Characteristics of Self Actualized Individuals

1. Realism: Individuals who are actualized have a clear perception of reality.
2. Personal Responsibility: As they say, what you give out to the world is what you get back. Actualized individuals are willing to help outside of their own lives.
3. Openness: Actualized individuals conform to society and rules, however, are open and somewhat, unconventional.
4. Solitude: Actualized individuals use silence without others to develop themselves.
5. Gratitude: Actualized individuals have a vast sense of appreciation in simplicity, the world, experience, and everyday life.

The above list is not definite, rather just a glimpse of some of Maslow’s suggested characteristics. Self Actualization is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other needs. The five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are:

1. Physiological Needs: The basic needs that are vital to survive such as air, water, food, and shelter.
2. Security Needs: These needs would include job stability, safe shelter, good community, ect.
3. Social Needs: Needs that are fulfilled by relationships in forms of love, friendship, community, religion, and even acquaintances.
4. Esteem Needs: These needs include feeling good about you, accomplishments, goals, and an all around good feeling about who you are.
5. Self-Actualization: This is the highest of the hierarchy and suggests that individuals who reach this are aware and able to live up to their full potential.

So, how does this all correlate with self development? Simple. In order to live life to it’s fullest and reach actualization – Maslow suggests a series of needs must to be fulfilled. While there are various criticisms to Maslow’s theory, lets keep an open mind and consider the idea of your needs. Putting this into perspective, reflect on Maslow’s hierarchy and consider what needs you consider important, most important, and imperative. Are your needs being met? If they are not, how can you make a short-term goal that is achievable in order to start the process of fulfilling that need?

Journal Exercise: My List of Needs

I challenge you to write a list of your needs without thought. Do not worry about listing them in order of importance, spelling, or proper grammar. Instead just write thoughtlessly a list of what you consider essential to your own life. What must you have to survive? Shelter, Love, Children, Peace of Mind? Once you have completed your list, reflect on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and place them in order of importance to you. For example, while one person may esteem more vital than social. Yet another may consider social more important than security. Remember – this is about you and no one else. Once you have applied your list of needs into order of importance consider what needs are fulfilled and which ones are not. Where does this place you in the Hierarchy? Journal freely about your filled and unfilled needs.

 Further Inspiring Reading

12 Choices to Transform Your Life

References:

1 Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50, 370-96.