Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• There are two main strategies we can try to improve the quality of life. The first is to try making external conditions match our goals. The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Change, Two, Goal

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  37 Copy quote

• Knowing oneself is not so much a question of discovering what is present in one's self, but rather the creation of who one wants to be.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Business, Self, Knowing

  15 Copy quote

• Write down each day what surprised you and how you surprised others. When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Writing, Each Day, Sparks

  35 Copy quote

• Produce as many ideas as possible. Try to produce unlikely ideas.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Ideas, Trying, Unlikely

  11 Copy quote

• Even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done. Learning for its own sake is rewarding.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Life, Motivational, Jobs

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2009). “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and”, p.5, Harper Collins

  15 Copy quote

• The ability to take misfortune and make something good come of it is a rare gift. Those who possess it are ..said to have resilience or courage.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Teaching, Learning, Resilience

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  12 Copy quote

• Develop what you lack.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Growth

  10 Copy quote

• A paycheck is a sufficient impetus to motivate some employees to do the minimum amount to get by, and for others, the challenge of getting ahead in the organization provides a satisfactory focus for a while. But these incentives alone are rarely strong enough to inspire workers to give their best to their work. For this a vision is needed, an overarching goal that gives meaning to the job, so that an individual can forget himself in the task and experience flow without doubts or regrets. The most important component of such a vision is an ingredient we call soul.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Strong, Jobs, Regret

  32 Copy quote

• A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Consciousness, Miserable, Persons

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  20 Copy quote

• Happiness is not something that happens ... It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Events, Doe, Happens

  7 Copy quote

• It is amazing how little effort most people make to improve control of their attention. If reading a book seems too difficult, instead of sharpening concentration we tend to set it aside and instead turn on the television, which not only requires minimal attention, but in fact tends to diffuse what little it commands with choppy editing, commercial interruptions, and generally inane content.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Book, Reading, Editing

  24 Copy quote

• When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. They become rigid and defensive, and their self stops growing.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Self, People, Growing

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  7 Copy quote

• Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It's something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Happiness, Business, Believe

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004). “Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning”, p.34, Penguin

  39 Copy quote

• The task is to learn how to enjoy everyday life without diminishing other people's chances to enjoy theirs.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  People, Everyday, Tasks

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  36 Copy quote

• the self expands through acts of self forgetfulness.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Self, Forgetfulness, Self Forgetfulness

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996). “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention”, Harpercollins

  5 Copy quote

• Those periods of struggling to overcome challenges are what people find to be the most enjoyable times.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Struggle, Teaching, Learning

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  12 Copy quote

• Find a way to express what moves you.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Moving, Expression, Way

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1996). “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention”, Harpercollins

  8 Copy quote

• One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Feelings, Existential, Excellent

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1997). “Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life”, p.131, Basic Books

  24 Copy quote

• It is how we choose what we do, and how we approach it, that will determine whether the sum of our days adds up to a formless blur, or to something resembling a work of art.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Art, Add, Blur

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1997). “Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life”, p.13, Basic Books

  13 Copy quote

• Happiness does not simply happen to us. It's something that we make happen.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Doe, Happens

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004). “Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning”, p.34, Penguin

  9 Copy quote

• Flow is hard to achieve without effort. Flow is not 'wasting time.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Effort, Flow, Wasting Time

  35 Copy quote

• Creative individuals tend to be smart, yet also naive at the same time... Creative individuals have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Smart, Responsibility, Creativity

  16 Copy quote

• Enjoyment, on the other hand, is not always pleasant, and it can be very stressful at times. A mountain climber, for example, may be close to freezing, utterly exhausted, and in danger of falling into a bottomless crevasse, yet he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Sipping a piña colada under a palm tree at the edge of the turquoise ocean is idyllic, but it just doesn't compare to the exhilaration he feels on the windswept ridge.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Business, Stress, Ocean

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004). “Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning”, p.34, Penguin

  23 Copy quote

• It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Stress, People, Miserable

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2001). “Flow: the psychology of optimal experience”

  9 Copy quote

• Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work gets done.

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  Business, Work, Hands

  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004). “Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning”, p.63, Penguin

  23 Copy quote

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