Tag Archive for 'self-actualisation'

Self-actualisation

Published on 9 January, 2009 in Personal Growth. Closed Tags: , .

Self-actualisation was the phrase used by Maslow to denote the fulfillment of our highest human needs – an experience that we can all work towards yet very few attain. Self-actualised people are detached from the good opinions of others and have no desire for power over others; they follow their bliss and are true to themselves. Perhaps it is this pursuit that led my grandfather to spend so long nurturing his precious lawn! Here are some of the key characteristics for you to consider.

  • Realistic
  • Self-accepting
  • Spontaneous, simple and natural
  • Purpose-driven
  • Detached and objective
  • Live in the present moment with curiosity and freshness
  • Peak experience-driven
  • Shares compassion and profound love
  • Honours people for their humanity, accepting themselves and those around them
  • Focused in the moment, means and ends are inseparable
  • Enjoys humor but not at the expense of others
  • Creative and not attached to culturation
  • Resolves apparent dichotomies through appreciating the unity that lies beyond appearances

You cannot achieve enough to be happy. But you can happily achieve.

Daniel Smith

Self-actualisation Revisited

Published on 2 November, 2008 in High Performance and Personal Growth. Closed Tags: , .

I’ve had a little post-it note sitting beside my desk for a few months now, so it’s about time I actually wrote something about this! Self-actualisation comes down to three words things:

  1. Independence
  2. Non-attachment
  3. Power-ambivalence

Independence means that you think for yourself. It requires an individual to choose their own path rather than choosing the path that is given to them or the one that others would choose for them. Independence demands that an individual take responsibility for their conditioning and their thought processes, and to take responsibility for their experience of life. Sooner or later, great people have to leave the ‘tribe’ that gave them their foundations – that is the only way to start your own tribe.

Non-attachment means that while you can work towards goals and objectives, you do so while remembering that most things that seem to matter don’t. They might act – even ferociously – as if what they were doing mattered, yet when their work is done they retreat in the peace that comes from knowing that it doesn’t. Money, relationships and our reputation are powerful motivators for those who are not living at this level.

Power-ambivalence means that you do not try to control others. Self-actualised people do not live to manipulate or control others, but instead proceed along their personal path, honouring their truth as their truth, rather than trying to impose their beliefs or ideas upon others. While leaders are called upon by communities to provide guidance, self-actualised leaders do so without becoming attached to the perks, privileges or prestige attendant thereto.

Daniel Smith

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