Self-actualization theories are a multi-million dollar a year business. I always regret that so many of us chase after far-fetched theories, when simple, practical advice to apply is so close at hand. For example, almost everyone is familiar with the famous Maslow pyramid. But how many of us know how useful it is for working on self-fulfilment?

Read the rest of this article, which is very close to my heart.

Who was Abraham Maslow?

Abraham Maslow is a famous American psychologist. He lived between 1908 and 1970, and published a well-known work entitled A Theory of Human Motivation, in which the author presents a now-famous pyramid of needs.

The theories of this famous psychologist are widely used in the sales and marketing sector. Experts who have a better grasp of human needs use this pyramid to propose products designed to satisfy them. As a result, the psychologist is better known to marketers and economists than to those for whom his pyramid was originally designed: you.

Let’s take a look at Maslow’s theory and its implications for self-fulfillment.

MASLOW’S PYRAMID AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION
Maslow’s pyramid of needs is based on the following premise: our motivations in life arise from needs that we want to satisfy. He divides these needs into 5 main categories, in the form of a pyramid. From the base to the top of the pyramid, needs are hierarchized as follows:

Physiological
Security
Belonging
Esteem
Self-fulfillment

According to the author, one level of needs is only fulfilled when the previous one has been fully satisfied. Although this theory has been debunked by many economists, it can be very useful. Don’t forget that it was originally conceived by a psychologist, not for marketers. So it includes elements that are useful for self-fulfillment.

What’s in it for us?

The first lesson inherent in this pyramid is this: you can’t blossom and fulfill yourself when your hierarchy of needs isn’t being met. If you’re struggling to find joy in life right now, don’t just say to yourself “I need this or that”. Instead, look for “have the needs that were supposed to bring me here really been met”?

Let’s revisit the elements of Maslow’s pyramid one by one to see how they relate to self-fulfillment.

FIRST NEED: PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS
These are the needs linked to your survival: eating, drinking, sleeping and procreating. These needs are basic and specific to all human beings. Until you have the resources to meet these needs, look no further.

Perhaps you plan to study hard? Setting up a company? Or becoming famous in some field? Whatever your goal, if it’s aligned with your values, you’ll find fulfillment in achieving it. But if you don’t have the resources to support yourself on a day-to-day basis, you won’t achieve your goal. Your fulfillment should therefore involve an ongoing effort to seek out the things that can meet those initial needs on a day-to-day basis.

Conversely, if you’re constantly focused on goals that are too far away, you’ll be unhappy and you won’t move forward. Does your current goal still seem too far away or too ambitious? Feeling stuck? Think about breaking down your goal to achieve it.

Don’t take this paragraph as an end in itself, of course! Think of it as a way of reconsidering your goal in the light of your current situation. Of course, I’m the first to defend that, whatever your starting situation, you can identify and realize your life project. No two paths are the same, because they depend on the individual and how he or she perceives the world.

SECOND NEED: THE NEED FOR SECURITY
The need for security is another vital element to consider. Intuitively, we think directly of security linked to survival. In our Western society, this need is fairly well satisfied. Although feelings of insecurity have been on the rise recently, there’s little chance of having to fight for survival on a daily basis.

However, it’s interesting to note that the rise in insecurity and the excessive media coverage of crises have tended to reduce the number of business start-ups. After all, to be an entrepreneur, you need to feel secure (in Maslow’s sense of the word). In addition to security of survival, you need security of employment, housing, income and so on. We don’t often think about these types of security. To rule on the fact of lacking them is something relative. One person will feel secure because he owns a home, while another will feel secure because he has a permanent job.

As always in personal development, everything is relative. Ask yourself: “Do I feel secure? It doesn’t matter how your friends and family define “security”. If you feel safe and secure, then you can go beyond this level of need and move on to the next. If you don’t, take action to make yourself feel safe.

In a nutshell: change your perception of a situation and you’ll change the situation.

If you’re having trouble at this stage, you can start by taking stock of your current situation.

THIRD NEED: THE NEED TO BELONG
These are needs specific to socialization. Love, friendship, friends, family, etc. What does this have to do with self-fulfilment?

If you’re a parasite, your need to belong may never be fulfilled. Look around you to see if you know people who interact with others only out of interest. Who are their friends? Do they even have any? And why don’t they have any?

How can we overcome the need to belong?
The solution is so simple that we often forget it exists. Apply the most important advice of personal development: altruism. Always give the best of yourself to the people around you, without expecting anything in return. If you do this on a daily basis, you’ll find that life works its magic and people will come to you naturally.

Groups of people will form around you because you’re a kind person with no ulterior motive. This doesn’t mean you have to say “yes” to everything! You need to know how to say no intelligently when necessary. But if you’re altruistic and in line with your core values, then everything will be easier.

You also need to learn to be proud of yourself. The easiest way to do this is to realize yourself day after day by taking action on what you really enjoy. A person who is fulfilled is far more attractive, both amicably and romantically, than someone who lives their life in reaction to their environment.

Things to remember
Be altruistic, be passionate and act daily to realize your dreams. Everything will change in your life, you’ll attract the right people to you and groups of people will form around you.

Your need to belong will be fulfilled and you’ll be one step closer to self-fulfillment.

FOURTH NEED: THE NEED FOR ESTEEM
I really appreciate that the need for esteem appears here. It makes perfect sense. Any personal development enthusiast will tell you: when your physiological and belonging needs are properly met, your self-esteem and self-confidence increase!

And it makes perfect sense because, at this level of Maslow’s pyramid, you’re eating and sleeping properly, you feel secure, you have friends and therefore people to lean on in times of low morale.

I often talk to people who want to have confidence in themselves when their financial situation isn’t going so well, and their love life is disastrous. Other people find it hard to understand and live with their children and family members. Under these conditions, you won’t be able to boost your self-esteem. You must first understand and resolve your relationship problems.

How can I increase my self-esteem?
Self-esteem is about being proud of yourself. And there’s nothing better than identifying your passion and practicing it. When you practice an activity you’re passionate about, time flies. You make rapid progress and learn new skills. The more skills you have in an area you’re passionate about, the higher your self-esteem will rise.

You need to allow yourself to live your passion as much as your schedule allows. Join an association or club. Meet other enthusiasts. Practice your passion at least once a week. Then communicate and teach what you’ve learned to the people you appreciate.

With these kinds of lifestyle habits, your need for self-esteem will be satisfied in no time.

FIFTH NEED: SELF-ACTUALIZATION
Self-fulfillment is the last stage of Maslow’s pyramid and the natural continuation of self-esteem. Where self-esteem is a judgment about oneself, and therefore about one’s perception of oneself in relation to oneself, self-fulfillment is about looking at oneself in relation to the help one gives to others.

Self-fulfilment has no end in itself, because each success becomes a new stage in the journey towards self-fulfilment. Every day, I work on my website and I believe this is the best way to fulfill this fifth need. Because when I’m working on it, I can spend hours on it. Everything seems perfect and I love helping tens of thousands of new people month after month.

I act out of passion, and I’m proud and happy to live it day by day through all the content I create and publish. However, I’ve also noticed something very important: if one of the needs that precede self-fulfilment is no longer being met (a break-up in love, for example), then I’m less effective and motivated in my project. I need to solve the problem by understanding it and acting on it. And solving the problem doesn’t mean “falling back in love”, but rather understanding and accepting the break-up. Then put myself in a positive frame of mind to move forward. Once this state of mind is regained, motivation returns naturally. I can act again on my need for self-fulfilment.

Of course, the example of breaking up with someone is only one example… Once again, it’s your state of mind and your perception of a situation that determines the situation, not the other way round. Even if it’s sometimes hard to admit…

The question to ask yourself now!
If all the above elements are correctly met, you’ll feel that you’re fulfilling yourself day after day. The pinnacle of Maslow’s pyramid is the result of all the results achieved upstream. That’s why I once again suggest this question: “If I’m not fulfilling myself, is it because one of the previous needs hasn’t been met? Objectively identify the lowest unmet need on Maslow’s pyramid. Then follow the advice I share with you in this article to fill it.

Remember something very important: it’s not meeting all these needs that will make you fulfilled! It’s doing something about them on a daily basis that will make you a fulfilled person. Because “it’s not the goal that counts, it’s the path that counts”…

Act for yourself, take the next simple step in Maslow’s pyramid and self-fulfilment will no longer be a problem, but a natural and positive evolution.

IT’S UP TO YOU!
Here’s another article that’s really close to my heart, and I hope it will help you in your quest for self-fulfillment.