[Neurons] 2022 Neurons #38 THE SELF-ACTUALIZING ATTITUDE

Mon Sep 19 09:41:36 EDT 2022

From: L. Michael Hall

2022 Neurons #38

September 19, 2022

Super-charging Your Attitude #13

THE SELF-ACTUALIZING ATTITUDE

Just when I think I have finished this series on attitude, another idea pops
up in my mind.  This time it came from reviewing the book, Unleashed! (2007)
and coming across a chapter that was titled, "The Attitude."  Like so many
things these days, I had not even remembered writing that chapter.  The
theme of that chapter can be easily summarized: The experience of
self-actualizing and peak experiencing do not work automatically, instead
they require a special attitude.  Then to detail that self-actualizing
attitude, the following are listed.

1) An open attitude.  Open to the possibilities and potentials that clamor
within, open to the changes that may bring, open to giving up inauthentic
roles and becoming real, open to being more vulnerable as a human being.

2) A willingness to 'become.'  This is part of the open attitude.  Becoming
occurs best from being and refers to developing and orchestrating your inner
gifts as you make informed decisions about your destiny.  It is the
adventure of becoming your real self and your best version of you.

3) A self-authoring attitude.  To be and to become requires that you
primarily  own your own "authority" and not defer to others, to authority
figures, to external rules, etc.  As a meta-program of self-referencing this
means that you become the author of your story, your experiences, and your
values.  Doing that gives you a "circle (locus) of control" over your innate
capacities.

4) A transcending passion.  This passion for life starts with being the best
you and then transcends to seeking to making a difference in the world by
contributing your uniqueness.  As you get this attitude, you experience a
never-ending motivation, a compelling reason to get out of bed each day.
You fall in love with an ambition that drives you.

5) Playful curiosity.  In all of this, instead of getting really "serious"
about things, you continually see what is humorous in being human-what is
silly, ridiculous, incongruent, etc. and this keeps you playful.  This is
important.  After all, passion without playfulness invites the demonic-the
hellish rigidity, dogmatism, and perfectionism that plagues so many high
achievers. 

6) A restless attitude.  Self-actualizing people are forever restless
because they live in the realm of "the more, the more."  That's the being
dimension.  Unlike the deficiency dimension of the lower needs which
operates by "the more, the less," this works by the reverse principle.  The
more you satisfy the being-needs and values, the more your capacity and
passion grows.  The new discontent that then arises typically means that
another higher level being-need has opened  up.

7) A beginner's mind.  Because self-actualizing people have a passionate
learning state of curiosity and playfulness, school is never out for them.
They are constantly learning and developing.  Out of that comes a
never-ending flow of freshness and creativity.

8) A self-challenging attitude.  Knowing the dulling effect of boredom,
familiarity, and the comfort zone, self-actualizing people have a hunger
that makes them long for a challenge.  To be "put to the test" is a thrill
for them.

9) A mental agility.  With a beginner's mind, they are naturally flexible
and so they easily adapt to changing conditions.  No wonder then that they
can shift perspective, learn so quickly, and become the pioneers of
tomorrow.

10) An embracing of change.  If we ask, "Who are the change embracers who
are not put off or threatened by change?" the answer is, "those who are
self-actualizing."  They are the ones Gary Hamel described, "the future
belongs to the agile."

11) A resilient spirit.  Self-actualizing people are forever unleashing more
and more of their potentials because whenever they experience a set-back,
they immediately (or quickly) bounce back.  That's because they have bounce
inside of themselves.  This attitude prevents obstacles from sapping their
energy.

12) A discipline of follow-through.  This persisting attitude gives them
stamina and tenacity to maintain their course.  Ego-strength empowers them
to create and follow a discipline practice and it is in that persistence
that they succeed.

13) A decisiveness.  Because so many people wait for "something to happen"
and only react to the events of life, they suffer from the torments of
indecisiveness.  Not self-actualizing people.  They decide and then persist
and if things go south, they bounce back, learn, and readjust.

14) An audacious dreaming.  They dare to dream-and to dream big.  They tap
into the powers of the imagination in order to create, first in their mind,
a bright future that draws out all of their powers.

15) A total engagement.  With all of the previous attitudes, they live in
the here-and-now and are fully present to whatever they are engaged in.
They do it whole-heartedly.

16) A risk willingness.  Not expecting absolute safety or secure, they
secure themselves in their a ability to learn, to be resilient, to be
connected, etc.  Consequently the risks they take are intellect and well
calibrated.

While specific actions enable you to do what needs to be done, it is
attitude that makes your actions energized with the particular qualities
that the action needs.  Just "doing what you need to do" is not enough.  You
have to embed your actions within a larger frame of mind-a meta-state.  And
because all attitudes are comprised of various combinations of meta-states,
knowing how that works gives you the tools for supercharging your attitudes
just right.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

ISNS Executive Director

P.O. Box 8

Clifton Colorado 81520 USA

(970) 523-7877

drhall at acsol.net  

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