Peak Experiences

In his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” (and subsequent 1954 book, Motivation and Personality), humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow introduced the concept of Peak Experiences.

This altered state of consciousness is often characterized by a feeling of euphoria and transcendence—feeling so fully alive in the moment that all else melts away.

Peak experiences are defined by three major characteristics:

• Significance: The experience leads to an increased awareness of one’s own life, which could become a turning point for them
• Fulfillment: These experiences are intrinsically rewarding and generate positive emotions
• Spiritual: During the experience, one feels at one with the world and loses track of time

Many features of peak experiences are meaningful: sensations of awe, reverence, humility, and surrender.  Maslow believed people that regularly achieve peak experiences are more playful, self-sufficient, and alive.  Their minds are creative and imaginative; they function with ease and exhibit less strain; they’re mindful of the present moment when engaged in their chosen task.

Maslow also realized that you can train to have peak experiences.

While anyone can have one, Maslow thought self-actualizing individuals were more likely to experience these peaks most often.  His “Hierarchy of Needs” represents an ascension toward achieving life goals, beginning with basic physiological necessities like food and shelter, up through feelings of safety and belonging, and finally onto realizing your ultimate potential.

Maslow, like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (who coined Flow States after being influenced by Maslow), understood that in order to achieve peak experiences, you need to be so absorbed in the present moment that time loses meaning.

You have to be present. You have to stay centered.

Drain the Shallows

Achieving Flow States is difficult in the modern workforce.  In his book, Deep Work, Georgetown computer science professor Cal Newport writes that knowledge workers spend an average of 60 percent of their workweek communicating electronically, with up to 30 percent of their time devoted to answering email.  Spending this much time in “frenetic shallowness” permanently reduces your ability to enter Flow States.

Constant email and social media checks negatively influence your attentional capacities, leading to poorer work performance, job enjoyment, and life satisfaction.

Newport’s advice? Learn to focus and segment the Flow of your workday.

If you give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours, you’ll end the day more fulfilled, and begin the next one more relaxed, than if you instead allow your mind to bathe for hours in semiconscious and unstructured Web surfing.

Enter the Flow

Maslow and Csikszentmihalyi believed peak experiences and Flow States are possible for anyone willing to devote the time and effort necessary for developing these skills.  On occasion, such experiences are spontaneous, but those who practice seem primed to experience them more often.

There are many ways of having a peak experience.  They happen in sports, when playing and listening to music, or even when you’re reading or writing.

The activity is not as important as your commitment to it.

For that reason, Maslow felt that striving for peak experiences is one of the most important goals in life.  When he achieved them, he felt fully alive and committed to the moment.

The first step toward achieving this goal is to rise above the frenetic shallowness.  As the thinkers above recognize, the process begins with the ability to focus on one task at a time.

When you can accomplish this deep sense of focus, the journey begins.