| What
is Self-Actualization?
The
Uniquely Human Motivation Drive
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 our 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.
|
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 Learning Center follows.
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.
"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
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