Csikszentmihalyi arrives at an insight that many of us can intuitively grasp, despite our insistent (and culturally supported) denial of this truth. That is, it is not what happens to us that determines our happiness, but the manner in which we make sense of that reality. . . . The manner in which Csikszentmihalyi integrates research on consciousness, personal psychology and spirituality is illuminating. --Los Angeles Times Book Review

The bestselling classic that holds the key to unlocking meaning, creativity, peak performance, and true happiness.

Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of optimal experience have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi (the leading researcher into 'flow states' --Newsweek) demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness, unlock our potential, and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

Although the benefits of this study to scholars are obvious, this thought-provoking mixture of scholarly and colloquial will enlighten inquisitive general readers, too. -- Library Journal (starred review)

The classic study of the creative process from the bestselling author of Flow.

Creativity is about capturing those moments that make life worth living. Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (The leading researcher into 'flow states.' -- Newsweek) reveals what leads to these moments--be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab--so that this knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives. Drawing on nearly one hundred interviews with exceptional people, from biologists and physicists, to politicians and business leaders, to poets and artists, as well as his thirty years of research on the subject, Csikszentmihalyi uses his famous flow theory to explore the creative process. He discusses such ideas as why creative individuals are often seen as selfish and arrogant, and why the tortured genius is largely a myth. Most important, he explains why creativity needs to be cultivated and is necessary for the future of our country, if not the world.

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.

The acclaimed sequel to the international bestseller Flow: an intelligent, inspiring guide to unlocking the evolutionary history of our present consciousness, and becoming at one with the power that is the universe.

A book of singular importance and timeliness, one with momentous implications for the future.-- Howard Gardner

In Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's bestselling Flow, he introduced readers to a radical new theory of happiness. Now in The Evolving Self--his breakthrough sequel--he demonstrates how we can understand and overcome our evolutionary shortcomings. Premised on the idea that only through a reckoning with our evolutionary past can we build a stable, meaningful future, The Evolving Self covers the challenges associated with our cognitive evolutionary history (As far as controlling the mind is concerned, we are like a novice driver behind the wheel of a racing car); the distortions of reality we experience due to genes, culture, and our sense of self; and the central importance of flow from an evolutionary perspective as we look toward the future.

Erudite, perceptive, and insightful--and more important now than ever, as our consciousnesses are increasingly mediated by electronic devices--The Evolving Self is a timely resource for anyone looking to improve our world for ourselves and for generations to come.

Since Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi published the groundbreaking Flow more than a decade ago, world leaders such as Tony Blair and former President Clinton, and influential sports figures like Super Bowl champion coach Jimmy Johnson have all been inspired by the book. In today's corporate upheaval, a new business paradigm is evolving. While many CEOs are being exposed for their greed, truly visionary leaders believe in a goal that benefits themselves as well as others. They realize that it is their vision and soul that attract loyal employees willing to go above and beyond the call of corporate duty. And their employees are realizing the same thing: while 80 percent of adults claim they'd work even if they didn't have to, the majority of them can hardly wait to leave their jobs and get home.

Good Business starts with the premise that this is an age in which business and work have replaced religion and politics as central forces in contemporary life. The book reveals how business leaders, managers, and even employees can find their flow and contribute not only to their own happiness, but also to a just and evolving society. It identifies the factors crucial to the operation of a good business: trust, the commitment to fostering the personal growth of employees, and the dedication to creating a product that helps mankind. Good Business is sure to become a must-read text for anyone who values the positive contributions of individuals in the changing world of business.

Now in a special 25th anniversary edition and filled with brilliant wisdom and insights, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety offers a timeless introduction to the concept of flow and the scientific basis behind it-all through the work of one of the field's great scientists, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi. Through real-life examples, discover how enjoyable activities provide a common experience-a satisfying, often exhilarating, feeling of creative accomplishment and heightened functioning-and under what conditions 'serious' work can also provide this intrinsic enjoyment.

How do young people envision their occupational futures? What do teenagers feel about their schooling and after-school work, and how do these experiences affect their passage to adult work? These are the questions that psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and sociologist Barbara Schneider posed in their five-year study of adolescents. The results provide an unprecedented window on society's future through which we can glimpse how today's youth are preparing themselves for the lives they will lead in the decades to come.

To find out what teenagers' lives are like, two psychologists gave beepers to seventy-five adolescents, signaled them at random, and asked them to record their thoughts and feelings as they sat in classrooms, socialized with friends, and ate dinner with their families. The result is a unique and detailed portrait of the day-to-day world of the average American teenager that offers valuable new insights for parents, psychologists, and educators.

An attempt to transcend evolutionary determinism, this perceptive book offers suggestions for breaking the control of genetically programmed behaviors, such as being obsessed with food or sex, which threaten, instead of further, survival. The proposed solution is to concentrate on stimulating activities that make one feel in tune with the surrounding world and free from cultural illusions, thus helping reduce oppression, exploitation, and injustice.

Un intento a trascender el determinismo de la herencia evolutiva, este libro perceptivo ofrece sugerencias para romper el control de los comportamientos genéticamente programados, como las obsesiones con la comida o el sexo, los cuales amenazan, en vez de avanzar, la supervivencia. La solución, según el autor, es concentrarse en actividades estimulantes que le hagan sentirse a uno equilibrado con el mundo que le rodea y liberado de ilusiones culturales al fin de ayudar reducir la opresión, la explotación o la injusticia.

The meaning of things is a study of the significance of material possessions in contemporary urban life, and of the ways people carve meaning out of their domestic environment. Drawing on a survey of eighty families in Chicago who were interviewed on the subject of their feelings about common household objects, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton provide a unique perspective on materialism, American culture, and the self. They begin by reviewing what social scientists and philosophers have said about the transactions between people and things. In the model of 'personhood' that the authors develop, goal-directed action and the cultivation of meaning through signs assume central importance. They then relate theoretical issues to the results of their survey. An important finding is the distinction between objects valued for action and those valued for contemplation. The authors compare families who have warm emotional attachments to their homes with those in which a common set of positive meanings is lacking, and interpret the different patterns of involvement. They then trace the cultivation of meaning in case studies of four families. Finally, the authors address what they describe as the current crisis of environmental and material exploitation, and suggest that human capacities for the creation and redirection of meaning offer the only hope for survival. A wide range of scholars - urban and family sociologists, clinical, developmental and environmental psychologists, cultural anthropologists and philosophers, and many general readers - will find this book stimulating and compelling.

Ask any serious runner and they'll tell you that being mentally sound is vital to success in the sport. The ability to enter a flow state of mind is something that Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has devoted his entire career to understanding.

In Running Flow, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi is joined by fellow psychologist Christine Weinkauff and running journalist and coach Philip Latter. This landmark work is the first book dedicated to helping runners achieve the state of flow in competitive and training environments. You'll find comprehensive coverage of the phenomenon, unique practice exercises that stimulate its occurrence, and firsthand accounts from elite runners about their flow experiences.

The psychological barriers associated with training and competition can be as demanding as the physical ones. Destined to become a running classic, Running Flow will open your mind not only to better performance but also to a better, healthier, and more enjoyable experience.

The second volume in the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers about thirty years of Csikszentmihalyi's work on three main and interconnected areas of study: attention, flow and positive psychology. Describing attention as psychic energy and in the footsteps of William James, Csikszentmihalyi explores the allocation of attention, the when and where and the amount of attention humans pay to tasks and the role of attention in creating 'experiences', or ordered patterns of information. Taking into account information processing theories and attempts at quantifying people's investment, the chapters deal with such topics as time budgets and the development and use of the Experience Sampling Method of collecting data on attention in everyday life. Following the chapters on attention and reflecting Csikszentmihalyi's branching out into sociology and anthropology, there are chapters on the topic of adult play and leisure and connected to that, on flow, a concept formulated and developed by Csikszentmihalyi. Flow has become a popular concept in business and management around the world and research on the concept continues to flourish. Finally, this volume contains articles that stem from Csikszentmihalyi's connection with Martin Seligman; they deal with concepts and theories, as well as with the development and short history, of the field and the movement of positive psychology.

The third volume of the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers his work on the application of flow in areas that go beyond the field of leisure where the concept was first applied. Based on his personal experience with schooling and learning, as well as that of many others and contrary to what Cicero claimed, Csikszentmihalyi arrived at the conclusion that instead of taking pride in making the roots of knowledge as bitter as possible, we should try to make them sweeter. Just as flow became a popular and useful concept in voluntary activities, it could likewise be applied in education with the end result of young people being more likely to continue learning not just because they have to but because they want to.

This volume brings together a number of articles in which Csikszentmihalyi develops ideas about how to make education and more generally the process of learning to live a good life, more enjoyable. Since theory is the mother of good practice, the first eleven chapters are devoted to theoretical reflections. Some are general and explore what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a person, when we look at life from the perspective of flow. Others are more narrowly focused on such topics as consumption, education, teaching and learning. They help laypeople reflect how they can arrange their lives in such a way as to leave a small ecological footprint while getting the most enjoyment. The second section of the volume contains a dozen empirical articles on similar topics. They deal with the development of identity and self-worth; with the formation of goals and motivation; with loneliness and family life.

In this volume three of the key figures in the field set out to establish some parameters for the study of creativity. After examining the earlier works on the subject, they present their current research findings, and then attempt to project where the field is likely to go in the decade ahead.

Gardner, the proponent of biological aspects of creativity, ranges widely as he examines Freud's Vienna and the features of medicine that both constrained and challenged his revolutionary idea. Csikszentmihalyi, with his exploration of genes and memes, examines individual issues as well as broader contextual concerns. Feldman concentrates on the notions of coincidence and the transformational imperative. These essays point to the rejuvenation of the field of creativity research, and suggest where the field is likely to move in the future. This work is a major synthesis of value to advanced researchers as well as students and all those concerned with creativity.

Published in 2001, Conditions for Optimal Development in Adolescence is a valuable contribution to the field of Developmental Psychology.

Desde que Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi publicó su revolucionario libro Fluir, que inspiró a dirigentes políticos mundiales, tales como Tony Blair y Bill Clinton, se ha ido generando un nuevo paradigma en el mundo empresarial Mientras que todavía algunos directivos siguen siendo víctimas de su codicia unilateral, los líderes realmente inteligentes y con visión de futuro construyen objetivos que no sólo les beneficien a ellos, sino también a los demás. En una era en que los negocios y el trabajo ocupan el lugar de la religión y la política, Fluir en los negocios revela cómo los directivos empresariales, los gerentes, e incluso los empleados, pueden hallar su manera de fluir y de este modo contribuir, no sólo a su propia felicidad, sino también a una sociedad más justa y creativa. Csikszentmihalyi identifica los factores esenciales para el funcionamiento de un negocio fluido: la confianza, el compromiso, el crecimiento personal de los empleados y la dedicación a la creación de un producto que ayude a la humanidad. Fluir en los negocios es pues un texto indispensable para todo aquel que valore las contribuciones de los individuos en el cambiante mundo de la empresa.

Ever since Mihaly Csiksenzentmihalyi published his revolutionary book, Flow, it has influenced world leaders like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, and it has begun to shift the paradigm in the world of business. While some leaders continue to be victims of unilateral greed, intelligent leaders envision brighter futures and work towards objectives that benefit everyone.
In an era in which work and business now occupy the places that religion and politics once held, Flow reveals how business leaders, managers, and employees can find a way to flow. It teaches contribution, not only toward their own happiness, but toward a more just and creative society. Csiksenzentmihalyi identifies the essential factors that can help a business become functional: confidence, commitment, personal growth of employees and the dedication to creating a product that helps humanity. Flow in Business is an invaluable asset about the importance of individual efforts in the ever-changing world of business.

This first volume of the Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi represents his work on Art and Creativity. Starting with his seminal 1964 study on creativity up to his 2010 publication in Newsweek, the volume spans over four decades of research and writing and clearly shows Csikszentmihalyi's own development as an academic, psychologist, researcher and person. Unconventional and unorthodox in his approach, Csikszentmihalyi chose the topic of creativity as a field of study believing it would help him be a better psychologist and advance his understanding of how to live a better life.

The chapters in this volume trace the history of the study of creativity back to the days of Guilford and research on IQ and Jacob Getzels' work on creativity and intelligence. Firmly grounded in that history, yet extending it in new directions, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi started his life-long study on artistic creativity. His first extensive study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago enabled him to observe, test and interview fine art students drawing in a studio. The study formed the very basis of all his work on the subject and has resulted in several articles, represented in this volume, on such creativity-related concepts as problem solving versus problem finding, the personality of the artist, the influence of the social context, creativity as a social construction, developmental issues and flow. The main contribution to the topic of creativity and also the main concept explored in this volume, is the Systems Model of Creativity. Seven chapters in this volume discuss the development of this conceptual model and theory.

The second volume in the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers about thirty years of Csikszentmihalyi's work on three main and interconnected areas of study: attention, flow and positive psychology. Describing attention as psychic energy and in the footsteps of William James, Csikszentmihalyi explores the allocation of attention, the when and where and the amount of attention humans pay to tasks and the role of attention in creating 'experiences', or ordered patterns of information. Taking into account information processing theories and attempts at quantifying people's investment, the chapters deal with such topics as time budgets and the development and use of the Experience Sampling Method of collecting data on attention in everyday life. Following the chapters on attention and reflecting Csikszentmihalyi's branching out into sociology and anthropology, there are chapters on the topic of adult play and leisure and connected to that, on flow, a concept formulated and developed by Csikszentmihalyi. Flow has become a popular concept in business and management around the world and research on the concept continues to flourish. Finally, this volume contains articles that stem from Csikszentmihalyi's connection with Martin Seligman; they deal with concepts and theories, as well as with the development and short history, of the field and the movement of positive psychology.

The third volume of the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi covers his work on the application of flow in areas that go beyond the field of leisure where the concept was first applied. Based on his personal experience with schooling and learning, as well as that of many others and contrary to what Cicero claimed, Csikszentmihalyi arrived at the conclusion that instead of taking pride in making the roots of knowledge as bitter as possible, we should try to make them sweeter. Just as flow became a popular and useful concept in voluntary activities, it could likewise be applied in education with the end result of young people being more likely to continue learning not just because they have to but because they want to.

This volume brings together a number of articles in which Csikszentmihalyi develops ideas about how to make education and more generally the process of learning to live a good life, more enjoyable. Since theory is the mother of good practice, the first eleven chapters are devoted to theoretical reflections. Some are general and explore what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a person, when we look at life from the perspective of flow. Others are more narrowly focused on such topics as consumption, education, teaching and learning. They help laypeople reflect how they can arrange their lives in such a way as to leave a small ecological footprint while getting the most enjoyment. The second section of the volume contains a dozen empirical articles on similar topics. They deal with the development of identity and self-worth; with the formation of goals and motivation; with loneliness and family life.