What is the #1 barrier? It's your means of earning your living! Over twenty 
 years ago I discover that truth and a year later I found the way to break 
 through that barrier for myself.

 Have you ever wished someone would recognize your true potential, give
 you the opportunity to fulfill it, mentor you to success and compensate you
 accordingly?  

 But first, consider why your job or current income producing activity is a 
 barrier to your self-actualization.  Review the characteristics of a self-
 actualized person and ask yourself, “How many of these does my current
 job not only support, but actively encourage me to expand?”  In my 20 
 years in the corporate world at a prestigious national laboratory, my 
 experience was that most of these characteristics were viewed as 
 threatening to the corporate culture, management structure and/or the 
 status quo. 

 Most corporate cultures persist on the maxim “We’ve done it THIS WAY 
 for years and that is what has made us successful.”  Individuals that exhibit 
 creativity, independent thinking, and spontaneity are not likely to advance 
 up the corporate ladder in such cultures.

 Autonomy, democratic values and attitudes, resistance to enculturation, 
 the willingness to look at imperfections, and the high performance that 
 comes with self-actualization threatens the security of positions of higher 
 managers in the corporate structure.  For managers who have lower self-
 esteem than the person seeking self-actualization, the simplest solution is 
 to constantly degrade that high self-esteem until it is no longer a threat.  It
 is much easier for them to lower the other person’s self-esteem than it is
 to raise their own.

 It is rare that work merges into play in most business situations and that the 
 employee’s values and morals completely merge with those of her/his
 company (the difference in priority towards family being the most common 
 disparity).  Very few corporations have the “older brother looking after the 
 younger brother” attitude when it comes to their employees, the environment
 or the community; as their abiding concern is for their own survival.  Conse- 
 quently, corporations operate at the lowest level of Maslow’s hierarchy in 
 conflict with a person of high self-esteem that is moving toward self-actual-
 ization.

 The obvious, but risky, alternative for the person seeking self-actualization
 is self-employment.  Surveys show that people who are self-employed stand 
 out as being happy.  Indeed, 46% of self-employed workers describe them- 
 selves as extremely satisfied with their chosen field of work, vs. only 24% 
 of workers who are employed by someone else.

 Self-employed workers are also more likely to describe themselves as 
 completely satisfied with specific aspects of their jobs.  They run their show so
 it is not surprising that they are much more likely to say they are completely 
 satisfied with the opportunities their job offers to influence decisions (60% say
 they are completely satisfied, vs. a mere 20% for other workers).  But they 
 are also more likely to say they are completely satisfied with the "personal 
 satisfaction" they derive from their job (55% vs. 31%), job security (50% vs. 
 30%), and the chance their job offers to move up (31% vs. 18%).  The gap 
 on job security is particularly striking, since one of the downsides of self-
 employment is supposed to be the insecurity associated with it.

 The self-employed are also more likely to describe themselves as completely 
 satisfied with the importance of their work to society (39% vs. 30%), the 
 kind of people they work with (43% vs. 36%), their income (23% vs. 17%), 
 and the hours they work (34% vs. 30%).  The only area where they are 
 distinctly less satisfied is in benefits (20% vs. 28%), the traditional short- 
 coming of small business. 

 Twenty years ago, I did not have this statistical data to aid me in my deci- 
 sion to leave the “golden handcuffs” of the corporate world.  It was very
 clear to me, however, that day by day, week by week, month by month, 
 and year by year I was paying a price in self-esteem.  This awareness 
 opened the door for my acceptance of a means of earning a very good 
 living, more that the corporate world could ever match, which amazingly 
 was designed specifically to develop self-actualization in people.  And just 
 as important, it offered security beyond that available in any corporation at
 that time and far more that available today with mergers, downsizing, 
 consolidations and outsourcing. 

 In addition, I was able to choose my associates to be people of high self-
 esteem and to leverage my time and energy to do more of the non-income
 producing activities I enjoy.

 It not only allowed me to pursue self-actualization; but actually encouraged 
 it, nurtured all of my self-actualization characteristics and, in fact, taught me 
 everything I know about self-esteem and self-actualization.  It developed all 
 of my present skills in team building, coaching and the other core competen- 
 cies of Performance Unlimited.  As a result, I have done far more good for 
 mankind in these nearly twenty years than I did in all my 20 years as a 
 research scientist and systems design engineer at one of the nation’s nuclear
 laboratories. 

 My greatest joy is that I can make the same self-actualizing career avail- 
 able to anyone; independent of education, age, current career or situation. 
 If you are open to OWNING YOUR LIFE and quickly breaking through your 
 #1 barrier to self-actualization with me as your personal coach, use the e-mail 
 link below so we can explore this possibility together.  --- Jim Campbell

 Self-Actualization Coach