128 Chapter 5 require one to experience positive affect. With regard to the current research focus, we propose that the relative importance of a primarily affective versus a cognitive mechanism in the proactive vitality management - creativity process may also depend on person and situation. For example, individuals who tend to mind wander a lot – providing them with valuable inspirational thoughts – may sometimes require the attention and clarity inherent to being mindful to bring the ideas into focus and develop them further. At other times, individuals may especially benefit from activated positive energy or moods (e.g., joy, enthusiasm) that broaden their thought-action repertoires to become inspired and invest resources into the creative process (e.g., Amabile et al., 2005; Fredrickson, 2001). Future research may take a closer look specifically at how physical energy plays a role in the process, as studies have indicated a link between proactive vitality management and physical energy (Bălăceanu et al., 2021; Op den Kamp et al., 2018; Ye et al., 2020) and between physical energy and creativity (e.g., Atwater & Carmeli, 2009). Even though the processes may be intertwined, focusing in more detail on the various potential underlying mechanisms in such a valuable process may bring more detailed theoretical and practical suggestions on how individuals promote their own creativity on a daily basis through their own intentional behaviors. While many scholars have focused on the consequences and potential benefits of mindfulness, only a few studies so far have examined how experiences of mindfulness can be promoted (Dane, 2011; Hülsheger et al., 2018). Traditionally, mindfulness was seen as a phenomenon that could be reached by practicing meditation. Yet, the emergence of a mindful state does not necessarily require meditation (Brown & Ryan, 2003); it can be reached by anyone who focuses “their attention on events and phenomena transpiring in the present moment” (Dane, 2011, p. 998). We have argued that proactive vitality management may facilitate the emergence of a mindful state through its intentional, goal-driven nature and by supplying the cognitive and energetic resources needed to achieve and sustain a mindful state. Accordingly, we have addressed the scarcity of insights on the origin of fluctuations in mindfulness by putting forward proactive vitality management as a behavior that may promote daily states of mindfulness. Our findings clearly indicate that on days participants proactively managed their vitality, they experienced more mindfulness at work. In turn, they unexpectedly did
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