It is by becoming increasingly complex that the self might be said to grow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi More Quotes by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi More Quotes From Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi differenceslaughingthinking Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one What counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi noveltycreativityideas 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 stressoceanbusiness It is not the hearing that improves life, but the listening. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi hearinglistening Entropy is the normal state of consciousness - a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi normalconsciousnessstates It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi motivesakeaction Participate as fully as possibly in the world around you. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi world To gain control over the quality of experience, one needs to learn how to build enjoyment into what happens day in, day out. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi gainsqualityneeds Problems are solved only when we devote a great deal of attention to them and in a creative way...to have a good life, it is not enough to remove what is wrong with it. We also need a positive goal, otherwise why keep going? Creativity is one answer to that question - It provides one of the most exciting models for living. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi good-lifecreativitygoal Happiness is not something that happens ... It does not depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret them. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi eventsdoehappens A person can make himself happy, or miserable, regardless of what is actually happening 'outside,' just by changing the contents of consciousness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi miserableconsciousnesspersons Other things equal, a life filled with complex flow activities is more worth living than one spent consuming passive entertainment. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi entertainmentflowhappiness We have all experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.. moments like these are not the passive, receptive, relaxing timesthe best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi fatememorieslong Without the capacity to provide its own information, the mind drifts into randomness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi informationcapacitymind Jane Fonda, who divided her life into three acts, decided after her sixtieth birthday that she was now facing the final act, and came to the following conclusion: "I thought to myself, well if that's the case and if what I'm scared of isn't death, but getting to the end with regrets, then I've got to figure out what would be the things that I would regret when I got to the last act if I hadn't done them or achieved them by then. And they were: having an intimate relationship and having made a difference." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi regretbusinessintimate-relationships I have devoted 30 years of research to how creative people live and work, to make more understandable the mysterious process by which they come up with new ideas and new things. [...] If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it's complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an "individual", each of them is a "multitude". Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi peopleyearsideas Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the person's skills, it usually begins to be intrinsically rewarding. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demandeffortskills Control over consciousness cannot be institutionaliz ed. As soon as it becomes part of a set of social rules and norms, it ceases to be effective in the way it was originally intended to be. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi consciousnesssocialway There are managers so preoccupied with their e-mail messages that they never look up from their screens to see what's happening in the nondigital world Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi technologybusinesslooks Shift often from openness to closure. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi closureopennessfinishing
