Today we are going to discuss a book called Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. If you want to live a happier life and get off the hamster wheel, then Flow is the perfect book for you to read.

Things we are going to cover today:

• Why are we unhappy?
• What makes us humans different than other animals?
• A 3 step method to get into Flow

Now before I jump into this book, I would like you to ask yourself a couple of questions:

• At this moment, are you feeling happy?
• Do you feel fulfilled and happy at work?

The way you answer these questions is going to determine how you interpret this book analysis

Why are we unhappy?

This is one of the books that can fundamentally change how we look at life and happiness in general. Happiness is not a new concept. People have been talking about happiness for  thousands of years. Because, at the root of our existence, we all want to be happy (after we have met our basic needs.) But one thing that stands out in this book is this – We all want to be happy, but we get there differently. 

For example, 1 person can be happy while he/she spends time with their family, but for someone else, it could be travelling. This variance leads to a flaw that is exploited by our consumerist world today. So instead of finding what will make us truly happy, the society today is telling us what it thinks will make us happy and is dictating our life for us. 

The outside world is telling us that if we buy this it is going to make us happy. This creates a habit of running from one thing to the another while only achieving short term happiness. Short term happiness is a human need, but we want to get past that basic need and focus more on what makes us truly happy. This book is about liberating us from the collective and finding what makes us happier at the individual level.

Js Mill – “No great improvement in a lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of modes of thought” 

One important word in the above quote is the “thought.” I think by now, we all know that we become what we think about. The problem today is that external things are defining what would we should think and that is changing how we feel internally. Our culture wants us to give up thinking about the internal soul and just start thinking about external things.

What makes us different?

There are 2 fundamental things that make us different, consciousness and attention (where attention goes and where energy flows.)

Let’s talk a little about consciousness

If you want to really think about how important our internal being is, I highly recommend Victor Frankel’s book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” It is a book written by Victor Frankil who recounted his time in a Nazi concentration camp. Just like all of us, he was on the hamster wheel until he was imprisoned in a Nazi camp. What he observed that even thought our environments can be harsh, we need to focus on the internal environment in order to find happiness and purpose. 

Our culture today is in reverse because it wants you to focus on the external instead of exploring the inner world. And that is why this book is so important. Think about it, millions of years ago, did our ancestors really care about what we were thinking? Their actions were not defined by thoughts but were defined by instincts (survival and reproduction.) These things consumed the majority of their energy.

But as we climbed up on the food chain, the limbic brain consumed a little less energy and other parts of the brain developed. This is where the conscious parts developed. This conscious part of the brain wants us to aspire to do more things than just focusing on reproduction and survival. One main problem is that this consciousness is not getting nurtured by today’s culture. In Flow, Mihaly wants us to get off the hamster wheel and start nourishing that consciousness.

3 Step Method to get into Flow mode

Step 1 – Write down 3 goals that you want to achieve

First, from personal experience I can tell you that we as humans do not like to expand energy or live in discomfort. We want our lives to be comfortable. This is what we are designed to do and it was an essential part of our survival. But, according to Mihaly, flow happens when we get out of our comfort zone and start pursuing the goals that make us stretch.

We humans, believe it or not, are goal-oriented growth beings. And one of the things that help us get in flow is having goals that stretch us a bit and getting immediate feedback on those goals that make us feel that we are growing.
The misconception about this book is that we have to put a lot of effort getting into Flow. But, in reality, getting in flow is the polar opposite of that. Flow is about you doing what would you like to do and your mind is totally ingrained in the task that you’re not having any other internal conversation that is pulling you away from the task.
So, the first task to evaluate what goals you would like to achieve that makes you step out of your clam shell. And I know it is uncomfortable, but this is something you need if you want to live a happier and more fulfilled life.

Step 2 – Gamification and Accountability

A little bit of play goes a long way when it comes to flow. When we gamify our goals, it keeps our attention and focus on those goals and releases brain chemicals such as serotonin that keeps us interested in those goals. For example, as Mihaly stated surgeons who enjoy their work take up challenges and look at surgery as a sport.

So after you have written down 3 goals, see how you can gamify those goals. It can be a bet, an app that visualizes data or a coaching app that will help you look at the work you have put in and the growth you have had over time. Personally, I use coach.me and lose it! to keep me in on track.

Step 3 – Apply the above 2 principles at work and hobbies

We are going to be around 20% 30% of our lives working for a living. So it is important to apply these at work. Because, if we are unhappy at work, then we are going to be unhappy in general.
So, set personal growth targets that make you stretch at work. For example, can you finish that project 3 days before it’s due? Can you set a target to learn 1 new skill that will help you with your job before the end of this quarter? How about setting a target of getting a promotion in the next 6 months? Anything that will make you go just a little bit beyond what you are comfortable with but not too much that it causes anxiety and fear.

So go ahead, apply these simple steps to get into Flow and see how it can change your life.