Tag: Self-actualization

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Do The Thing You Have To Do

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.” ~ Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley

The need for willpower

Has this ever happened to you? You set a goal to lose weight and decide you need to eat a healthier diet. So you pass up the doughnuts at work, eat a salad for lunch, snack on almonds or raw veggies in the afternoon . . . then at home, after work, you find yourself sitting on the 2nd shelf of the refrigerator, eating everything in sight. Or you decide to start an exercise program and to go to the gym directly after work every day. You load your gym bag in the car with every intention of going to the gym after work. But at the end of the day, you are so tired you drive straight home – past the gym – and collapse in a heap in front of the TV. What happened? Where did your willpower go? Continue reading “Do The Thing You Have To Do”

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Have A Plan

“What is your dearest wish? What dreams do you have for the future? What do you want to be or do? Imagine your dream coming true. How wonderful would it be. How fulfilling.

“What holds you back from realizing your wish? What is it in you that stops you from really going for it?” ~ Gabriele Oettingen, Rethinking Positive Thinking

What holds you back?

As we near the end of another year, take a moment to reflect on this year that has nearly passed. Think back to January. Did you have big dreams? Make any resolutions? Set a BIG goal? Now that the year is almost over, how are you doing? Are you still on track? Continue reading “Have A Plan”

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“Live For Holiness”

“We don’t live for happiness, we live for holiness. Day to day we seek out pleasure, but deep down, human beings are endowed with moral imagination. All human beings seek to lead lives not just of pleasure, but of purpose, righteousness, and virtue.” ~ David Brooks

What is the purpose of life? What are we living for?

These are deep and important questions. Many books have been written about these very questions and we certainly are not going to answer them in a short essay. Continue reading ““Live For Holiness””

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Life’s Summons

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet.” ~ Frederick Buechner

What does Life want from you? Most of us, if we think about it at all, typically ask “What do I want out of life?” (Some of us never even get that far . . . we coast from day to day, being blown this way and that by the winds of circumstance. However that’s a subject for another time.) But the question I have been contemplating for the past few weeks is not “What do I want from Life?” but “What does Life want from me?” I invite you to think about this question, too. Continue reading “Life’s Summons”

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How Is The Best Way To Live?

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

How is the best way to live? I have this question posted in big letters on my bulletin board and I contemplate this from time to time. Jim Rohn said, “Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely.” I read this quote recently and it has given me a sense of urgency in determining the best way to live. Continue reading “How Is The Best Way To Live?”

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Don’t Focus On What You Don’t Want

Don’t focus on what you don’t want. Choose the thoughts (and actions) that serve you best.

“The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do.” ~ Wayne Dyer

A friend and colleague recently loaned me a tape program, “Excuses Begone!” by Dr. Wayne Dyer. There was one concept from Dr. Dyer’s presentation that really sparked my imagination. Continue reading “Don’t Focus On What You Don’t Want”

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Breaking Negative Habits

“Wisdom is letting go of some bad habits everyday.” ~ Farshad Asl

This is how I used to wake up. Clock goes off at 6:00 AM. Hit the snooze button. Clock goes off at 6:05 AM. Hit the snooze button. Clock goes off at 6:10 AM. Hit the snooze button. This continues till 6:30 or sometimes 6:45. Finally climb slowly out of bed, groggy and headachy from having too many beers the night before. Head to the bathroom, coughing and hacking because of my smoker’s cough. Pop a couple of Tylenol to help the headache. Continue reading “Breaking Negative Habits”

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The Self Actualized Life

“What human beings can be, they must be.” ~ Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow has been called one of the most famous psychologists of the 20th Century.  His research into what makes successful and high-achieving people do what they do and be what they are is the precursor of the Positive Psychology movement.

The Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow is known for his “hierarchy of needs” – a ranking or scale of human needs. At the bottom are physical or physiological needs – air, food, water, sleep. Next are needs for safety and security – good health, secure employment, social and family stability. These two categories comprise our basic needs. Going up the hierarchy, next come needs for love and belonging – intimate relationships, friends, a sense of connectedness. Then, the need for self- esteem – achievement, respect of others, prestige. These two categories define our psychological needs. Finally, at the top of the pyramid, we reach self-actualization – what Maslow considered as achieving one’s full potential, that is “what one can be, one must be.”

Continue reading “The Self Actualized Life”

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Straight Line

Don’t do more than you need to do to reach your goal. And don’t do less . . .

What is the shortest distance between two points? Let’s say you’re at point A and you want to go to point B. The shortest way, of course, is a straight line. You don’t first go down to C and then over to D and, oh yeah, drop by E on the way. Or do you? Continue reading “Straight Line”