He aimed to discover what piques creativity, especially in the workplace, and how creativity can lead to productivity. He was also interested in finding out how they felt during these experiences.Ĭsikszentmihalyi developed the term “flow state” because many of the people he interviewed described their optimal states of performance as instances when their work simply flowed out of them without much effort. Through research, Csikszentmihalyi began to understand that people were their most creative, productive, and happy when they are in a state of flow.Ĭsikszentmihalyi interviewed athletes, musicians, and artists because he wanted to know when they experienced optimal performance levels. On the contrary, the manifestation of happiness takes a committed effort.īeyond each person’s set point of happiness, there is a level of happiness over which each individual has some degree of control. Happiness is not a rigid, unchanging state, Csikszentmihalyi has argued.
His popular 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is based on the premise that happiness levels can be shifted by introducing flow. Finding Out What Happiness Really IsĬsikszentmihalyi’s studies led him to conclude that happiness is an internal state of being, not an external one. He wanted to study the causes of happiness. He attended a lecture by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who spoke of the traumatized psyches of the European people after World War II.Ĭsikszentmihalyi was so intrigued that he started to read Jung’s work, which in turn led him to the United States to pursue an education in psychology. After the war, he took an interest in art, philosophy, and religion as a way to answer the question, What creates a life worth living?Įventually, he stumbled upon psychology while at a ski resort in Switzerland. As a result, he developed a curiosity about happiness and contentment.Ĭsikszentmihalyi observed that many people were unable to live a life of contentment after their jobs, homes, and security were lost during the war. He was a prisoner during World War II, and he witnessed the pain and suffering of the people around him during this time.
These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students or employees.
FLOWSTATE MAT HOW TO
Read on to learn more about what flow is and how to cultivate it.īefore you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Positive Psychology Exercises for free. Flow occurs when your skill level and the challenge at hand are equal. If you’ve ever heard someone describe a time when their performance excelled and they were “in the zone,” they were likely describing an experience of flow. The experience of flow is universal and has been reported to occur across all classes, genders, ages, and cultures, and it can be experienced during many types of activities. The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times. (If you’re not sure how to pronounce his name, here’s a phonetic guide: “Me high? Cheeks send me high!”) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, considered one of the co-founders of positive psychology, was the first to identify and research flow. If so, you might want to cultivate flow, a concept describing those moments when you’re completely absorbed in a challenging but doable task. Want to increase your wellbeing, creativity, and productivity?
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