17 Dec 2025 · 4 min
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow happens when your skill matches the challenge. Too much challenge and you're anxious. Too little and you're bored. Raise the difficulty, build your skills, set goals, or cut distractions to find it.
You're listening to the Optymyze with Brian Johnson podcast. Unlock the full Optymyze experience and join over 10,000 premium members at Optimize Me. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is one of the world's leading researchers studying the science of well being. He co founded the Positive Psychology movement with Martin Seligman and has written landmark books on creativity and flow. After surveying thousands of people, Mihaly was able to shine some light on that elusive state in which we're at our best. In fact, he's the one who coined the word flow. So here's the basic idea. Imagine drawing two lines. On the x axis, we we have our skill level. On the y axis we have our challenge level. If the challenge is high but your skill is low, what do you experience? You experience anxiety. On the other hand, if your skill is high but the challenge is low, what will you experience? Boredom. Now what if your skill level matches the challenge? Enter flow. So today's plus one a quick inventory. Are you feeling bored? If so, increase the level of challenge. For example, if you're doing a mundane, repetitive task, see how flawlessly you can do it, or how quickly or both. You feeling anxious? Decrease the challenge a bit and or increase your skill. Want to feel more flow? Bring more awareness to the whole process. Set a goal that focuses your attention. That is always the first step, by the way. Eliminate distractions, go deep, and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the experience. Repeat flow +1 +1 +1. Isn't it a bit odd that we went from math to science to history, but somehow missed the class on how to live? For some wacky reason, optimal living 101 never made the schedule. Of course, it's too late to go back and change that and you're too busy to read full time to catch up. But if you're like us, you're all about optimizing your life and actualizing your potential. So imagine this. Imagine having someone read the best books on how to optimize your life and pull out the big ideas that can really change your life. You know those sections you underline and asterisks and mark all up? Then imagine that guy me connecting those awesome ideas to other great books and helping you actually apply the wisdom to your life today. Well, that's what I do with something we call Philosopher's Notes, where I've distilled hundreds of great books into 20 minute super practical summaries. Then imagine me Taking the absolute best big ideas from those great books and sharing them with you in hour long Optimal Living 101 classes on everything from productivity, purpose and confidence to nutrition, goal setting and conquering procrastination. Helping you optimize every facet of your life so you can actualize your potential. You've got a personal trainer? I'm kind of like your personal philosopher. Ancient wisdom plus modern science plus practical tools. That's what our optimized membership program is all about. If you're feeling it, we'd love to have you join us.
