Self-Actualization is Success in Life & Money

"Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves.  What humans can be, they must be.  They must be true to their own nature.  This need we may call self-actualization." ~ Abraham Maslow

What is the purpose of my life?  What is the purpose of my money?  What makes me successful? 

If the three questions were circles in a Venn diagram, the place where they overlap would be self-actualization.  One's degree of success, if success is prudently defined, is the measurement of progress toward self-discovery, toward self-actualization, where one knows (and is acting as) the authentic self.

As most of us may attest, it is difficult to be authentic, to feel and act as yourself, when you are starving, insecure, emotionally distraught, socially displaced or underappreciated; and absolute financial poverty can certainly contribute to all of these conditions.

Money's utility, however, is best suited to help us acquire the most basic of human needs, the physiological needs of food, shelter and clothing.  Those needs that are higher, with reference to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (pictured above), such as safety, belonging (love), and esteem are not purchased with money; they only appear that way.

The importance of money, material wealth and social status are taught by social conventions and ingrained into the human psyche by messages received and repeated often, such as those of mass media and marketing.  To say, "I need more money to feel important," or "If I had more money, I would be more secure financially, emotionally and socially," is a function of what you have learned as a product of your environment.

Where people often make mistakes in life and in money is to measure success by monetary, material or social means; to make life goals financial goals.  If money can truly meet the human needs of safety, belonging and esteem, then there would be no such thing as a financially wealthy person who is insecure, unloved or poorly regarded.

While perception is reality (one's feelings are subjective and not necessarily "wrong"), it is a false perception to believe that more money equates to more fulfillment.  Conversely, but speaking to the same point, some of the wealthiest people in the world, such as Warren Buffett, are self-actualized people making large sums of money, not because they had once aspired to obtain great material wealth or social status, but because they are being and acting authentically as themselves.

"One cannot choose wisely for a life unless he dares to listen to himself, his own self, at each moment of life." ~ Abraham Maslow

In my humble opinion, the higher needs in Maslow's hierarchy, the needs of safety, belonging and esteem, come naturally as a by-product of being, knowing and acting the authentic self.  The answer to the three questions, "What is the purpose of my life?" and "What is the purpose of my money?" and "What makes me successful?" are all the same: self-actualization.

If we may agree that a general, overarching goal in life is to be successful, it is prudent to define success in some way that involves you being you, with little or no regard for financial or material wealth.  Once you have reached the level of financial security that enables you to meet all of your physiological needs, any money that you obtain above that level may become a tool to aid in your self-actualization.

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Source: Motivation and Personality, by Abraham H. Maslow

Related Post: Mind vs. Brain Part II: Priorities, Pursuits & Productivity

Photo of Dave Gilmore Credit: Gary Williams

 

 

Comments

[Eric Napier]

What a great post. As another great psychologist said: "Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run - in the long run, I say! - success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it."
--Victor Frankl

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Thanks Eric!

My philosophies are heavily influenced by Victor Frankl. The quote of his you shared is one of my favorites. I especially like the idea that "happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it."

Here's a link to my Victor Frankl page, if you haven't seen it:
http://financialphilosopher.typepad.com/thefinancialphilosopher/viktor-frankl-mans-search-for-meaning.html

Cheers...

Kent

[Leone]

Great post!

Alas we are morphing into a society where the widely held belief is that an internal lack can be fixed by an external means.

Leonardo

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Leonardo:

I agree. Humans have always had the problem of seeking comfort and answers externally. This problem, or capacity for it, is exponentially larger today than when, for example, Plato addressed the problem in Republic (the allegory of the cave) 2500 years ago.

Thanks for the comment...

[Steve]

This article begs the question; how do I find my authentic self? How do I listen to my inner voice when it isn't saying anything? I suppose this is the beginning of the journey.