What is self-actualization and how to reach your full potential?
Where are you in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Do you feel the force within you that is driving you towards achieving your ‘ideal self’, reaching your full potential and contributing to the highest good? If this is the case, you are about to carve your own path to self-actualization, a stage which only 1% of mankind achieves…!
As you move up the hierarchy of needs and wherever you are at the moment, I am going to give you a few great tips and tools that I have personally used to pave the road ahead and show you how to reach your full potential and eventually the summit, self-actualization.
What is self-actualization?
Self-actualization is the highest level on the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which is a motivational theory in psychology that was issued in 1943 and defines five categories of human needs that dictate an individual’s behavior. Those needs are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. As per the theory, people need to satisfy the four basic types of needs before they can satisfy the fifth need for self-actualization
Self-actualization is the result of a personal journey, a stage that very few people reach in their life. What it means to you as a human being on the way to the summit is that you are pushing your own personal boundaries to reach your full potential, in other words “become everything you are capable of becoming” and achieve anything you want to achieve.
Visualize your dream life
The first step towards self-actualization after you have fulfilled the other needs in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is simply to allow yourself to think that anything is achievable in your life, whatever you set your mind to. Imagine there were no restrictions at all – no time, resources, money or geographical limitations. What life would you want to live? What life do you dream of today?
So now first of all breathe, then close your eyes and let your mind wander into your ideal self and your perfect life, while using your five senses. That is called manifestation. It is future happiness you can enjoy now.
I have learned about designing the life of my dreams and visualizing it with two great programs that very much complement each other. The first one is Rapid Transformation Therapy for Abundance by Marisa Peers that teaches an incredible method to get rid of limiting beliefs and visualize a life of abundance in the areas of health, wealth and relationships. The second program is ‘Lifebook Online’ by John & Missy Butcher that gives you a great foundation and the tools to design your dream life.
Discover your core values
It is important to define your core values to understand what is truly important to you. When you’re aware of that, you begin to align your life with these values which will serve as your anchor – even in the most turbulent moments of life – and help you find your purpose which in turn will help you reach your full potential.
I used the worksheet from Positivepsychology.com to determine my personal core values. This exercise required downloading, printing and takes about 10-15 minutes of focus to be completed. But it is well worth it! My personal tip is to focus on page 6 to 10 of the manual but feel free to complete the rest.
In my case, I narrowed down my initial top 20 values to my top 6 values – as I really could not make it down to 5! They are:
- Living my dreams
- Happiness / Positivity
- Wellbeing
- Inspiring Others
- Love for Self & Others
- Freedom
Identify your greatest gift
Once you have defined your core values, it is time to discover your greatest strengths and talent so that you can focus on what you love, what you are great at and live your purpose.
How do you do that? It consists of two steps:
- In your journal, make a list of 25 things you want to do in your life or are deeply curious about. Put it aside.
- Complete the free VIA survey to discover your unique character strengths profile
- Pick 2 friends and 2 family members and simply ask them what they believe you are good at and what your greatest qualities and talent is. Ask them each for 3 of your top strengths.
The 3 lists or outcomes are worth exploring further and I recommend looking for intersections with your 5 top core values that you have defined in the previous section. Very often you will discover something you didn’t even realize about yourself.
List your top 3 life goals
Life goals are the big things to work for and accomplish or essentially everything you want to do in life before passing on. These can related to family, friends, health or wellness, career – such as starting your own business or becoming a big-time executive – or traveling the globe.
When you have a list of life goals you’d like to achieve, you get inspired and you have more to strive for. Hence, go ahead and list your top 3 life goals, without thinking of a deadline at the moment. Think about how you feel if you reach them, write them down in your journal and don’t hesitate to visualize them with all your senses in your daily manifestation exercise.
If you want to dive further into setting life goals and defining strategies that will lead towards them, I would highly recommend you take ‘Lifebook Online’ program by John & Missy Butcher . This course available on Mindvalley was an eye-opener for me and a big step towards living my purpose.
Write your personal mission statement
After completing all the previous steps and taking some time and space for reflection, it is time to write your mission statement. A personal mission statement defines who you are as a person, what you want to bring to the world, hence summarizing your long-term life purpose. To be impactful and resonate within you, it needs to be kept short and simple and should reflect your greatest passion and what you believe your purpose is.
I am proud to share with you my personal mission statement: ‘To inspire billions of people around the world to become the healthiest and happiest version of themselves”. Feel free to get inspired with the personal mission statement of some highly influential people. This is Oprah Winfrey’s for instance: “To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.”
Are you ready to try for yourself?
Remember this quote by Napoleon Hill “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve“.
So now go ahead. It is your turn! It is time to put in place your building blocks to self-actualization. Based on my experience, I recommend you start with discovering Rapid Transformational Therapy for Abundance by Marisa Peers to get rid of your limiting beliefs and then design your new abundant life with Lifebook Online by John & Missy Butcher.
These two highest rated online courses really helped me personally day by day to switch my mindset to an abundance mindset, find my purpose as well as set my life goals. They offer free masterclasses that give a great insight into what the course is about.
The Rapid Transformational Therapy for Abundance by Marisa Peers and Lifebook Online by John & Missy Butcher are quests that you can take on its own or as part of the Mindvalley Membership, which I believe to be great value for money. It gives you access to more than 50 self development quests and you get your return on investment after two to three quests only. I have been a member now for almost two years and I have to say Mindvalley has truly helped me develop myself and transform my life. Get more details by clicking here.