But when Tim studied highly materialistic people, he discovered they experience significantly fewer flow states14 than the rest of us. Why would that be? He seems to have found an explanation. Imagine if, when Tim was playing the piano every day, he kept thinking: Am I the best piano player in Illinois? Are people going to applaud this performance? Am I going to get paid for this? How much? Suddenly his joy would shrivel up like a salted snail.
