This will push us to a higher level of performance and provide a sense of achievement. For an activity to be a flow activity, it must provide a challenge that is slightly higher than our current skill. So how do we achieve this flow state? In chapter 4, Csikszentmihalyi explained that there are two key dimensions involved: challenges and skill. Between these two, enjoyment can bring us closer to the flow state. That being said, Csikszentmihalyi also emphasizes that “pleasure is also an important component on the quality of life, but by itself, it does not bring happiness” (p. This also means that we can derive self-improvement from enjoyment, but not from pleasure. In other words, pleasure is passive and dependent on external stimuli, while enjoyment comes from within but requires more effort to focus on our part.

playing a game of chess that stretches our ability. Enjoyment, on the other hand, is a feeling that occurs not only after the needs are met, but also when something else is achieved beyond expectations it is characterized by a sense of novelty and accomplishment e.g. eating a meal when we are hungry is pleasant because we are fulfilling our biological needs. These two terms are often interchangeable, but he makes a clear distinction in this case: pleasure is a feeling of contentment that is achieved when social or biological expectations have been met, e.g.

In chapter 3, Csikszentmihalyi discusses the difference between pleasure and enjoyment. “People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can to being happy.” He then discusses the mechanism of consciousness and how it can be controlled in chapter 2. The state of flow that we achieve by this mastery is as close as it gets to true happiness this is when we are fully engaged, in complete control of ourselves regardless of the situation. It is a condition achieved by mastering control over the contents of our consciousness. The book starts with Csikszentmihalyi discussing the concept of happiness and defining it as “a condition that needs to be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person” (p. This is the key discussion point in this classic and popular title in positive psychology, Flow: the psychology of optimal experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This state in which people are “so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (p. Or at least, I know I experienced this when I’m playing a game or reading. Have you ever been so focused on a task or activity to the point that you stopped noticing the passage of time, and even forgot to eat or drink? Like you’re just “in the zone” and feel a deep exhilaration or great enjoyment? I believe most of us have experienced this before.

Flow state mihaly csikszentmihalyi