[Neurons] 2010 Meta Reflections #28

[L. Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections 2010 - #28

June 21, 2010

 

 

MYTHS ABOUT SELF-ACTUALIZATION

 

 

Several readers of Neurons have recently informed me that
"Self-actualization is going around the NLP community, and I think they are
stealing your stuff!"  And I always say that while I could wish that they
would give credit, I'm pleased to hear that and that I'm honored that they
steal from my books on Self-Actualization (Unleashed, 2007,
Self-Actualization Psychology, 2008, and Unleashing Leadership, 2009).  The
main thing is that self-actualization is coming to the field of NLP and
informing it.  And that's really good since this is the secret history of
NLP and so enables the field to discover itself! 

 

What I'm not too pleased about, however, are some of the mis-quotes and the
mis-representations about self-actualization and some of the myths that are
perpetuated.  

 

Myth 1: Maslow changed his mind.

I have heard this several times and places.  While in Moscow in May of this
year, someone brought it up in the Unleashing Leadership workshop.  They
said that they had heard that Maslow changed his mind about the Hierarchy of
Needs just before his death.  That is as wrong as the newsstand magazines
about Michael Jackson living somewhere in hiding with Elvis.   And what is
my evidence?  In 1970 Maslow completely re-edited his classic work 1954
book, Motivation and Personality.  And in that 1970 edition, he not only
kept the Hierarchy of Needs but provided more evidence of the validity of
that model that he first published in 1943.  So, no Maslow never changed his
mind about that!

 

Myth 2: Bandler is a self-actualized person.

Recently someone nominated Richard Bandler as a self-actualized person!  I
broke into laughter when I heard that one!  Of the 15 traits of
self-actualizing people that Maslow identified and that he and Everett
Shostrum used to create the POI (Personal Orientation Inventory) that
measures self-actualization, Richard, at best only meets a quarter of them.
The quote that I was sent read: "self actualized people like Bandler and
Maslow are less than 1% of the population."  Talk about a way to put people
off from self-actualization!

 

Myth 3: Self-Actualization leads to Self-Indulgence, Aggrandizement,
Involvement, etc.

This is a criticism often presented against self-actualization.  The fear is
that if we focus on ourselves, we will get lost in "self," and that will
mean selfishness, egoism, self-obsession, self-inflation,
self-preoccupation, self-serving, etc.  The list of words used to attack the
process of self-actualizing seems unlimited!

 

The problem is that the evidence in history and in the lives of
self-actualizing people completely contradicts this.  When a person
actualizes his or her highest meanings and best performances, they get
beyond themselves.  They forget themselves (they become self-forgetful),
they get the ego out of the way because the purpose and direction of their
actualization is not about themselves, but what they can contribute.  That's
why "self-actualization" is not about you!  (Article, Meta Reflection 2009,
#35 Self-Actualization is Not about You!)

 

Meeting your lower needs (survival, safety, love, self value) is about you.
But when you move beyond the lower needs to the higher needs, you actualize
your meanings and performances for a project or vision that is bigger, and
other than,  yourself.  That's what self-actualization means.  It means
living to make a difference, living to contribute, to give.  That's why
self-actualization is not an end in itself.

 

Myth #4: Self-Actualization Psychology is shallow and naive.

With his focus on the bright side of human nature, some have charged that
Maslow and self-actualization is naive about human nature.  Of course, what
this really means is that the person who makes that charge has never read
what Maslow himself wrote.  If there was anyone who wrote a lot about
"evil," and the dark side and how human nature can go wrong, it was Maslow!
Further, it was Maslow himself who criticized Esalen and the first Human
Potential Movement on this very thing- they didn't take seriously that human
nature can be just as creatively destructive as it can be creatively
constructive.

 

Myth #5: Self-Actualization leads to irresponsibility and blaming.

I don't know where anyone would get this charge until they also are seduced
by Myth #1.  The truth is that self-actualizing people care about being
responsible and they actually seek to be held accountable.  They know their
inner powers and do not discharge them through blaming.  And if you read
Maslow, Rogers, Rollo May, Fromm, Frankl, and other key leaders in the first
movement, they strongly emphasized responsibility.

 

Myth #6: Human potential is unlimited. 

This is a myth on the other side of things- from those who see no
limitations and no constraints.  The danger on this side is turning human
nature into infinite and god-like and therefore having no limits.  Yet the
truth is that there are limits to potentials and possibilities.  Every power
of a human being is fallible- "liable to error," and limited.  Often when we
speak about the "unlimited potentials" within human nature or a particular
person, we are not speaking literally but speaking for the purpose of
inspiration.

 

Self-actualization is enabling people to become fully human.  To awaken to
the possibilities within each person and facilitating the unleashing process
so that each becomes the best version of themselves.  It is living
meaningfully (your semantics) in your body (your neurology)!  To your full
development!

 

Neuro-Semantic News

    NSTT Colorado is now under way in Colorado with 29 new NLP/ NS Trainers
in Training.

 

    The newest book is From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections 2010 - #28

June 21, 2010

 

 

MYTHS ABOUT SELF-ACTUALIZATION

 

 

Several readers of Neurons have recently informed me that
"Self-actualization is going around the NLP community, and I think they are
stealing your stuff!"  And I always say that while I could wish that they
would give credit, I'm pleased to hear that and that I'm honored that they
steal from my books on Self-Actualization (Unleashed, 2007,
Self-Actualization Psychology, 2008, and Unleashing Leadership, 2009).  The
main thing is that self-actualization is coming to the field of NLP and
informing it.  And that's really good since this is the secret history of
NLP and so enables the field to discover itself! 

 

What I'm not too pleased about, however, are some of the mis-quotes and the
mis-representations about self-actualization and some of the myths that are
perpetuated.  

 

Myth 1: Maslow changed his mind.

I have heard this several times and places.  While in Moscow in May of this
year, someone brought it up in the Unleashing Leadership workshop.  They
said that they had heard that Maslow changed his mind about the Hierarchy of
Needs just before his death.  That is as wrong as the newsstand magazines
about Michael Jackson living somewhere in hiding with Elvis.   And what is
my evidence?  In 1970 Maslow completely re-edited his classic work 1954
book, Motivation and Personality.  And in that 1970 edition, he not only
kept the Hierarchy of Needs but provided more evidence of the validity of
that model that he first published in 1943.  So, no Maslow never changed his
mind about that!

 

Myth 2: Bandler is a self-actualized person.

Recently someone nominated Richard Bandler as a self-actualized person!  I
broke into laughter when I heard that one!  Of the 15 traits of
self-actualizing people that Maslow identified and that he and Everett
Shostrum used to create the POI (Personal Orientation Inventory) that
measures self-actualization, Richard, at best only meets a quarter of them.
The quote that I was sent read: "self actualized people like Bandler and
Maslow are less than 1% of the population."  Talk about a way to put people
off from self-actualization!

 

Myth 3: Self-Actualization leads to Self-Indulgence, Aggrandizement,
Involvement, etc.

This is a criticism often presented against self-actualization.  The fear is
that if we focus on ourselves, we will get lost in "self," and that will
mean selfishness, egoism, self-obsession, self-inflation,
self-preoccupation, self-serving, etc.  The list of words used to attack the
process of self-actualizing seems unlimited!

 

The problem is that the evidence in history and in the lives of
self-actualizing people completely contradicts this.  When a person
actualizes his or her highest meanings and best performances, they get
beyond themselves.  They forget themselves (they become self-forgetful),
they get the ego out of the way because the purpose and direction of their
actualization is not about themselves, but what they can contribute.  That's
why "self-actualization" is not about you!  (Article, Meta Reflection 2009,
#35 Self-Actualization is Not about You!)

 

Meeting your lower needs (survival, safety, love, self value) is about you.
But when you move beyond the lower needs to the higher needs, you actualize
your meanings and performances for a project or vision that is bigger, and
other than,  yourself.  That's what self-actualization means.  It means
living to make a difference, living to contribute, to give.  That's why
self-actualization is not an end in itself.

 

Myth #4: Self-Actualization Psychology is shallow and naive.

With his focus on the bright side of human nature, some have charged that
Maslow and self-actualization is naive about human nature.  Of course, what
this really means is that the person who makes that charge has never read
what Maslow himself wrote.  If there was anyone who wrote a lot about
"evil," and the dark side and how human nature can go wrong, it was Maslow!
Further, it was Maslow himself who criticized Esalen and the first Human
Potential Movement on this very thing- they didn't take seriously that human
nature can be just as creatively destructive as it can be creatively
constructive.

 

Myth #5: Self-Actualization leads to irresponsibility and blaming.

I don't know where anyone would get this charge until they also are seduced
by Myth #1.  The truth is that self-actualizing people care about being
responsible and they actually seek to be held accountable.  They know their
inner powers and do not discharge them through blaming.  And if you read
Maslow, Rogers, Rollo May, Fromm, Frankl, and other key leaders in the first
movement, they strongly emphasized responsibility.

 

Myth #6: Human potential is unlimited. 

This is a myth on the other side of things- from those who see no
limitations and no constraints.  The danger on this side is turning human
nature into infinite and god-like and therefore having no limits.  Yet the
truth is that there are limits to potentials and possibilities.  Every power
of a human being is fallible- "liable to error," and limited.  Often when we
speak about the "unlimited potentials" within human nature or a particular
person, we are not speaking literally but speaking for the purpose of
inspiration.

 

Self-actualization is enabling people to become fully human.  To awaken to
the possibilities within each person and facilitating the unleashing process
so that each becomes the best version of themselves.  It is living
meaningfully (your semantics) in your body (your neurology)!  To your full
development!

 

Neuro-Semantic News

    NSTT Colorado is now underway with 29 new NS/NLP Trainers in Training.

 

   The Newest Book is Inside-Out Wealth,  you can see it on
www.neurosemantics.com 

 





 

 

L.  Michael Hall, Ph.D.

(ISNS) International Society of Neuro-Semantics

The International Meta-Coach System

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO.  81520 USA

1 970-523-7877

      <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com 

       <http://www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com/>
www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com 

       <http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org

       <http://www.meta-coaching.org/> www.meta-coaching.org

       www.meta-coachfoundation.org 

       <http://www.ns-video.com/> www.ns-video.com 

 

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