Thoughts on "Flow" by Mihayl Csikszentmihalyi

Happiness and success have always been topics I'm interested in. I devour self-help and "business" books, listen to podcasts like How I Built This and The Tim Ferriss Show, but I think Flow and its concepts operate on a higher plane than most mainstream advice on happiness and success. 

In Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi attempts to answer questions like "what constitutes a happy life?" The most generic advice might talk about having a job that excites you, maintaining close relationships, and finding hobbies. But, Csikszentmihalyi contends that our material experiences are not important to our happiness. What we do or which activities we choose to participate in are secondary to how we perceive everyday consciousness. 

Flow's thesis is similar to stoicism. The things that happen to us are less important than our reactions and interpretations. 

Pleasure vs enjoyment

A key concept that I've taken away from Flow is the distinction between pleasure and enjoyment. Csikszentmihalyi describes both these feelings in the context of consciousness. Pleasure distracts our consciousness and provides temporary relief from the chaos and stress of daily life. Enjoyment comes from ordering our consciousness and growing as a person.

This distinction explains why we feel good while binge watching TV, but not after. It also explains why activities such as running might be unpleasant in the moment, but are enjoyable after the fact. 

The goal should not be to eliminate pleasure in favor of enjoyment. Instead, we should aim to maximize our enjoyable experiences while using pleasure as a tool to refresh our attention and consciousness.

Rules of the game

Flow argues that any act, no matter how simple or mundane, can be transformed into something meaningful and enjoyable. If we orient our consciousness correctly, we enter a "flow" state—a mental state where one is totally immersed and focused on an activity. 

Flow activities have defined goals, ways to measure progress, and require consistent refinement in technique. This criteria seems pretty broad because it is. Anything can be a flow activity. Csikszentmihalyi gives walking as an example. Your goal could be to walk past landmarks, walk in as much shade as possible, or to walk in the most efficient manner. The key is providing a challenge that will capture our consciousness. 

For myself, accepting the ideas in Flow required a mindset shift. If you think this book is snake-oil because it's telling you that walking is the meaning of life you are missing the point. The point is that meaning does not require wealth or status. Meaning can be created from within, through how we perceive life and how we orient ourselves towards living. The point is that the method of controlling how the mind interprets experiences is so powerful, it can make walking a joy. If you're still not convinced, consider hiking. There are tons of people who enjoy hiking, a structured form of walking with built-in goals and challenges.

Even though Csikszentmihalyi is outlining the ingredients to a meaningful life, it doesn't make living a meaningful life easy. A great quote from the book is:

Reframing hardship

An activity must be challenging for it to be a flow activity and one must be challenged in order to enter a flow state. This has prompted me to reframe how I perceive hardship in my life. 

Csikszentmihalyi says that we create the meaning in our lives. We set goals and we pour our attention to achieving them. Thus, the process of working through a challenge is not only intrinsically meaningful, it is what gives our experiences meaning. Challenge is not something to shy away from, but it is something to embrace. Csikszentmihalyi notes, "Almost every situation we encounter in life presents possibilities for growth."

This quote sums it up perfectly:

I try to reframe hardships and challenges as opportunities for growth. It might sound cheesy, but I think it really does help. While studying for an exam or vacuuming the house don't seem fun or worthwhile, overcoming a challenge in pursuit of personal growth does. Donald Miller has a brilliant quote that encapsulates this:

Concluding thoughts

The most important thing I've taken away from Flow is that our perceptions determine our happiness. Csikszentmihalyi says, "How we feel... the joy we get from living, ultimately depend directly on how the mind filters and interprets everyday experiences." This is comforting to know, that we are the ones in control of our happiness.