Your Life Has Meaning: The Secret of Self-Motivation

Excerpted from Your Life Has Meaning by Gerhard Huhn, Hendrik Backerra. Copyright © 2008. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Foreword by Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., author of FLOW - The Psychology of Optimal Experience

When I talk about flow, people often ask: 'What can I do to achieve happiness?';

To be happy is a universal human desire. So it is not too unexpected that people might think that - after more than 2000 years of philosophy and 30 years of scientific research - a formula for happiness has been discovered, and is ready to be used. But equating flow with happiness is the result of a few misconceptions. The first is that happiness and flow are synonymous. The second is that flow experiences can be created by following a set of rules or a checklist of to-do's. [...]

As a result, you will find several answers in my books to the question 'What are people doing when they experience flow?'; But I have never found the time to write a book that could answer the question 'What can I do to experience flow?'; The bridge from my research to day-to-day practice was still missing.

It was not until 2002, when I was asked to read a proof copy of a German book about self motivation, that I realized this missing link had been found. The two German authors, Gerhard Huhn and Hendrik Backerra, managed to write the book that provides a bridge from my research to daily life.

It is my great pleasure to introduce now the English - and updated - version of this book. I recommend it to all those people who have been searching for a practical way to transfer my ideas and findings into action. The book is not a cookbook of easily replicable recipes to follow. With sensitivity to the complexity of what we now know about the 'optimal experience', a solid theoretical background, and a straightforward, practical approach, the authors offer step-by-step self coaching into the world of flow.

Both authors have worked as consultants, management trainers, and coaches for many years, and the book is a result of their ongoing commitment to integrating the possibilities of flow experiences into the business world. This integration is key to motivating performance from internal forces rather than external factors.[...]

Efforts to provide external motivation are often short-lived, can have manipulative aspects, and may be highly expensive. Power that comes from personal, internal drives is not only sustainable, but also self-energizing. It seems that only a minority of companies have embraced the potential of self-motivation until now.[...]

This book offers a thorough description of the process of goal-setting and several well chosen, easy-to-follow self-management tools. But it is more: it charts a personal journey for the reader and provides a key to personal mastery. It is based on a clear distinction between flow and happiness, but enables the reader to reach both states of mind. It offers support to all of us who want to live a life of meaning.

I wish its readers a joyful journey.

Claremont, June 2008, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., is a psychology professor at Peter F. Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University and Director of Quality of Life Research Center in Claremont, California and is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago.

Foreword by Prof. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., author of FLOW - The Psychology of Optimal Experience

When I talk about flow, people often ask: "What can I do to achieve happiness?"

To be happy is a universal human desire. So it is not too unexpected that people might think that - after more than 2000 years of philosophy and 30 years of scientific research - a formula for happiness has been discovered, and is ready to be used. But equating flow with happiness is the result of a few misconceptions. The first is that happiness and flow are synonymous. The second is that flow experiences can be created by following a set of rules or a checklist of to-do's.

What I have attempted to do over the decades is to identify the internal and external conditions under which people have optimal experiences: those exciting moments during which their feelings, desires, and thoughts are in harmony, free of conflicts that cause confusion. Their consciousness is centered in the here and now, and they feel that they are doing exactly the right thing at that moment. In my book Finding Flow, I wrote: "These exceptional moments are what I have called flow experiences. The metaphor of 'flow' is one that many people have used to describe the sense of effortless action they feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives."

Because feelings, wishes and thoughts, activities or joyful moments of silent contemplation are different from person to person, there are millions of ways to reach this kind of harmony.

Therefore, as I have demonstrated in my books, there is no single way to experience flow. However, individuals who have these experiences often report that certain internal and external conditions can be observed in connection with the feeling of flow. The descriptions of these conditions differ slightly in each of my books. Occasionally I have been tempted to provide a "recipe for flow". But I resisted this; instead, my approach was to whet the curiosity of my readers and listeners to figure out for themselves what set of conditions allow them to achieve flow experiences.

As a result, you will find several answers in my books to the question "What are people doing when they experience flow?" But I have never found the time to write a book that could answer the question "What can I do to experience flow?" The bridge from my research to day-to-day practice was still missing.

It was not until 2002, when I was asked to read a proof copy of a German book about self motivation, that I realized this missing link had been found. The two German authors, Gerhard Huhn and Hendrik Backerra, managed to write the book that provides a bridge from my research to daily life.

It is my great pleasure to introduce now the English - and updated - version of this book. I recommend it to all those people who have been searching for a practical way to transfer my ideas and findings into action. The book is not a cookbook of easily replicable recipes to follow. With sensitivity to the complexity of what we now know about the "optimal experience", a solid theoretical background, and a straightforward, practical approach, the authors offer step-by-step self coaching into the world of flow.

Both authors have worked as consultants, management trainers, and coaches for many years, and the book is a result of their ongoing commitment to integrating the possibilities of flow experiences into the business world. This integration is key to motivating performance from internal forces rather than external factors.

Efforts to provide external motivation are often short-lived, can have manipulative aspects, and may be highly expensive. Power that comes from personal, internal drives is not only sustainable, but also self-energizing. It seems that only a minority of companies have embraced the potential of self-motivation until now.

But the role of flow in business represents only one aspect of this work. This book has been written to meet the personal needs of readers who are looking for orientation and want to live a meaningful life. What makes it very special is the way the concept of flow has been combined with two additional ones: What Viktor Frankl has called the human search for meaning on one hand, and the results of 30 years of research that the Gallup Organization has conducted in the field of talents and strengths on the other.

There is no fast track to achieving flow, and getting there requires time and effort. But the payoff is clarity about what is really important in one's life, rather than lost time walking through a jungle of superficial advice.
This book offers a thorough description of the process of goal-setting and several well chosen, easy-to-follow self-management tools. But it is more: it charts a personal journey for the reader and provides a key to personal mastery. It is based on a clear distinction between flow and happiness, but enables the reader to reach both states of mind. It offers support to all of us who want to live a life of meaning.

I wish its readers a joyful journey.

Claremont, June 2008, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., is a psychology professor at Peter F. Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University and Director of Quality of Life Research Center in Claremont, California and is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago.