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SISU: The Finnish Concept of Resilience

Introduction In a world filled with challenges and setbacks, the quest for resilience has become paramount. Resilience is more than just overcoming hardship; it's about flourishing in the midst of it. And when it comes to resilience, few cultures embody it as profoundly as the Finns, who have a word for this indomitable spirit: Sisu. Sisu, pronounced "see-soo," is a unique Finnish concept that encapsulates grit, determination, and courage in the face of adversity. It's an intrinsic quality deeply embedded in the Finnish psyche, influencing how they approach life's challenges. But what exactly is Sisu, and how can we incorporate this powerful mindset into our own lives? At its core, Sisu is about perseverance in the face of extreme adversity. It's the ability to summon inner strength and tenacity when confronted with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. While resilience is a universal trait found in every culture, Sisu has distinct characteristics that set it ap

8 Ways To Create Flow According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

8 Ways To Create Flow According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Introduction

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a famous happiness researcher. He chose to become that due to the adversities that he faced growing up being a prisoner during World War II. During this time, he saw the pain and suffering of a large number of people around him. After going through all these difficulties, he wanted to know more about happiness and contentment. Csikszentmihalyi interviewed various people, who described that their optimal states of performance occurred when their work simply without much effort flowed out of them. Due to this, he developed the term “flow state”, in the flow psychology of optimal experience.

8 Ways To Create Flow According To Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

1) Must have clear goals and immediate feedback:
The first way of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience is to have clear goals. You need to have a clear finish line if you want to go into flow. Also, you should give yourself immediate feedback on the effectiveness of your actions. If you have these two things clear, you can easily find flow.
2) Balance between your personal skills and the level of challenges:
If the work is too hard or too easy that it either challenges your ability too much or it doesn’t challenge your ability at all, then, the flow will not happen. It happens when you find the right balance between things that challenges your ability, and that you can be successful at. This is the second way given by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 
Watch this video to understand 3 steps to Personal Development by Jim Rohn:
3) Merge your Actions and your Awareness:
The third way of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience is to merge your actions and awareness. When you get into the flow state, you simply do things in the flow without thinking much. Your brain keeps on working but is almost in autopilot mode. Your subconscious mind directs your behavior.
4) Full concentration on a particular field of play:
The fourth way of creating flow given by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in flow psychology of optimal experience is to fully concentrate on a limited field. You need to narrow down your focus on the field of play and not on the world around you. This is because the field of play is where the action lies.
5) A feeling of control:
The fifth way of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience is to have a feeling of control. You need to feel that you are completely in charge of your behaviours at this moment. Also, not just that, you should feel like you have full control over the outcome of your actions as well.
6) Have an altered perception of time:
The sixth way of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience is to have an altered perception of time. When you have this, you’ll feel that it’s just right even if the time slows down, or it speeds up. You need to feel that the time is passing as fast as you need it to so that the situation goes exactly the way you want it to.
“The best moments in our lives are not the passive
7) Disappearing Self-consciousness:
This is the seventh way of creating flow given by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Your self-consciousness disappears when you are fully absorbed in an activity. Here, you’re conscious of everything that is going on in the present moment but the things about which your ego is concerned, are of no concern to you.
8) Your experience is self-rewarding:
The eighth way of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience is that the experience is self-rewarding. You generally care about the outcome of the experience but it’s really not about that rather it’s about working towards your goal and acting with excellence as when you do that, you’re on the top of the world.

Conclusion

These 8 ways of creating flow in flow psychology of optimal experience given by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi can highly increase your well-being, creativity, and productivity. You can cultivate flow, and be completely absorbed in a challenging task that is doable at the same time. Experience of flow is universal and occurs to everyone no matter what class they belong to, irrespective of their gender, or their age of the person. It can be experienced in not just one but during various types of activities that we do in our everyday life.

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