Measuring Up
Most of us have the tendency to measure our self-worth by comparing our accomplishments and abilities to those around us. The problem is that self-actualization doesn’t have anything to do with others. The only thing that matters is your progress, not the progress of others. Whether it’s education or material things or even beauty standards, you cannot consider other people’s accomplishments as your standard.
Holistic Accept
It’s so easy to become dissatisfied with who you are and what you have accomplished. Oftentimes, when you look in the mirror, it actually serves to increase the negativity with which you think about yourself. You cannot fall into that trap. In order to self-actualize, you must accept your whole self — your strengths and weaknesses — and you must embrace them all. If progress is to be made, you must operate first from truth.
Taking Control
No matter how much influence an external factor might have on the people around you, the self-actualized remain unaffected. This is because they don’t lie to themselves about their own identities and they have a clear picture of the adjustments they need to make to render the external factor irrelevant. Understand that the power you possess in terms of your outlook is absolutely astonishing. If you’re realistic, honest and authentic, there’s nothing you can’t achieve.
Keep Growing
Self-awareness requires an understanding that there’s no such thing as a finished product. You must never stop growing as a person and learning as a professional. Accept who you are and then take steps to becoming the best version of you that you can be. Once you’re 110% comfortable with who you are, who you’ve surrounded yourself with, and what you’re destined to do, you may begin your journey toward self-actualization.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. R. Kay Green is CEO/President of RKG Marketing Solutions, a Professor of Marketing & Author of the new book, I’ve Been Called The B* Word… Now What Do I Do? 13 Rules for the New-Age Professional Woman; IveBeenCalledTheBWord.com.
