Wake up in the morning with a specific goal to look forward to. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
To be overcome with the ultimate goal often interferes with performance. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
“The normal condition of the mind is chaos. Only when involved in a goal-directed activity does it acquire order and positive moods.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
If we agree that the bottom line of life is happiness, not success, then it makes perfect sense to say that it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
To be creative, a person has to internalize the entire system that makes creativity possible. Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Good design is a visual statement that maximizes the life goals of the people in a given culture (or, more realistically, the… — 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
There are two main strategies we can try to improve the quality of life. The first is to try making external conditions… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Half a century ago, the Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote that happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
In large organizations the dilution of information as it passes up and down the hierarchy, and horizontally across departments, can undermine the… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
Problems are solved only when we devote a great deal of attention to them and in a creative way...to have a good… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
The solution is to gradually become free of societal rewards and learn how to substitute for them rewards that are under one's… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to… — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
A paycheck is a sufficient impetus to motivate some employees to do the minimum amount to get by, and for others, the… — 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
But to change all existence into a flow experience, it is not sufficient to learn merely how to control moment-by-moment states of… — 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
“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 Image
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 Image
People without an internalized symbolic system can all too easily become captives of the media. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Copy Share Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
