Attention is psychic energy, and like physical energy, unless we allocate some part of it to the task at hand, no work… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
...if we expended all our energies solely on taking care of our own needs we would stop growing. In that respect what… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
In knowledge-intensive business settings, where every manager has to oversee massive amounts of information as well as people, facilitating the use of… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work is dissipated. We create ourselves… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
...perhaps the most distinguishing trait of visionary leaders is that they believe in a goal that benefits not only themselves, but others… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Flow is the process of achieving happiness through control over one's inner life. The optimal state of inner experience is order in… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Most of us become so rigidly fixed in the ruts carved out by genetic programming and social conditioning that we ignore the… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
To know oneself is the first step toward making flow a part of one's entire life. But just as there is no… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A self that is only differentiated - not integrated - may attain great individual accomplishments, but risks being mired in self-centered egotism.… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Each of us is born with two contradictory sets of instructions: a conservative tendency, made up of instincts for self-preservation, self-aggrandizement, and… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Through learning we grow, becoming more than we were before, and in that sense learning is unselfish, because it results in the transformation of… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“Unfortunately, many people find the only challenges they can respond to are violence, gambling, random sex, or drugs. Some of these experiences can be… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
It is essential to learn to enjoy life. It really does not make sense to go through the motions of existence if one does… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“It is usual to explain the motivation of those who enjoy dangerous activities as some sort of pathological need: they are trying to exorcise… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
“Wisdom and integrity cannot be found in any single domain. A broader viewpoint that breaks across disciplinary boundaries is needed, a way of understanding… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and by the struggle to make them real. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Many business leaders today view their jobs as entailing responsibility for the welfare of the wider community. These individuals do not define themselves as… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
The rules themselves are clear enough, and within everyone’s reach. But many forces, both within ourselves and in the environment, stand in the way.… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
When each of these three elements of vision-concern for excellence, for people and for the wider environment-are present, business is transformed from a tool… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be soon forgotten. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share
Only direct control of experience, the ability to derive moment-by-moment enjoyment from everything we do, can overcome the obstacles to fulfillment. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share