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Self-actualizationAbraham Maslow, writing in the ‘60s, was one of the first psychologists to emphasize the importance of studying the extraordinary aspects of human being. While most academic psychologists focused on the abnormal or the average human, Maslow wrote about self-actualization, the study of being all that one can be, becoming a founding father of what soon became the human potentials movement.
Maslow noted that there seemed to be a structural hierarchy of human needs. Drawn as a triangle, on the bottom are the foundational needs of physical survival and safety, and then come social and emotional needs. Personal ego needs and self-actualization occupy the uppermost corner of the triangle.
Although we all need (or may wish) to self-actualize, there are many reasons why we often do not. When we are in states of anxiety, fear, stress, fatigue, self-doubt, or hopelessness, for example, we tend to turn inwards, seeking comfort and safety from the outside and from other people as well. Some of us never really get onto the path of self-actualization, forced by the circumstances of our lives to focus on the more basic and fundamental needs of physical or emotional survival. Some of us fall off from the path through alcoholism, drug abuse, or involvements with negative members of our society.
Sometimes we can overcome these limiting environmental, physical and mental states, through our own resources, through sheer drive and desire, the passage of time, or by engaging in professional help. When others love and understand us, they may come to our assistance, urging us out from our caves and other safe places, encouraging us to engage in the world and with other people again.
If we fail or are not assisted back to take our place in the family, the social or the business world, our fears and low self-expectations may eventually become dominant, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy – we become stuck in roles and beliefs about ourselves that are far below what could have been.
Is there a way out?
To grow, to become our most potential selves, we must take risks – we must challenge our senses of fear, hopelessness or self-doubt and try and try again when we do not reach our goals on our first attempt. Sometimes we must rehabilitate and relearn the necessary skills and competencies that are needed for our eventual success. Sometimes we must venture and explore both our inner selves as well as the social and geographic landscapes, seeking a better understanding of who we are, what we are capable of, and our possible place in this world of people, places and things.
To grow, we must risk failure. Leaving behind the absolute safety of doing nothing, we resolve that we will do our best to move towards success in each of our endeavors. The only true failure is the result of not really trying – we will really try, giving our best and promising to try harder and do even better with each effort.
Passing through the realm of success and detaching its polar opposite, failure, we can now arrived at the entry level of true self-actualization. We now realize that self-actualization is not a destination, an end point, but instead, a point of departure. We look out into the world and all we can see are possibilities – good ones!
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