Flow Summary

• Flow is a state of total immersion while doing an activity. Flow comes from the intense concentration around your own actions and their immediate feedback. Think of a painter who carefully observes how straight his lines are or the accuracy of his colors. Think of a chess player who eagerly awaits his opponents move, all the while planning his own. Most of us only associate this state of flow with certain activities. However, it's possible to turn all aspects of our lives into a unified, flow experience. In doing so you can significantly improve your productivity and create a happier life.

• The most crucial element of entering a flow state is to have clarity in your goals. This requires you always have a purpose for what you are doing. Hence, to enter a flow state you must think of step-by-step goals rather than the overarching goals. Although the overarching goal is check-mate, you should focus on how to clear a particular space or take your opponent's pieces.

• Some activities are more prone to flow. We enjoy games because they naturally make us lose ourselves in the micro-objectives. However, things get messier in our everyday lives. It is hard for us to keep track of our day-to-day goals as we deal with the minutiae of life. The best way around this is to give yourself goals for every activity you do. This integrates the activity into the rest of your life and gives it meaning along the way.

1. Set an overall goal, and as many subgoals as are realistically feasible.
2. To find ways of measuring progress in terms of the goals choosen.
3. To keep concentrating on what one is doing and to keep making finer and finer distinctions in the challenges involved in the activity.
4. To develop the skills necessary to interact with the opportunities available.
5. To keep raising the stakes if the activity becomes boring.

These questions were answered with the Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

• When people are pursuing leisure activities that were expensive such as power boating, driving or watching television - they are significantly less happy.
• People are happiest when they are talking to one another, when they gardened, knitted or are involved in a hobby.

1. Yama: one must achieve restraint from acts and thoughts that might harm others.
2. Niyama: obedience, follow routines in cleanliness, study and obedience to God. Help channel attention into predictable patterns and hence make attention easier to control.
3. Asana: ways of sitting and holding postures for long periods without succumbing to strain or fatigue.
4. Pranayama: breath control, aims to relax the body and stabilizes the rhythm of breathing.
5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal, learning to withdraw attention from outward objects by directing the input of the senses.

The state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.

Optimal experience occurs when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen.

The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness.

Consciousness is not a strictly linear system, but one in which circular causality is obtained. Attention shapes the self, and is in turn shaped by it.

This, in turn, is related to goals and intentions. These processes are connected to each other by the self, or the dynamic mental representation we have of the entire system of our goals. These are the pieces that must be maneuvered if we wish to improve

Self → Psychic Energy → Attention → Goals & Intentions → Self

Flow is a state of intense focus, where people become completely absorbed in an activity. During flow, they lose track of time, self-consciousness fades, and they experience deep enjoyment and satisfaction. It is often referred to as being "in the zone," where challenges and skills are perfectly balanced, and the individual is fully immersed in the present moment.

To enter flow, several conditions must be met: the activity must have clear goals, provide immediate feedback, and involve a balance between the challenge of the task and the individual’s skill level. If the task is too easy, it leads to boredom; if too difficult, it causes anxiety. Flow is achieved when the difficulty is just enough to stretch but not overwhelm one's abilities.

Csikszentmihalyi introduces the idea of the "autotelic experience," where an activity is performed not for external rewards or results but for the intrinsic satisfaction it provides. People who frequently experience flow tend to engage in activities that are autotelic, meaning they find joy in the process rather than the outcome, leading to a richer and more fulfilling life.

Omul își dorește cel mai mult fericirea, de aceea urmărește a avea sănătate, frumusețe, bani, putere crezând că prin intermediul lor va ajunge la cea dintâi.

Fericirea se găsește în implicarea în fiecare detaliu al vieții tale și nu căutând-o în mod direct.

Experiența optimală reprezintă starea de încântare datorată faptului că suntem stăpâni pe propriul destin. Acest moment apare nu când ești pasiv, ci în momentele în care realizezi ceva dificil și valoros pentru tine.

Fluxul este o experiență plăcută prin care o persoană devine atât de implicată într-o activitate încât nimic altceva nu mai contează, concentrarea fiind foarte intensă.

Adevărata fericire înseamnă să te simți bine cu tine însuți.

Alegerea și urmărirea unui scop este o modalitate foarte eficientă de a aduce ordine în conștiință, deoarece este necesar să te concentrezi în momentul prezent și astfel uiți de orice altceva. Depășirea obstacolelor duce la construirea unui Eu mai complex și mai împlinit.

Insatisfacția cronică este un obstacol des întâlnit în calea fericirii.

Religiile & filosofiile sunt mecanisme de protecție împotriva haosului, a obstacolelor din calea fericirii ce se uzează după câteva secole sau decenii.

Oamenii despre care se poate spune că sunt fericiți și dețin controlul asupra vieții lor:

- indiferent de situația materială duc o viață de calitate;

- sunt mulțumiți și știu să facă și pe alții fericiți;

- sunt deschiși la experiențe noi;

- învață până la sfârșitul vieții lor;

- se bucură de tot ceea ce fac indiferent dacă e obositor sau greu;

- nu se plictisesc;

- nu își pierd busola interioară.

Test

Paradoxically, it is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were.

When do you experience enjoyment and engagement so great that you lose track of time?

This feeling is called flow, and it is the opposite of apathy.

When do you feel flow most in your life?

How can you build more flow into your daily routines?

How can you aim to engage with your flow today?