The Key to Career Happiness — Remembering Your Flow Moments

Jon Tesser
Jul 20, 2017 · 2 min read

A lot of people ask me for career advice, and the conversation tends to starts with “Jon, what tools and systems do I need to learn to get a job?” At this point I turn to them and say “have you ever been in a flow state?” Huh? Flow state? What does this have to do with getting a job?

Actually, it has nothing to do with getting a job. And it has nothing to do with learning the “right tools.” But it has everything to do with finding career bliss, and beyond that finding your career purpose and mission. Sounds pretty important, right?

So what is a flow state? Mihaly csikszentmihalyi coined the term, which refers to a state in which you are fully immersed, present, and bringing an intense energized focus to what you are doing. In sports, they call this “being in the zone.” In other words, you are doing something you really love doing, and time just sort of melts away without any notice on your part. Can you imagine having a career where being in a flow state happens on a regular basis?

At this point you’re probably shaking your head and saying “Jon get out of lalaland. There’s no way that I can do that at my job.” To which I say Poppycock! (I’ve always wanted to use that word). The key to applying flow states to careers is to think of times when you’ve had these experiences outside of the workplace. For me, I can endlessly research and read articles and books about the quirks of human behavior. Hours can go by in my leisure time spent learning and reviewing social psychology principles. That’s my flow state. So when I can apply this to the work that I’m doing, I’m at my happiest.

The key to applying your flow state to your career is to really analyze what it was about the activity that you did that was so pleasurable. For instance, maybe you loved organizing your sisters bachelorette party because it was so fun putting together a plan and seeing it through. Or maybe you loved that really detail oriented project in college where you had to identify small errors in thousands and thousands of cells of data (hey, different strokes for different folks). Whatever it is, really figure out what drives you and leads to task happiness.

The final step (and potentially the most difficult) is figuring out how to apply this flow state to your career. Perhaps this is the subject of another blog post!

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Jon Tesser

Written by

I use data to understand people. I also help early career professionals find career happiness.

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