They weren’t really interested in the finished painting. They’d finish a work of art, and instead of enjoying it…they would put it against the wall and start a new painting. He was also surprised by what happened when they were done: He recalled in an interview how he would watch painters in their studios and how he was fascinated by their ability to forget everything while working. A bestseller translated into more than 20 languages, the book’s many admirers include business leaders, President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson who, following the team’s 1993 Super Bowl victory, said of Flow that “my team has won because of this book.” Ideas & InterestsĬsikszentmihalyi’s interest in what he later identified as“flow” started during his graduate years at the University of Chicago. So they set out to develop a focus on happiness, well-being, and positivity with a goal to create a field focused on human well-being and the conditions that enable people to flourish and live satisfying lives.Ĭsikszentmihalyi’s work with Seligman was preceded by his growing international reputation as the author, in 1990, of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

But they don’t become actually interesting until we devote attention to them.He devoted his life to finding an answer to a simple question: What constitutes a happy life?Īffectionately known on the CGU campus as “Mike C,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi-with Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania-saw something lacking in psychology’s areas of study. There are literally millions of potentially interesting things in the world to see, to do, to learn about. The next step is to transfer some psychic energy each day from tasks that we don’t like doing, or from passive leisure, into something we never did before, or something we enjoy doing but don’t do often enough because it seems too much trouble. Even the most routine tasks, like washing dishes, dressing, or mowing the lawn become more rewarding if we approach them with the care it would take to make a work of art. The first step is to develop the habit of doing whatever needs to be done with concentrated attention, with skill rather than inertia. To do so is fairly easy in principle, but more difficult in practice. “If one has failed to develop curiosity and interest in the early years, it is a good idea to acquire them now, before it is too late to improve the quality of life.

Flow mihaly csikszentmihalyi