Written By Joseph Scaglione – hardworkingjoe@live.com

What makes a life worth living? A question Hungarian psychologist and author of Finding Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Cheeks-Send-Me-Hi) wanted to answer. Csikszentmihalyi believes the answer rests in the roots of happiness. One of the first items Csikszentmihalyi studied is money and its relation to happiness. Research shows that overtime as individual wealth increases, the number of people who consider themselves “happy” holds at roughly 30% of the population. The relationship between wealth and happiness peaks at a salary of $75,000. Someone earning $75,000 has achieved a level economic security and fulfills the first and second levels of basic needs in Maslow’s hierarchy through access to food, shelter, water, and warmth. These are basic needs, not psychological or self-fulfillment needs higher up in Maslow’s hierarchy, closer to a fulfilled life. Obtaining economic wealth does not make a life worth living. Money allows an individual to achieve a particular status through possessions, it provides security, but it does not bring happiness.

Relationship between personal income and happiness over time.

Think about the word Ecstasy. In greek it means to stand to the side of something. Ecstasy can be a mental state, where individuals step out of their everyday routine and move toward an alternative reality, not another universe, rather, an interesting storyline. When studying historic civilizations we do not focus on their monotonous daily routines. We admire their ecstasies; their amphitheatres, sporting arenas, art, and music. Interesting aspects of their culture; their alternative realities. Mozart created an alternative reality for himself by arranging musical notes on a page. Composing made Mozart ecstatic, his attention was completely absorbed, he lost his sense of self, he could not focus on the past, present, or future, his hunger, or rent, he could only focus on his craft. This is FLOW, FLOW is ecstasy.

FLOW occurs in immersive activities demanding full attention, involvement, and focus. There are 7 premises defining a FLOW state:

Being completely involved in an activity A sense of ecstasy; being outside of reality Inner clarity; knowing what needs to be done and how close we are to doing it Knowing the activity is doable; we have the skills required to achieve the task Serenity; No worries about oneself, the past, present, and future Timelessness; hours pass like minutes Intrinsic motivation; Performing the activity for the sake of performing the activity

Intrinsic Motivation is key. FLOW activities are not performed to obtain a goal. While in FLOW, an activity is done for its own sake. For example, playing guitar for the sole purpose of playing guitar. A FLOW state cannot be reached while gaming or binge-watching an entire Netflix series because there are goals to these activities. A game is played to win or advance to the next level. A Netflix series is binged to find out where the story takes beloved characters. A FLOW activity is performed for the sake of the activity itself.

The key to FLOW is BALANCE. There needs to be a balance between the activities difficulty and the skills required for its performance. If an activity is too easy, the performer will be bored, and exit FLOW. If an activity is too difficult, the performer will be discouraged with their abilities and exit FLOW. Once a balance is struck, FLOW will be found. Individuals almost always enter FLOW when they find something they are passionate about. The more time an individual dedicates to what they love doing, the more time they will spend in FLOW, and the happier they will be.

Challenges that must be balanced to achieve FLOW.

I believe FLOW is related to the level of self-fulfillment in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When individuals are in FLOW they’re sense of fulfillment is increased, they have purpose, they are happy. So perhaps the answer to “What makes a life worth living” is performing activities one is passionate about, as much as they can, for as long as they can. Happiness is fleeting, and fulfillment is not always felt. The more time one spends in FLOW, the happier they will be.

Flow fits into the self-actualization level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs by providing fulfillment through creative, engaging activities.