The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

"Flow" is a book about improving both performance and satisfaction in most pursuits.

If awareness is required for improvement, than the analysis presented in "Flow" is helpful in both regards.

The book provides a general description of the pleasant sensation described as "Flow."

Based on people's descriptions of positive experiences, the author identifies the shared characteristics of the experiences that correspond to the respective experiences being characterized as positive.

Searching for "Flow (psychology)" on Wikipedia will yield a pretty good understanding of the concepts presented in "Flow."

However, it is interesting to read how Csíkszentmihályi comes to conceptualize "Flow."

This book is quite amazing! As many books of this nature it tells us information that we are already aware of.However this book gives you some "answers" which is a miracle in and of itself! It's the kind of book you wish to reference for the rest of your life....

This is a highly overrated, and greatly outdated text. For one who is looking for self help, but is not already in possession of at least a basic (modern) understanding of psychological processe, that were clearly beyond the author, this text could actually be harmful.

Case in point: “And psychological resources are largely outside our control. It is difficult to become much smarter, or more outgoing, than one was at birth.”

This prognosis is factually incorrect, and reflects an outdated, irrelevant, and potentially harmful view of the mind and ones capabilities to a reader that is not aware of advances in cognitive advances since this book was written.

the store already did a good job summarizing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, so I will instead focus on evaluating its content.

The book is set up in a way where the first few chapters concentrate on defining and analyzing the intricate relationship between human consciousness and happiness. Once this is firmly established, Csikszentmihalyi goes on to introduce the concept of flow, its physiology and its conditions. All subsequent chapters then examine flow in various aspects of our lives and the last chapter focuses on the philosophical implications of the concept and whether it relates to finding "meaning in life".

It has been said in science that any researcher should have the ability to explain their theory clearly and concisely to a layman. I felt that Csikszentmihalyi's style of writing is very true to this statement, as he puts in a particular effort to make his book accessible and very easy to read for just about anyone. I would even say that he is overly simple to a fault - using a philosophically-conversational tone at the expense of a slightly more rigid "literature review" style that predominates more modern pop sci books. Despite this, the author is still capable of conveying a decent amount of science and methodology behind his discovery and analysis of the optimal experience model.

To me, the most powerful chapters were really the first five where, as I discussed earlier, Csikszentmihalyi really puts the meat on the bones of his theory of flow and masterfully connects everything together. Some passages just made so much sense that I had to put the book down and seriously contemplate about what is being said and how it relates to my entire understanding of life. To use the author's own language it put me in a very deep and enjoyable "flow of thought".

The book does have a small blemish in the fact that it gets a bit repetitive when it goes into listing the occurrence of flow in everyday settings. I don't have anything against the discussion of applicability of the theory, it just seems that sections containing very similar messages could have been condensed. Perhaps 240 pages (not including notes and references) is a bit much for this type of format and ideally it should have been closer to 200 pages. However, I want to emphasize that this small fault does not in any way make the book a "drag" and some people may find this "extra" information rather useful.

To conclude, I found Csikszentmihalyi's lifelong research, his findings and the overall message of his work extremely compelling and powerful. The theory of flow does an excellent job describing many aspects of our lives and most importantly sheds light on the conditions of happy and meaningful existence. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone. It is rather short and very readable and guaranteed to make you analyze your life and the life of your friends and family through the lens of the theory of flow.

Maybe it's just me but I can't get past the first parts of this book. If you're cynical or pessimistic or just outright a miserable person that likes to read books that make you more miserable - this book is for you. I tried to keep pushing through but holy smokes this book seems like it is designed to destroy the way you think and bring you down. At this point, I don't care to read anymore of it.

Quality journal. Of course it's not "exactly" like they were say 100 years ago or however long ago this style was being used, but the look and feel is great. Clear lines. Easy to write for people that even have large handwriting. For the price it can't be beat and don't see why there would be any complaints. You can pay 5x the amount for other journals and they will perform exactly the same. Should blend in nicely with my other books and will look forward to handing these down to my future generations after I'm long gone.

This came in via UPS very quickly and in perfect condition. I've been looking forward to listening to Csikzentmihalyi's book for a while, and I very impressed with quickly I received the book once I ordered it.

For me, the audio book, "Flow: The Psychology Of Optimal Experience" was a huge disappointment. What drew me to the product -- I had seen an online video of the author speaking on the subject of "absolute focus and it's relationship to peak performance", and I found him to be insightful and inspiring. He calls it "Flow." I am an artist and I refer to this flow as my "Zen-state." It's that place where the focus on what you're doing is so sharp that you are accessing something deeper, and bigger then your conscious skill set, and achieving greater work. I had hoped for a deeper understanding of this phenomena - but sadly this is a third rate motivational tape and nothing more. The author dances around the subject without ever saying anything that isn't obvious and there are annoying new-age-ish musical cues between the chapters. Perhaps reading the book would yield something more. At least you wouldn't have the music to intrude on that experience.

It was ok, I though the book was a bit more interesting, but when I started reading it I got the impression it was going to be boring. You know I am one of those customers that gets a vibe if a book is going to be interesting or not. This one did not got me the "keep reading" vibe. So I returned it! I prefer books that pages are colorful or full of motivational graphics. I hate books that you can only read and has no graphics or good quality printing. The book feel cheap even though the message could have been positive, I am just picky will rather pay extra for a book that has better printing quality and better paper quality. I hate old fashion paper that only has letters printed and all you do is read and no illustration or some type of motivational message like some new books have...

There are 3 PROS to Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience:

1. It teaches you to enjoy and really tune in to the moments of your life.
2. It provides information on how you can make even the worst life enjoyable.
3. The claims made in the book are based on empirical research over the course of decades (or even millennia)

The 3 CONS are:

1. It makes you feel guilty for getting drunk and watching television every night.
2. It may not keep your attention.
3. It uses a lot of terminology and ideas that may be hard for some readers to grasp.

Before I say anything more, I need to point out that I got this book for free…from the library. I picked it up because I was looking for books that were recommended by the world’s biggest movers and shakers. I was not disappointed and have recommended it to others.

I also need to point out that I have a master’s degree in psychology. That is not a prerequisite for reading this, but it may have made it an easier read for me than for most people. I’m not saying I’m smarter than anyone. I’m just saying I have a specialized education that relates to this book.

Anyway, Flow. This is when you are most enjoying life. Time just seems to slip away. Your full attention is devoted to a task. You are generally working toward a specific, challenging, and achievable goal. These are the moments that are the most satisfying. These are the moments that make you a more complex human being. It can be in work, leisure, with family, with friends, etc. Csikszentasdpoinvpioaweu really touches on all aspects of life and explores how you can turn them into flow experiences.

Attached are a few of my favorite passages from the book (and proof that I actually read it!)

The bottom line is I strongly recommend this book to everyone who wants the best in life. For many of you, this book could be life-changing. Five stars!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I’m here to help!

just finished this book. the good news: it introduces a useful concept in the first few pages. unfortunately the author derives from that a right to dump a neverending, enormously tedious lecture on life, the universe and everything on the reader. EVERYTHING is somehow FLOW. And even what isn"t is written in so that the reader may benefit from the authors immense wisdom and worldliness. I paced through 80% of this drivel hoping to find something original. No such luck. Get the journal article this came from, and skip the stuffing that stretches it into a book. Or buy the book and suffer through hours of misery and boredom. You have been warned.

Besides having more vowels in his name than any other researcher in the field of positive psychology, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi is probably best known for his book "Flow". So what exactly is flow?

Well, there are short and long ways to define the concept of flow. The short way is to tell you that flow is roughly the equivalent to what most people refer to as being "in the zone" or "in the groove". More elaborate definitions might be that it is "the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people do it even at great cost, for the sheer state of doing it."

Being such a desirable state, flow is naturally linked to happiness. The book feels that the path to happiness is a circuitous one that begins with one achieving control over the "contents of our consciousness". I'm taking that to mean that if I learn to find flow experiences, it will lead to greater happiness.

Know from the get-go that "Flow" is NOT a step-by-step book that gives you tips on how to be happy. Instead, the book summarizes years of research, so what you get when all is said and done, are general principles along with examples of how people have used them to transform their lives. The hope, then, is that you will have enough information in the book to make the transition from principles and theory, to actual practice.

In a nutshell, "Flow" is a unique and interesting book that examines the process of achieving happiness through the control of one's inner life and is a classic in it's field. Other positive psychology books I liked include "Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World".

I wanted to like this book- the concept is something that intrigues me. I'm an avid reader, chain reading from business books to fiction to non-fiction. Most important to me is that interesting concepts are covered in a conversational style, so I can walk away feeling like I just had a great chat with the author. This book is written in a rambling pedagogical tone- never allowing you to get truly sucked into the idea. I wouldn't recommend wasting your money on this book.

The author rattles on and on and on, the type is crammed on the page and is small, and he rarely gets to an actual point. You can get more quicker from authors like Eckhart Tolle and Benjamin Zander.

I cant speak for the text...but about the abridged audiobook version:

A lot rambling and platitudes. The audio quality is very poor. Whats with the obsession with classical musicians and rock climbers? The speaker (who is the author as well), has boring monotone voice.

--I have a strong feeling if you are looking to buy this, you probably already have good "flow" (the act of arranging your life and its daily activities into a order where they are seamless, so they become an unconscious acts, or at least require minimal conscious effort).--

DO NOT BUY AUDIOBOOK..you will come away confused, and/or felt you lost valuable time to do something else more productive. Also listening to it while driving may be dangerous, it is very tedious and boring; you may fall asleep at the wheel (I almost did).

The concept of “flow” is fascinating. If you’ve had such experiences, reading about the conditions leading to them makes for quite the discovery. It all comes together. It all makes sense.

Unfortunately, once that’s out of the way fairly early in the book, there’s very little left. The last 3/4 of the book is restating the prior chapter, just in a slightly different context. Sprinkle in some elitism and incessant moralizing about drugs and television for good measure.
Save yourself the $10 and do some internet research on the concept of flow. All the book adds to the concept is rambling, some borderline New Age/self-help kind of stuff, and some preaching.

I would say the first three chapters are well-written and thought-provoking. Starting from the fourth chapter, the book seems to reveal some superficial or over-simplified understanding of some important concepts, for example, alienation, "excessive self-consciousness". The examples, together with the language used for these examples, sound a bit condescending or offensive to certain readers.

I was really looking forward to this book based on the description and reviews but was completely disappointed. There is nothing "Optimal" about this book and the words "clear" or "concise" do not apply to this writing style. I've never read a more verbose book. The book goes on and on about nothing or maybe you could say, the same thing, ad nauseum. For a book about "Optimal Experience" and a "genuinely satisfying state of consciousness", it really misses the mark. Perhaps it would be better in an audio format so you could listen while you meditate or fall asleep. Either way, as a book, it was a huge disappointment.

The book arrived much sooner than I thought it would and it is in great condition. I have only just started reading it and so cannot say much about the content, but so far what I have read has made so much sense and has put a lot of things into context for me. I love it so far.

I am reading the other reviews and wondering what book they read; we can't possibly be talking about the same book. Granted, I am only 10% into the book (Kindle tracks that for me), but the only thing that has kept me reading past the third page has been the expectation placed in my mind by all the other reviews that I will find something of value. Not so far. This guy has managed to take a painfully obvious fact and turn it into something that sounds like an earthshattering discovery. And then the next paragraph is a thinly disguised paraphrase of the previous paragraph. The paragraph following that is a second paraphrase, followed by yet a third paraphrase. What the author seems to have here is a short academic paper that he has repeatedly paraphrased and padded into a book. So far, I understand that some activities that we are involved in may absorb us to the point where hours feel like minutes (imagine that!). There, I said that in one sentence. He has taken the first 10% of the book (at least so far) to say that and nothing more. Please tell me this is not going to be like one of those movies that you keep watching hoping that it will get to the good part, but never does!

I think we all have those moments; when you are focused and everything is coming together seamlessly. When you are working, it is referred to as “in the zone”; when you are playing, often people say, “time flies when you are having fun.”

Now I know that this is “flow.”

In a world filled with distractions, it can be difficult to find flow. There are a lot of items fighting for your attention, always trying to interrupt you. Blaming these outside forces is the easy thing to do, however we not only allow these interruptions, we actually crave them. Why? Probably because we are not enjoying the task in front of us. The task could be a spreadsheet, a dreadful email, or even just boredom itself.

This book came to me after I saw it cited multiple times in other books I was reading. Csikszentmihalyi is the leading expert in optimal experience and his expertise shows.

I found this book very interesting yet not riveting. By the second half, I was looking forward to finishing it and moving on. His writing is not as compelling as others but still his knowledge is phenomenal. Finding that spark inside you can make the difference. No challenge will be too tough. No setback will be too big.

Reading this review, this probably sounds like a lame self-help book, but it is not. It is an expert talking about the real evidence that shows what makes us flow.

Here are some of my favorite nuggets from the book:

“People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.”

“Of all the virtues we can learn no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.”

Ironically I sometimes had trouble focusing on Flow, as so much of the book focuses on focus. It's a rather dense read, and while not too scientifically complex, some chapters will hold your attention more than others. A good portion of the book simply describes various flow activities, from mental to physical, without much insight to be gained.

But as a whole, the book weaves together millenias of knowledge to attempt to answer the age-old question: what is the meaning of life? The meaning, the book proposes, can be found in flow - those states of focus and enjoyment that come along with greeting challenges as a path torward a vision. And in that way, the book inspires thought and action.

I was impressed at the vast array of references contained within the chapters, from theology to philosophy to the science of complexity. Freud, Huxley, Donte, Plato, Icarus, Einstein - so many thinkers, stories, and people are referred to throughout, in often genius ways. Sometimes the author sparks those connections, and when he does, you'll want to put this book down and get started on your life mission.

I think this guy could have done with a writer partner or even a ghost writer. Once you understand the main theory in the first 50 or so pages, the book becomes a jumbled mess, as many other reviewers stated. The author goes out of his way to rename standard mental functions like attention (psychic energy) and distraction (psychic entropy) that doesn't really facilitate better understanding of the material, especially when there is no index.

The author really seems to have issues applying his own theory in a usefull way for the general populous. Some half-hearted references to yoga, zen, religious ritual and the meaning of life are made, but are barely tied into practical use of the theory, if at all. Any time religion is mentioned, it's with an intellectually elitist air, stating over and over that all it does is impose artificial order in an uncaring universe and really is just flow in action, without taking the full philosophical and cultural contex into account.

The book was so unorganized, I left wondering about the validity of the theory itself. At one point, he rambled about sight as a flow mechanism and earlier states reading, seeing performances and conversing with friends are flow activities, but constantly states that TV is mind poison. That seems unfair. He makes some references to zen as flow, but zen is about the release from the self and goals, those being the pillars of flow. He states you must continuously advance to harder environments for flow, but quotes an old woman who enjoys milking cows- hardly an increasingly difficult task after decades of experience.

Overall, I found the concept of Flow sort of obvious. The only thing I really took away was the necessity for focus, realistic goals and the ability to challenge yourself. It gets 3 stars for the helpful reminder in a world of cheap, easy pleasures and if it helps some people who didn't honestly know that, more power to it?

This book changed my life. It is arguably the most important book I've read - easily in my top 5. Be prepared for a college level read.

As an artist this book explained so many hidden gems that I was dying to find. It was such an outstanding book I went and bought another of his works simply titled "Creativity" which is also good but "Flow" takes the cake I think. If you can't tap into your creativity buy "Flow". If you want a heady, thought-provoking book buy "Flow". I wish I had the pleasure of having him as a professor but reading his works - the next best thing. If I ever have kids this will be required reading! It's hard to find nonfiction books that really move me, but this did just that. Can't say enough about this wonderful work - give it a shot!

This book first came out in 1990 by Psychologist Mihaly; viewed as one of the founding fathers of the positive psychology movement, he is also the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. According to Mihaly, "flow" is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake. It is about achieving happiness through control over one's inner life and this book takes you on a voyage of exploring how to achieve that. He believes some of the most enjoyable times in people's lives come from when they are so focused on the task at hand that they momentarily forget everything else. This is something I have experienced many times as an athlete, a facilitator and a coach; and, I wish I could feel this way more often. I can still remember a tennis match from over 30 years ago I won, in a hard fought three set battle because I didn't worry about winning or losing. If you are looking to enjoy your work, hobbies or life in general, this book will teach you how to free yourself to reap the rewards of being present in each moment for the ideal experience!

This is an amazing book where the author takes an incredibly useful scientific idea that he’s spent more than 30 years researching and makes it relevant for the everyday individual, using a variety of real life examples to make it more processable and poignant. People who give this book negative reviews seem to share a singular problem - expecting that just reading this book (or any book) will change their lives on their own, and expressing their disappointment that it didn’t in the form of thinly veiled and idiotic “academic criticisms” of what is an undoubtedly well written book for the average person to make practical use of an abstract scientific idea. The one guy who reviewed it, Vladimir, is the most ridiculous of all - he’s criticizing the book for not including ONE RANDOM MAN’S ideas on the topic, which essentially take a hopeless perspective and say “you can’t get any happier than you already are.” What on earth would the point of incorporating such a useless piece of information into a book geared towards teaching people how to be happier? And how on earth would Vladmir expect Mihaly to know about that guy’s useless and depressing theory 10 some years before it even came out?! Unfulfilled people will just criticize anything... so sad.

I tend to read a few pages at a time, and reflect on where my mindset is compared to the mindset to be in Flow I find it wakes me up, more conscious of what I am doing and whether I need to step it up a notch. You have to have a desire to excel in something (anything) to enjoy this book. There are not many books where I read a few pages at a time and deliberately stop. It is not that his writing style is profound, but that the concept of creating within yourself a different consciousness can impact how much impact you have. After reading those few pages, I tend to avoid doing trivial things like flipping TV channels, and instead think of doing something more profound. That makes this book a 5 star for me.

I had seen this book referenced in some other books and I thought I would go to the source.

It is an interesting book, but the structure and style of the author's sentences make it hard to read at times. The reading of the book doesn't, well, Flow. (The joke here being that flow in the sense of the ease of reading and the namesake state of being are probably both separate and the same thing.)

My preconceived notion of what "Flow" is tracked closely with what they call when athletes are "in the zone" and why I have come closest to in practice, where you just turn off your conscious mind and react through muscle memory. I was pretty close, but my notion was more limited. For the author, you can have flow at work, which to me seems ludicrous at first blush but is true. I can think of personal experiences where I was making pizza years ago, and in explaining how well I worked with one coworker, I called it a "dance". I didn't always dance at that job, but when I did, it was beautiful -- time flew and the memory of the shift was a pleasant memory.

You don't always flow though, and that's what concerns me. The author shows all these people experiencing these states, but I am wanting to know how to create these states. Reading the book, an d explaining it to my wife, she asked if it was a 'self-help' book with the negative baggage that comes with that phrase. It is not, but I for one wanted more hint on how to get to there from here.

One big thing about reading this for me was that it needs updated and expanded (and I'm sure the work has bee furthered). It is a twenty + year old book and the research it is based on is even older. I would be interested in seeing the physiological reaction to flow. Can you throw someone in an fMRI machine and induce the fl,ow state? If so, we could see in a different manner what a flow state looks like.

If you ask me to pick up one self-help book that has affected me greatly,among many that I have read,
Flow will be the first choice.

The book, thankfully, doesn't prescribe inanities like 'positive attitude', 'be happy', 'keep smiling' or
'think and you will get it'. The book advises us to get involved in anything that demands our
full attention; to do so, the writer recommends engagement in creative and challenging activities,
and thus enhancing the range of our experiences.

Csikszentmihalyi writes well--very well, indeed--but then one would expect it from an academic
who taught at the University of Chicago. The achievement of his style is in making this book
light enough for lay readers. Yet, some readers may find it a little difficult to wade through his
prose.

His advice is to learn new skills and challenge our mind to get out of routine and habits; a variety
of experiences enrich us and keep us healthy--leading to happiness. According to him,
the routine life makes us inattentive and dull, resulting in anxiety and emotional pressure.
Csikszentmihalyi prescribes 'attention' and 'commitment' to wake us up and put us in
touch with our emotional self.

The obvious criticism with this prescription is this: the ideas are meant for those who
are well off and do not have to worry about survival issues.

That may be true, and as a reader I probably belong to that class; yet, the books has
changed my attitude to life in many ways and given me a lot, pushing me to explore new
avenues, and consequently making me happy. Yes, happy during that moment of full engagement
with whatever I did.

When you love the work you are doing, your focus intensity is at its maximum that the people and sound around you can be ignored. Its like how Beyonce had one time gone for two days without food and didn't notice it, she loves the work she is doing so much that she had forgotten the hunger. I will still go back to this book to see any ideas that I had missed. However the author isn't quite clear on how to achieve such a love for the work you are doing.

Stop. Take a moment and think about your life. When was the last time you felt happy, satisfied, content or fulfilled? What were you doing? Chances are, there's something about the nature and structure of that particular activity that makes it pleasant and enjoyable. Flow is Csikszentmihalyi's inquiry into the pursuit of happiness.

The process takes him far and wide, from the major world religions, to cultural anthropology; philosophical systems to sociological studies. The objective is to identify how to be happy in life and in respect of the formal academic process, the book is rife with footnotes and citations. This would be a great choice for the rational, left-hemisphere dominant personality. You know the type, they're the ones with the intellectual curiosity, who don't take things at face value and check the references out for themselves.

The first edition is over 20 years old now, and the last couple decades have witnessed a dramatic culture-wide slide from the positive, or happiness side of the scale (the autotelic), to the negative, or unhappiness (entropy). Factors identified as negative - meaning they increase unhappiness, are expanding, and becoming ingrained. There's a story in the news today about a paper written by University of Kentucky Psychology professor Nathan DeWall titled "Narcissism and implicit attention seeking", which finds narcissism has increased exponentially over the past 30 years. As factors increasing unhappiness become normalized, than the argument in favor of deviation (following Mihaly's recommendations) becomes increasingly compelling.

"We are in the process of creating what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not an idiot sub-culture, which every society has bubbling beneath the surface and which can provide harmless fun; but the culture itself. For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal."
Carl Bernstein, U.S. journalist. Guardian (London, June 3, 1992)

It's all too easy to become imbalanced in life, and lose sight of what's really important. Therein lies the value of Flow. It's a guide back to a sensible core. Highly recommended.

Flow is perhaps the most influential book I've come across in my short lifetime. Although the concept of flow is intuitive through having experienced it at some point or another (“being in the zone"), I'm surprised that the intellectual frameworks for entering flow were not introduced to me until now considering how relevant and applicable the concept extends to all realms of life including happiness, work, family, culture, etc. Everyone can benefit from an intellectual understanding of flow and then work backwards, beginning to lay down whatever framework they see fit.

While many of us achieve flow experiences every now and again to varying degrees and intensities, implementing the conditions from which flow emerges into one’s life framework is worth consideration so as to make the entire life one long flow experience. It seems that those who live a life worth living have created it by their own doing, through their own consciousness, not through boredom and apathy, but through engagement and arousal and a search for meaning.

Life is a journey not with inherent meaning in and of itself, but something to be given meaning by our own accord.

We as humans face many challenges, the greatest of which is perhaps that the natural state of the mind is chaos. Additionally, we live in an ever-changing and increasingly complex world. Despite these challenges, one remains hopeful given that our minds have the power to create order amidst the chaos. Attention, not time, is our greatest resource for the reasons that 1) time is only as valuable as the attention we give it, and 2) it is entirely under our control. It must be protected and honed to the best of our abilities.

By focusing our attention, engaging in the world around us, setting goals that stretch us to new limits, pausing to reflect every once in a while, and creating meaning for our lives, we can limit psychic entropy which allows us to begin to enjoy life to its fullest and create harmony in our subjective experience.

This is flow —the optimal human experience. In its highest forms it is a sense of selflessness and complete immersion in whatever one is doing. It’s the result of hard work, and however painful it may be as its unfolding, can produce lasting enjoyment and fulfillment until that unpredictable and inevitable day when our time has come.

In reading this book, you’ve committed to learn the conditions to create an enjoyable life and do your best to apply them. Know that all kinds of flow experiences can be found in all aspects of mind and body in every moment. In a way, it is very similar to the teaching of mindfulness, or perhaps more accurately in both cases, mindlessness.

This simple truth—that the control of consciousness determines the quality of life— has been known for ages. “Know thy self,” as the Oracle Delphi proclaimed, will forever be one of, if not the most, important goals of a human life.

Control of consciousness must be cultivated and should pursued relentlessly. In order to change the world, one must first change the inner workings of their mind. Subjective experience is not just a dimension of life, it is life itself. All material conditions are secondary when it comes to a life worth living.

The book itself is well written, organized, insightful, and supported by rich examples and thorough research. Surely the book was designed for readers to experience flow states throughout its telling.

Highly recommend. I feel grateful to have read this book. If anyone has gone down this path before, let me know which book is next.

I couldn't stand the author's tendency to repeat the same point four to six times.

I understand that most people need to hear the same thing three times to remember it, but six is a bit over the top.

It's also full of references to Nietzsche, Carl Marx, Martin Luther King, Freud and other big names that don't fit the context. The name dropping in this book is excessive. Without the name dropping the text would have stood fine on its own.

This book should have been about 15 pages long.

If you want to get through this book, read the first two paragraphs of each chapter. You can skip the rest because it's turtles all the way down.

I first discovered the concept of flow several years ago when
I was working at home on a grievance matter that I was
handling for my teacher's union . . . all of a sudden, I was
interrupted by a call from my massage therapist . . . she
was asking why I wasn't in her office for my appointment.

Now massages are one of the things I REALLY look forward
to . . . yet I had been so "into" what I was doing that the
appointment completely skipped my mind.

Sometime thereafter, I became acquainted with the work
of esteemed psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his
work on this subject . . . so when I just got the chance to hear
FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE--written
by and featuring the author--I jumped at the opportunity to learn
even more.

And learn I did in this fascinating book . . . most of all, I became
acquainted with the following major components of the flow experience:

* There's clarity of goals.

* Feedback is immediate. You know moment-by-moment how well
you're doing.

* The challenges of the activity are matched with the skills of the person.

* There's a feeling of focus on what you're doing.

* Everyday frustrations are removed from your attention.

* You feel that you can be control of your life.

* You also lose a sense of self-consciousness.

* And as I previously observed, a sense of time is transformed.

Book has some good insights, especially in the beginning. However, it is clear that the author ran out of ideas and kept ranting towards the end. They were several moments were I asked myself "Why am I reading this?"... The author lingers and lingers his talk with unrelated fluff that a twelve year old would know. The book could have been fine at the length of 100 pages, MAX.

Since this book does have some good insights, it gets 3 star.

If you are a runner, a cyclist, or other endurance sport type, you're probably familiar with something similar to what Csikszentmihalyi calls "flow." Think of that moment when you stop feeling as though what you are doing is "work," when you no longer think of giving up, but only of going on.

Unfortunately, many of us go through life rarely ever experiencing "flow."

The concept is simple. Happiness comes when we feel in control of our actions -- and these moments don't happen when we are at rest (usually), instead, "the best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."

Flow is not a self-help book, at least not in the sense of offering you "ten steps to eternal happiness" or worksheets or exercises. Instead, it is a popularized examination of the intellectual bases for the concept of flow. Instead of quoting long lists of scholars, Csikszentmihalyi uses copious "real life" examples to illustrate the concepts he introduces (this is an aspect Flow shares with self-help books).

Even without the exercises or the ten steps or the motivational quotes, Flow can be very helpful for a reader who is experiencing boredom, anxiety, lethargy, lack of purpose, and hasn't figured out why.

For me, Flow helped me understand the reasons for a years-long depression and gave me the language necessary to begin to describe what I felt was missing in my own life. I started reading this book about the same time I started seeing a life coach, and it has really helped me in those sessions.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but Flow is still a fascinating and not very dense look at an important aspect of the human condition.

good books of this genre fall into two categories: rigorous academic studies, and creatively related insights from practitioners. this book, unfortunately, fails on both fronts. check out "the tao of pooh" which is 90% shorter and much more insightful :)

the author is an academic through and through, and he's clearly in awe of the "flow" phenomenon, yet he examines it as an outsider who is neither able to summarize scientific evidence in a clear, logical manner, nor able to convey how exactly to achieve flow from personal experience.

The author's basic argument is that humans who experience Flow more often report better levels of existence. They are happier.

This book is an excellent read because of its examples; it also has cool pieces to help anyone put together their own puzzle.

Did you know that the leading theory of how cultures switch their general behavior acknowledges an altruistic side and a materialistic side - and only those sides?

BACK TO THE CONCEPT

Let's say you just stop doing something, and you realize that you were COMPLETELY engrossed in whatever you were doing. You stop for a minute, and think, woah, what the hell just happened?

It happens to everyone, but at Dr. C points out, to some more than other.

The task...

Must have your complete and undivided attention:

1. By having your skills adequate to presented challenges

2. By having clear goals (expectations) of achievement

3. By having immediate feedback of action to task

PEOPLE IN FLOW

People who are often in Flow activities describe the experience as being "one" with the stated activity.

Dr. C named this experience with any activity as Flow; based off of the most commonly used word interviewees gave when immersed in any type of activity.

Believe in Flow. Go play a game like Tetris and find where it is, and where it is not. Generally Dr. C would say, if I could speak for him, that the Flow in a game like Tetris would come at that point where you really need to find a place for a piece and are focusing completely and utterly on doing just that.

The book has its nice strands and its drab strands, I'd say become at least familiar with the concept.

(...)

While I do not agree with Csikszentmihalyi's philosophy or religious positions, I think he has some valid insights on the process of creativity. In writing on the internal rewards of creativity, he says "There is no question that to survive, and especially to survive in a complex society, it is necessary to work for external goals, and to postpone immediate gratifications....The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them rewards that are under one's own powers." One such system of internal rewards is the enjoyment of accomplishing something creatively. He says such an experience can become a positive addiction.
In the flow experience, one loses a sense of self in that one expands beyond self to an "undreamed of state" of consciousness. One is lost in one's work. "Everything the body can do is potentially enjoyable" he tell us. He quotes Thomas Carlyle saying, "Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness."
There are some highly useful insights in this wonderful book. He causes you to realize overcoming obstacles is not the exception, but the expectation in life. Flow is the process whereby creatively overcoming challenges is redefined in a positive perspective.

Both in terms of structure and content, this book scores very high. It is very well organized, lucid & full of interesting anecdotes. It does not get into unnecessary academic details about psychology, though it explains every aspect of each experience in thorough detail.

The topic itself is quite complex & inherently interesting & the skilful handling of the subject means that at no point the reader is bogged down by details she does not understand. The author gives a detailed breakdown of the characteristics of the optimal experience going on to elaborate on how such an experience can be lived in our relationships, work, leisure & the like.

The author does point out that this is not meant to be a self help book; however, my feeling is that it could, most definitely, be used as one because given the detailed explanations of each aspect of the optimal experience & various anecdotal examples, there remains only a matter of personalization in terms of which actions or activities for each one of us individually would lead to this optimal experience. There are odd flashes of humour; though, I feel, these could have been more frequent.

All in all, to borrow from sensationalist terminology, this one is unputdownable.

S!

This is a great read! Mihaly helped me to understand the dynamics of peak experiences. The book helped me to realize that when we are fully absorbed in an activity so that we lose our sense of time, there are typical parameters that allow for that phenomenon. Absorption and bliss don't happen in a vacuum! Peak experiences usually happen when there are some basic parameters in place, which Mihaly explains in detail.
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)

This book explains what optimal experiences are and how they relate to the psychology of happiness. This book also provides some intriguing definitions for consciousness, attention, and intention, which I think are useful in reconsidering how to purposely use such elements of our behavior to prompt flow. It's a good book overall, with the author providing some excellent examples of how people have used flow states to overcome adversity as well as create works of genius. It also presents some psychological theory which isn't rooted in Freud, Jung, or the eight circuit model, which is refreshing to read, and much needed in order to better appreciate psychology as a discipline and how that discipline can be related to one's spirituality.

If there's one area where this book suffers, it's that the author is sometimes too wordy and overly repetitious. While I enjoyed this book, there were times, I felt the author was repeating himself too much, in order to get a point across. That said, it's definitely worth picking up, to broaden your understanding of psychology and optimal states of experience.

Flow is a concept defined as "the optimal state of inner experience [is one] in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy--or attention--is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else. These periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times of their lives."

The book makes two points, and then hammers them home over 300 pages of specifics regarding appreciating food, friends, art, sports, etc. First, finding a skill to become expert at makes you more appreciative of what is involved in the making of every skill, and brings with it greater responsibility and awareness in the world. "This paradox of rising expectations suggests that improving the quality of life might be an insurmountable task. In fact, there is no inherent problem in our desire to escalate our goals, as long as we enjoy the struggle along the way. The problem arises when people are so fixated on what they want to achieve that they cease to derive pleasure from the present. When that happens, they forfeit their chance of contentment."

Second, that socialization and conforming creates communities that are resistant to growth and only through developing expertise and appreciation of expertise can we overcome this. "Routinization, unfortunately, tends to take place very rapidly. Freud was still alive when his quest for liberating the ego from its oppressors was turned into a staid ideology and a rigidly regulated profession. Marx was even less fortunate: his attempts to free consciousness from the tyranny of economic exploitation were soon turned into a system of repression that would have boggled the poor founder's mind. And as Dostoevsky among many others observed, if Christ had returned to preach his message of liberation in the Middle Ages, he would have been crucified again and again by the leaders of that very church whose worldly power was built on his name."

Find your skill, develop it, learn the difficulties involved in developing expertise, and appreciate others expertise. As in many other scientific self-help and positive psychology books, the core personality trait to develop is gratitude. Be gracious of your opportunities, the good moments in life, and constantly seek to learn and grow from them.

If this is your first book on positive psychology, you will enjoy the easy read and extended application to a variety of fields. Otherwise, the book is unnecessarily long and repetitive, using a smattering of studies to indulge in a philosophy on enjoying life.

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.

I found it very interesting that Mihaly Csikszentmihaly was mentioned in the a module on Motivation and Work for a class I took and later taught. I used "Flow" as part of required reading for ETC567 a class on Education, Technology and Society. It always got favorable reviews and the students liked having something that was not like a textbook.

I remember reading the book "Flow" for the first time and going "Wow." If we could all feel flow in our work, in our lives, things would be so much easier. Instead we feel ourselves often dissatisfied with rote memorization in school, repetition in work and financial stresses and personal emotional issues in our social and interpersonal relationships.

Reading "Flow" often provides an "Ah-ha" moment. Should be required reading for all college freshman!

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a book expanding on the author's research. The original research article posited the theory of flow which is a mental state characterized by 8 components, including, a task with clear goals, a task which provides immediate feedback and so on. The theory of flow has been crucial in research and my entire master's thesis was based on the theory. So going into this book I perhaps had an expectation that I would like it.

I didn't. Csikszentmihalyi writes about almost everything else but flow. He equals flow with happiness but doesn't build on this in any way. Instead it is just a quite comprehensive, but ultimately personal account into what makes people happy. None of the statements about happiness is really backed up by any research or at least the author doesn't try to justify any of the claims made in the book.
The structure of the book is also lacking. Csikszentmihalyi divides the book into aspects of life and with chapters devoted into work, family life, friends and so on. Reading each chapter is however just jumping back and forth between viewpoints, anecdotes and once and a while some research. The loose structure makes it quite difficult to see how the author thinks that happiness can be gained.

The theory of flow is groundbreaking and an extremely interesting research topic. The problem is that the book does not measure up at all and seems to be the author's opinions instead of being backed up by research or any kind of evidence. I've also read research papers that gave a better introduction to the theory of flow that what Csikszentmihalyi provides in the book. Skip this book and instead find a paper that explains the theory.

According to the author, the bringing of order to consciousness, control of the mind, is the key to happiness. This theory has had an extensive impact since it surfaced in academnic journals 30 years ago for, it is a "meta-theory" that is applicable to any type of human activity such as sex, work, friendship, loneliness and lifelong learning. However, in order to work, "flow" needs "free-will": it will be those individuals who can generate their own flow experiences who will tend to be happier. Flow helps to integrate the self because in that state of deep concentration, consciousness is usually well ordered. "Flow" has been described in various disciplines by different names. Athletes call it "being in the zone". Mystics describe it as "ecstasy". Artists term it "rapture". The book's best description of flow come from the zen masters. Zen masters will describe flow as "just doing". A long time ago I, published an article about it. You can secure it from me for free by writing to Dr Jusuf Hariman at [email protected]. Lastly, the author discerns "enjoyment " and "pleasure". Mere pleasure does not engage our being and does little for our psychic development. On the other hand, people in "enjoyment" are actively engage is something meaningful and do a great deal in our psychic development.

How I got the book:
Bought my own copy

Background:
Csikszentmihalyi is a psychologist who has been studying humans at work and play for decades, with a particular focus on discovering the conditions in which human beings achieve states of happiness, satisfaction, and engagement with what they are doing. Flow is his attempt to explain these ideas to a large, mainstream audience.

The strengths:
This book gives a lot of great information about ways that people derive enjoyment, engagement, and happiness in the work they do. His definition of psychic entropy was a particular revelation for me: the idea that a mind at rest tends to fill up with negative and occasionally crazy thoughts (OK, this is a slight exaggeration, but still). The author shares his thoughts and observations on how anyone can try to find fulfillment and satisfaction through mental and physical pursuits.

Generally speaking, this is just a great book about finding happiness and satisfaction in your life by looking for quite a spectrum of experiences to full engage yourself.

The areas for improvement:
As good and wonderful as this book is, it can be a bit of a tough slog, especially for today's reader who scans and looks for landmarks rather than taking a book one word at a time.

Other points of interest:
I have read any of the author's other books, but I'm looking forward to checking out his book on creativity. He also gave a very interesting TED presentation about flow that you can find on the Web.

Reading this book made me able to understand why I "get lost" in a pleasant way in certain activities. (I know nothing about Jung , Maslow, or Zen.) The subject matter earns five stars for giving me that personal insight, but the quality of its editing gets only two stars. The book is repetitive, repetitive, repetitive. Did I mention that it is repetitive? Another reviewer said something like "it could have been adequately covered in 50 pages." I agree. And publishers who neglect to create an index for a work of non-fiction make it difficult for a reader to go back to find certain information---not exactly conducive to learning. Good editing would have removed the repetition and included an index. In spite of the book's drawbacks, I'm glad I read it.

Ignore any reviews which denegrate Csikszentmihalyi's work as "obvious" or the pop-culture equivalent of Zen. This book has a resonance of validity that can only come from extensive study and contemplation. Understanding WHY and HOW other people fill their lives with meaning and purpose can help clarify your own life. Even if you're unable to find anything in this text that can be applied to yourself, it's no less valid a study than, say, appreciating a leaf for its green-ness or how it floats to earth in the fall. This book is such an examination of one of the most basic driving forces of humanity.

What is 'flow'? Simply put you know you're having a flow experience when the adage "time flies when you're having fun" is operative.
Applied to life I guess this means not getting locked into a job or a career or way of life that bores you. Do what you can't have enough of, whether that's tennis, driving buses, playing the equities market, healing, writing, .... If you want to have a happy life then get into the flow experience.
Incidentally here's a pronunciation guide to (University of Chicago professor of psychology) Dr. Cziksentmihalyi's most daunting name: chick-SENT-me-hi

Professor Csikszentmihalyi has done a great service by distilling his decades of research into happiness and satisfaction into a well constructed single volume. He writes with wit, insight, and character. He vast learning is often evident but never overbearing.
The book ultimately fails, however, for it invests all of its considerable power in describing Flow and convincing the reader to seek this optimal experience but does too little to help us on the path toward experiencing it. This flaw is somewhat healed in his later books, but perhaps the key can not be conveyed in print.
That is why I am so busy teaching and consulting on the topic.

This is a really inspiring book about becoming immersed in what you do, and the benefits of the immersion. It's not really about being happy, as the cover suggests. In fact the author clearly states that this is not a book about how to be happy. This book is about being busy, and being focused.

In writing my own book on happiness, I've researched over three hundred books. Csikszentmihalyi's Flow and Rao's Are You Ready To Succeed stand atop the pile. Flow and Are Your Ready to Succeed can help you achieve happiness perhaps quicker and more consistently than any other book. Reading these will help you internalize the notion that being in control of the mind means that literally anything that happens can be a source of joy

Flow explains that achieving control over experience requires a drastic change in attitude about what is important and what is not. Control over consciousness is not simply a cognitive skill. At least as much as intelligence, it requires the commitment of emotions and will. It's not enough to know how to do it; one must do it, consistently in the same way as athletes.

Without discipline, he explains, we are always getting to live, but never living. When you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but that your own judgment of them disturbs you. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.

Easily one of the best self-help books I've read as it is well researched, thorough and ultimately provides a robust understanding as to what can drive a rewarding fulfilling life. For example, in talking about the paradox of work the author explains how few people want to work they benefit immensely from it. It then doesn't gloss over the complexity and adds that work can genuinely cause stress. Therefore, people need to adopt strategies such as meditation to overcome the challenges of work.

I'm very glad I read this book. Though I had some idea before reading it that challenging yourself and achieving "flow" is important for your happiness, I just didn't really grasp how important it is in all aspects of your life. One can turn wasted time in optimal time, just by using a little creativity to make challenges for yourself. I would have never thought that someone could turn boring factory work into an optimal experience, for example. Often, happiness comes from within, not from without. That is perhaps the lesson that Westerners need to learn the most. We keep trying to find happiness with greater and greater riches, but it continues to elude us.

However, I think that Mihaly C. overstates the importance of Flow a little. There are other components to happiness that have nothing to do with challenging yourself - love, friendship, relaxation time, comfort, etc. Just keep that in mind as you read this book.

Flow (optimal experience) is something we all strive for and this book provides many chapters designed to help us recognize it. The key to this excellent self-help book is that it helps us understand our inner self first prior to providing cheesy solutions. Just like the 12 step AA program you first have to admit something and recognize it, only then are you ready for change. After reading this book, it was easy to admit that I am not in an optimal state all the time, when perhaps I could have been.
"Hello, my name is Loopy and I'm not experiencing life in an optimal manner"
Ok, let's get serious. In this time of hostilities it is more important than ever to recognize why humans try so hard to conquer the outer world. Mihaly concentrates entirely on how to achieve flow, therefore prescribing proven techniqes to control your state of mind (inner world) and improving the quality of your life.
Flow is simply immersing yourself in an activity to the point of losing sense of time. That activity can't be too hard or too easy, just enough so that you instinctively know that you are learning and expanding. Learning to effortlessly drive a golf ball, play guitar, converse, dance and work can all provide the state of Flow.
Mihaly starts the book off with an interesting general visit to the happiness subject and asks all the right questions. He presents a strong argument focusing on how humans throughout history have focused on how health, beauty, money and power will be our shining knights, yet we only have to look inside ourselves and stretch ourselves to experience precious moments. That perfect golf swing. Writing a great review. Cooking a great meal. It's just too easy in our society to flick channels and grab a greasy burger. You have to create optimal moments.
In the chapter discussing consciousness he tackles a tricky subject by first admitting it is a complex subject, but offers some interesting explanations. Consciousness can be "intentionally ordered information". Our conscious actively shapes events for us providing a sum of all we have heard, seen, felt, hope and suffered. He is one of the only authors that I stuck with, on this complex subject. I have a clearer understanding as to why I do things. This is an important step to changing my ways.
Mihaly also looks at optimal experiences in our culture, thus looking at the bigger picture. His insight in how the industrial Revolution actually shortened some lifespans and put children at work very early is a great example how our behavior evolved innocently until it was too late. Even today we are working longer hours with modern technology. Is our present culture in the optimal state? I don't think so.
The book also looks at developing Flow through the body (yoga) and senses, with examples of the joy of seeing and hearing (music).
The subject of Flow and work is well presented as he provides examples of how people have found optimal experiences in mundane jobs.
The family is also discussed and it is easy to understand how we become dull with our family, neglecting to input energy and time.
Mihaly is one of those authors that truly cares for the human race and makes an effort to solve some very complex questions with a common sense approach. Now I want get out there and seize the day.

One of my very favorite books.

Written for a popular audience, the author describes the fascinating results of his academic career of researching exactly what makes people happy.

His findings are surprising. Most people don't know what makes them happy. For example, most people don't realize that they are happiest at work or why; they believe they would be happier with more leisure time. I found most facsinating the studies of people who had lost limbs. The book explains why, although parapalegics would rather still have their limbs, for many, the loss of their limbs actually made them happier.

The ideas presented explain why so many people are unhappy when enjoying historically unprecedented levels of physical comfort. The book is also uplifting in that it points out that we truly can be happy in any situation.

Although the book does ramble at times, this is one of the best books I have ever read. I am more than willing to put up with less than perfect writing to gain the remarkable insights that are clearly laid out in the book. Not surprisingly, the book does not provide a recipe to make you happy. But it does provide general concepts that can be applied to your particular situation and preferences.

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!

An excellent insight into the human mind. He helps you realize how to set your self up for more "flow" situations, therefore, setting your self up for a happier life. A great book for helping one find what truly interests her and how she can discover a more productive and meaningful life.
To the reader from Diamond Bar, CA: Nowhere in the book does Csikszentmihalyi claim to be "God like." His theories can be applied to a religious life as well as a secular life. If anything "Flow" is a way to further explore your spirituality.

The author sure loves to hear himself speak. Very interesting, but I find myself quickly becoming bored with it. It's written and reads as a textbook, not a book of leisure. Interesting how a book about deriving pleasure from anything in daily life...isn't that pleasurable to read.
There is good insight, though it could be about a third of the length - Very repetitious in use of examples. Reading shorter books on Buddhism, meditation, etc. will reinforce the author's point, and get you there quicker.

I remember reading one book which goes into great detail describing "Flow" where the author says Csikszentmihalyi gets closer to figuring out the mechanisms of human happiness than Aristole ever did. After reading "Flow" myself, I say that this is accurate.

Flow - a state that people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

The entire book is about how to achieve that state in everything from exercising to using it to achieve successful relationships, and to making life a complete flow experience. Flow can also be seen as another way to achieve happiness.

The book really changed some of my thoughts and that's why I think so highly of it. It's a well written book with many good notions. It is also some what motivational though it is not intended to be.

I stumbled across this book while reading an article in Fast Company magazine. I think this speaks directly to why the book is such an excellent work. Even though I am reading it in 2006 with all the changes that have happened in the world since 1991 the books advice holds up as well today as it did when published.

The quality of research backing up Mihaly's viewpoints on happiness and the stories he uses to illustrate how you can use his research to improve the quality of your life are both in depth and practical.

Since reading the book I have found myself using many of the tactics recommended and feel the advice has been useful and easily incorporated into my every day life.

Highly Recommended

What is 'flow'? Simply put you know you're having a flow experience when the adage "time flies when you're having fun" is operative.
Applied to life I guess this means not getting locked into a job or a career or way of life that bores you. Do what you can't have enough of, whether that's tennis, driving buses, playing the equities market, healing, writing, .... If you want to have a happy life then get into the flow experience.
Incidentally here's a pronunciation guide to (University of Chicago professor of psychology) Dr. Cziksentmihalyi's most daunting name: chick-SENT-me-hi

Professor Csikszentmihalyi has done a great service by distilling his decades of research into happiness and satisfaction into a well constructed single volume. He writes with wit, insight, and character. He vast learning is often evident but never overbearing.
The book ultimately fails, however, for it invests all of its considerable power in describing Flow and convincing the reader to seek this optimal experience but does too little to help us on the path toward experiencing it. This flaw is somewhat healed in his later books, but perhaps the key can not be conveyed in print.
That is why I am so busy teaching and consulting on the topic.

This is a really inspiring book about becoming immersed in what you do, and the benefits of the immersion. It's not really about being happy, as the cover suggests. In fact the author clearly states that this is not a book about how to be happy. This book is about being busy, and being focused.

In writing my own book on happiness, I've researched over three hundred books. Csikszentmihalyi's Flow and Rao's Are You Ready To Succeed stand atop the pile. Flow and Are Your Ready to Succeed can help you achieve happiness perhaps quicker and more consistently than any other book. Reading these will help you internalize the notion that being in control of the mind means that literally anything that happens can be a source of joy

Flow explains that achieving control over experience requires a drastic change in attitude about what is important and what is not. Control over consciousness is not simply a cognitive skill. At least as much as intelligence, it requires the commitment of emotions and will. It's not enough to know how to do it; one must do it, consistently in the same way as athletes.

Without discipline, he explains, we are always getting to live, but never living. When you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but that your own judgment of them disturbs you. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.

Easily one of the best self-help books I've read as it is well researched, thorough and ultimately provides a robust understanding as to what can drive a rewarding fulfilling life. For example, in talking about the paradox of work the author explains how few people want to work they benefit immensely from it. It then doesn't gloss over the complexity and adds that work can genuinely cause stress. Therefore, people need to adopt strategies such as meditation to overcome the challenges of work.

I'm very glad I read this book. Though I had some idea before reading it that challenging yourself and achieving "flow" is important for your happiness, I just didn't really grasp how important it is in all aspects of your life. One can turn wasted time in optimal time, just by using a little creativity to make challenges for yourself. I would have never thought that someone could turn boring factory work into an optimal experience, for example. Often, happiness comes from within, not from without. That is perhaps the lesson that Westerners need to learn the most. We keep trying to find happiness with greater and greater riches, but it continues to elude us.

However, I think that Mihaly C. overstates the importance of Flow a little. There are other components to happiness that have nothing to do with challenging yourself - love, friendship, relaxation time, comfort, etc. Just keep that in mind as you read this book.

Flow (optimal experience) is something we all strive for and this book provides many chapters designed to help us recognize it. The key to this excellent self-help book is that it helps us understand our inner self first prior to providing cheesy solutions. Just like the 12 step AA program you first have to admit something and recognize it, only then are you ready for change. After reading this book, it was easy to admit that I am not in an optimal state all the time, when perhaps I could have been.
"Hello, my name is Loopy and I'm not experiencing life in an optimal manner"
Ok, let's get serious. In this time of hostilities it is more important than ever to recognize why humans try so hard to conquer the outer world. Mihaly concentrates entirely on how to achieve flow, therefore prescribing proven techniqes to control your state of mind (inner world) and improving the quality of your life.
Flow is simply immersing yourself in an activity to the point of losing sense of time. That activity can't be too hard or too easy, just enough so that you instinctively know that you are learning and expanding. Learning to effortlessly drive a golf ball, play guitar, converse, dance and work can all provide the state of Flow.
Mihaly starts the book off with an interesting general visit to the happiness subject and asks all the right questions. He presents a strong argument focusing on how humans throughout history have focused on how health, beauty, money and power will be our shining knights, yet we only have to look inside ourselves and stretch ourselves to experience precious moments. That perfect golf swing. Writing a great review. Cooking a great meal. It's just too easy in our society to flick channels and grab a greasy burger. You have to create optimal moments.
In the chapter discussing consciousness he tackles a tricky subject by first admitting it is a complex subject, but offers some interesting explanations. Consciousness can be "intentionally ordered information". Our conscious actively shapes events for us providing a sum of all we have heard, seen, felt, hope and suffered. He is one of the only authors that I stuck with, on this complex subject. I have a clearer understanding as to why I do things. This is an important step to changing my ways.
Mihaly also looks at optimal experiences in our culture, thus looking at the bigger picture. His insight in how the industrial Revolution actually shortened some lifespans and put children at work very early is a great example how our behavior evolved innocently until it was too late. Even today we are working longer hours with modern technology. Is our present culture in the optimal state? I don't think so.
The book also looks at developing Flow through the body (yoga) and senses, with examples of the joy of seeing and hearing (music).
The subject of Flow and work is well presented as he provides examples of how people have found optimal experiences in mundane jobs.
The family is also discussed and it is easy to understand how we become dull with our family, neglecting to input energy and time.
Mihaly is one of those authors that truly cares for the human race and makes an effort to solve some very complex questions with a common sense approach. Now I want get out there and seize the day.

One of my very favorite books.

Written for a popular audience, the author describes the fascinating results of his academic career of researching exactly what makes people happy.

His findings are surprising. Most people don't know what makes them happy. For example, most people don't realize that they are happiest at work or why; they believe they would be happier with more leisure time. I found most facsinating the studies of people who had lost limbs. The book explains why, although parapalegics would rather still have their limbs, for many, the loss of their limbs actually made them happier.

The ideas presented explain why so many people are unhappy when enjoying historically unprecedented levels of physical comfort. The book is also uplifting in that it points out that we truly can be happy in any situation.

Although the book does ramble at times, this is one of the best books I have ever read. I am more than willing to put up with less than perfect writing to gain the remarkable insights that are clearly laid out in the book. Not surprisingly, the book does not provide a recipe to make you happy. But it does provide general concepts that can be applied to your particular situation and preferences.

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!

An excellent insight into the human mind. He helps you realize how to set your self up for more "flow" situations, therefore, setting your self up for a happier life. A great book for helping one find what truly interests her and how she can discover a more productive and meaningful life.
To the reader from Diamond Bar, CA: Nowhere in the book does Csikszentmihalyi claim to be "God like." His theories can be applied to a religious life as well as a secular life. If anything "Flow" is a way to further explore your spirituality.

The author sure loves to hear himself speak. Very interesting, but I find myself quickly becoming bored with it. It's written and reads as a textbook, not a book of leisure. Interesting how a book about deriving pleasure from anything in daily life...isn't that pleasurable to read.
There is good insight, though it could be about a third of the length - Very repetitious in use of examples. Reading shorter books on Buddhism, meditation, etc. will reinforce the author's point, and get you there quicker.

I remember reading one book which goes into great detail describing "Flow" where the author says Csikszentmihalyi gets closer to figuring out the mechanisms of human happiness than Aristole ever did. After reading "Flow" myself, I say that this is accurate.

Flow - a state that people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

The entire book is about how to achieve that state in everything from exercising to using it to achieve successful relationships, and to making life a complete flow experience. Flow can also be seen as another way to achieve happiness.

The book really changed some of my thoughts and that's why I think so highly of it. It's a well written book with many good notions. It is also some what motivational though it is not intended to be.

I stumbled across this book while reading an article in Fast Company magazine. I think this speaks directly to why the book is such an excellent work. Even though I am reading it in 2006 with all the changes that have happened in the world since 1991 the books advice holds up as well today as it did when published.

The quality of research backing up Mihaly's viewpoints on happiness and the stories he uses to illustrate how you can use his research to improve the quality of your life are both in depth and practical.

Since reading the book I have found myself using many of the tactics recommended and feel the advice has been useful and easily incorporated into my every day life.

Highly Recommended

The bottom line is that the book does give you a self help recipe (between the long stories and examples).
It is written however in a style similar to Dale Carnegie's how to win friends, thus giving you an idea followed by a real life situation.
Despite the fact that the flow is a nice theory for enjoying life, it lacks credibility because in this book it is not based on any known existing phsycological theory- a fact that makes the book a bit 'cheaper'.
If you want a self help book, it is Ok, but if you want a serious elaboration of the flow and real applications in life, leave it.

A good self help book that will help the reader to understand and order consciousness. The reader is taught how to cope with everday challenges and chaos. The book explains that we must not be sad, angry, worried, ect., despite events that occur outside of our control. Rather, we can learn to accept unwanted events and choose to feel happy, productive, or calm despite those obstacles.

And I think the author would agree that, it is illogical to believe that sadness, anger, worry, fear, loneliness and many other emotions MUST be disordered and avoided. Suffering is part of life and cannot/should not be avoided. An emotion need not be wrong or eliminated from consciousness simply because it is unwanted.

Certain injustices that occur in this world cause many of us to experience a lifetime of deep sadness and suffering. And despite the ability we may have to be productive and happy by means of flow experiences, we must understand that unwanted emotions are healthy and very normal. Unwanted emotions such as anger and sadness help us to realize injustice. If we did not experience anger/sadness in the face of injustice, we would cease being human.

This is one of the best books available on the subject of happiness. It offers specific and detailed instruction about options available for both improving the quality of life, and achieving greater fulfillment.

That said, it is not an easy read, and real application is required.

I recommend taking brief notes. I went to the trouble of doing this, and I find that my notes from this book have become an excellent quick reference whenever I want to remind myself of options for wise and truly fulfilling actions.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who is a serious student of life itself.

If you're looking for an easy read, you may be best served looking elsewhere.

I agree with much of what is in the book. It seems it could be a bit less lengthy but I see the author has written much more about "flow".

To me this is just one of many perspectives on what makes "meaning" in like and the author does leave a bit of room. Had I read this years ago, it might of meant more. I am not sure what I would take from it at this point, but I would bet some would benefit greatly.

The main issue I have with this book is that it is a fairly boring read. The second is that it is filled with vague generalities that don't fit into any recognizable scientific or psychological norms. It is essentially one man's take on what it means to be happy. As a definition of happiness, it sort of works, but there isn't really any substance to the book. Filled with oblique metaphor, anecdotal evidence, and a loosely defined spiritualism that is most similar to Zen Buddhism, the book does nothing to provide any answers on how one can truly be happy. The pursuit of 'flow,' admirable as it may be, is in no way definable as making one happy any more than any other esoteric personal philosophy. If you're interested in the nature of happiness or in invigorating your own creative spirit, there are much better resources available.

2/5 Stars. Turbid, unscientific, and lacking any philosophical base aside from its own claims. Give Aristotle a read instead.

Flow is an ecstatic state that occurs when according to Dr. C. you are really, really paying attention to some creative or demanding act. And all credit to Dr. C. for brining our attention to flow and how it influences peoples lives. But there is a teensy little problem. Dr. C. tell us what other people tell him 'flow' feels like, but in 300 pages, he never tells us what flow is. This is sort of like reading a book on headaches by Dostoevsky or some existentialist philosopher. You may get the feel of what headaches are like, but to know the physiology of headaches, a better choice would be to rely on DrKoop. Same thing unfortunately with Dr. C. Instead of a scientific analysis of flow that brings in the latest research on cognitive science or neuroscience, Dr. C. ladles on the metaphors like a never ending fountain of curdled verbal gravy. Thus flow "transports one into a new reality", represents an "ordering of consciousness", or represents some "undreamed of state of consciousness". Hmm, may I have some psychic fries with all this psychic goodness?
So Dr. C's book gets two stars for literature, but flunks out as science. Indeed, the latest research in neuroscience has demonstrated that the brain releases the neuromodulator dopamine whenever attention shifts from one salient precept to another. Whenever attention shifts a lot, as when we encounter something challenging, creative, or very interesting, a lot of dopamine is produced. Since dopamine is the pleasure chemical in the brain, as well as is responsible for drug induced highs, it stands to reason that flow is no more than a natural drug high that keeps us riveted on important thoughts. So flow is important, but is hardly best understood by the half baked Jungian analysis that Dr. C. cooks up.
For a better insight on how you too can make 300+ page books by weaving together meaningless metaphors, I would refer the reader to George Lakoff's superb book "Philosophy in the Flesh". For a better understanding about the emotions that may underlie flow, I also recommend Antonio Damasio's book "Descartes Error..."; and for those of you who would like to get a better idea about how flow like processes may arise from the brain, Donahoe and Palmer's book "Learning and Complex Behavior" is heartily recommended.

Heard great things about this book some time ago. Finally decided to pick up a copy. Would love to know what it says. Font is SO small I can't read it without serious eye pain. Fwiw, I have excellent eye sight. The font size is ridiculous.

With the recent scientific investigations into the psycho-physiological roots of religious experience, this ten-year-old book bears re-discovery. While not overtly spiritual in nature, this book could perhaps become the basis for a new spirituality -- one where personal happiness is the highest goal, and optimal experience is the means by which it is achieved. Anyone who is interested in spirituality (even non-supernaturalist spirituality) and psychology will find this author's work worth investigating.

With the concept of happiness being a distraction from Flow Csikszentimihalyi sets up a myriad of powerful arguments all revealing his more philosophical side towards the end.
80% of adults say they would work if they had enough money not to. The problem that exists is these same people can't wait to get home from their jobs.. even though they said they would work if money weren't an issue..? It's not supposed to make sense because it doesn't, these people are working for far off rewards and not enjoying their task at hand.
By age 12 the American child associates only negative things with anything labeled as work. The view of work needs to be changed. This book does just that.
Working only for distant rewards will lead to regret and eventual disappointment. It is by learning how to enjoy any task can one get the most enjoyment out of life.
Concepts are introduced that are really cool, and I'm not just talking about the "oh that's cool" cool I'm talking about the "holy sh*t, are you serious?" cool. A lot of wisdom in the book, give it a shot.

This was one of the most interesting and inspiring books I've read, ever. Granted it does start off very dry in the beginning but if you hang in there and follow the path the author is taking you, you will find that this book is a gem of brilliance. Creating a life that has meaning is something that we can achieve - it doesn't just fall upon us - and that fact that anyone can do it by following what inspires them is wonderful.

I have recommended this book to several friends and acquaintances - even people at cocktail parties - as one of the most insightful books ever. Excellent!!

A really interesting read, full of the history of psychology.
It can be a bit of a slow read, unless you love studying and learning about psychology & the mind, because it has so many details about historic studies, that it reads a bit like a history book.

It delves into the history of psychology as well as a modern analysis of how focusing one's energy can help us to accomplish everything we want. It's much more clinical & detailed then most 'self-help' genre of books.

When I first read FLOW in graduate school, I was struck by the simple idea of it: being absorbed in whatever you're doing leads to flow, which usually leads to feeling you're living a meaningful life. I now use "flow" as a lens to consider everything; so many people seem so miserable because they haven't found their flow activity, or haven't been willing or able to make room for it in their lives. In my own book, WRITING IN FLOW, for which Csikszentmihalyi wrote the Foreword, I was able to apply these ideas to a writing life, which shows their universality. My life hasn't been the same since! FLOW describes how to recognize this altered state and how to make it more likely to happen regularly. It's impossible to read this book and not find resonances in your own life.

Flow are those inexplicable moments of indescribable happiness that we experience at rare intervals, when we are "surprised by joy." These precious moments seem to be gifts, almost accidental peak experiences in which life seems rich with meaning, joy and wonder. When and why do these magic episodes intrude upon our humdrum existences? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's answer may surprise you: "Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments of our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times ... The best moments of our lives usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to the limits in a voluntary moment to achieve something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something we make happen ... For each person there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expand ourselves."

Csikszentmihalyi's theme is happiness. This philosopher-psychologist points out the Aristotelian concept that all other things we seek, riches, fame, power, etc. are valued only because we believe they will make us happy. Based upon decades of research on the mystery of happiness, Csikszentmihalyi defines it as moments of self-forgetfulness when we are totally absorbed in the process of life ... intervals of peak creativity and self-expression. He expands upon the research of Abraham Maslow and agrees that peak experiences are within the reach of us all. The theme of this book is the introduction of techniques to make this glad to be alive feeling occur more often. It may be stated that this book is no self-help step-by-step program, nor could it be. Each of us is plowing new snow, creating a path that no one else has traveled. The guidelines and the principles are here, but the journey into the sublime uncertainty of our destiny is individual and precious. Flow is one of several extraordinary contributions by this great mind.

Unlike many pop psychology books, the insights in Flow can be readily applied to genuinely enhance any life. While the style is marred by excessive political correctness (such as changing the gender of pronouns every other paragraph) it is an easy read. Greater reference to the author's research and less to his personal philosophy would, in my opinion, have made the work stronger. Still, the book is filled with many useful insights.

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.

Friends:

The author does not address that what he calls " Flow " is a connection to the collective consciousness and super conciousness for brief or extended periods of time.

As a life long Alpinist I have experienced " The Flow " on almost 1500 technical ascents in the mountains over the course of the last 30 years. Many technical climbs are not possible without being in " The Flow ".

Adrenaline provides the energy to a mind with the left and right hemispheres in balance to activate the Pineal Gland. Once the Ego is set aside by total concentration on a task like a technical rock climb this energy allows us to participate in a connection to the collective consciousness and super conciousness aka " The Flow ".

The Happiness and sense of well being felt after participating in " The Flow " is from being part of something much greater than yourself for brief or long periods of time.

After years of technical rock climbing I do not have to be on a climb to enjoy " The Flow ".

You can Google my name to Learn more......

Arthur von Boennighausen

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.

I read this book a few years ago and just purchased it since it is worth the second read. It helps to change your ways of thinking. I would recommend this to anyone who is open to positive change or who is interested in the field of Psychology.

I first read this book in 91 when it came out. I was a grad student studying economics. Flow helped me identify those opportunities to find flow in my studies, in my relationships, and in my subsequent work. It's one of those books that I find myself constantly refering to and re-reading.

I'm a man of diverse interests and tastes, but Flow is one book that I recommend for anyone.

This book is not an easy read. It contains some of the most profound and relevant ideas for all people - as do Mihaly's other books such as "The Evolving Self". If you want to understand happiness - and how you can make choices to stay in a constant state of fulfilment - then you need to read this (and think about its ideas) carefully. Its wisdom, when truly understood and applied, could transform life on this planet.

It reveals much of what the great teachers have taught and our own conscience knows as established (scientific) fact.

In my view, and I am not an extremist (though I recognise that I might sound like one), this is up there in terms of global importance along with the Bible, the Koran, etc.

Sorry to say but I felt this book was overrated. It has a lot of great stories about people in flow but doesn't really talk about how to create the flow yourself and "find happiness." The entire book can be summarized in a couple pages

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is an excellent read. When I first got this book, I had no idea what it was about. I figured that it would be a look into psychological ideals and I was about half correct. The book ended up being more of a self help book; a way to make one's life better and deeper. The idea of Optimal Experience is a hard one to envision, but after reading the book I definitely understand more about myself and my own life. The book is one that turns inspection inward and causes the reader to take stock of how he/she works in this world. Ideas expressed in the book include how to achieve happiness at work and within all things in one's life. If I had to sum the whole thing up in a few words, I would say that it is a book about how to be happy. It uses several psychological studies to prove just how happiness can be achieved. This may end up being a self help book, but it does not give a step by step formula for how to achieve happiness. It simply lays the ground work for the reader to take control and find happiness on their own. I found that I could relate to a lot of the topics that were covered, and that the more a read, the more I understood about myself. The book itself is well written, though it can be a little up tight at times. It was a slow read for me because of the volume of information that it contains. One has to read it slowly and pay attention, or he/she will miss out on some of the main points. It is difficult at times to follow what Csikszentmihalyi is saying, but after re-reading certain parts I came to understand. I read this book for a college course, and I am glad that I did. It focuses on ideas that can help a person better themselves and those around them. I believe everyone should read this book at least once in their lifetime, even out of pure boredom.As the book states, It offers steps toward enhancing the quality of life, and everyone should have the chance to improve something about themselves.

This is an extraordinary book. The author's writing style is unusually concise and he is able to explain complex ideas in a simple and understandable style. The concept of flow is intuitively very appealing. The author conducted an apparently well structured empirical study of the causes and conditions that resulted in "optimal experience" (ie happiness) and reached some insightful and convincing conclusions. The ability to achieve "optimal experience" is tightly linked to the ability to focus on fulfilling personally determined goals. Although the book is useful as a personal blueprint for achieving "optimal experience" I found more facinating his compelling arguments about the functioning of the human mind and spirit

I have been looking out for this book for a year before it appeared at the bookstore again. I had found a book, entitled Good Business by the same author and found his concept of flow intriguing. I supposed Good Business is a great book but I wanted to understand the basic concepts before reading about how they apply to business.

Flow is a truly enlightening read. As I mentioned in my previous post, I read Zen in the Art of Archery and Flow is the perfect follow-up to it. Zen in the Art of Archery helped my understand flow in terms of photography. Ever since, photography for me was a spiritual practice. Flow elaborates on the concepts introduced to me in Zen in the Art of Archery. This book de-mystified flow experiences and made me aware of the various methods, conditions and activities which can bring about joy.

Csiksentmihalyi succeeded in describing the apparent paradoxes of Zen experiences. This book, although filled with findings from numerous modern studies is a must read for seekers interested to learn more about Zen and thus, life.

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)

Extremely well written, thoughtful, intelligent...This book leads from initially simple concepts related to finding happiness at work, towards more and more complex questions of human existence. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to improve his/her life and reach a higher level of understanding human conscience.

The research presented in this book is quite interesting, but stylistically, I found the writing to be a bit too verbose and redundant. I also felt that at times, the book verges on self-help territory; however, Csikszentmihalyi is one of the most renowned psychologists of the last few decades, so his advice comes with a lot more credibility than your average self-help guru.

Mihaly's academic treatment of "the zone" or the state of "Flow" is thorough, comprehensive, and clear. This is not a "fun" read unless you like critical analysis of psychological processes, in which case, buckle up. His approach is logical and linear as well as out of the box. The book was an essential read for my work and gave great credence to my own study on being in the creative space, the zone.

The title is a bit misleading, as flow does not describe "optimal experience", but simply genuine experience where the subject is just one with the experience. It is true that this is also some kind of "optimal way" to experience life, but by no means can one so easily optimize it. So now, the book won't help you get into those kind of experiences. However, it gives some insight into how simple it is to get into that, when you really love what you do and forget about everybody else when you do it.

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.

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.

This is a really good book is not in doubt. It has stood the test of many years and many readers. The concept of being in the "zone" or being in Flow is one, all of us would want. To be incredibly effective and with concentration at such high level, that nothing else is there. That in a nutshell is flow. Mihaly makes it clear in the beginning itself, that this is not a step by step, book to get into Flow. However it will get you the concepts. This book is truly worth reading a couple of times. I highly recommend it.

This brilliant book by a leader in the field of happiness offers practical advice for how to achieve this through "flow." He writes in clear prose. I adore this book so that it is at the heart of my post on how to achieve happiness at [...]

I get it, it's not a self help book but some sort of condensed book based off years of research. That's the thing, it reads like someone's academic journal with more concern on facts and findings then the readers. I didn't enjoy it though. I don't think the author took enough time to restructure it. It could have been shorter but hold infinitely more impact that way.

This book isn't a romance novel. Sure the author could have spiced it up but it's just psychology. If you love psychology, you'll find the depth in it. If you're reading for entertainment, then it may be a bit dry for you. It is in fact a very deep presentation on how the mind works and when it's at its best, and when it isn't.

Flow is an exciting concept, and a truly dynamic experience - but that doesn't mean this is a great book. The author has basically taken the concept articulated by earlier psychologists such as Maslow and Freud and tried to put a modern, quantitative spin on it. Anyway, isn't losing yourself in a creative activity common sense? We don't need high-falutin' academics and their "studies" to prove what we already know.
Furthermore, the entire concept is now so much a part of the public consciousness that it has been bastardized, marginalized and trivialized. I doubt one in a hundred readers of this book will regularly find flow experiences - whereas are our hardworking, less introspective and more realistic forebears would easily find flow without having read this pseudo-masterpiece.

Cziskszentmihalyi introduces an experiential concept that he calls "Flow". He suggests that this experiential state is intricately related to our happiness and explores the central factors that are associated with the phenomena. By comparing various examples of moments of "Flow" and others not of "Flow", the author provides an in depth investigation into this subjective state of mind. Some of the author's scientific research on this topic is also discussed. It is clear that the author is onto something very interesting and important just from the fact that this concept has crept into many books on Psychology in the past few years. The writing is not too technical and is understandable for people who are not experts in the field. Highly recommended!
[...]

The basic message of this book is that enjoyment in life is found by application to tasks which match a person's abilities, and that the complexity of the tasks needs to adapt as the person's skills develop. I make that sound like an obvious statement, and maybe it is.

I read this book through because a person I respect recommended it to me, but if she hadn't, I would have only skimmed many parts of it. The book sort of tripped over its own message, because the task it presented to me, the task of reading, became increasingly tiresome due to the repetitiousness of Csikszentmihalyi's examples.

Still, there were highlights. As an avid bicyclist, I found one passage, on pp. 60-61, that rang very true -- cited in part here.

"It is usual to explain the motivation of those who enjoy dangerous activities as some sort of pathological need: they are trying to exorcise a deep-seated fear, they are compensating, they are compulsively reenacting an Oedipal fixation, they are 'sensation seekers.' While such motives may be occasionally involved, what is most striking, when one actually speaks to specialists in risk, is how their enjoyment derives not from the danger itself, but from their ability to minimize it..."

Csikszentmihalyi gives examples of rock climbers and scuba divers, but the same observation applies to skillful bicyclists riding down steep hills or in urban traffic. What non-cyclists may regard as terrifying, skillful cyclists find to be acceptably safe and thoroughly enjoyable.

I have a couple of other discomforts with Csikszentmihalyi.

One is with the fundamental precept that merely finding appropriately challenging activities can bring enjoyment in life. This raises the question, "is that all there is?" Those of us who are motivated by duty, faith, love or wonder may want to challenge ourselves with tasks of stewardship rather than only activities that match our abilities -- though I'll grant that Csikszentmihalyi makes some important points about the risks of burnout, or of falling into a rut, in political, religious, artistic and social activities as in others.

Also, I often find Csikszentmihalyi's prose style unsatisfying. His long-windedness may disturb me because I see it in myself, too: example, this review! But I also found a few outright misuses of terminology. As an engineer, I was especially annoyed by the weak, vernacular misuse of the term "negative feedback" as a synonym for "criticism." Negative feedback is a very specific and powerful engineering concept, that of reducing distortion in a system by sending an inverted sample of the output back to be compared with the input, in a closed loop. This concept is powerful in sociological modeling as well, but only as applied to criticism which is arranged to bring results -- example: wage incentives as they affect employees' performance.

So, all in all, you may have a more optimal flow experience by just skimming Flow. Ah, glutton for punishment that I was, I read it all!

The book is probably one of the best books I read in my life. By applying some of the insights from the book, I have significantly improved my quality of life and work. The author is also a master in English. It is enjoyable to read his books.

This book is brilliant. It really explains when people have this sense of hapiness and why "dolce far niente" is a paradox of hapiness. Where are people more happy: at home or at work? Give them more holidays or once retired ... they'll miss the work. Dive into this book and you'll understand why.

Flow was originally published in 1990. Not reading it until 2011, I missed the original hype and exuberance associated with it. It is like many books that draw from large area of research and draw a common, larger theme out of the material-lots of interesting data but easy to lose "flow" while reading. For this book, I found the mountain of material to be higher than Everest and Mihaly says as much when he talks about having written the book for the "general reader." His span of experience is broad covering many scientific disciplines, religions, cultures, etc. and I believe that much of the research on human behavior resonates. However, I can't help but sense that something is missing in this book. The nature of the mind and the research in the first third of the book provide a solid background of the concept of "flow" and "optimal experience". The remainder of the book was a struggle to finish. Perhaps someone like me, who considers themselves very happy, struggles to find substantial application with what is written. For me to follow one of his suggestion, which is to cast off certain belief systems in search of a new "system" is a contradiction with no value.

Never have so many words added so little to the understanding of a topic that most readers will already grasp quite well. It got me thinking about opportunities to create more "flow" in my life, but I found most of the book uninteresting. You'll learn more about flow by spending the time with a musical instrument.

It's just fascinating how people can make a career for themselves borrowing tidbit and well established ideas from other cultures, often Indian or Jewish or some other, then claim that it has something to do with psychology.

The trouble with the last part there is: flow isn't enabled by the mind or mental body and isn't governed by psychology.

Since psychology is respectable and also quite hip and India isn't, aside from holiday trips and yoga, most reviewers have yet to cotton on the fact that this is Mindfulness (itself an over used, fashionable new age 'Buddhist' and Hindu term) in new cloth.

If you are searching for a method to improve your life experience, this book is one of the best first steps to take. It offers nothing less than a proven and documented way to fully immerse yourself in your chosen activity. Use of the princpals outlined in this classic book will make work more rewarding, art more passionate and interpersonal relationships more fulfilling. The author's name is the most challenging part of reading this book. His style is easy to read, but not condescending. I've read lots and lots of books and this one is unequalled. Csikszentmihalyi is not only a genius, but the more rare type of genius who can share what he knows, and what he knows can make a day and night difference in a person's life regardless of what that person's occupation is. Flow will turbocharge your life!

Although a bit repetitive and dense at times, and sometimes old in its approach (I especially didn't like how the author sharply demeans so-called parapsychological experiences) I think this book is still a classic and an important book to read for whomever is seeking for more enjoyment, joy, appreciation and sense of purpose in their lives and needs a sound, scientific explanation of why that joy can be found in the simple act of paying attention.

Stefania Lucchetti
Author of "The Principle of Relevance" The Principle of Relevance

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a book that demonstrates how enjoyable it is to lose oneself in ones work or hobbies. What a wonderful experience a person can have once they understand "flow." "Flow" according to the author is when one understands the connection between satisfaction and daily activities. This book will aid you in your pursuit of happiness.

+ + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Are you a spiritual retard, or are you on the path to ENLIGHTENMENT?
+ + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

I read this book on the way out to the YMCA National Long Course Swimming Championships, and it truly helped me lose my pre-event nerves! I realized that the best performance one can have is when he/she becomes so involved it just happens - there was no thinking involved! If you believe it's possible, it happens.

Not an easy read, it may require a committment to finish, but well worth the effort.
If you have wondered why playing a mediocre game of golf is more personally rewarding than watching mutli-millionaires slap bellies on TV (football), Mihaly has the answer.

Tant qu'à lire sur ce sujet, autant lire le livre du "père" du concept de Flow. J'ai eu la chance d'entendre une conférence de Mihaly et j'ai été soufflé.
Si vous trouvez que votre vie pourrait être plus satisfaisante, lisez Flow (ou Vivre en français)et prenez conscience de l'importance de choisir vos activités quotidiennes en fonction de ce que vous êtes vraiment.

This book is freakin Awesome, it defines what it means to live in the moment and illustrates ways where you can develop your own skill at the practice of being in the present! This is a must read, definitely get it!

Have read almost all books written by Mihaly ,This one is the best . The language is very simple and the way the author takes you through your own experiences in life is amazing .

This one too will be under the "CLASSICS" section in my personal library

Flow - the concept, not this book - is something I hold dear as a life-saving discovery. For me, "flow" is an art of acceptance, of embracing the myriad thoughts and feelings that rise inside of myself throughout my days and nights( what this author calls "psychic entropy" or static ). I found in my experience that the attempt to "order consciousness", via any technique, was a fail, because, well, the random is where the raw passion and energy arise. Any technique that seeks to side-step the insanity is bound to grow brittle, boring, and break. Another obsession abandoned.

Rather, I found that by confronting the chaos on a thought-by-thought basis with a loving embrace and a willingness to dialogue with myself, the intensity of my feelings began to temper. And, over time, as my commitment became well-practiced, Flow begin to become apparent to me: There is a rhythm to life, to emotion, to consciousness. As individuals, we construct, or are programmed, with many self-maintained ideas and platitudes. But it is these assumed identities that we cling to that distance us from "optimal experience". Once surrendered to ourselves, the immensity of what we are begins to emerge, our lives shift, and we find ourselves totally engaged in activities that we love.

This book has a completely different take on the art of Flow - almost opposite of what I described. I think that is because the impetus for the book was not inspiration, but a study - a cross-section analysis of people and what makes them happy. Backwards. You don't grow the tree by describing the apple.

I honestly could not get past this author's description of "consciousness" and attention. He defined it, perhaps in the popular rhetoric, as being something of an evolutionary pyramid of bio-feedback and personal choice. Blech. Weak sauce. Many of these other one-star reviews cover, in fine detail, the short-sightedness of such a view.

If you want to really get into the meat-and-potatoes of this subject, I recommend "Wisdom Energy" by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Also somebody mentioned Alan Watts - Yes. These men were personally engaged in and inspired by Flow.

I can honestly say that, my entire life has been a sort of search for a happy state of equilibrium, or "flow" as Csikszentmihaly puts it. According to Csikszen (for short), flow is more or less being a state of involvement with an an activity - work, sports, whatever - to the point where everything else it tuned out. Csikszen even goes so far as to say that this is in fact happiness.
I have various issues with this book. For one, it is boring. Csikszen's concept is flow is interesting for about five pages, and then it starts drag. Although expressing the concept through a variety of different stories and examples, monotonous redundancy quickly set in.
Secondly, Csikszen doesn't seem to achieve exellence in any department. This is neither a good self-help book nor a ground-breaking piece of science. And for all the psychology I have read, I would be hardpressed to label this psychology either. In any event, it is certainly not good psychology. It is just one overly simple view of what happiness is, expressed over and over again as Csikszen recounts the experiences of different sujects "flowing".
Finally, the book completely side-steps a real treatment of psychological neuroses. If you are unhappy because you suffer from serious issues that must be understood, contextualized and overcome, this is not the book for you. This book naively assumes that all problems vanish or are forgotten forever by focusing on the moment - and as far as the author is concerned, it doesn't matter what one focuses on. I picture a manic-depressive "flowing" on legos all day (my favorite form of flow). The Kids in the Hall film, "Brain Candy," quickly comes to mind.
This is a trifling book that is not worth your time. If you are interested in "flowing" in the first place, you need not read the book, because it will get you no closer to the immaculate "flow" experience. That said, if you are looking for ethically-charged, important, consequencial type of flow, seek out your local Buddhist organization. Indeed, "Flow" reads like a dry, watered-down, Westernized version of Zen Buddhism, for which it is no substitute.

Terribly written! Seriously, for a book about optimal experience this book makes it extremely difficult for a reader to 'get into it.' Not to mention tons of weird old school anthropological type commentary.

My primary complaint is the anoying music between each track. However, it also seemed like it was a very light treatment of the material. This could easily be due to the nature of abridged audio books. But, I would not recomend the audio book.

This book is about five times as long as it needs to be. The only relevant parts of the book are chapter 3, part of chapter 4 on flow activities, and a few of the ideas from the remaining chapters, most of which consist of examples of people Csikszentmihalyi claim are engaging in flow activities.
Mr. Csikszentmihalyi insists... and insists... and insists that his work is scientific and states over and over the academic rigor that has gone into his studies - not to mention quote after quote taken from Greek philosophers and modern psychologists that always almost exactly fail to be relevant to the chapter they appear in. It seems he uses them to increase the size of the references section.
Then, he proceeds to shatter this illusion he creates. He provides irrelevant discussion and experimental data such as the section in chapter 4 entitled "neurophysiology and flow." In it, he speaks of an experiment which shows absolutely nothing about the relationship between neurophysiology and flow. At the end of the chapter he writes:
"The neurological evidence does not, however, prove that some individuals have inherited a genetic advantage in controlling attention and therefore experiencing flow. The findings could be explained in terms of learning rather than inheritance."
Later, he speaks of martial arts, making all sorts of errors. He claims that judo, jujitsu, kung fu, karate, tae kwon do, aikido and T'ai Chi ch'uan all originate in China (106). He says that "Those who can perform it well claim that fighting becomes a joyous artistic performance..." Hmmm.... Many martial artists (myself included) might object to the use of the word "joy" in describing the flow that comes in an intense combat situation. "No-mind" or Bruce Lee's "serious play" is not "joy." It seems that Mr. Csikszentmihalyi ran out of examples to expand his 50 page book into a 250 page one so he started making stuff up.
Don't buy this book - certainly don't read the whole thing. I already wasted my time doing this. You don't have to also :-)
If you are curious about the concept, go to your local bookstore, find this book, turn to page 208, the summary, and read until page 213. That's the book in a nutshell. Then, read from page 72 to 77. Although repetitive and filled with more examples than "How to Win Friends and Influence People" it is filled with valuable information. If you are still curious, read the first paragraph on page 49 on what a flow experience in like. Then, put the book down. Continue to browse. The psychology section is filled with interesting and worthwhile titles!

If you are searching for a method to improve your life experience, this book is one of the best first steps to take. It offers nothing less than a proven and documented way to fully immerse yourself in your chosen activity. Use of the princpals outlined in this classic book will make work more rewarding, art more passionate and interpersonal relationships more fulfilling. The author's name is the most challenging part of reading this book. His style is easy to read, but not condescending. I've read lots and lots of books and this one is unequalled. Csikszentmihalyi is not only a genius, but the more rare type of genius who can share what he knows, and what he knows can make a day and night difference in a person's life regardless of what that person's occupation is. Flow will turbocharge your life!

I don't understand why you are selling the kindle edition for more than the paper edition when the kindle edition has negligible reproduction costs. Please pass on the computer savings to those of us who want to buy this book and any the store book as an ebook.

"without the support of faith, they usually seek to maximize pleasures that are either biologically programmed in their genes or are out as attractive by the society in which they live. Wealth, power, and sex become the chief goals that give direction to their strivings"
This is the most ignorant, insulting and poorly written paragraph i have read in a published book.

This book is a total waste of paper and time. The cultish undertones and blithering jargon are nothing more than insults to the intelligent reader. If you have money to burn, burn it on more worthwhile books than this one.

The perceptive reader will spot Csikszentmihalyi's first chapter as the standard introduction of a (usually religious) huckster: all these good and bad things go on in the world, you can't control them and feel lost a lot of the time; instead, don't fight it, forget all that and concentrate on developing your own individual happiness by increasing those moments of "optimal experience." Follow my theory and learn to get into the "flow" in whatever you're doing, and life will feel so much more satisfying. Or, put another way: "being in the zone" is a good feeling; learn to maximize its occurrences.

Counterpoint: What if your "optimal experience" comes from participating with others in collective activity to transform the world in some essential way, such as overthrowing an economic system that is built ideologically on the centrality and benefits of maximizing individual happiness? The general theory then falls apart (it does with lesser collective goals as well). Or, more properly, it is exposed for being a philosophical variant consistent with, and thus supportive of, the way capitalism (ostensibly) works. It's not accidental that the author finds kinship with John Stuart Mill (though Mill is not listed separately in the references - and there is no index!). Other reviewers have suggested a Zen-like underpinning to the author's ideas. Whether or not that particular analysis is accurate, he does not have kind words for those who "try to achieve happiness on their own, with the support of a faith..." In Csikszentmihalyi's view, the latter are chiefly out for wealth, power and sex. So that's what atheism is all about! (btw, what's wrong with sex as a "chief goal?")

I came across this book from it being on the U.S. Ski Team's recommended reading list. Stripped of it's general approach and put in the context of focused effort, i.e., allowing oneself to get into the moment and learning to stay there, it can be a helpful psychological tool for those who have trouble doing that. Almost all of us do at least at some moment or another. But if going with the flow is frequently difficult to achieve, then there's likely a lot more that needs dealing with - and one's psychology may (or may not) be the center of it.

Csikszentmihalyi's Optimal Experience is another cognitively-centered psychological approach to dealing with life. If, however, you believe that we are primarily products of our environment (actually multiple environments), and that willful human consciousness can be powerful but operates within a very narrow realm, then his general approach will not only seem thin, but also at heart anti-Darwinian.

...says little more than people are happiest when they have achieved "flow"..."flow" appears to be equivalent, fundamentally, to what athletes ostensibly experience when they are "in the zone" -- focussed, everything in gear...well, that's nice...so how does one achieve "flow"?...answer: find something you really are interested in and do it...uhhhh, but what about all that time I have to spend doing things I'm not particularly interested in?...like earning a living, cleaning the house, etc, etc...personally, I don't need someone telling me I'm happiest doing things I'm interested in -- I figured that out a long time ago...I just need for someone to figure out how to avoid doing all those things I'm NOT interested in!

My primary complaint is the anoying music between each track. However, it also seemed like it was a very light treatment of the material. This could easily be due to the nature of abridged audio books. But, I would not recomend the audio book.

This book is about five times as long as it needs to be. The only relevant parts of the book are chapter 3, part of chapter 4 on flow activities, and a few of the ideas from the remaining chapters, most of which consist of examples of people Csikszentmihalyi claim are engaging in flow activities.
Mr. Csikszentmihalyi insists... and insists... and insists that his work is scientific and states over and over the academic rigor that has gone into his studies - not to mention quote after quote taken from Greek philosophers and modern psychologists that always almost exactly fail to be relevant to the chapter they appear in. It seems he uses them to increase the size of the references section.
Then, he proceeds to shatter this illusion he creates. He provides irrelevant discussion and experimental data such as the section in chapter 4 entitled "neurophysiology and flow." In it, he speaks of an experiment which shows absolutely nothing about the relationship between neurophysiology and flow. At the end of the chapter he writes:
"The neurological evidence does not, however, prove that some individuals have inherited a genetic advantage in controlling attention and therefore experiencing flow. The findings could be explained in terms of learning rather than inheritance."
Later, he speaks of martial arts, making all sorts of errors. He claims that judo, jujitsu, kung fu, karate, tae kwon do, aikido and T'ai Chi ch'uan all originate in China (106). He says that "Those who can perform it well claim that fighting becomes a joyous artistic performance..." Hmmm.... Many martial artists (myself included) might object to the use of the word "joy" in describing the flow that comes in an intense combat situation. "No-mind" or Bruce Lee's "serious play" is not "joy." It seems that Mr. Csikszentmihalyi ran out of examples to expand his 50 page book into a 250 page one so he started making stuff up.
Don't buy this book - certainly don't read the whole thing. I already wasted my time doing this. You don't have to also :-)
If you are curious about the concept, go to your local bookstore, find this book, turn to page 208, the summary, and read until page 213. That's the book in a nutshell. Then, read from page 72 to 77. Although repetitive and filled with more examples than "How to Win Friends and Influence People" it is filled with valuable information. If you are still curious, read the first paragraph on page 49 on what a flow experience in like. Then, put the book down. Continue to browse. The psychology section is filled with interesting and worthwhile titles!

dr. unpronouceable almost lost me with his ignorance and prejudice when he said, "Traditionally, the problem of exsitence has been most directly confronted through religion, and an increasing number of the disillusioned are turning back to it, choosing either one of the standard creeds or a more esoteric Eastern variety."

if he had ever cared to read beyond and before kierkegaard, nietzsche or even plato and socrates, let his worshipping mind wonder beyond the abrahamic personality cults of moses, jesus and mohammed, and let himself hop on a flight beyond the arabian sea, he would have known that in the orient (and that includes the forgotten fount of india) it is not religions governed by dictats that rule the roost, but ways of life backed by philosohpies. thus hinduism, which is a nomenclature of the west, is actually indian philosophy, which has various strains but some very very profound and robust philosophical and some spiritual core.

so no wonder that throughout the entire first chapter, where he makes some really compelling points, i kept on asking myself "what is the new thing has this guy says he has discovered?" because all what he propounds and more, are already in the texts of indian philosophy, wrongly called by the western academic as hindu or buddhist scriptures.

having said that, what dr. m_______ actually has done is nothing but the age old practice of quest for happiness, and having seen some light, put it out for the world to see. kudos to you dr. m____! i salute you for your journey because as you found out, it's only the journey that matters, not the end.

now, i hope you realise that because you made the journey within the modern setting of an academic portal, it does not go on to become the only definitive and therefore superior one to the ones made before. if your "flow" is followed by millions for next thousand years and is cluttered with anthropological debris and cultural trash, you will also be worshiped as a prophet and "flow" will go on to become another religion to be duly debunked by others at a later date.

you get the drift, i presume.

but a book surely worth a read and ponder as it gives us a contemporary tool for the quintessential quest.

I don't understand why you are selling the kindle edition for more than the paper edition when the kindle edition has negligible reproduction costs. Please pass on the computer savings to those of us who want to buy this book and any the store book as an ebook.

"without the support of faith, they usually seek to maximize pleasures that are either biologically programmed in their genes or are out as attractive by the society in which they live. Wealth, power, and sex become the chief goals that give direction to their strivings"
This is the most ignorant, insulting and poorly written paragraph i have read in a published book.

This book is a total waste of paper and time. The cultish undertones and blithering jargon are nothing more than insults to the intelligent reader. If you have money to burn, burn it on more worthwhile books than this one.

The perceptive reader will spot Csikszentmihalyi's first chapter as the standard introduction of a (usually religious) huckster: all these good and bad things go on in the world, you can't control them and feel lost a lot of the time; instead, don't fight it, forget all that and concentrate on developing your own individual happiness by increasing those moments of "optimal experience." Follow my theory and learn to get into the "flow" in whatever you're doing, and life will feel so much more satisfying. Or, put another way: "being in the zone" is a good feeling; learn to maximize its occurrences.

Counterpoint: What if your "optimal experience" comes from participating with others in collective activity to transform the world in some essential way, such as overthrowing an economic system that is built ideologically on the centrality and benefits of maximizing individual happiness? The general theory then falls apart (it does with lesser collective goals as well). Or, more properly, it is exposed for being a philosophical variant consistent with, and thus supportive of, the way capitalism (ostensibly) works. It's not accidental that the author finds kinship with John Stuart Mill (though Mill is not listed separately in the references - and there is no index!). Other reviewers have suggested a Zen-like underpinning to the author's ideas. Whether or not that particular analysis is accurate, he does not have kind words for those who "try to achieve happiness on their own, with the support of a faith..." In Csikszentmihalyi's view, the latter are chiefly out for wealth, power and sex. So that's what atheism is all about! (btw, what's wrong with sex as a "chief goal?")

I came across this book from it being on the U.S. Ski Team's recommended reading list. Stripped of it's general approach and put in the context of focused effort, i.e., allowing oneself to get into the moment and learning to stay there, it can be a helpful psychological tool for those who have trouble doing that. Almost all of us do at least at some moment or another. But if going with the flow is frequently difficult to achieve, then there's likely a lot more that needs dealing with - and one's psychology may (or may not) be the center of it.

Csikszentmihalyi's Optimal Experience is another cognitively-centered psychological approach to dealing with life. If, however, you believe that we are primarily products of our environment (actually multiple environments), and that willful human consciousness can be powerful but operates within a very narrow realm, then his general approach will not only seem thin, but also at heart anti-Darwinian.

...says little more than people are happiest when they have achieved "flow"..."flow" appears to be equivalent, fundamentally, to what athletes ostensibly experience when they are "in the zone" -- focussed, everything in gear...well, that's nice...so how does one achieve "flow"?...answer: find something you really are interested in and do it...uhhhh, but what about all that time I have to spend doing things I'm not particularly interested in?...like earning a living, cleaning the house, etc, etc...personally, I don't need someone telling me I'm happiest doing things I'm interested in -- I figured that out a long time ago...I just need for someone to figure out how to avoid doing all those things I'm NOT interested in!

So this guys big hook is to prove "scientifically" that doing intrinsically rewarding activities frequently results in happiness? Novel premise. How out of touch with inspiration would one have to be in order to find this concept mystifying? This revelation is completely trivial to those who do what they want in life already right now. Millions of people who manage to structure their lives in ways where complications are minimized and favorite activities are maximized get to 'flow' all they want. This means your Grandpa obsessed with his model train set, your smelly cousin on adderall who can't stop computer coding and the Dad down the street blissfully playing his Strat in the garage 16 hrs a day.
You know. People you five star reviewers would consider 'losers'.
This 'flow' is not the magic key to some enduring, all pervading bliss that it's trumped up to be. It's just people choosing to do what they like. You reach out and take it, you don't apologize for it, you feel happy about it. Then you pay the price like everything else in life. No big deal.
The price is that you must sacrifice things like a social life, status symbols, your favorite tv shows, external validation, your precious excuses, the comfort of being universally understood and all the other lovely things you're too terrified to part with.
"You can't have your cake and eat it too" I hear you say.
"I could never be happy like these people because they have a characteristic unique to rare gifted butterflies called 'flow''.
If you're rating this book 5 stars and rhapsodising about the magic of flow, it's time to admit that if any member of your family suddenly started 'flowing' you would call them "selfish" and try and stop the flow with all you got. This 'flow' you like to moon over would horrify you if it visited you in waking life because who's going to pick up Billy from soccer when Mom is flowing her brains out on piano? Face it, you're not wired for freedom.
What this book is really all about is providing a fantasy for the cowardly. It's something to fantasize about while living with the dull choices they made. It's an excuse to hold up to avoid claiming your own fulfillment. A simple concept inflated into mystical, unattainable ideal so you can go to sleep easy knowing you'll never have accept the responsibility for meeting your potential.

This book is near impossible to read. It has:
- bad flow
- is hard to follow
- is sporadic hence unable to hold attention and
- doesn't make any points very clear at all.

Throughout the entire book it seems to simply "state" things, theories, without adding much value or making the theories very practical at all. The book just prattles on and on about "things". It's a book of statements!

Ironically, you really only need to read 1 page of this book - the page with the "Flow" diagram summed up the whole book. I can summarise it like this: "To be in flow, ensure your skill level and challenge level go up in tandem". That's it!

This is the problem with academic journals trying to "cross-over" into popular business bestseller territory. It's padded out to fill a book when it doesn't need to. It still reads like an academic journal i.e. not for public consumption, so shouldn't be sold as such. Perhaps it would be a more effective book with just 1/4 of the pages? Admittedly, it's not easy for any researcher to turn their academic works into a "cross-over" sensation as a popular business bestseller. Successful books that come to mind are "In Search of Excellence" and "Built to Last" / "Good to Great".

FLOW could've been a better book, but as it stands, it is of too little practical value to be a good read.

The subject held me until the constant and unnatural use of the female pronoun and female illustrative examples just became so irritating that I could simply no longer entertain this book. I suspect this protocol was dictated post writing by a member/s of the feminist PC brigade This appears to be a particular problem with American publications, but is also creeping into the UK. Shame, spoilt what otherwise may have been a great read.