Unlock Your Potential: Discover the Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life in Finding Flow

CAGLAR CINKIL: Everyone should read it.

United States on Aug 28, 2023

Wallace: I’ve read multiple of this guys books. Flow is so important. It has be come one of the foundational keys to my philosophy. Wrapping your head around the principles of flow state can transform your life.

United States on Mar 25, 2023

Kia: I do not want to be overly harsh here because I can see I would be in the minority. I have given this book two stars based on its impact on me personally, which was negligible at best. Essentially I can summarise all 147 pages into one sentence… Flow is more rewarding than happiness, it is the marriage between challenging one self and being able to use one’s skills to overcome those challenges. This is hardly newsworthy for me, but I can see that for many it could provide a new perspective.

If you’ve read a few self-help books over the years I’d probably give this a miss, but if it’s your first venture into this genre, or if you’re simply feeling lost in life, then it could well carry value.

United Kingdom on Jan 30, 2022

Mr Andrew G Dickson: Gives simple insight into every days things. Why we could all perform better. Delivers complex concepts simply. I wish I had read this sooner.

United Kingdom on Apr 07, 2021

MB: I have studied a bit of his work before and was excited to read more about Flow. I think some of the reviews expected this to be a self-help book, but really it is a book detailing the psychology of flow and the natural forces in our human existence and society that may either enable or limit Flow experiences. I found this to be tremendously useful to understand the mechanism of flow and the outside forces that impact flow experiences.

United States on Sep 25, 2019

Christian: Even though I purchased this book several years ago, I felt like I owed it to the author to come back and write an honest review. It's atypical for an old non-fictional book to retain the interest of (young) readers, but Csikszentmihaly wrote with a dictum that is pallatable for the layman, and has outlined key psychological phenomena in a very concise manner. Although the book is short, it is jam-packed with timeless information.
To this day, I still apply the wisdom revealed in its pages as it has reshaped my attitude towards work, time spent with friends and family, leisure, as well as a host of other activities of which life is composed. In today's internet-age where an unprecedented percentage of humanity are disengaged from activities that give their lives meaning and purpose, Finding Flow is more relevant now than it was when it was first published in the 1990s.

Canada on Dec 14, 2018

Drake Rice: Mihaly is one of the truly great minds our time. The book Finding Flow is a less academic (and shorter) version of Mihaly great book: "Flow", which for me is one of the best books I've ever read. Finding Flow offers great insights in how we can get the most from targeted life goals or simple everyday tasks. I wish I would have read this book when I was in high school or college. This book can have a great positive impact on your life.

United States on Jul 20, 2018

r: Csikzentmihalyi comes up with answers to some of the big questions: how can we make our lives meaningful? What actually makes us happy? Why is work so crucial to our well being? How can we make our free time enjoyable? Why do we crave structure and is it more important than freedom? I plan on rereading this book a few more times because it is so rich with fascinating insights. The lessons from Csikzentmihaly's research are actionable and I have been implementing many of them to great effect. Finding Flow compliments Linchpin nicely, as it looks at work as an art form.

United Kingdom on Jul 28, 2017

nowisthekey: I'm writing this about 2 years after I read it and have been applying the lessons to my life.

This book is small and explains how to apply the principles from the author's first book to your daily life. Honestly you don't need to read the first book "Flow" because at the end of it you'll be wondering how to apply it and that's what this book is about.

The #1 life-changing lesson from this book was to change my attitude about work (ie. my job). If you are convinced (and have experienced) that the state of Flow is one of the best and most enjoyable states of being you can experience then it follows that many people's jobs can be a vehicle for Flow. You can always find ways to be more engaged in your job. But the KEY, the absolute key, is to let go of any thoughts you have that work is oppressive and something to be escaped from. So many of us live for the weekends and vacation and have thoughts that say "I wish I didn't have to work, I want to lie on the beach or play in a band instead". The author suggests a change in attitude which is that, with some effort and initiative, many jobs can be turned into Flow experiences almost daily. And if Flow is one of the best...

Canada on May 13, 2017

Bukkene Bruse: "Finding Flow" is the popular presentation of the author's academic research into what he calls "flow" - the state of being absorbed in an activity; be it work, a hobby or a relationship - and how such experiences form the basis of a rich life.
Csikszentmihalyi goes over the nature of what we experience and classifies them according to the level of challenge vs. the skill we can bear upon them. He then discusses how we feel when doing these different types of activities. The two core chapters cover work and leisure. Csikszentmihalyi shows how engagement with ones job and pursuing active hobbies provide more personal satisfaction than passive entertainment and mere lounging. It is this notion that will clash with many people's belief in what makes them happy; happiness being something that Csikszentmihalyi considers a fleeting emotion and different from true contentment. As has been noted by the philosopher A.C. Grayling, if we are after happiness alone, then we can just self-medicate.
Other chapters examine how relationships are better if you engage in them, rather than merely meet material obligations to loved ones, and what kinds of personalities are better suited to...

United States on Aug 29, 2003