Have you ever been “in the zone”, the highly focused mental state conducive to optimal creativity and productivity?
In positive psychology, this is known as the Flow state, the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process. Coined by Hungarian American Psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (you’ll have to listen to know how it’s pronounced!) flow is, at its core, about achieving happine...
Have you ever been “in the zone”, the highly focused mental state conducive to optimal creativity and productivity?
In positive psychology, this is known as the Flow state, the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process. Coined by Hungarian American Psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (you’ll have to listen to know how it’s pronounced!) flow is, at its core, about achieving happiness, joy, purpose, and optimal performance.
A lot of people say that the purpose of life is to be happy. I'm not so sure. I challenge this thinking in this episode arguing that maybe the purpose OF life is to find purpose IN life.
This episode explores how that flow state is note bestowed, rather, it can be developed. This week’s episode focuses on how we can learn to achieve flow in our lives. The key aspect to flow is control: in the flow-like state, we exercise control over the contents of our consciousness rather than allowing ourselves to be passively determined by external forces.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990).
It's not necessary to wait for lightning (or your flow state) to strike. If we understand the benefits and outcomes of flow and reinforce the habits and circumstances that can cultivate flow, we can continue to cultivate joy and accomplish worthwhile things.
Some references from this week’s episode:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
Walker, C. (2010). Experiencing Flow: Is Doing it Together Better Than Doing It Alone? The Journal of Positive Psychology. 5. 3-11. 10.1080/17439760903271116.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233265431_Experiencing_Flow_Is_Doing_it_Together_Better_Than_Doing_it_Alone/link/56be22af08ae44da37f8919d/download
https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
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