Father of flow, Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi defines flow as:
“A state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”
Researchers have found that one of the major benefits of Flow is that it can enhance human performance in every domain of human work and creativity. With Flow you get better results, faster. Flow can accelerate learning and skill development.
Sounds great, right? So, how do you find your flow?
The 8 Characteristics of Flow:
Complete concentration on the task;
Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
Effortlessness and ease;
There is a balance between challenge and skills;
Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
There is a feeling of control over the task.
Here’s a short video with a great explanation of Flow:
Still with us? Good.
So "What makes a life worth living?"
We leave you with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s 2004 TED Talk, which has more than 8 million views (and counting) pondering this question. Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."
“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”
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
Comments