{"id":138128355,"date":"2023-10-20T09:35:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T09:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/book-review-flow\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T09:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T09:35:13","slug":"book-review-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/es\/book-review-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Flow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on the good life <\/h2>

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience<\/em><\/h2>

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, <\/em>1990<\/p>

\"Flow:<\/figure>

Key words: <\/h3>

Psychology, personal development, lifelong learning, autotelic, Stoicism, philosophy, happiness<\/p>

Finding Flow<\/em><\/h2>

When I caught myself referring to flow<\/em> in conversation, then realized my grasp of what psychologist Hungarian-American psychologist and university professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (chick-sent-me-hai) meant by the term was on par with my comprehension of the plot of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly<\/em> (Eastwood. Scowling. Guns. Is there more?) it seemed time to read the book.<\/p>

Turns out flow is more complex \u2018doing things you like makes you feel nice.\u2019 Precisely, it transpires that flow \u2013 or \u2018optimal experience\u2019 \u2013 is not just about feeling nice. It\u2019s about self-management, attitude adjustment and generating positive challenges in one\u2019s life.<\/p>

Sounds like a lot of work, right?<\/p>

Well, yes. But then, aren\u2019t most worthwhile things? Csikszentmihalyi might reply.<\/p>

\"macro<\/figure>

The big idea<\/h2>

To be happy, one has to get their mind right.<\/p>

\u201cHappiness is not something that happens,\u201d Csikszentmihalyi writes. \u201cIt does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness\u2026 is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person.\u201d<\/p>

This assertion, the author acknowledges, is borrowed from Epictetus who, a couple millennia ago, pointed out that \u201cweeping… lamenting\u2026 misfortune\u2026\u201d are all matters of judgment.<\/p>

A person is as happy as they decide to be.<\/p><\/div>

What differentiates Csikszentmihalyi\u2019s work from the glib visualize-your-best-life spiels prevalent in weekday morning yoga classes is that he (unlike the feel-good crew) believes that \u201cthe universe was not created to answer our needs.\u201d<\/p>

Thus individuals are responsible for grabbing whatever tools are at their disposal and grubbing what satisfaction they can out of life.<\/p>

Nobody said freedom is free.<\/p>

The good news, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is that the tools are available to everyone. \u201cAttention is like energy\u2026\u201d he asserts. \u201cWe create ourselves by how we invest this energy. Memories, thoughts, and feelings are all shaped by how we use it. And it is an energy under our control, to do with as we please.\u201d<\/p>

Harness this attention, he advises, and invest in enjoyable activities. Enjoyment<\/em> (distinguishable from pleasure) is <\/p>

\u201ccharacterized by this forward movement: by a sense of novelty, of accomplishment. Playing a close game of tennis that stretches one\u2019s ability is enjoyable, as is reading a book that reveals things in a new light, as is having a conversation that leads us to express ideas we didn\u2019t know we had.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

Csikszentmihalyi\u2019s research identified these elements of an enjoyable experience:<\/p>