self-actualization
(self'ak'chu œ lœ zäshœn),
n. 1. Knowledge of one's true, inner self. Fulfillment
by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality.
2. Self-actualization is a term originally introduced by
the organismic theorist, Kurt Goldstein, for the motive to realize
all of one's potentialities.
3. In Abraham Maslow's theory of personality, self-actualization
is the final level of psychological development that can be
achieved when all basic and meta needs are fulfilled and the
"actualization" of the full personal potential takes place.
Self-actualization
is the expression of human qualities of independence, autonomy,
a tendency to form deep friendships, a "philosophical" sense
of humor, tendency to resist outside pressures, and a general
transcendence of the environment, rather than a simple "coping"
with it.
"This
is the Greatest time in our history to be alive. This is the
dawn of a new generation, - the fully creative human being...
the health seeking, prosperity attracting, relationship blessing
and world transforming man and woman... The highest intelligence
on Earth."
Marianne Williamson
Self-actualization
is that inner motivation for self-education, for self-leadership,
for self-management, for becoming all that we can be.
We
live in exciting times. Never before in our history have more
men and women been interested in improving the health
of their body, the health of their mind, the health of their
relationships, the health of their emotional and artistic
center. It is this proactive drive for health
in all its aspects that defines self-actualization.
In
the 21st century, we are coming to the dawning realization,
that 'who we are', is the master key to everything good
in our lives. We are primary causes. We have
the freedom to choose to live our lives by design, rather
than default.
Money,
houses, cars, gadgets and all worldly fame are by far secondary,
- for who we are, is the whole asset. We
are the cause and source of it all.
Thus,
if we change ourselves, we change our lives.
If we improve ourselves we improve our lives.
If we transform ourselves, we transform our
lives.
This
is a profound paradigm shift that has nothing to do with the
ego, - for real improvement, real change, real transformation
benefits not only 'the self', but everyone around us. We
become a light for others. We become the positive force
that impacts the whole world for good.
As
such, self-actualization is this conscious choice for growth.
Put
another way, self-actualization is the furthest reach
of education: the education we create in our lives through
conscious choices. Unlike educational degrees
and certificates, - this education has nothing to do with
getting a job, with prestige, with meeting the needs of
our survival, safety or social rank.
Most
self-actualizers already live good lives. They don't "need"
this education. They want it of it's own worth. Self-actualization
is the conscious choice to take one's 'good life' and
to make it Great... to make it maximal...
to
realize it's Full Significance and Meaning.
A
Bit of History regarding Self-Actualization
"The first point to agree
upon in this enterprise is that as a rule, men habitually
use a small part of the powers which they actually posses
and which they might use under appropriate conditions.
Everyone is familiar
with the phenomenon of feeling more or less alive on different
days. Everyone knows on any given day that there are energies
slumbering in him which the incitements of the day do not
call forth, but which he might display if these were Greater.
Most of us feel as if a sort of cloud weighted upon us, keeping
us below our highest notch of clearness in discernment, sureness
in reasoning, or firmness in deciding. Compared with what
we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use
of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources.
Stating the thing
broadly, the human individual thus lives usually far within
his limits; He posses powers of various kind that he habitually
fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and he behaves
below his optimum. We are all to some degree oppresses, unfree.
We don't come to our own. It is there but we don't get it."
William James
This
was William James' famous observation about human potential. Frequently
called the father of psychology, he was one of the first scientists
to establish practical guidelines and principles for psychological
human development, all the way in the 1800s. And in this statement,
he identified the essence of what is self-actualization:
Self-actualization
is our need to realize who we know deep down we can be.
It
is that burning need to 'seize the day' and realize that sense
of vibrancy, integrity and passion that life offers. It is
that drive to make the most of our lives... to utilize fully our
physical, mental and spiritual capacities.
The
first individual to bring self-actualization into our language,
was Dr. Kurt Goldstein in the 1940s. He used this word to describe
what he found in his extensive psychological research, was a
uniquely human need, -
that separates humans from all other animals.
Goldstein
made the critical distinction that the human is not a mere
animal, to be understood in terms of its biology and behavioral
reactions... He affirmed that human nature is unique,
and must be understood in its own terms.
"Since
we cannot develop backwards into animal consciousness,
there remains only the more strenuous way
forwards into higher consciousness."
CARL JUNG
If
we look into the history of psychology over the last century,
'the human as a basic animal' has been the dominant
scientific model. The meaning behind human actions,
emotions and thoughts has been shaped by observing and explaining
animal behavior and then putting it into the context of
adaptive evolutionary patterns.
Two
major views arose: On one hand there was Freud's theory
that derived from studying unconscious drives, - the human's infantile
and irrational motives. And on the other hand, there was the intensive
analysis of animal behavior and conditioning, as notably discussed
by Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner.
The
majority of 20th century psychology arose from testing rats
and other mammals (usually in stressful circumstances),
or by observing the neurotic and primal behavior of the
mentally ill. The various
theories about human nature came
about by observing
and describing this.
Kurt
Goldstein argued that it is actually implausible to understand
the human mind and its character, by assigning animal attributes
to the human being or by filtering our understanding through
the mentally ill. We essentially distort human nature. This
logic he called 'zoomorphism', where we reason from
'lower' to 'higher'.
This
is not to say that animals aren't intelligent, but that they
are different - perhaps more intelligent than they appear.
When we define them as this and that, we are simply
projecting our attitudes upon them.
In other words, the lens through
which we see the world through, affects what we see. In
analyzing animals, neurotic and infantile acts and judging
them as good or bad, (most often the former)
we find but our beliefs - what we hope, what we desire and what
we fear about ourselves.
For
the majority of the 20th century, psychology evolved from
the study of procrustean motivational drives and psychopaths...
i.e. the rat, the ape or the insane. This
is where psychological science invested almost 99% of its energy
in! As Dr Selligman noted (author of Learned Optimism), when
he studied psychology as late as 1980s, it was almost impossible
to find a research paper that was not based on some form of
psychosis.
Dr.
Abraham Maslow was one of the first major psychological scientists,
- who chose to use another approach. From the understanding
that the human being is genial and sacred, - he decided to
look at the fully functioning human instead.
The
premise he held is that in order to create a psychology
that truly developed human beings to be the best they can be,
- we ought to be 'looking up' instead of down... As
leadership professor Warren Bennis put it,
"Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.
The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly
profound and original insights are to be found only in studying
the exemplary."
So
he chose to study the lives of saints, geniuses, people who
live up to their potential, people who are happier, more creative,
people who are fully functioning and healthy, - i.e. the 1
out of 100.
Equipped
with objective research tools, he
began to outline the psychological profiles of Great historical
figures like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi,
Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, William James, Benedict
Spinoza, and others. From the many writing about them or their
autobiographies, he identified commonly shared psychological
traits.
Over
a period of two decades, Dr. Maslow analyzed tons of data and
personally interviewed tens of individuals who were living
example of self-actualizers.
Beyond
idealized characteristics and opinions, he
sought to understand the furthest reaches
of human potential, - the universal
characteristics of Great men and women.
Dr. Maslow thus mapped out the psychology of Greatness as it
objectively is:
- All
highly functioning human beings share
a motivation that is beyond the desires of survival or adaptation...
beyond the stimulus of our environment.
- All
Great men and women come from a place or a need to self-actualize
and be all that they can be... i.e. when devoted
to projects of creation, of recreation, of inter-relational
expression.
-
All notable achievement and fulfillment is found only when
being authentic to this inner drive.
"A
musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must
write,
if he is to be ultimately happy. What a man can be, he must
be.
This need we may call self-actualization."
ABRAHAM MASLOW
The
self-actualization need is by no means a new concept. It
is the essence of all human potential movements throughout
history, - whether expressed in spirituality, philosophy or
personal development. But
Maslow proved within a scientific setting that all examples
of Greatness share this inner inspiration to express their
soul potential.
Self-actualization,
this uniquely human need, is at the essence of our nature. As
Dr. Maslow concluded, "all the evidence that we have indicates
that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being,
and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is
an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or
towards actualization".
It
is a unique type of motivation that separates us from all animals,
for self-actualization is based on growth, rather
than deficiency. It is done for its own value, not as
a means to 'get somewhere'. In other words, we
have an intrinsic want to be better people
and to realize Great things.
In
other words, this is beyond the mere animal need, 'to survive'.
It is beyond the need to avoid pain and to pursue pleasure,
as many personal development programs from last century affirm.
It's
by fulfilling this self-actualization need that we create a
real sense of meaning, fulfillment and happiness. It
falls inline with Dr. Viktor Frankl's observation, in dealing
with thousands of patients in psychiatry, "the truth is that
the struggle for survival has submerged, the question has emerged:
'Survival for what?' Ever more people today have the means to
live, but no meaning to live for."
Self-actualization
as such, is our need to fully Be. And associated
with its expression are the describable psychological qualities
of the fully healthy human:
A
clearer, more efficient perception of reality
More
openness to experience, Greater freshness of appreciation
Increased
integration, wholeness, unity of the person
Increased spontaneity, expressiveness, aliveness,
full functioning,
A
real self; firm identity; autonomy; uniqueness -
resistance to enculturation
Increased objectivity; detachment; transcendence
of self
Greatly increased creativeness
Ability to fuse concreteness and abstractness
Democratic character structure
Ability
to love and be loved.
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In
fact, Dr. Maslow identified 16 core psychological patterns
that all self-actualizers share. He created an
in depth and objective map of how Great men and women process
their world...
It
is this map that The Self Actualization Institute follows. So
we put Dr. Maslow's self-actualizing philosophy into action.
Affirming
this as a balanced and objective destination, it is
then our purpose to help you get there
and unleash your full potential.
Our
feature program, 'a course
in Greatness' is a way to experiment, experience
and express these 16 qualities within your life. It will
support you in developing this mindset. It will coach you to
establish these theoretical characteristics, into practical
habits.
Combined
with the 16 laws of success as defined by Dr. Napoleon Hill,
'a course in Greatness'
is a unique and powerful coaching system for total self-actualization.
Click
Here to Learn More About It.
"Again and again I admonish my
students both in America and Europe:
'Don't aim at success--the more you aim at it and make it
a target, the more you are going to miss it.
For success, like happiness, cannot
be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended
side-effect of one's personal dedication to a cause Greater
than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender. Happiness
must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let
it happen by not caring about it.
I want you to listen to what your conscience
commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of
your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long
run--in the long run, I say--success will follow you precisely
because you had forgotten to think of it.'"
Dr VICTOR FRANKL
