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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

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Famous Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

“Flow is the process of achieving happiness through control over one's inner life. The optimal state of inner experience is order in consciousness. This happens when we focus our attention (psychic energy) on realistic goals and when our skills match the challenges we face.”

StatesHappensFacesOrderEnergyProcessGoalChallengesAttentionConsciousnessFocusAchieveSkillsFlowRealisticPsychicsInner LifeOptimalChallenges We FaceRealistic GoalsAchieving Happiness
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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“...if we expended all our energies solely on taking care of our own needs we would stop growing. In that respect what we call "soul" can be viewed as the surplus energy that can be invested into change and transformation. As such, it is the cutting edge of evolution.”

IfsNeedsSoulCareEnergyChangeBusinessCuttingGrowingEvolutionTransformationEdgesSurplusCutting Edge
Book:Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
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“To know oneself is the first step toward making flow a part of one's entire life. But just as there is no free lunch in the material economy, nothing comes free in the psychic one. If one is not willing to invest psychic energy in the internal reality of consciousness, and instead squanders it in chasing external rewards, one loses mastery of one's life, and ends up becoming a puppet of circumstances.”

IfsKnowsFirstsEndsRealityEnergyLosesBusinessConsciousnessStepsEconomyWillingMaterialsBecomingCircumstancesFlowRewardsOneselfInternalsLunchMasteryFirst StepsPsychicsChasingPuppetsKnowing OneselfFree Lunch
Book:Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
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“...perhaps the most distinguishing trait of visionary leaders is that they believe in a goal that benefits not only themselves, but others as well. It is such vision that attracts the psychic energy of other people, and makes them willing to work beyond the call of duty for the organization.”

PeopleInspirationalBelieveWellsEnergyGoalWorkBusinessLeaderVisionWillingDutyBenefitsOrganizationTraitsPsychicsVisionariesCall Of DutyVisionary Leaders
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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“Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we use this energy. Memories, thoughts and feelings are all shaped by how use it. And it is an energy under control, to do with as we please; hence attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience.”

ImportantDoneUseFeelingsEnergyMemoriesAttentionQualityPleaseToolsTasksImprovingThoughts And Feelings
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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“Most of us become so rigidly fixed in the ruts carved out by genetic programming and social conditioning that we ignore the options of choosing any other course of action. Living exclusively by genetic and social instructions is fine as long as everything goes well. But the moment bioloical or social goals are frustrated- which in the long run is inevitable - a person must formulate new goals, and create a new flow activity for himself, or else he will always waste his energies in inner turmoil.”

WellsPersonsLongMomentsRunningActionCoursesEnergySocialGoalFineActivityWasteFlowInevitableFixedProgrammingInstructionLong RunsFrustratedConditioningTurmoilRutsNew Goal
Book:Flow: the psychology of optimal experience
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“A self that is only differentiated - not integrated - may attain great individual accomplishments, but risks being mired in self-centered egotism. By the same token, a person who self is based exclusively on integration will be well connected and secure, but lack autonomous individuality. Only when a person invests equal amounts of psychic energy in these two processes and avoids both selfishness and conformity is the self likely to reflect complexity.”

WellsMayPersonsTwoSelfIndividualEnergyProcessRiskAmountEqualIndividualityConnectedSecureSelfishnessAccomplishmentComplexityConformityIntegrationPsychicsEgotismSelf CenteredIntegratedTokensAutonomous
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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“Each of us is born with two contradictory sets of instructions: a conservative tendency, made up of instincts for self-preservation, self-aggrandizement, and saving energy, and an expansive tendency made up of instincts for exploring, for enjoying novelty and risk-the curiosity that leads to creativity belongs to this set. But whereas the first tendency requires little encouragement or support from outside to motivate behaviour, the second can wilt if not cultivated.”

IfsFirstsLittlesMadeTwoSelfEnergyEnjoyBornCreativitySupportRiskEncouragementInstinctCuriosityConservativeTendenciesSavingInstructionBehaviourExploringPreservationContradictoryNoveltySelf PreservationSaving Energy
Book:Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and
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