Finding Flow - (Masterminds (Paperback)) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Paperback)

About the Book

From the author of "Flow" comes an illuminating guide to improving the quality of our lives through stimulating challenges. Though they appear simple on the surface, the lessons in "Finding Flow" are life-altering.

Book Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Flow and one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness, an indispensable guide to living your best life.

What makes a good life? Is it money? An important job? Leisure time? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes our obsessive focus on such measures has led us astray. Work fills our days with anxiety and pressure, so that during our free time, we tend to live in boredom, absorbed by our screens.

What are we missing? To answer this question, Csikszentmihalyi studied thousands of people, and he found the key. People are happiest when they challenge themselves with tasks that demand a high degree of skill and commitment, and which are undertaken for their own sake. Instead of scrolling on your phone, play the piano. Take a routine chore and figure out how to do it better, faster, more efficiently. In short, learn the hidden power of complete engagement, a psychological state the author calls flow. Though they appear simple, the lessons in Finding Flow are life-changing.

Review Quotes

"Csikszentmihalyi eloquently argues that living fully in the here and now requires that one heed the lessons of the past."--New York Times Book Review

"Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a genius for illuminating phenomena that perplex most behavioral scientists. In this brilliant synthesis, he shows how all of us can enhance our work, our play, our lives."--Howard Gardner, author of Multiple Intelligences

"Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a man obsessed by happiness."--Richard Flaste, New York Times Magazine

"This famous psychologist of 'peak experience' returns to the themes of his 1990 classic, Flow, how to reach the peak through focused energy, and how humans mark the universe in unique ways-but this time the explanation is shorter, sharper, and far more accessible."--Utne Reader

About the Author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021) was Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University and the founder and codirector of the Quality of Life Research Center. He was the author of a number of books, including the bestselling Flow, The Evolving Self, Creativity, and Being Adolescent.