Self-Actualization

Dr. Abraham Maslow coined the term “Self-Actualization” as the 
pinnacle in the hierarchy of human needs.  Dr. Maslow summed up the concept as:

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write,
if he is to be at peace with himself.  What a man can be, he must be.
This is the need we may call self-actualization ... It refers to man's
desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become 
actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one
is capable of becoming ..."

As potential models of a self-actualized person, Dr. Maslow identified
the following historical figures: Abraham Lincoln (in his last years), 
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Albert
Einstein, Aldous Huxley, William James, Spinoza, Goethe, Pablo 
Casals, Pierre Renoir, Robert Browning, Walt Whitman, Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jan Addams, Albert
Schweitzer, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Joseph Haydn among others.

(It is interesting to note that several of these "models" were also
identified by Dr. R. M. Bucke, in his book: "Cosmic Consciousness,"
as individuals that exhibited the behavior of people who had 
experienced cosmic consciousness.)  

Characteristics of Self Actualizing People

 Realistic
	Realistically oriented, a Self-Actualizing (SA) person has a more efficient perception 
	of reality, and has comfortable relations with it. This is extended to all areas of life. 
	A Self-Actualizing person is unthreatened and unfrightened by the unknown. He 
	has a superior ability to reason, to see the truth, and is logical and efficient.

 Self Acceptance
	Accepts himself, others and the natural world the way they are. Sees human nature 
	as is, has a lack of crippling guilt or shame, enjoys himself without regret or 
	apology, and has no unnecessary inhibitions.

 Spontaneity, Simplicity, Naturalness
	Spontaneous in his inner life.  Thoughts and impulses are unhampered by 
	convention.  His ethics are autonomous, and Self-actualizing individuals are 
	motivated to continual growth.

 Focus of Problem Centering
	A Self-actualizing person focuses on problems and people outside of himself. 
	He has a mission in life requiring much energy, as it is his sole reason for 
	existence. He is serene, characterized by a lack of worry, and is devoted to duty.

 Detachment: The Need for Privacy
	The Self-actualized person can be alone and not be lonely, is unflappable, and 
	retains dignity amid confusion and personal misfortunes, all  the while 
	remaining objective.  He is a self starter, is responsible for himself, and owns 
	his behavior.

 Autonomy: Independent of Culture and Environment
	The SA person has a fresh rather than stereotyped appreciation of people and 
	the basic good in life.  Moment to moment living for him is thrilling, trans-
	cending, and spiritual as he lives the present moment to the fullest. 

 Peak experiences
	"Feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being 
	simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, 
	the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and  
	space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and val-
	uable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and 
	strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences." Abraham Maslow 

 Interpersonal relations
	Identification, sympathy, affection for mankind, kinship with the good, bad, 
	and ugly are all traits of the SA person. Truth is clear to him as he can see 
	things others cannot.  He has profound, intimate relationships with few and is 
	capable of greater love than others consider possible as he shares his bene-
	volence, affection, and friendliness with everyone. 

 Democratic values and attitudes 
	The SA person is able to learn from anyone, is humble and friendly with anyone 
	regardless of class, education, political belief, race or color. 

 Discrimination: means and ends, Good and Evil
	The SA does not confuse between means and ends and does no wrong. He enjoys 
	the here and now, getting to goal--not just the result. He makes the most tedious 
	task an enjoyable game and has his own inner moral standards (appearing 
	amoral to others). 

 Philosophical, unhostile sense of humor
	Jokes to the SA person are teaching metaphors, intrinsic to the situation and 
	are spontaneous.  He can laugh at himself, but he never makes jokes that hurt 
	others. 

 Creativity
	The SA person enjoys an inborn uniqueness that carries over into everything 
	he does, is original, inventive, uninhibited, and he sees the real and true more 
	easily.  

 Resistance to enculturation: Transcendence of any particular culture
	SA people have an inner detachment from culture.  Although folkways may be 
	observed, SA people are not controlled by them.   Working for long term culture 
	improvement, indignation with injustice, inner autonomy, outer acceptance, and  
	the ability to transcend the environment rather than just cope are intrinsic to 
	SA people. 

 Imperfections 
	SA people are painfully aware of their own imperfections and joyfully aware of 
	their own growth process.   They are impatient with themselves when stuck and 
	feel real life pain as a result.

 Values 
	The SA person is realistically human due to a philosophical acceptance of self, 
	human nature, social life, physical reality, and nature. 

 Resolution of dichotomies
	Polar opposites merge into a third, higher phenomenon as though the two have 
	united; therefore, opposite forces are no longer felt as conflict.  To the SA 
	person  work becomes play and desires are in excellent accord with reason.  
	The SA person retains his childlike qualities yet is very wise.
	 

 Maslow says there are two processes necessary for 

self-actualization:  self exploration and action.  The 

deeper the self exploration, the closer one comes 

to self-actualization. 

Use of effective affirmations can create the new behaviors
 of Self-Actualization.

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Self-Actualization makes the "impossible," POSSIBLE!

Self-Actualization from A Poet's View