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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

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Famous Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes

“A thoroughly socialized person is one who desires only the rewards that others around him have agreed he should long for - rewards often grafted onto genetically programmed desires.A person who cannot override genetic instructions when necessary is always vulnerable..The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them rewards that are under one's own powers.”

ShouldPersonsLongDesireSolutionsRewardsVulnerableSubstitutesInstruction
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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“To overcome the anxieties and depressions of contemporary life, individuals must become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments. To achieve such autonomy, a person has to learn to provide rewards to herself. She has to develop the ability to find enjoyment and purpose regardless of external circumstances.”

PersonsPurposeIndividualSocialTermAbilityEnvironmentAchieveCircumstancesDegreesAnxietyOvercomingIndependentRewardsPunishmentContemporaryEnjoymentAutonomyReward And PunishmentSocial EnvironmentContemporary Life
Book:Flow: the psychology of optimal experience
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“Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.”

FeelsPersonsDoeActionJobsWorkAnswersBusinessOur LivesDependsBecomingAspectIllDetermineAshamedJoyfulFulfillingAspects Of Life
Book:Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
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“What I "discovered" was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. 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 come to being happy.”

PeoplePersonsDoeFactsHappensAbleHappinessChanceResultsQualityPsychologyConditionsEventsDependsDiscoveryExperienceFortunePreparedDetermineHappyCommandInterpretationHappy LifeBe PreparedBeing HappyGood FortuneCultivatingInterpretingRandom Chance
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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“To be creative, a person has to internalize the entire system that makes creativity possible. Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals.”

PersonsArtHandsIndividualGoalAbilitySituationCreativityCreativeRemarkableBe CreativeAbility To Adapt
Book:Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
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“We have all experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.. moments like these are not the passive, receptive, relaxing timesthe best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

FeelsShouldMindPersonsLongMomentsBodyHappensActionForceDifficultMemoriesEffortFateMastersLimitsAccomplishOccasionsEnjoymentWorthwhilePassiveOur ActionsReceptiveLandmarksExhilarationBest MomentsRare Occasion
Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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