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Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Paperback)
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
| Category:
Personal success, Personal improvement, Psychology |
| Market price: ¥ 158.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
An excellent book with practical advice for increasing the quality of your life experiences and a framework for aligning our thoughts and actions to attract happines. |
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Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Rep edition
Pub. in: March, 1991
ISBN: 0060920432
Pages: 320
Measurements: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00620
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0060920432
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- Awards & Credential -
National Bestseller in North America. |
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- MSL Picks -
If you are in any competitive sports, read this book. If you play golf, tennis, or any other such sport as a hobby and you want to do better, read this book.
Flow refers to a state where you are totally absorbed in what you are doing. You lose self-consciousness. The one sure way to fail at a competitve endeavor is to be concerned with how you appear to others or how you are being evaluated. Your mental energy is drawn away from the competitive endeavor and what you need to be focused upon. You want to be in the flow. Not worried about your ego. (all competitor mind games essentially try to throw you out of a flow experience)
As Csikszentmihalyi says if you are playing a game of tennis and suddenly you start thinking about how you are doing overall, your concentration is broken. It will become really hard to win. You want to only focus upon each serve or return shot as you are making it. Not the one before or the next one. Not how great or how poorly you are doing.
You want this to happen naturally. You don't want to be saying to yourself, "I want to concentrate on each shot. I want to concentrate on each shot." You just want it to happen. The experience becomes, as Csikszentmihalyi calls it, an autotelic experience. What you are doing becomes an end in itself. And the best part of being in flow is that when you are in it, you will be enjoying yourself.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is one of the best books ever if you want to understand human performance and what separates those who win from those who lose...
(From quoting Peter Hupalo, USA)
Target readers:
General readers.
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago.
His previous books include Flow and The Evolving Self. Flow was shown on the 1993 NBC Super Bowl broadcast as the book that inspired Jimmy Johnson, then coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It was also a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club.
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From Library Journal
Aristotle observed 2,300 years ago that more than anything men and women seek happiness. Csikszentmihalyi (psychology, Univ. of Chicago) has for 25 years made similar observations regarding "flow," a field of behavioral science examining connections between satisfaction and daily activities. A flow state ensues when one is engaged in self-controlled, goal-related, meaningful actions. Data regarding flow were collected on thousands of individuals, from mountain climbers to chess players. This thoroughly researched study is an intriguing look at the age-old problem of the pursuit of happiness and how, through conscious effort, we may more easily attain it.
(MSL quote)
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New York Times Book Review (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-13 00:00>
The way to happiness lies not in mindless hedonism, but in mindful change. |
Newsweek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-13 00:00>
It rethinks what motivates people. |
Mitra (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-13 00:00>
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. |
Kevin Morrill (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-13 00:00>
This is a superb book, with nearly limitless application!
The author manages to lay out in simple terms the core aspects of happiness. While many of these facets seem simple, it can be incredibly powerful to recognize just how much influence they have over your enjoyment of a particular task. I have used found these concepts to be especially valuable when it comes to managing people, not the least of which is managing my own career.
Many other books in the realm of personal effectiveness fall short by basing the entire text on the author's anecdotal experience, which ends up turning into meaningless platitudes. That is not the case here, as the author bases his conclusions on sound research.
My one gripe with the author is his choice to jump to the conclusion that since focus is sharping there is a loss of self. It would be pretty depressing to think one's own self is what's holding you back. More likely, I think what we're really giving up is our anxiety.
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