Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | A superb book

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Flow: The Psycholo...

	Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Harper Perennial, 1991 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 106 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The bestselling introduction to "flow"--a groundbreaking psychological theory that shows readers how to improve the quality of life.

Welcome to the Flow!

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.

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A superb book

An very perceptive piece of work that helps you grasp what contentment and a sense of well-being means, and how you can endeavour to achieve this. I wouldn't tag it as a self-help book, rather it's an illumination of what it means to be a human being, and how it's possible to find contentment in many ways and very importantly to be at peace with yourself.

PERFECT BOOK TO HELP YOU GET BACK ON TRACK

If it weren't for this book, I might not have written one of my own! Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond

Raj Bendre

Though I recently bought a 1990 edition of this book it still is quite relevant to this day. A well researched book which really makes one aware about how one can enhance the quality of one's own life. A must read for all those who are in purusit of happiness and beyond. I have been through what Mihaly describes as the state of 'FLOW' many times before. In fact at the time I was reading 'FLOW' and even at this very moment as I am writing these lines of this review I am experiencing 'FLOW' and the book apart from resonating that feeling has provided me with the awareness of ways of sustaining this state longer and has taught me how to bring this state about more often and perhaps in due course at will.

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Flow

Interesting book, explains how and why you are the way you act! Difficult to understand some times.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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