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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The architect of the notion of flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College. Csikszentmihalyi is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books, articles, and book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world’s leading researcher on positive psychology. Csikszentmihalyi once said: “Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason.” His works are influential and are widely cited.

PhilosophersNotes on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Books All PhilosophersNotes

Creativity

The Psychology of Discovery and Invention

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Creativity with a capital C—the type of Creativity that changes the world. How can we go about cultivating it in our lives? That’s what this book is all about. Our guide is the legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Big Ideas we explore include defining true Creativity, focusing our attention and being willing to be kinda weird, the one personality trait all Creators have in common (hint: complexity!), creating rhythms and the nine elements of flow and how to tap into it!

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Creativity & Positive Psychology

Attention Best of Optimize Flow Modern Classic Work

Flow

The Psychology of Optimal Experience

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow. It's all about the science of optimal human experience. In this Note, we'll explore what the flow state is (hint: get fully engaged in an activity that matches your skills with your challenge) and we’ll look at some other Big Ideas on controlling the contents of our consciousness to get out of anxiety and boredom as we create more flow experiences in our lives. (Plus, you'll even learn how to pronounce "Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.")

Packs:

Goals & Positive Psychology

Best of Optimize Flow Modern Classic Top 101 Work

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Flow
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What It Is & How to Get in It

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world’s leading researchers studying the science of well-being. He co-founded the Positive Psychology movement with Martin Seligman and has written landmark books on Creativity and Flow. After surveying thousands of people, Mihaly was able to shine some light on th...

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Peak Performance & Positive Psychology

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Save Your Brain Cells for Stuff That Matters

In his classic book on Creativity, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi walks us through the science of what makes extraordinary creators so extraordinary. Of course, one of the key facets of being a truly great creator is the willingness and ability to FOCUS your attention, eliminating distractions. As Csikszentmiha...

+1 inspired by Note: Creativity

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Creativity & Willpower

Best of Optimize commitment creativity focus Inspiration productivity Systems willpower Work

Peter Drucker on Creativity
#810

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Make That… on Plodding

In our last +1, we talked about Twyla Tharp’s great book The Creative Habit. In addition to seeing who she thinks wins the philosophical tug of war on what makes people creative (effort for the win!), we also talked about establishing our own creative habit of doing some Pre-Input Deep Work every morni...

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Creativity & Habits

creativity Deep Work Grit Habits Hustle service Work

Want to Create a TON?
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Have a Very (!) Big Waste Paper Basket

In our last +1, we talked about the super-creative plodder Peter Drucker and his response to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s invitation to participate in his research on Creativity. We took a quick look at the little note he sent to Csikszentmihalyi. Here’s the part we discussed: “I am greatly honored an...

+1 inspired by Note: Creativity

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Creativity & Productivity

creativity Deep Work Grit Hustle productivity service Work

Einstein’s Baggy Trousers
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And His Creative Genius

In our last +1, we talked about How to Create Time. I mentioned the fact that, with just 15 minutes of wasted time recaptured (and +3ed!) per day, we could walk an extra mile a day or an extra 730,000 steps per year! I also shared the fact that reclaiming just 15 minutes of wasted time per day adds up to...

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Creativity & Masterpiece Days

carpediem creativity idiosyncratic masterpiece-days Mind productivity time management

The Cleanup Game
#1258

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How to Drop Into Flow (-> Bored to Awesome)

Big news at the Johnson house: We recently got a new robot vacuum cleaner. (Hah.) Given the 18,000+ reviews on the one we wound up getting, I realize we’re late to the party on this one but it’s still been fun to play with our new robot that is now affectionately named “Robo.” So… T...

+1 inspired by Note: Flow

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Fatherhood & Peak Performance

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