# Flow activities are exotelic first before they become autotelic
Even though Flow experience is an autotelic experience, the reality is you can’t possibly know if you would enjoy an activity in an autotelic way before trying them out first. Most people will naturally be reluctant to spend effort in an activity that they don’t know if they will like. This means any activities, don’t matter how well designed they are for flow, will be exotelic first. Once you have tried an activity and the feedback you receive is intrinsically rewarding, that’s the point when the future experience you have in the activity may turn into an autotelic experience.
# References
Mihaly, Flow (p. 68).
Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the person’s skills, it usually begins to be intrinsically rewarding.
# Backlinks
- Extrinsic motivation could undermine children’s self-motivation
- Realistically speaking, though, most in things in life started extrinsically. My 6-year-old now brush her teeth without anymore stickers. See also: Flow activities are exotelic first before they become autotelic
- How is intrinsic motivation related to autotelic?
- For example, a person who is learning to code may be motivated to start a business. This person is therefore intrinsically motivated, but the coding activity is not autotelic (it’s exotelic). But any Flow activities are exotelic first before they become autotelic, so this person may eventually find coding to be autotelic.