"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of" //Albert Camus

The more you seek happiness, the less happy you are because you subconsciously tell yourself you are not happy at the moment. Regardless of how successful you become, humans are wired to survive and not thrive.

Yet there are moments when we are completely absorbed in meaningful activities and feel truly happy.

In the late 20th century, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discovered what made people happy and fulfilled. The common denominator was a particular mental state which he called the flow state. As Csikszentmihalyi himself defines it:

"Flow is what people feel when they enjoy what they are doing, when they don’t want to be doing anything else. What makes flow so intrinsically motivating? The evidence suggests a simple answer: in flow, the human organism is functioning at its fullest capacity. When this happens, the experience is its own reward"

Moreover, Csikszentmihalyi outlined 6 characteristics of this mental state:

1. Complete concentration,

2. Everything around you feels like a part of yourself

3. The vanishing of self

4. Time either slows down or speeds up

5. More control of where we are

6. Intrinsically rewarding (an autotelic experience)

The last point is what makes flow so beautiful. You do not need any external rewards because you are fulfilled right now. If you are a beginning creator, you can enjoy the daily experience before the delayed recognition and rewards. Moreover, according to several scientific studies, being in the flow state increases productivity, learning, and creativity with 500%, 200%, and 430% respectively!

So if you can consistently tap into the flow state, you have gained the secret of a happy, successful and fulfilled life. Tomorrow, I will show you how to do it the fastest way.