Maslow and Productivity

I f you spend time wondering why you do what you do and for what purpose, have a good look through this article, it may surprise you.

Many of us are pursuing activities that directly or indirectly we hope will take us to new levels of fulfilment. But how can we set ourselves up to achieve fulfilment in our chosen field, and in our lives generally?

Fulfilment might also be called Self-Actualisation or expressing one’s full potential. According to Abraham Maslow (American psychologist whose theories have been influential in 20th century thought), it is intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is.

Maslow believed we have a hierarchy of needs, beginning with (a) basic needs for food, shelter, then (b) needs for safety and security, (c) needs for love and belonging, (d) the need for self esteem, and (e) the need for self-actualisation. We cannot meet the higher-order needs until the lower ones are met. A hungry or fearful person will not recognise yet their need for self actualisation.

How do we characterise Self-Actualised (SA) people?

* Generally they are realistically oriented with an efficient perception of reality extending into all areas of their life. SA persons are unthreatened and unfrightened by the unknown. They usually have a superior ability to reason, to see the truth.

* SA people accept themselves, others and the natural world the way they are. They see human nature as is, have rid themselves of crippling guilt or shame, enjoy themselves without regret or apology, and have no unnecessary inhibitions.

* Spontaneous in their inner life, thoughts and impulses, SA people are unhampered by convention. Their ethics is autonomous, they are individuals, and are motivated towards continual improvement.

* Focus on problems outside themselves. SA people tend to have a mission in life requiring much energy, and their mission is their reason for existence. They are usually serene and worry-free as they pursue their mission with unshakeable determination.

* Detachment, the need for privacy. Alone but not lonely, unflappable, retain dignity amid confusion and personal misfortunes, objective. SA people are self starters, responsible for themselves, own their behaviour.

* Autonomous, independent of culture and environment. SA’s rely on inner self for satisfaction. Resilient and stable in the face of hard knocks, they are self contained, independent from love and respect of others.

* Freshness of appreciation. Have a fresh rather than stereotyped appreciation of people and things. Moment to moment living is thrilling, transcending and spiritual. SA’s live the present moment to the fullest.

* Peak experiences. “Feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and valuable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences.” Abraham Maslow.

Eight Ways To Self Actualize

Work towards meeting and satisfying the lower-order needs (food, shelter, then safety and security, then love and belonging, and then self esteem). Once you have done this, and I acknowledge that it may be difficult and time-consuming, you will be able to make progress with the following:

1. Experience things fully, vividly, selflessly. Throw yourself into the experiencing of something: concentrate on it fully, let it totally absorb you.
 

2. Life is a moment-by-moment choice between safety (out of fear and need for defence) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth): Consciously make the growth choice many times a day.
 

3. Let your true self emerge. Try to go beyond socially-defined modes of thinking and feeling, let your inner experience tell you what you truly feel.
 

4. When in doubt, be honest. It may take some courage, but look honestly at yourself and take responsibility for who you are and what happens to you. Self-delusion is the enemy of self-actualisation.
 

5. Listen to your own tastes. Be prepared to be unpopular if necessary.

6. Use your intelligence, work to do well the things you want to do, no matter how insignificant they seem.

7. Make peak experiencing more likely: get rid of illusions and false notions. Learn what you are good at and conversely what you are not good at.

8. Know thyself. Who are you? What are you? What is good and what is bad for you? Where you are going? What is your mission?

Opening yourself up to yourself in this way means recognising one’s defences–and then finding the courage to give them up.

Good luck,

Committed to YOUR Personal Productivity,

James is a productivity coach specializing in working with people who are procrastinators and those who want results quickly. His ability to get brilliant results with his clients is quite amazing…

The Productivity Coach

Extraordinary Results for Professional and Personal Freedom

To Find Out the “5 Secrets of REALLY Successful People” go to…

The Productivity Coach

P:      0421 210 444

Neural Maps

Neural Maps

In terms of productivity, developing new attitudes, behaviours and habits are not only desirable, they are essential.

They are necessary because without them you won’t be able to function effectively. Most routine things you do are done on “autopilot”, like driving your car, cleaning your teeth, doing your job etc.

As a human being you (along with everyone else) constantly:

•    Make connections in your brain

•    Divide things into pair of opposites (such as good, bad, right wrong)

•    Look for coincidences

•    Compare & contrast

•    Differentiate

•    Make meaning out of the connections you make

What you are doing is making new neural pathways in your brain and strengthening existing ones. These maps show up in areas such as skills, habits, opinions and beliefs.

Sadly, as I see it, most people seem to live their whole lives unconsciously, totally conditioned by family, peers, marketers, advertisers and propaganda. They don’t have an original thought; everything they think is thrown up habitually by their subconscious minds, some of it dysfunctional.

Does Intelligence Matter?

But no matter how much you improve the processing power of your “human computer” there is still the matter of the “data set” with which it views the world.

Put another way, the data on your “human hard drive” determines to a large extent how you interpret “new data.”

Or simpler still: depending on your experience of life up to this point, how you react to new experiences can differ radically.

For example, a man having been rejected by a woman may perceive that moment as humorous or devastating.

A woman may perceive the apparent sexual advances of a man as threatening or flattering.

A speaker may perceive laughter as his audience laughing with him – or at him.

Why?

Same stimuli + different perceptual instruments + unique neural map = different data”

“Neural map” refers to our best understanding of neuroscience to date: neural networking.

The human mind can be viewed as a complex network of data and connections between those data. (Warning: colossal understatement follows.)

In relation to your well-being, the data matters and the connections matter.

These connections are a complex web of different sensations, feelings and beliefs and actions.

Which neural maps may be hindering your productivity?

Why not create new, more empowering ones?

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Conditioning and Productivity

I was thinking the other day on the different factors that help people produce consistently good results on a day to day basis so I created the following video to explain in simple terms how this happens and more importantly, what to do about it.

 

Committed to YOUR Personal Productivity,

James is a productivity coach specializing in working with people who are procrastinators and those who want results quickly. His ability to get brilliant results with his clients is quite amazing…

“Fast Tracking YOUR SUCCESS… SuccessFULL Living!”

To Find Out the “5 Secrets of REALLY Successful People” go to…

The Productivity Coach

P: 0421 210 444

Finding Fault With Others

This is the fifth post (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) on how success and productivity can be stymied by emotional reactiveness.

“When one experiences truth, the madness of finding fault with others disappears.” Goenka

All sorts of problems you have with other people and situations can be examined and with a little practice you can catch yourself while the incident is taking place or at least shortly after.

I was on my way to work one morning, walking along the footpath on a busy road in an industrial area, when I noticed a vehicle approaching with its left indicator on. The driver wanted to turn into the driveway that I was just about to walk over. I stopped and waved him through.

Well, that is exactly what he did but he drove straight past without even looking at me or putting his hand up to say thank you. My immediate reaction was one of anger at his apparent rudeness.

Almost immediately I asked myself what it was about his actions that I did not like.  After a few seconds’ reflection I realized that it was his apparent unwillingness to acknowledge me that got my blood boiling.

But wait a minute, isn’t that what I have been doing to myself all these years? And to others?

I have been more than willing to note everything that I’ve done wrong and beat myself up over it, reinforcing my inadequacies, but I have never acknowledged the good things I have done.

Wow!

That poor man was an unwitting accomplice in another act of self-healing.  He may not have seen me, maybe he did deliberately ignore me, he could have been under a lot of stress or there was some other reason entirely.

Whatever it was, it belonged to him, not me.

Sometime ago a young man called Bill came to see me because he was finding it hard to cope at work. He found himself getting really irritated at a female co-worker far too often and didn’t know why. He knew it was irrational but couldn’t stop it.

Bill and I sat down together and had a look at what it was he did not like about her behaviour. The trait she displayed that he recognized as his own was selfishness. He saw that that was exactly how he had been behaving at home, refusing to help around the house and generally being uncooperative with his parents, especially his mother.

Bringing that to the light of day caused him to take stock and start to consider others as he would consider himself.

While it is very obvious that someone who takes and does not give is very selfish the converse can also be true. That is, someone who will only give and refuses to receive is also selfish.

Why is that?

Simply put, they are not allowing others to give. Denying others the opportunity to do what you love to do is not a fair exchange – is it?

Anna found herself getting slightly irritated with her mother at a family barbecue one evening. She overheard her mother putting herself down with a throwaway comment similar to “I couldn’t do that, I am not smart enough”.

Through her previous work with me she had learned how to apply the mirror. On closer inspection she found that was exactly what she had been doing to herself for a large part of her life. Yet she had not been consciously aware of it.

Until now.

Andy was at a business meeting one evening and started talking to a woman with a Scottish accent. He took a dislike to her almost immediately and withdrew from the conversation and possibly some new business. When we looked at this incident together a week or two later he was able to understand the cause of his discomfort and deal with it.

She had came across to him as being a “know it all”. On reflection, he recognised that quality in himself at times. Also, her accent and looks reminded him of an aunt he had when he was young that he disliked intensely.

Fortunately, he was able to meet with her again soon after and discuss doing business together.

As a result of our work, she no longer bothered him as he had “made the darkness conscious” and learned to be more accepting of himself.

Do any of these examples ring a bell for you? If so and you would like to delve a little deeper into your own behaviour give me a call. Initial meeting is free and without obligation.

Committed to YOUR Personal Productivity,

James is a productivity coach specializing in working with people who are procrastinators and those who want results quickly. His ability to get brilliant results with his clients is quite amazing…

“Fast Tracking YOUR SUCCESS… SuccessFULL Living!”

To Find Out the “5 Secrets of REALLY Successful People” go to…

The Productivity Coach

P: 0421 210 444

Perseverance and Productivity

Hi, I’ve often pondered on the tiny difference there can be between winning and losing, especially in sport. This video demonstrates in a very clear and motivating way how small differences can have a huge effect on outcomes.

If you want to get that little bit more from yourself, call James on

0421 210 444 NOW!

If the video doesn’t appear above, please click on the Post Title at the top to see it

Committed to YOUR Personal Productivity,

James is a productivity coach specializing in working with people who are procrastinators and those who want results quickly. His ability to get brilliant results with his clients is quite amazing…

“Fast Tracking YOUR SUCCESS… SuccessFULL Living!”

To Find Out the “5 Secrets of REALLY Successful People” go to…

The Productivity Coach

P: 0421 210 444

Why We All Need A Coach

The one critical reason why we all need a coach is that sometimes our perception of a situation is skewed and one dimensional. We all could do with someone to assist us to obtain a more balanced perspective in life.

It can be like riding a tobbogan down a hill in the snow again and again. There are many ways to get to the bottom but if you keep going down the same path you’ll make deep tracks that make you go faster but seriously limit your ability to change direction.

You get comfortably stuck in a rut.

If that rut is your life then the tracks that cause your problems are your fears, beliefs and habits.

Counter-Productive Belief

For a long time I ran my business with the belief that I should really look after my customers.

“Nothing wrong with that” I hear you saying to yourself. Perfectly true. But it wasn’t until someone helped me see what I couldn’t. That yes, I was looking after my customers but I wasn’t looking after me. There was an awful lot I was doing at my expense while thinking I was doing the right thing.

I was unable to see both sides of the equation.

Once seen from this new perspective and acted upon, it made a huge difference in terms of profit and self confidence.

Sport and Life

Having a coach to help you with your goals, beliefs and to develop empowering habits really does make sense. How many top sports people do you know that don’t have a coach? I’m certainly not aware of any.

You are participating in the most important game of all, your life.

Make the most of it.

Committed to YOUR Personal Productivity,

James is a productivity coach specializing in working with people who are procrastinators and those who want results quickly. His ability to get brilliant results with his clients is quite amazing…

“Fast Tracking YOUR SUCCESS… SuccessFULL Living!”

To Find Out the “5 Secrets of REALLY Successful People” go to…

The Productivity Coach

P: 0421 210 444