Want to Be Happy? Here’s Why Flow is (Part of) the Answer.

This article is a (slightly adapted) excerpt from my upcoming book, Mastering Flow.

"While sleeping, we have good dreams and bad dreams; while taking psychedelics, we have good trips and bad trips. Flow, on the other hand, is always a positive experience. No one ever has a bad time in a flow state." —STEVEN KOTLER

A couple of years ago, I went sledding with my father and three brothers. I still remember where we parked the car, purchased the tickets, what the ski lift looked like, the photo we took afterward, and many other details from the event. Most vividly, however, I remember the feeling I had after one of our descents—I felt fully alive, excited, energized, euphoric, and on a high. It felt like my system had just been flooded with a bunch of feel-good hormones. I remember thinking to myself, whoah, that felt gooood! That’s how flow can make use feel.

In this article, we’ll explore the relationship between flow and well-being. We’ll establish that flow is a deeply enjoyable in-the-moment experience. We’ll see that flow can feel so good that people are willing to die for it. Then, we’ll turn our attention to the long term. Does flow bring benefits that go beyond positive but fleeting feelings? Can flow make us happier? Can it help us grow as individuals? Can it give meaning to our lives? Let’s find out.

The Fun Factor

Flow exists on a spectrum. On the shallow end, the experience doesn’t necessarily feel spectacular. But it feels good and certainly far better than many other experiences. In everyday experiences of flow, people report feeling alert, strong, cheerful, involved, excited, free, creative, energetic, and motivated. [1] They also report feeling good about themselves; self-esteem peaks during flow. [2]

Any activity feels better when done in flow, even if it’s a relatively mild instance of the state. In one study, researchers brought people into the lab and allowed them to play Tetris. [3] They found that participants enjoyed the game significantly more when they were in a flow state.

As the experience becomes more intense, so do the positive feelings. We feel even more alert, strong, cheerful, etc. On the very deep end of the spectrum, flow is frequently described as ecstatic, exhilarating, blissful, euphoric, out-of-this-world, or mystical.

The experience feels so good that people are going to great lengths to seek it out. The amount of time, nerves, and money it takes to go skiing offers an example. It typically involves packing, getting ready, driving to the ski resort, wearing uncomfortable gear all day long, and putting down a considerable amount of money, too. Oh, but once you’re skiing down the mountain, all is forgotten because you’ve just entered a most exquisite state of consciousness. The same could be said for snowboarding, mountain biking, surfing, kayaking, hiking, kitesurfing, and other popular hobbies.

Perhaps the greatest attest to the bliss flow provides is that some people are willing to pay the ultimate price for it. In his 2014 book, The Rise of Superman, Steven Kotler depicts a number of the world’s most successful and revered action and adventure sports athletes. The reason they engage in skydiving, BASE jumping, mountaineering, or any other extreme sport is to experience the flow at the very deep end of the spectrum.

“I take the easy way,” said American free climber, alpinist, BASE jumper, and highliner Dean Potter. “I can sit on my ass and meditate for two hours to get a fifteen-second glimpse of this state. Or I can risk my life and get there instantly—and it lasts for hours.” Potter died in a wingsuit flying accident in Yosemite National Park in 2015. Shane McConkey, a professional skier and BASE jumper who was also depicted in the book, once said, “I'm getting maximum enjoyment out of life and I'll never stop.” [4] He died during a ski-BASE jump in the Italian Dolomites in 2009.

As these examples illustrate, flow can perhaps feel a little too good for some people.

The point is this: Flow feels good on the shallow end of the spectrum and out-of-this-world on the deep end. It’s a feel-good experience par excellence; a deeply enjoyable in-the-moment experience. But what about the long term? What are the consequences once the experience is over? What happens beyond the here and now?

Brief Descriptions of Ecstatic Flow Experiences

Flow can feel ecstatic. As Csikszentmihalyi once wrote, “When the experience is over, people report having been in as positive a state as it is possible to feel.” [5] Here are three quotes that illustrate that point.

“You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist. I have experienced this time and time again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching in a state of awe and wonderment. And the music just flows out by itself.” [6] —Composer (anonymous)

“It was just one of those programs that clicked. I mean everything went right, everything felt good. . . . It’s just such a rush, like you feel it could go on and on and on, like you don’t want it to stop because it’s going so well.” [7] —Figure skater (anonymous)

“You feel like . . . there’s nothing that will be able to stop you or get in your way. And you’re ready to tackle anything, and you don’t fear any possibility happening, and it’s just exhilarating.” [8] —Cyclist (anonymous)

Enjoyment, Pleasure, and Personal Growth

There is an important difference between flow and other “feel-good activities” (e.g., watching television, drinking wine, eating doughnuts, smoking weed, or taking other drugs). After all, if good feelings are all we’re after, those can come at a far lower cost.

Csikszentmihalyi differentiated between enjoyment and pleasure. In his lingo, flow activities are enjoyable, while the other feel-good activities are pleasurable. “Playing a close game of tennis that stretches one’s ability is enjoyable, as is reading a book that reveals things in a new light, as is having a conversation that leads us to express ideas we didn’t know we had. Closing a contested business deal, or any piece of work well done, is enjoyable. None of these experiences may be particularly pleasurable at the time they are taking place, but afterward, we think back on them and say, ‘That really was fun’ and wish they would happen again.” [9]

The pleasures come easily, require little or no effort, and pose no risk of failure. They are easy thrills. On the flipside, the good feelings associated with them are also fleeting and short-lived. Remove the stimulus, and you are right back to where you started. Potentially worse off if you’ve over-indulged. You may have compromised your health or other aspects of your life, and you may feel guilty, frustrated, or ashamed for doing so.

Enjoyment, on the other hand, is typically hard-won. Experiencing flow requires skill and effort, and because it involves meeting challenges, there is the possibility of failing. Flow takes work. It usually requires initial effort before the feeling of effortlessness arises.

And flow activities can be stressful. “A mountain climber may be close to freezing, utterly exhausted, in danger of falling into a bottomless crevasse,” explains Csikszentmihalyi. [10] But then again, this is all well worth it. The climber wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Sipping a cocktail under a palm tree at the edge of the turquoise ocean is nice, but it just doesn’t compare to the exhilaration he feels on that freezing ridge.”

The pleasures are nice. They feel good. They provide an excellent means to treat oneself to something. But when it comes to excitement, bliss, and exhilaration, the pleasures pale in comparison to flow.

And while the pleasures can leave you feeling guilty, unmotivated, mildly depressed, and perhaps ashamed, flow tends to leave you feeling strong, confident, and satisfied with yourself. You’re basking in a sense of pride and accomplishment. In the words of a rock climber: “You look back in awe at the self, at what you’ve done, it just blows your mind.” [11]

And it gets better still for flow. Not only do these experiences feel great during and after the experience, but they also tend to contribute to long-term growth. In flow, we’re pushing ourselves to the limits of our capabilities. We’re fully engaged. We’re using skills. Concentration soars. Investing energy and attention, we’re yielding growth and development. A person who frequently experiences flow grows into a more mature and complex being. “By stretching skills, by reaching toward higher challenges, such a person becomes an increasingly extraordinary individual,” explains Csikszentmihalyi. [12]

The obvious development is in skill. The chess player in flow becomes better at playing chess, the writer better at writing, the pianist better at playing the piano. Sub-skills and related skills get improved, too. A math student in flow improves his reasoning abilities, problem-solving, abstract thinking, spatial sense, concentration, and much more.

And then there is the other kind of development, that which concerns psychological growth. Completing challenging tasks and improving skills help you feel competent and in control of your life. Frequent flow experiences can lead to greater self-belief, self-esteem, self-efficacy, agency, optimism, mental toughness, and intrinsic motivation.

This principle of growth doesn’t apply to the pleasures. When we watch television, eat a feastful dinner, or watch one Instagram story after another, we’re just passively consuming. We’re taking pleasure in the comforts of the modern world. We’re extracting good feelings from what we’ve built. But we’re not building anything new.

There is a time and a place for the pleasures. But in designing one’s life, they shouldn’t dominate. By investing time and energy into flow activities, we will be more satisfied and possessing of rarer skills. And, as we’re about to see, we’ll find more happiness and meaning.

Happiness and the Meaning of Life

Happiness suffers from a similar issue as flow: it’s hard to define and measure. What exactly does it mean to be happy? How can you tell if someone is happy? How can you tell how happy someone is compared to others?

Researchers agree that we need to differ between how we feel at any given moment (our so-called affective state) and how we cognitively evaluate our overall happiness or quality of life (our so-called life satisfaction). We can feel sad in the moment but still rate our lives as happy, or we can feel joyful in the moment but rate our overall happiness as low.

Flow is a highly positive affective state; we have clearly seen that. It’s enjoyable as an event-specific, moment-by-moment experience. But what about our overall sense of happiness? Can momentary experiences of flow contribute to general life satisfaction?

The evidence certainly suggests so. Flow is associated with greater life satisfaction in countless studies across various demographics.

In a 2020 study titled Living Well by Flowing Well, researchers followed participants over a period of ten days and investigated daily fluctuations in flow, affect, and flourishing (a measure of purpose in life, good social relationships, meaningful social contributions, optimism, and other elements of good mental health). [13] They found that individuals who experienced more flow had better well-being, as indicated by higher levels of daily flourishing and higher levels of positive daily affect. A similar study, also published in 2020, followed participants over two weeks and found that the frequency of flow at work was positively associated with well-being in the same period of time. [14]

A 2013 study with Italian teenagers showed that adolescents who experienced more flow also reported higher life satisfaction, hedonic balance, and psychological well-being than their peers. [15] (Hedonic balance is a measure of the prevalence of positive over negative feelings. Psychological well-being is a combined measure of purpose in life, autonomy, mastery, positive relations, personal growth, and self-acceptance.)

A 2010 study with Japanese students showed that those who experienced flow more often in their daily lives reported greater life satisfaction and more Jujitsu-kan, a Japanese sense of fulfillment. [16] They also reported higher self-esteem, lower anxiety, more active commitments to college life, search for future career, and daily activities in general.

Studies with elderly Koreans, school teachers, elite musicians, top athletes, and other individuals from all walks of life come to the same conclusion. [17] More flow goes hand in hand with greater life satisfaction.

Csikszentmihalyi himself studied flow and happiness for over 40 years. He suggested that “flow not only improves momentary experiences, but helps build a better quality of life in its entirety.” [18] He said that “happiness depends on whether a person is able to derive flow from whatever he or she does.” [19] He also said that flow experiences “add up to a sense of mastery—or perhaps better, a sense of participation in determining the content of life—that comes as close to what is usually meant by happiness as anything else we can conceivably imagine.” [20] He even went as far as calling flow “the bottom line of existence (because) without it there would be little purpose in living.” [21]

Other prominent researchers in this field agree. Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of countless studies and several books on the topic of happiness, says that “the experience of flow leads us to be involved in life (rather than be alienated from it), to enjoy activities (rather than to find them dreary), to have a sense of control (rather than helplessness), and to feel a strong sense of self (rather than unworthiness). All these factors imbue life with meaning and lend it a richness and intensity. And happiness.” [22]

Martin Seligman, another renowned well-being researcher, lists flow as one of the five main factors that contribute to well-being in his PERMA model. [23] The factors are Positive Emotions, Engagement (flow), Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments.

Given everything we’ve learned so far, it makes sense that flow would make us happier. Frequent flow experiences lead to greater self-esteem and self-confidence. By turning off the “me” centers in the brain, flow experiences give us much-needed breaks from, well, ourselves—our worries, shortcomings, and insecurities. The full engagement on the task at hand means that flow allows us to live in the present moment, free from the anxiety of the future and the regrets of the past. Self-focused attention, which is strongly related to clinical depression and anxiety, is replaced by task-focused attention. [24]

Compared with their less flowy peers, high-flow individuals likely have greater skills and more accomplishments to be proud of. They are constantly growing, learning, and thus experiencing a sense of progress. The fact that they are engaged with life and fulfilling their potential means that they are less likely to struggle with guilt, shame, and regret. Regularly having enjoyable flow experiences gives them something to look forward to.

Flow also gives meaning to people’s lives. Elite athletes find flow and meaning in their sports. Extreme sports athletes find flow and meaning in big waves, big rivers, or big mountains. Scientists find flow and meaning in their research. Surgeons find flow and meaning in the operating room. Teachers find flow and meaning in the classroom.

Caveat

I have made three major points in this article: 1) flow is a positive affective experience, 2) flow leads to long-term growth, and 3) flow makes us happier. While the first point is always true, there are exceptions for the latter two.

Flow does not always lead to growth and happiness. For example, when a person neglects important areas of life because they are overly occupied by their pursuit of flow, the consequences can be negative. Or when a person becomes addicted to a flow activity, the addiction can cause a lot of harm. In general, though, flow leads to greater happiness and well-being.

Conclusion

All things being equal, individuals who experience flow easily and frequently will be happier than those who find themselves bored, anxious, or apathetic a lot of the time. Flow is clearly a potent pathway to greater happiness and well-being.

This article is a (slightly adapted) excerpt from my upcoming book, Mastering Flow. If you want to be notified when the book is available, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.