self-actualisation
Becoming your best
Self-actualisation is the process of fulfilling one's potential and becoming the best version of oneself.
The term comes from psychology, particularly Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where it sits at the top—achievable only after basic needs like food, safety, and belonging are met.
Someone pursuing self-actualisation seeks personal growth, creativity, and meaning: She left her corporate job as part of her self-actualisation journey.
Also spelled self-actualization.
Humanistic psychology founder
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- self-transcendenceSurpassing one's ego boundaries
- potentialLatent capacity for development
- growthIncrease in size
fulfillment · motivation · humanistic · Rogers · becoming · integration · congruence · self-determination
Latent capacity for development
- purposeReason something exists
- goalsIntended end results
- journeyTravel from place to place
- developmentProgress toward maturity
improvement · coaching · aspirations · vision · achievement · empowerment · self-discovery · authenticity
Profound spiritual awakening
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- nirvanaRelease from cyclical existence
- mokshaRelease from rebirth cycle
- satoriSudden spiritual awakening
self-realization · consciousness · transcendence · meditation · mindfulness · inner-peace · wholeness · oneness
Conveyed thought or feeling
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- artistryExceptional creative skill
- innovationCreating something original
- originalityNovel creative quality
imagination · vision · craft · mastery · inspiration · voice · creation · talent
Maslow
Humanistic psychology founder
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- self-transcendenceSurpassing one's ego boundaries
- potentialLatent capacity for development
growth · fulfillment · motivation · humanistic · Rogers · becoming · integration · congruence · self-determination · intrinsic
potential
Latent capacity for development
development · improvement · coaching · aspirations · vision · achievement · empowerment · self-discovery · authenticity · values
enlightenment
Profound spiritual awakening
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- nirvanaRelease from cyclical existence
- mokshaRelease from rebirth cycle
satori · self-realization · consciousness · transcendence · meditation · mindfulness · inner-peace · wholeness · oneness · presence
expression
Conveyed thought or feeling
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- artistryExceptional creative skill
- innovationCreating something original
originality · imagination · vision · craft · mastery · inspiration · voice · creation · talent · genius
self-actualisationstagnation
Absence of flow or progress
complacency · arrested development · regression · unfulfillment · stunted growth
self-actualisationsurvival mode
Emergency coping state
deprivation · deficiency · scarcity mindset · subsistence living · poverty of spirit
self-actualisationconformity
Adherence to norms
self-alienation · self-denial · inauthenticity · false self · repression
actual, selves, selfish, selfhood, selfless, selfishly, selflessness, actually, actuality