Tag: flow

Seriously – what you do and who you are

Experiencing flow requires us to take some things seriously. Taking a craft or a hobby or a job seriously means we care both about developing skills and, then, testing those skills by challenging ourselves.

taking what you do seriously, serious, flow, challenge,(Thanks Wikipedia for the image and Prof Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi for the gift of “Flow”)

Since experiencing flow has been shown to be an essential part of living a fulfilled life, taking nothing seriously is a sure-shot route to unhappiness.

However, once you start taking what you do seriously, you can fall into the trap of taking yourself seriously. As we immerse ourselves in what we do and tend to identify ourselves with what we do, we can often lose sight of the lines that separate what we do and who we are; even if what we do is one of the surest expressions of who we are and what we stand for – so, the relationship is definitely complicated. However, the blurring of these lines is both trouble and a recipe for the sort of insecurity and unhappiness that accompanies a loss of perspective.

So, by all means, take your craft seriously. But, be wary of taking yourself seriously.

(Filed under “note to self” :-))

7% better – The 200 words project

Here’s this week’s 200 word idea from our RealLeaders.tv interview with Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi..

Social scientist and author of the now legendary book on happiness – “Flow,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and team spent a week collecting data from a group of internet chess players who played over 1000 games.

They had the players fill out how much “flow” they felt in the game afterwards. All previous psychological theories spoke about play as a way of boosting self esteem by winning. But, Prof Mihaly and team’s hypothesis was that greatest enjoyment doesn’t come from winning but from playing opponents who are equally matched – so skill levels and challenges are equal (i.e. in “flow” territory).

Flow
Source and thanks to: www.EBSketchin.com

Interestingly, the results showed that the optimal challenge was when the opponent was about 7% better. Playing against better players meant the curve of enjoyment went down very slowly while playing against really bad players meant enjoyment went down precipitously. The point is clearly not to just win because, when we play against someone better, we win only 30% of the time but when we do win, we feel much better.

Are we regularly giving ourselves challenges that are 7% harder than our current skill level?

“Happiness is not something that is guaranteed, or that comes with our birth certificates. Happiness is to do things that are harmonious with who we are, with what we can do, with what we like, and with what we think is right.” | Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 

Only dead fish go with the flow

This quote is one after my heart.

Have you seen Animal Planet documentaries on life under the ocean? If you have, you’ll see that life under the ocean never ever go with the flow of the water. Doing so is a sure sign of death. They all have their own agenda – to hide, to find lunch, to escape being lunch, or to mate.

The flow is a trick conjured up by that wily beast called the resistance. It’s a nice way to prevent us from being our best selves. It is an excuse to say that sleeping, lazing, and procrastination are part of “the flow.”

Have you ever organized a great vacation? Did it just happen or did you have to book the tickets? Did your hotel booking happen as a part of “the flow” or did you have to research it? Did you magically get transported everywhere or did you have to make an effort?

Do you know why the resistance hates intentions? Because declaring your intention needs to be followed by making an effort. And, making an effort means being open to the possibility that your efforts might fail. So, why not just say we’ll go with “the flow” and not make an effort? It’s convenient, easy, cowardly and pathetic.

We need your intentions. We need you to shout them off the rooftops and create a stir. We need your intentions, your effort, your heart and soul invested in building things and making the world better. Show us some of that initiative. Give us some of that energy. Share some of those ideas.

And, oh sure, take a break. But, decide you want a break and enjoy it. The world belongs to those who are intentional.