My takeaway from reading the book, Flow by Michaly Csikzentmihalyi is that happiness can be achieved by changing consciousness in which you bring order to tasks that you do (sometimes daily) and can bring enjoyment to your life, hence happiness and it called flow.
It sounds simple but it is rather complex. The book is written by an intellectual and at times its seem for intellectuals. You have to pay attention otherwise you'd be like me when I had to re-read the paragraph for it to make it sense.
The premise is that for you to be happy-you have to overcome challenges and use your skills to do it. Flow and happiness are by-product of the task. But there is a delicate balance between the complexity of the challenge and the complexity of your skill. It have to be aligned. If one is greater then the other, then you will need to increase and improve your skills or lower the challenge. Only then, will flow exist. The author gives a few examples of this: a tribe in New Zealand moves every seven years as to give the tribe new trails, new enemies, new challenge for the happiness of the group. And he give examples of a culture that every year destroys a monument and re-builds it trying to make it better and more beautiful.
To achieve flow , there are clear rules that must be followed: The task must have clear goals and actions needed to overcome the obstacles. Immediate feedback is needed to see what you doing is working or not working. The challenge and the skills must be aligned but it has to stretch the person, it has be hard enough to do but not too hard where he will give up. Once the goal is met, a new goal needs to be set. Once, flow is established 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 in your life or not, you bounce back and establish flow.
One question I had once, How can I apply this in my life? I have goals I have not reached. It begs the question, are the goals too unrealistic and complex or do I lack the skills to achieve and overcome the challenge. I think my conclusion is the latter so I have to find a way to increase and improve my skills.
My other takeaway is that the author states many times, that life is inherently hard , filled with stress and for him the admirable trait is one of perseverance, resiliency and of confidence. That becomes the challenge and few individuals are able to do this, he gives examples of veterans wounded in combat who attitude and resiliency 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. The attitude is of a pilot who knows if he runs into problems , he can safely land the plane.
My last takeaway from the book, is that he repeats himself and in one of the reviews, it said it was a bad thing. When, actually for me is a good thing, he talks a lot of psychic energy and how is used. Psychic energy is what you pay attention to every day. It is limited and it has to be used wisely. He talks a lot of external and internal forces and how you cannot control external but you can control internal, the consciousness, the psychic energy, the attention and the positive attitude knowing you can do it regardless what hte external pressures are. He has a few favorite workers describing flow, the surgeon who challenge is obvious and so is his feedback, the operation was either a success or failure, the dancer who is totally absorbed in her performance, where time doesn't exit, the mountain climber who sees every little details in his quest to climb the mountain. The concentration is like breathing, they are not aware of it, an explosion could occur near by and they wouldn't be aware of it. He talks a lot about paradoxes, how you must change consciousness to achieve flow but by doing you lose your self, you become part of what you are doing- by being in control, you lose control and perfection and clarity occurs.
I really enjoyed the book, overall my recommendation is positive, However, there a one thing I wish I would have seen. I am a big fan of summaries and the last chapter didn't make sense to me, he talked about the meaning of life and different models of it. For me , it would have make more sense, to tie it up and give practical example how an average person could use flow, I understand he wrote, a seguel to Flow, maybe he explains in practical manner how to use flow in your life not how dancers, chess players, musicians and surgeons uses flow.
I do recommend Flow and you will see how you can use it in your own life.
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- Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series)Mihaly CsikszentmihalhiPaperback$13.91 shipping
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Just read it and decide for yourself!! I’m loving it
Before I buy books I usually read the reviews. I always end up reading the bad ones and it stops me from purchasing. I never write reviews but I needed to! I’ve always struggled with depression and anxiety, just managing my life on a daily basis and getting overwhelmed by what the heck I’m doing with my life and I stress out to the point where I feel like I haven’t progressed at all (I’m 27). I put a lot of pressure on myself and ultimately realized that I haven’t been enjoying my life. I bought this book and let me tell you it feels like it’s talking directly to me. If you struggle with taking life too seriously sometimes or not enjoying the process or struggling with how to balance everything, I highly recommend this book. Don’t read the bad reviews just decide for yourself!!! I’m only a few chapters in but I really do feel like this is the first self-help book that I will actually absorb and take action on.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2012
Top reviews from other countries
- AlexReviewed in Singapore on April 16, 2023
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.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).
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- JuggernautReviewed in Canada on March 1, 2017
The Need for Complexity
I bought this book a couple of years ago but only read it recently. A a few years ago (right after I bought this book) someone who I looked up to summarized this book and basically said that it is about how to get into the flow state and how that is the optimal state to get anything done and make it fun. He went on to say that if you are doing something and you are two skilled for it then it will be boring and if you are doing something and it is too challenging for the skills you possess then it will bring you anxiety. However, the flow state is the sweet spot where your skills are matched with the challenge and in this flow state you enjoy the activity you are doing and you are fully engaged in it. After hearing that I thought "there is no reason to read the book anymore". Recently I started reading a lot of books again and saw this on my shelf and felt bad that I had paid for it but did not read it. I started reading it and let me tell you my friend's summary is accurate but there is so much more content in this book than just that.JuggernautThe Need for Complexity
Reviewed in Canada on March 1, 2017
It talks about culture, the need for a more complex self for satisfaction, the need for challenges, flow in different areas (work, love, life) , doing vs enjoying, having a personality that deals well with hardship well and in general just how to be more happy. If you are thinking about reading this book then I would highly suggest it. It is a self help book in a way, however, it is heavily researched and the author knows what he is talking about. Definitely a insightful read.
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