Finding Flow

From one of the pioneers of the scientific study of happiness, an indispensable guide to living your best life. What makes a good life? Is it money, or power, or fame? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes that our obsessive focus on such external measures has led us astray. Work fills our days with anxiety and pressure so that during our free time, we tend to live in boredom: watching TV or absorbed by our phones. What are we missing? According to Csikszentmihalyi's research, people are happiest when they challenge themselves with tasks that demand a high degree of skill and commitment, and which are undertaken for their own sake. Instead of watching television, play the piano. Take a routine chore and figure out how to do it better, faster, more efficiently. In short, learn the hidden power of complete engagement: a psychological state the author calls flow.