experience that Csikszentmihalyi describes. Flow can happen even in during the strangest and most unexpected chores of our dour every day life. A wonderfully written book that is entertaining, thoughtprovoking, and eye-opening.

I stumbled upon Flow and was pleasantly surprised. The book, based on extensive research into the nature of happiness and man's most fulfilling moments, promises to provide steps towards enhancing the quality of life. With many examples and concrete suggestions, I found that it delivered to an impressive degree.

From the appreciation of art and science, the deepening of friendships and romance, the establishment of a long-term life goal, and the continuous challenge of one's intellect - I found almost all of the book's suggestions to be based on sound reasoning.

The single most important factor in achieving happiness in life is, according to Csikszentmihalyi, actively taking charge of one's attention and creating order in the conscious mind. Csikszentmihalyi recommends a life of continuous challenge, learning, and focus; and provides many useful guidelines for doing so successfully. The reward? Enjoying the "flow" experience often, which he describes as: "...a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to absolute absorption in an activity. People typically feel strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities. Both the sense of time and emotional problems seem to disappear, and there is an exhilarating sense of transcendence."

While some of the above may seem self-evident, I found many principles in the book to be accurate and non-trivial. Especially in its description of the conditions for "optimal experience," including clear goals and rules that provide constant feedback, matching the levels of skill and challenge, unselfconscious absorption, and the expenditure of mental effort as a prerequisite for enjoyment. Perhaps even more useful was a review of common reasons why most people don't experience "flow," or enjoyment, very often.

Despite some disagreements I have, such as with mechanistic or genetic explanations for chosen values, and an exaggerated stress on experience over fact, I found this book overall to be a well-reasoned and useful guide to improving daily experience.