Self Actualization

Self Actualization

Are you an honest person? Are you highly creative? Do you have strong moral/ethical standards? If so, you may be on your way towards achieving self-actualization. Self-actualization refers to the need for personal growth and development that exists throughout your life. If you are self-actualized, you work hard to grow and become who you want to be in life and reach your full potential.

Expressing one's creativity, quest for spiritual enlightenment, pursuit of knowledge, and the desire to give to and/or positively transform society are examples of self-actualization.

Abraham Maslow believed human motivation is based on an individual's ability to seek fulfilment and change through personal growth. Maslow asserted that individuals strive for higher needs when their lower-level needs have been fulfilled or satisfied. Let's look at the structure of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

To understand self-actualization, it is important to be aware of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which depicts the five basic needs individuals have during various stages of their lives.

Maslow's Pyramid

In order to move up in each level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you must satisfy lower level basic needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. Once these needs have been reasonably satisfied, you may be able to reach the highest level known as self-actualization.

Progress through the hierarchy of needs is often disrupted by failure to meet lower level needs or life experiences including divorce and loss of job, which may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy.

A self-actualized person is someone who is feels fulfilled and has accomplished all the things they are capable of accomplishing in their life through personal growth and peak experiences, which are moments of deep meaning or emotion. Here are a few characteristics of a self-actualized person:

Problem-centered (not self-centered)

Highly creative

Takes responsibility and works hard

Strong moral/ethical standards

Honest and avoids pretense

This list of characteristics may or may not exist for every self-actualized person. You can be self-actualized without being problem-centered if you have a number of other positive characteristics relating to your desires in life.