Self-actualization is a person's desire for the fullest possible identification and development of their personal capabilities.

According to A. Maslow, self-actualization is the desire to become everything that is possible; the need for self-improvement, in realizing one's potential. Her path is difficult and associated with the experience of fear of the unknown and responsibility, but it is the path to a full, internally rich life (see self-actualizing personality).

15 main traits inherent in self-actualizing people:

1. A more adequate perception of reality, free from the influence of actual needs, stereotypes and prejudices, interest in the unknown. In self-actualization, a person who has achieved the satisfaction of basic needs is much less dependent and constrained, more autonomous and determines the direction of his movement himself.

2. Acceptance of oneself and others as they are, the absence of artificial, protective forms of behavior and the rejection of such behavior by others.

3. Spontaneity of manifestations, simplicity and naturalness. Such people observe established rituals, traditions and ceremonies, but treat them with due humor. This is not automatic, but conscious conformism only at the level of external behavior.

4. Business orientation. Such people are usually busy not with themselves, but with their life task or mission. They usually correlate their activity with universal values ​​and tend to view it from the perspective of eternity, rather than the current moment. Therefore, they are all philosophers to some extent.

5. They are often prone to loneliness and are characterized by a position of detachment in relation to many events in their own lives. This helps them to endure troubles relatively calmly and be less susceptible to outside influences. Self-fulfilling people practically do not need other people, but they can become a hindrance. They have a predilection for thinking alone.

6. Autonomy and independence from the environment; stability under the influence of frustrating factors. Such people are much more independent and self-sufficient. They are primarily subject to internal rather than social or environmental determinants. These determinants are the laws of their own inner nature, their potentialities and abilities, their creative impulses, their need to know themselves and become more whole people, to better understand who they really are, what they really want, what is their vocation or what their destiny should be. Autonomy or relative independence from the environment also means resilience in the face of adverse external circumstances, such as bad luck, blows of fate, tragedies, stress and deprivation.

7. Great freshness of perception; finding each time something new in the already known. Richness of emotional reactions.

8. Ultimate experiences, characterized by the feeling of the disappearance of one's own "I". More frequent breakthroughs to the peak of the experience. These experiences help to change a person's opinion of himself for the better, make changes in his attitude towards other people and his communication with these people. They release creativity, spontaneity, expression, individuality. They are present in development motivation, as a person remembers the peak experience as a very significant and desirable event and longs for its repetition.

9. Feeling of community with humanity as a whole.

10. Friendship with other self-actualizing people: a narrow circle of people with very deep relationships. Absence of manifestations of hostility in interpersonal relationships. Since they are less dependent on other people, they are less afraid of them, they lie to them less, they are less hostile towards them, they need their praise and affection less. They are less concerned with honor, prestige and rewards.

11. Democracy in relations. Willingness to learn from others. Respect for other people.

12. Stable internal moral standards. Self-actualizing people behave morally, they have a keen sense of good and evil; they are oriented towards ends, and means always subordinate to these ends. They have a heightened sense of justice, they subtly feel untruth and falsehood.

13. "Philosophical" sense of humor. They relate with humor to life in general and to themselves, but they never find it funny anyone's inferiority or adversity.

14. Creativity (creativity, creativity), which does not depend on what a person does, and manifests itself in all actions of a self-actualizing personality. Creativity involves an open, unrestrained and sincere expression and display of one's feelings and ideas. A self-actualized person is never afraid to get into an awkward position when he "creates" his ideas, actions, behavior, and will not be shy or look back at public disapproval when creating specific works of art, such as music, poetry, paintings, literary creativity, etc. . People of art may well be self-actualized personalities.

15. More pronounced autonomy and opposition to joining any culture. They do not unconditionally accept the culture to which they belong. They are not conformist, but they are not prone to mindless rebellion either. They are quite critical of their culture, choosing the good from it and rejecting the bad. They do not identify with the entire culture, feeling more like representatives of humanity as a whole than representatives of their country. Therefore, they often find themselves isolated in a cultural environment that they do not want to accept.

In psychology, the term "Self-actualization" means the full discovery and disclosure by a person of his own, the realization of his skills and talents in all spheres of life, the use of all existing inclinations, inclinations.

Thus, we can say that this mechanism manifests itself in the form of a desire for any identification and external expression by the individual of his capabilities. It should be noted that the possibility of self-actualization largely depends on the conditions of the external environment, social conditions and other factors, but at the same time, it can in no way be imposed or transformed from outside.
It is also noteworthy that this aspiration does not have any external goal in front of it and is determined by the purely internal positive nature of man. Self-actualization often lies at the heart of humanistic areas of psychology, being seen as a complex of individual freedom, the desire for the development of the individual, the realization of all the potentials and desires of a person.

Personal self-actualization

It should be noted that such specialists as K. Rogers and A. Maslow were more interested in the problem of self-actualization. Thus, the very essence of this concept comes from the classical directions of humanistic psychology. Moreover, the formation of the term is directly related to the formation of humanistic psychotherapy in the middle of the 0th century, when it took one of the leading places on a par with psychoanalysis, which was already popular at that time.

Taking the sami as a basis, the current is seen as a direction based on the belief that each individual has the ability for absolute disclosure, if he is given the freedom and necessary conditions for this. In doing so, the subject will be able to fully determine and direct his own destiny.

Some experts, in particular A. Maslow himself, believed that it is precisely such mechanisms as self-realization and self-actualization of a person that are absolutely leading human needs, capable of replacing even food and sleep.
Also, experts identified a number of qualities, some common features of the character traits of individuals who are very successful in self-actualization or have already reached great heights in it:

Such people often do what they love throughout their lives.
They are not subject to outside influence and are in complete control of their lives.
The individual strives for continuous improvement and development. Likes to get new information through reading.
Usually these are expressed creative personalities. They also tend to have a positive mindset.
Emotionally open. Much faster and easier to forgive themselves for any breakdowns or sensitive incontinence.

To summarize, we can say with confidence that such an approach is the "golden key" to a happy life, because such people are in complete harmony with themselves.

Maslow's self-actualization

A. Maslow became known as the founder of the current of humanistic psychology. Unlike his contemporaries, colleagues and specialists, he strove to study the psychological norm. That is, he paid much more attention to healthy individuals, creatively developed, and also, later, to those who reached certain heights within the framework of self-actualization.
Maslow's self-actualization, or rather his theory of this psychological process, is based on the inner experience of the individual. From the point of view of a specialist, this was an absolute experience, liberated, lively and pure, that is, not burdened with "teenage shyness."

Maslow also offered his list of characteristic features that he singled out as leading for a person striving for self-actualization:

Such a person has a more accurate and effective perception of the surrounding reality and is able to contact it more adequately.
Absolute acceptance of yourself and your personality, environment, other people.
Such people are somewhat spontaneous, they are open, they never cheat, while they always clearly know their goal and move towards it.
They are autonomous. They are independent of the surrounding society and any cultural conventions. At the same time, they often need a certain solitude, isolation.
They are capable of deeper and stronger interpersonal relationships. They are also able to separate the end from the means and to separate the concepts of “good” and “evil”.
Quite often they feel a sense of union with those around them, rarely are impartial.
As a rule, these are creative people.

Maslow's main assumption regarding self-actualization was that in order to achieve the set goals and avoid disappointment in human nature, the individual must first of all give up the illusions imposed on him about it. That is, such people initially perceive themselves and others as they really are.

The need for self-actualization

In humanistic psychology, the need for self-actualization is considered as the main internal manifestation of the individual to the desire for development.
For example, K. Rogers in his concept assumed that self-actualization is based on a quality or even a whole phenomenon inherent in any living being, which literally pushes it to move forward. That is, this theory is based on the assumption of the existence of a certain innate quality, which, according to K. Rogers, always exists and is only waiting for certain positive conditions in order to manifest itself.
At the same time, if we consider the theory of A. Maslow, the main motivating force for the development of a person can be a strong feeling of experiencing an individual, aimed at his inner self-consciousness and personal experience. Also, this nature suggests that self-actualization is also reflected in the mechanisms of hedonism, that is, enjoyment of the highest blessings, finding its reflection in the feeling of absolute satisfaction with life, inner harmony, enlightenment.

Development of self-actualization

Today, in the modern world, the development of self-actualization is not only a topical issue, but also very problematic. The rapid pace of life, the development of technology, the constant new conditions that our century dictates - all this sets before each person the task of adapting to these conditions.
Very often, self-actualization is perceived as a psychological neoplasm, a kind of complex. Which is very strongly associated with the achievement of maximum peaks, opportunities and skills in all areas of life relevant to the individual.

Success in this direction sets the further pace of development of the subject. The process of actualization of oneself ensures the preservation of the integrity of the inner world, its balance. At the same time, the harmony of the psychological organization of the personality largely determines the individual's motivation for further actions and self-development as a unique personality.

Self-actualization has always remained and remains a pressing issue for any person - it has a great positive impact on positive experience and foundation in the external world and manifestations of a person, which steadily leads to his internal positive experience and self-esteem growth.

From the time when a person began to realize himself, he began to ask questions about the structure of the world around him and about his place in nature and among other people. Many are still concerned about the problem of the purpose of the species homo sapiens on Earth, the search for the meaning of life. Answers to "eternal questions" are sought by philosophers, psychologists, theologians and just people who care about everything that happens to them and around them.

Depending on the historical era, religious views, achievements of science, the phenomenon of man was explained in different ways, from ideas about people as two-legged animals without feathers to the recognition of the divine essence of man. One of the scientific theories that allows finding answers to such complex questions is the theory of self-actualization of personality ( authors A. Maslow, K. Rogers and others).

The concept of self-actualization

Self-actualization means that a person fulfills his task, because we all come into this world for a reason, which means the disclosure of abilities, talents, the realization of what is inherent in nature in each of us. Self-actualization of a person is a process and a way to achieve meaningful goals for oneself.

In order to better understand what self-actualization is, it makes sense to consider the pyramid of needs. A. Maslow. The scientist believed that all people, without exception, have approximately the following needs:

• Physiological (food, drink, sleep). Other living beings have the same needs. Without enough food, water and sleep, the body dies;
• In life safety. External factors can also interfere with survival itself: excessive cold and heat, natural elements, lack of a roof over your head, an attack by a maniac, etc. If nothing threatens a person, then he feels calm and self-confident;
• In love. Having satisfied the needs listed above, a person will probably remain alive, but will hardly feel happy. We all need love, support from loved ones, friendships;
• In respect and recognition. Whatever a person does, it is important for him to feel successful. It's really nice when a work is highly appreciated, whether it's a masterpiece of world art or just a masterfully brewed borscht;
• In knowledge and creativity. This need is most pronounced in children, who ask a lot of questions and try to experiment with everything they see. Unfortunately, with age, the desire to learn and create for most people becomes less relevant;
• Aesthetic. Beauty is important to people because it is harmonious, and harmony creates a sense of stability and order. No wonder F.M. Dostoevsky wrote that "beauty will save the world";
• Spiritual. Satisfying the needs of this level is self-actualization. Personality self-actualizes in self-knowledge, the desire to improve oneself, to obtain as much knowledge about the world as possible, to develop one's abilities.

It is believed that in order for the need for self-actualization to arise, it is necessary to satisfy all of the above needs. However, life is complex and varied, so in reality everything is very difficult. Suffice it to recall the great composer V.A. Mozart, who wrote down the notes of his brilliant works on a piece of paper with a stub of a pencil and did not always have money for bread. And there were problems with recognition during the life of a genius. At the same time, many more than well-to-do people remain at the level of satisfaction of the needs indicated at the beginning of the list, or even degrade. An important role in the process of becoming a person is played by his desire for self-actualization, and it, in turn, depends on the goals, motives, desires, attitudes and characteristics of personality education.

The process of self-actualization

Where does self-actualization begin? The answer is obvious: from knowing yourself, from identifying your capabilities, abilities and needs. Here you may need the help of a specialist, because it is extremely difficult to impartially evaluate yourself. An experienced psychologist will help you deal with complexes, imaginary or obvious problems and outline ways for self-improvement. If for some reason you feel uncomfortable in an individual lesson, you can sign up for a personal growth training.

The next stage is the search for ways for self-realization, and there can be countless of them: a favorite thing, a hobby, household and family relationships, travel, weeding cucumbers in a summer cottage, etc. The main thing is that a person understands that the chosen occupation is his. In this case, the feeling of the fullness of being will not keep you waiting. On the contrary, the need to constantly do something that does not bring satisfaction, contributes to dissatisfaction with oneself and others. As a result, stress, neuroses and even serious diseases appear. Simply put, a person must be who he is and follow his own path of life. Then everything will be fine.

With self-actualization, choice is inevitable. You have to choose everything and always (a dress in a store, a school for a child, a place of work or leisure, etc.). However, in the opinion of A. Maslow, the main choice of a person is between the desire for self-actualization and the conscious avoidance of it. The fact is that self-improvement, engaging in creative activity involves getting out of the so-called comfort zone, destroying stereotypes, overcoming difficulties, changing views on the understandable and familiar, as a result of which it becomes difficult to remain calm and feel secure. At the same time, if a person nevertheless takes the path of self-actualization, then there will be pleasant bonuses:

• self-confidence;
• a feeling of victory, including over oneself;
• boost ;
• formation of new skills and abilities.

It is fundamentally important that a person makes a choice himself, and not under pressure from outside. This needs to be learned from childhood, so an important task of parents and teachers is to give the child the opportunity to think and make decisions independently. In addition, the baby should not satisfy parental ambitions; in the process of education and development, one must proceed from the interests and needs of the growing person himself.

The ability to make choices is closely related to the need to trust yourself and take responsibility for the consequences of your actions. Actually, responsibility is the main indicator of growing up. When it comes to choosing a profession, a life partner, or just a way to spend your free time, then the choices made may not be approved by others. However, no one knows what a person needs better than himself. The main thing is that the consequences of the choice do not contradict the legislative and moral standards.

Finally, for self-actualization it is important to work tirelessly. A less talented, but hardworking person will achieve more than a gifted lazy person. Constant work on yourself will certainly lead to success.

What hinders self-actualization

It would seem that the problem of self-actualization is solved quite easily: choose your own path and act. In fact, everything is not so simple. Full disclosure of their capabilities may be hindered by:

• Own laziness. Development, moving forward is the application of efforts, overcoming oneself. A rolling stone gathers no moss; (h read about)
• Self-doubt, complexes, fears. No one is immune from failure, however, conscious avoidance of difficulties may make life more peaceful, but will never lead to success; ( read about)
• Social pressure. In some cultures (this is especially true for countries with a totalitarian regime), not the individual, but the collective comes first. A person is a cog in the state system, and any manifestations of individuality are sometimes suppressed very harshly. It is also difficult to realize oneself if the existing skills are not in demand and are not appreciated by others (for example, in a peasant family of the century before last, the ability of a child to draw or masterfully play a musical instrument could be perceived by parents as a whim that distracts from the main occupation - agriculture);
• Low self-esteem, misconceptions about their abilities (“I will never achieve this”, “I can’t do it”, etc.); ( read about)
• Lack of proper motivation. If it is not clear in the name of what certain actions are being taken, then achieving the goal is almost impossible. In any case, there will definitely not be moral satisfaction from the efforts made.

The problem of self-actualization

Most psychologists view self-actualization solely as a boon. Is it bad if a person is looking for himself, trying to find an application for his abilities? However, a person who is overly self-centered becomes selfish, does not take into account the needs of other people, is in no hurry to understand, help, support loved ones. In addition, in itself, taking any heights does not guarantee well-being. Each person is an individual. It is extremely important for someone to sit in the chair of the head, and someone will be content with the modest role of an ordinary employee or housewife and feel happy (although these roles are also a kind of self-actualization).

True perfection is more an ideal than a reality. According to the A. Maslow, people who have achieved self-actualization make up only 1% of all humanity, and even such "superpersonalities" are not without flaws and are not free from problems. Therefore, in the process of self-actualization, the main thing is not so much the pursuit of an ideal, but the achievement of real goals, the ability to build relationships with other people, to strive for harmony with oneself and the world around. If a person is self-sufficient and lives a full life, is ready to take responsibility for his actions, then we can talk about him as an accomplished person.

Self-actualization is one of the most important concepts in humanistic psychology and is understood as a process, the essence of which is the most complete development, disclosure and realization of a person’s abilities and capabilities, actualization of his personal potential. Self-actualization helps a person to become what he can become in reality, and, therefore, to live meaningfully, fully and completely. The need for self-actualization is the highest human need, the main motivational factor. However, this need manifests itself and determines human behavior only if other, underlying needs are satisfied. One of the founders of humanistic psychology A. Maslow developed a hierarchical model of needs:
1st level - physiological needs (needs for food, sleep, sex, etc.);
2nd level - the need for security (the need for security, stability, order, security, absence of fear and anxiety);
3rd level - the need for love and belonging (the need for love and a sense of community, belonging to a certain community, family, friendship);
4th level - the need for self-respect (the need for self-respect and recognition by other people);
Level 5 - the need for self-actualization (the need for the development and realization of one's own abilities, capabilities and personal potential, personal improvement).

According to this concept, progress towards the highest goal - self-actualization, psychological growth - is not feasible until the individual satisfies the underlying needs, gets rid of their dominance, which may be due to the early frustration of a particular need and fixing a person at a certain level corresponding to this unsatisfied need. functioning. Maslow also emphasized that the need for security can have a fairly significant negative impact on self-actualization. Self-actualization, psychological growth are associated with the development of new things, with the expansion of the spheres of human functioning, with risk, the possibility of errors and their negative consequences. All this can increase anxiety and fear, which leads to an increased need for security and a return to old, safe stereotypes.

K. Rogers also considered the desire for self-actualization as the main motivational factor, which he understood as the process of a person realizing his potential in order to become a fully functioning personality. Full disclosure of personality, "full functioning" (and mental health), in Rogers's view, is characterized by the following: openness to experience, the desire to live life to the fullest at any given moment, the ability to listen more to one's own intuitions and needs than to reason and opinion of others, a sense of freedom, a high level of creativity. The life experience of a person is considered by him from the point of view of the extent to which it contributes to self-actualization. If this experience helps actualization, then the person evaluates it as positive, if not, then as negative, which should be avoided. Rogers emphasized the importance of subjective experience (a person's personal world of experiences) and believed that another person can be understood only by directly referring to his subjective experience.

Self-actualization is the highest form of self-development and includes, to a certain extent, the two previous forms, especially the form of self-improvement, having largely common goals and motives with it. The difference between self-actualization and previous forms is that here the highest semantic motives of human behavior and life are actualized. According to the definition of the author of the theory of self-actualization A. Maslow, self-actualization is the ability of a person to become what he is capable of becoming, i.e. he must fulfill his mission
- to realize what is inherent in it, in accordance with one's own highest needs: Truth, Beauty, Perfection, etc. According to A. Maslow, the need for self-actualization is the top in a series of human needs, it cannot arise and be realized if lower-order needs are not met.

Thus, on the basis of the need for self-actualization, motives are born that direct a person to the realization of the higher meanings of his existence. According to another representative of humanistic psychology, V. Frankl, the meanings of life are not given to a person initially, they must be specially sought. In his opinion, there are three most common ways to search for meaning: what we do in life (creativity, creation); what we take from the world (experiences); the position we take in relation to a destiny that we cannot change. Accordingly, they distinguish three groups of values: creation, experience and relationships. Meaning is determined by the person who asks the question, or by the situation that also implies the question. V. Frankl calls the method by which meanings are found conscience. Conscience is an intuitive search for the only meaning of this particular situation. The meaning of life is not in the search for pleasure, the pursuit of happiness, but in the comprehension and realization of values: creation, experiences, relationships.

On the basis of the need for self-actualization, motives are born in search of the meaning of one's own life as a whole. These motives determine the specific form of self-development called self-actualization. The goal of self-actualization is to achieve the fullness of the sensation of life as a very short period of time, which, according to all the canons, should have caused despair. But a person, with rare exceptions, does not experience such despair, since he lives life as best he can, and if he manages to live it to the fullest, that is, self-actualize and fulfill himself, then he experiences the highest satisfaction with himself and his life, is able to the end to be active, rejoice in successes and the fact that it was he who managed to do something.

Of course, as in previous cases, there is also a reverse trend - the desire not to follow one's destiny. This is where self-deception, numerous defenses, lies in front of oneself are born, and as a result - despair, which E. Erickson brilliantly recorded in his periodization.

So, in the process of self-actualization, two lines of human existence come close - self-knowledge and self-development. To know oneself as far as possible means to acquire the basis for self-actualization as the ability to use one's talents, abilities, and possibilities to the fullest. Self-actualization - to find the meaning of life, to realize oneself, thereby fulfill one's mission, one's destiny and, as a result, feel the fullness of life, the fullness of existence.

What are the ways of self-actualization? A. Maslow identifies eight such paths (or ways) of behavior leading to self-actualization:
- living and disinterested experience with full concentration and immersion; at the moment of self-actualization, the individual is wholly and completely human; this is the moment when the Self realizes itself;
-life is a process of constant choice: promotion or retreat; self-actualization is a continuous process when multiple individual choices are given: to lie or tell the truth, to steal or not to steal, etc.; self-actualization means choosing the possibility of growth;
- the ability of a person to listen to himself, that is, to focus not on the opinions of others, but on his own experience, “listen to the voice of impulse”;
- the ability to be honest, the ability to take responsibility. As A. Maslow notes, “every time a person takes responsibility, he self-actualizes”;
- the ability to be independent, to be ready to defend positions independent of
others;
-not only the final state, but also the process of actualizing one's capabilities;
-moments: supreme experiences, moments of ecstasy that cannot be bought, cannot be guaranteed and cannot even be sought;
- the ability of a person to expose their own psychopathology - the ability to identify their defenses and then find the strength in themselves to overcome them.

A. Maslow in his works also indicates ways to help people in gaining the ability to self-actualize. In his opinion, the task of true learning is to be the best person as possible.

If we talk about the results of self-actualization, then they can clearly be determined from everything that has been said before. The most important result is a feeling of meaningfulness of life and the fullness of your being, that you did everything right, despite private mistakes and mistakes, that others recognized you as a person, your unique individuality and at the same time universality. And for this, of course, it is worth living, creating, self-improving and self-actualizing.

Thus, we tried to show that self-development is a complex, non-linear, multifaceted process that can go both in a positive direction and in a negative one in terms of compliance with the highest standards and ideals developed by mankind. As a process, it has its own goals, motives, methods, results, which are determined by the forms of self-development.

I would like to end this chapter with the words of V. Frankl, who clearly expressed the essence of a person's self-development in his attitude to his own destiny: “Fate cannot be changed, otherwise there would be no destiny. A man can change himself, otherwise he would not be a man. The ability to shape and reshape oneself is the prerogative of human existence.”

Having characterized self-development as a process, let us now dwell on the problem of psychological mechanisms that enable a person to assert himself, improve himself, become self-actualized, i.e. self-develop. These mechanisms include self-acceptance and self-forecasting.

In talking about the development of the personality, one cannot leave aside the so-called self-actualization so today we are going to talk about self-actualization of personality. In a nutshell, self-actualization is the fullness of a person’s disclosure and realization of his personal uniqueness, the realization of what is inherent in him, as a person. But that's just in a nutshell.

Often, personal development is simply understood as the development of some skills and abilities, the acquisition of knowledge, the achievement of some goals... letters or human she won't anyway - and that's why personal development it's hard to name it. So, self-actualization is another thing :)

Personality with a capital letter is a mature, developed, realized, self-actualizing personality. What is this mysterious self-actualization and how to become a self-actualizing personality? What needs to be done, what skills / traits / qualities to develop? Let's not reinvent the wheel. Self-actualization- the concept of humanistic psychology, usually associated with the name of Abraham Maslow. So let's turn to him, especially since I mentioned him. This scientist-psychologist took it upon himself to investigate what distinguishes healthy, realized people from all the others who are ill to varying degrees and who have not reached the disclosure of the potential inherent in each person in their development.

According to Maslow, self-actualizing people are only 0.5-1% of the total mass. Why so little? Maybe they are just some special people, their path is not suitable for everyone, and even more so, this is not something everyone should strive for, as, for example, not everyone can be musicians? The choice, of course, is for everyone, but the psychologist convincingly proves that a person who has refused to realize his real human potential is not a healthy and full-fledged person. Unlike the ability to music, everyone has the ability and need for self-actualization, and it requires its own satisfaction. But why is it so rarely implemented then?

Needs and self-actualization of the individual

Yes, the keyword is need. In terms of needs, we are already accustomed to thinking, everyone has heard about Maslow's pyramid of needs, and the difference between self-actualization and all other activities lies precisely in the plane of needs. All our activities are driven by needs, I think no one will argue with that. Needs declare themselves in desires (remember the list) and we begin to stir to satisfy them.

But the needs are different. It is clear that we have them - a wagon and a small cart: you need to eat, and have a roof over your head, and socially realize yourself, and ... But here we are talking about something else - that need for self-actualization not just at the top of the pyramid, but fundamentally different from all other needs.

Abraham Maslow proved that the need for self-actualization, or growth and development, is as innate as any other, but, like all higher things, it is "more intelligent" than lower things - that is, it asserts itself less arrogantly. This need is clearly visible in young children who strive specifically for development. But in an adult, the need for development is usually very weakly expressed - it is obscured by completely different, lower needs, whose voice sounds louder.

Some of these lower needs are quite legitimate - they are basic needs: in food, security, love, belonging, respect. All this is necessary for us in life, and we are usually busy with satisfying these needs. But, recognizing the unconditional need to satisfy them, Maslow draws a clear line between basic needs and the need for self-actualization or development.

In addition to the natural basic ones, we may also have unnatural, “sick” needs. For example, various addictions or so-called “passions”: dependence on alcohol or a computer, a passion for collecting sexual partners or manipulating others ... If a person considers the realization of these inclinations to be self-realization, then he will not only not develop, but will embark on the path of degradation. In relation to the self-actualization of the personality, sick needs do not differ much from the basic ones.

What unites them? And unite them selfishly - consumer motives. Desires dictated by egoistic motives do not contribute to self-actualization, but to the development of egocentrism. Exactly at motives and that is the difference between the need for self-actualization and all the others. In the first case, seeking to satisfy basic or sick needs, we seek to get rid of the discomfort that their dissatisfaction causes us - this is lack motive, and in the second - we start from ourselves, from excess. Behind the need for self-actualization there is no craving, lack, need - even to call it a "need" is not very correct. The desire for growth and development is valuable in itself and is not conditioned by anything.

To draw the line, one might say everything that is based on fear and self-interest, in other words, needs dictated by security or consumption, does not apply to self-actualization. Unfortunately, this is exactly what we usually live - our desires are conditioned by fear and self-interest. Accordingly, their implementation has nothing to do with self-actualization. Such needs or desires can be classified as "to have". The same as for self-actualization or personality development, refers to the category of "to be".

Another difference between self-actualization and other needs is that the motives for self-actualization are unique, individual, and the rest of the needs are generic, the same for many.

What does "to be" mean? Signs of self-actualization

• Be is to know something, because interesting- from a healthy desire for knowledge, and not because healthy or need. For example, when it comes to books, some say that they are interested in reading only what benefits them, helping them solve their problems. Unfortunately, they are not interested in anything but their own problems ...
• Be is to create because you want to, and not for the sake of money or increasing your sense of self-worth, and not even for the sake of personal growth. The creative process itself is beautiful and amazing!
• Be is to realize your talents and abilities and enjoy it. Yes, yes, self-realization is actually the development and realization of talents and abilities, and not at all the fulfillment of desires. We often don’t even know about our talents - we somehow don’t care about them ... Although the development of abilities in itself, as they do with poor children, sending them to 5 sections at the same time, is not enough - this is still meaning should be for the person himself.
• Certainly, be unrealistic without, and the meaning must certainly go beyond personal interests. To do this, one will have to solve metaphysical questions, but there is no other way - meaningless being is impossible ...
• Be is to love unconditionally and freely, and not to satisfy your need for love. rejoices that there is a beloved person in the world, loves him for his own sake, contemplates and protects the other. In contrast, the need for love worries about reciprocity, revels in its feelings about a loved one, cares for a good relationship with him - for its own sake, for its own comfort, and often the beloved itself is not interesting to her.
• Be is to enjoy life, and not to “pull the strap” of everyday life or endlessly achieve something. This is .
• Be is to perceive and accept the world as it is, and not in relation to oneself, through oneself, for oneself ...

You have already understood that the ability be and is a sign of self-actualization of the individual. The last point is key and needs some explanation. An ordinary person sees and evaluates everything that happens exclusively through the prism of his "I": "what will it give me or what threatens me." A self-actualizing person, being free from the dictates of this prism, is able to see reality more adequately.

Do you remember the fairy tale about the fool who was beaten all the time, because at the funeral he shouted “do not bear it”, and at the wedding he cried? The reason for his inadequacy was that he was unable to think about others, about the situation - if he did, he would easily understand how to behave. And his stupidity lay in the fact that, trying to avoid beatings, he wanted to learn “how to”, instead of disengaging himself and understanding the situation.

An ordinary person often differs from this fool only in that over the years he has learned well where it is “necessary” and has learned to avoid “beatings”, and in an unfamiliar situation he is lost or acts inappropriately. A self-actualizing person does not need “how to”. He behaves spontaneously - based on his real reaction to the situation, which he perceives directly. Here is such a paradox - on the one hand, it comes from from myself, and on the other hand, it perceives the world as such, without being fixated on itself. And an ordinary person proceeds from his fears and self-interest, and not from himself, and perceives the world only in relation to himself (more precisely, to his fears and self-interest). As usual, without dialectics, nowhere :)

How to become a self-actualizing person?

How to achieve self-actualization of personality? This cannot be taught, because everyone discovers the art of being in himself. No wonder one of the roots of the word self-actualization like the words self-realization — self. You can teach a monkey to draw the sun, but you can't teach it to create. You can give a scheme for satisfying basic needs, but there are no schemes in self-actualization - because the personality is unique. You can force or oblige a person to do something, but only he himself can make a free decision and take responsibility for it.

Responsibility is certainly a necessary condition for self-actualization. from just individual what distinguishes it is just originality and independence, presence, actions due to one’s own considerations, etc. In general, for this it is necessary to learn to “walk with legs” yourself - which no one can teach. Yes, and there can be no examples here - in order to have his opinion, like someone else, have to work it out on one's own and not repeat after this someone.

The only thing that can be advised here is to at least turn your search in this direction, and not to indulge yourself with the illusion that the fulfillment of desires is self-realization, and the achievement of goals is personal growth, because both our desires and goals, as a rule, are conditioned deficit needs (from the word "deficit" - lack). But in each of us there are germs and even sprouts of art be. When we were children, we knew how to do all this, until our parents began to develop us as they saw fit, and explained to us "how to", stopping our immediate reactions.

Self-actualization- the process is dynamic, it is not a state that you need to achieve, and then stay in it, but rather the direction of movement, the priorities that structure life. The rest of the needs will not go away - they also need to be satisfied, but for a self-actualizing personality they cease to be the main content of life, receding into the background, development is more important for it.

If a person ignores his need for development, she will poison his life, because, although her voice is quiet, he has it and makes itself felt in a feeling of emptiness, wakefulness, depression, dissatisfaction with life and the painful search for something. .., even physical illnesses can arise on this basis. But these scarecrows, of course, are not a basis for self-actualization :) The only reason is our desire to realize ourselves in life as a Human, to the full extent of our potential.

Here's the answer I found to the question where to develop personality?. In addition to what has been said, one of these days I will publish the signs of a self-actualizing personality according to A. Maslow with explanations. In my opinion, under development personality can only be understood as the path of self-actualization. Everything else is monkey training, nothing more. And what do you think? I look forward to your questions and additions regarding the self-actualization of personality, and see you again!

© Nadezhda Dyachenko