Even though we aren’t all in the army, most of us are trying to ‘be all you can be” in life. This pursuit is called self-actualization.
Abraham Maslow, the psychologist who defined self-actualization and the hierarchy of needs, believed that self-actualization can be achieved once all other needs are met. For those of us how have a stable food supply, safe shelter, and friends/family, the inner journey becomes imperative.
It is a constant striving to reach your full potential. People reach their personal mountaintop on different paths, but Maslow believed that the view was the same once at the summit. A realized self. He detailed them in the 12 characteristics of a self-actualized person:
How many of these characteristics do you embody? How do you strive to embody all of them? What must you do? What must you be?
Become a leader of your own life to find purpose and meaning. We all want greatness for our lives, but many obstacles can present themselves, and we are often the ones that put them there. Challenge yourself to always lead your life, not just robotically go along with old life scripts. It is easy to fall into routine and habit, and fall away from new and unknown.
It requires trust. Trust in yourself. A belief that you are capable of creating great change, that you are worth it, and that you deserve it.
So what do you need to remake yourself to be happy? How do you self-actualize? How do you rewrite the scripts of your life? Or just improvise instead?
