"Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What human beings can be, they must be.

They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization."

~ Abraham Maslow, 20th century humanistic psychologist

from Motivation & Personality

Abraham Maslow taught that the need to grow, to reach our potential, and to self-actualize is an absolutely fundamental need.

According to Maslow, this need to actualize is not a "wish" or a "desire" or a "sure would be nice to have" kind of thing. It's a NEED (like that need we have for oxygen).

To the extent that we’ve taken care of our more basic needs and we’re not satisfying this need to self-actualize, we’re gonna live with anxiety, regret and disillusionment. Period.

The specific manifestation of our self-actualizing process is obviously unique and varies greatly from person to person. As Maslow points out, in one individual it may "take the form of the desire to be an excellent parent, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventing things."

However, in all cases, the question remains: What must you be?

Are there any processes that you think ‘reveal’ this true nature most clearly to those who feel lost, confused or out of touch with their intrinsic nature?

Some people seem to be very certain of their true nature. They stand and declare themselves.

Others are looking, searching… and not finding.

For the latter, buried under layers of shoulds or coulds, mights and maybes, how can they know what they must be?

Wow. Great question, WW. If there was only a formula for it. I certainly haven’t found it, but I do believe there are clues—clues that have been left by these great teachers that I’m dedicating myself to collecting in the big ideas. You might like these ones specifically tagged with purpose.

For me, I’ve followed the zig zag lines of my life with a growing trust in the process and in the fact that we all have our own unique gifts and that, as the Buddha says, “Our work is to discover our work and then, with all our heart, to give ourselves to it.”

More pragmatically, have you checked out Martin Seligman’s Signature Strengths Questionnaire ? That was a huge tool for me. Plus, you may dig these exercises (I’m always writing in my journal and following the exercises recommended in the books I’m reading and altho no one exercise will get us there, I find that we can triangulate to our purpose as we do more and more of these journal exercises.)

Hope that helps and LOVE your questions!

A hint, but not a 1-2-3, at finding what one must do: The young writer wants to know if he has “talent,” if old Master Rilke will validate him. Rilke says this need for external validation is nonsense:

Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.” – Rainer Maria Rilke Letters to a Young Poet

Uncle Joe Campbell put it more bluntly (if more vaguely?): “Follow your bliss.”

Thank you Brian—what I am loving about your work is your ability to pluck the jewels and present them with Zen-like brevity, humor, humanity, and presence. The ‘white-space’ around the jewels makes them shine all the more. It’s so-ooo nice to get a succinct hit of (ain’t that the) Truth.

I confess that the daily drip-drip of thinkArete Big Ideas have been working their way into me, re-awakening a passion for wisdom. I’m so grateful for that.

Thank you James_in_China—this speaks to me, as I typically feel a need for external validation, and doubt the worth of anything I have to say/offer. Going to to the depths of the heart to see what and whether anything has spread it’s root there… that’s a powerful image to take away. This is the Maslow ‘I Must’ at the core of ‘would I do it, even if no-one else ever saw it or knew about it?’

Guys—When you look at the lives of many of the great creators of history, they were often doing what they ‘must’ do, with scant reward or recognition during their lifetimes. Regardless, they just had to do it.

The scant reward part sounds like it sucks; but I guess big inner rewards from doing what you love. And there’s greater opportunity and know-how today to turn such passions to more profitable ends.

What’s sometimes tricky… particularly with a certain level of exposure to ‘spiritual’ ideas… is the pernicious influence of the shoulds. And that creates an atmosphere of mirages through which you try and see who you really are as opposed to who you think you should be, could be or ought to be.

I guess greater awareness of true spiritual reality, as it is NOW, is the only answer to that one.

And then there’s curiosity.

I read something this morning, and the writer was talking about the oft-asked metaphysical question of why iinfinite undifferentiated being might have ‘left’ that state in order to experience infinite diversity of experiences. No-one could understand why IT would feel the need to do that. And the author had a ‘message’ through that it was CURIOSITY!

Curiosity drove Infinite Being to see what it would be like to experience life from an infinite number of ‘separate’ perspectives.

And I think we too get lost in our curiosity… a fascination for how others are living their lives, what they are doing, and whether we could see ourselves doing that too. While we are fascinated with what others are doing, we aren’t doing what we are here to do. I’ve seen myself doing a thousand different things while searching for that true vocation. Just ended up with more and more confusion with all the possibilities.

Do you think there is a difference between inner purpose and so called outer purpose? The inner shared purpose of rediscovering the Truth, re-uniting with the Source… versus the need for a worldly purpose that will provide a deep sense of meaning, fulfilment AND put bread on the table?

Love it, guys.

Thanks for the kind words, WW. That’s exactly my goal.

I think the ultimate purpose is to integrate our inner and outer selves. I started Zaadz to help people integrate spirituality and capitalism and I think one of the greatest “spiritual” challenges of the 21st century is to figure out a way to do what we love/how we can best serve the world (spirituality) with how we pay the bills (capitalism).

You might dig Eric Butterworth’s Spiritual Economics and Wallace Wattles’ Science of Getting Rich..

End of the day, I think we have a moral obligation to figure out how to circulate wealth doing what we love and serving the world.

Fun.

-b

Maslow is a Big Gun, but I think he is wrong. What if someone is retired, for example? Why is always necessary to accomplish something? Why can’t someone just be? Our society is so hung up on doing! I do believe that his information serves most, but not all. My petition to God is to give us a little more slack, and suggest that to be might be more important, during some life phases, that to be something.

he didn’t say “what one can DO one must DO.” he said BE. :)

What I read about Abraham Maslow in my psychology textbooks has been a big influence on the way I live my life to this day. I loved that section of my psych class.