Like many others, I’ve been climbing the Maslow pyramid for a while. As soon as you have one thing sorted in life, you can move on to the next. First you need to take care of your basic needs, than you move on to safety and relationships and then comes self-esteem and self-actualization.
The most important and basic thing Maslow’s theory teaches us, is you can’t skip a level in this pyramid. In the past, when we didn’t have access to the Internet yet, this was a no-brainer. It was pretty much impossible to cheat the system.
This has changed.
When you have your basic needs sorted (physiological and safety) you can go on the internet and start off with self-actualization. You can watch videos of guru’s who talk about meditation, spiritual transcendence, and many other “advanced” topics.
You can indulge yourself in self-help, if you want. The web is full of articles, video’s and podcasts on how to be a better version of yourself. They range from productivity to how to deal with failure to building strong relationships.
I believe in self-help. I believe it can truly help, and be a source of inspiration, motivation or empowerment to push or pull you through rough times or insecurities.
I still get inspired by others, to work on my self, and to write to others about this subject.
But here’s where it gets tricky.
Some people have the feeling they HAVE TO listen to all these self-help messages. Some people think everything they hear about self-help is the truth and if they don’t listen, or implement it, they will be lesser people. Or even failures of society.
Some people start their journey to become a better version of themselves, too early. When they are still lacking fundamental social skills.
I want to emphasize that whoever says whatever, you don’t HAVE TO listen. If you feel like you’re doing fine, then don’t change anything. If you feel like it is all too much or too soon, take a step back and focus on things important to you at the moment.
A lot of this self-help is aiming towards becoming the best version of yourself, instead of becoming a better version…
