Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was born on September 29, 1934 in Fiume, Italy. He is a Hungarian-American who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. He was a former head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago where he received his B.A. and PhD. He is now connected with Claremont Graduate University. As a positive psychologist, he has written a number of works about happiness and how it can be achieved.
The book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience deals with the concept of happiness and how one can achieve it. Csikszentmihalyi addressed man’s yearning for happiness and why until now man is nowhere near finding happiness (Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, 2009). He said that one of the reasons why happiness is elusive is because people think that happiness will result when something happens to their life. They think that it is the result of a random event or chance.
He explained that when man searches for happiness he will only fail because it is not something that comes from the outside. When we let outside forces dictate how we will feel then we will only end up being miserable because are so many outside forces that we cannot control which can interfere with this search (Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow, 1997 ). For example, the people around us can affect our mood or disposition. Happiness is not something that one receives. He explained as well the concept of optimal experience and argued that we can find happiness by being in control of the forces that are around us and not letting these forces dictate how we feel. Happiness is just the side effect not an end in itself when we do something that we love.
Csikszentmihalyi’s explains that the concept of optimal experience can be applied in all facets of a person’s life. It can be applied in sports and other human activities including work (Jackson and Csikszentmihalyi 1999). The concept can be applied in health and human services as well. Being in health and human service is essentially a sacrifice as it can take so much of a person’s time. Being in an organization that provides health and human service can be draining because of the extent of the work that must done. Providing health and human services can be made more difficult when a person does not have a good working relationship with his colleague. Essentially, it is very easy to be miserable in this field.
Csikszentmihalyi, however, thinks that optimal experience can be achieved while providing health and human services. To achieve optimal experience one must go back to the reason why a person joins an organization devoted to providing health and human services. One reason is because there are people who need help. One must remember that helping a person in need will itself provide happiness. When an individual is fully absorbed in what he is doing to help other people, the experience is exhilarating. When the body and mind are both focused in completing a task one feels in total control of the situation (Jackson and Csikszentmihalyi, 1999). In these moments, an individual remembers every minute detail that is going on and the feeling of euphoria. This is what he calls optimal experience. This is how an individual can achieve happiness even in a work that is geared towards self-sacrifice.
After knowing the initial reason why one joined the health and human service organization, one needs to concentrate on the activities. This implies giving the activities ones all. In that way the mind becomes actively involved in the human service activities and a state of being in total control of the situation is achieved. It also provides a sense of discovery. As Csikszentmihalyi states in his book people
It is also necessary to have feedback on performance. Feedback helps one to continually challenge them as this also helps to acquire self-growth. As Csikszentmihalyi states in his book a state of flow is acquired when the mind is stretched but not so much that the activities feel so hard. The aspect of challenging oneself is very helpful as he gives us examples of some people who have been able to acquire the state of flow through this. He narrates of some people who while in prison have been able to acquire a state of flow by challenging themselves (Csikszentmihalyi, 2011). This is a deep proof that the state of optimal experience can also be acquired in health and human service which involve sacrifice.
Csikszentmihalyi describes ideal flow activities. First they push a person to higher levels of performance. This is very essential in any work place not only in health and human service. They also provide a sense of discovery. A sense of discovery creates love for the work being done and naturally pushes one to work harder every day (Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 2008). They also transform self by improving it. Although it is hard to transform health and human service into ideal activities as described by Csikszentmihalyi acquiring a state of flow has proofed to be very essential and definitely therefore the concept of optimal experience is very applicable in this field.
In sum, Csikszentmihalyi thinks that it is a mistake for a person to pursue happiness for its own sake. There are so many things that can happen along the way that which are outside of one’s control that can interfere with this search for happiness. Rather, happiness simply flows from continuing with our chosen work or activity. It can be a sport or a work or any other activity.
References
Csikszentmihalyi (2008, October). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness | Video on TED.com [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow. Harper Collins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J. (2011). Positive psychology: Where did it come from, where is it going? In K.M. Sheldon, T. B. Kashdan, & M.F. Steger (Eds.), Designing positive psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Jackson, S. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Flow in Sports. Illinois: Human Kinetics.
