Csikszentmihalyi recognized that scientists, athletes, and authors also share this unique experience, and based on his findings, he postulated that when people engage in optimal experiences, they can enter the flow state and achieve greater happiness.Ī lack of flow can cause psychic entropy ー which is known as the death of self, expression, and creation. This sparked his interest in exploring the flow state and these activities, which he called “optimal experiences.” Dr.
He observed that some people, mostly artists, were so happily immersed in their activity while they were creating that they would lose track of time and even ignore their needs for food, water, and sleep. After the devastation of World War II, he had become very interested in learning more about what brought people joy 一 in particular, what allowed them to feel enough happiness to make the problems of the “outside world” affect them less, and what gave their life meaning.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist who devoted much of his life to studying happiness. The term “flow” was first introduced in the 1970s by Dr.
#FLOW STATE PSYCHOLOGY HOW TO#
Read on to learn more about the flow state, its benefits, how to enter it more often, and how it can help bring you long-lasting happiness. And being in this state on a regular basis can be an easily accessible way to generate true happiness 一 which, in turn, can help you to feel more fulfilled in life. It can happen when you’re learning something interesting, when you’re being creative, or focusing intensely on something. In real life, this zone may not play out exactly like it does in the film, but it is real: in positive psychology, it’s called the flow state. This state of being was even depicted in the 2020 animated Pixar film Soul, which was even called “The Zone” 一 in the film, depicted a plane that souls enter when they are feeling so deeply involved in their passions, so intensely present in what they’re doing, that they reach an almost euphoric trance state. Maybe it’s when you go surfing when you’re dancing to tunes with an irresistible beat, or when you head out for a run. One way to do this is to enter the flow state: a unique state of mind known to many as “being in the zone.” Have you ever gotten so wrapped up in something that it made you forget to eat for a moment? Perhaps it’s when you’re playing a moving piece of music on an instrument you love, when you’re painting with your favorite medium, or when you’re gardening. Instead, to be truly happy and live life to the fullest, positive psychology suggests that one has to achieve internal happiness. After all, even billionaires can be depressed. While these things may bring you happiness in the short-term, positive psychologists believe that true happiness comes from within and is not dependent on external factors or material things like money, a house, flashy cars, or the latest clothing accessories, and gadgets. If so, flow is not a component of happiness, but rather a cause of it.What makes you happy? Is it financial wealth that can afford you a bigger home for you and your family to live in more comfortably, or the ability to purchase whatever you want without having to worry about debt? Is it a luxurious vacation in an island paradise? Perhaps it’s a new car, a high-end designer handbag, or a smartphone with cutting-edge tech.
Some people may not be able to say anything at all about how they felt while in flow all they know is that they are feeling terrific now when looking back at what they have so expertly accomplished. Reports of what it feels like are retrospective.
#FLOW STATE PSYCHOLOGY WINDOWS#
Csikszentmihalyi is among the pioneers of the Experience Sampling Method, which opens windows into people’s states as they occur, but the state of flow, by definition, does not allow it. This means that while a person is in a state of flow (e.g., on the dance floor performing an intricate move), this person cannot be asked and cannot report on her state of mind. Csikszentmihalyi reports that the loss of self-consciousness is critical for the experience of flow. But happy? If flow is related to expertise and if expertise is not (or only weakly) related to happiness, why would flow be related to happiness?Ĭsikszentmihalyi himself seems not too happy with the idea that his theory of flow has been taken to be a theory of happiness. Experts may be respected and perhaps wealthy. How did the theory of flow become a theory of happiness? Few claim that experts are happy.
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