Beyond Self-Actualisation
Climbing the Ladder of Self Development
Good morning Citizens!
So I recently had a phone conversation with a good friend of mine because I was struggling to articulate my journey of self development and we ended up talking about this framework that looks like a ladder.
It’s a way of mapping the journey I have been on personally as I have had the luxury of being able to dedicate my time to studying what it looks like to be deliberate about health and wellbeing.
This is the framework I am working with at the moment.
It's still not perfectly formed so excuse a bit of vagueness but it traces from my past into my present but also helps us to see into the future of where this self development journey is going.
When people say “Trust the process” they’re talking about a specific thing.
The Process is a fundamental feature of the way reality shows itself to us.
The Real World isn’t a collection of objects that are here or there or anywhere in particular.
Reality is a dynamic pattern, bringing things together and pulling things apart in a structure that moves in a direction.
You can think of that direction as forwards or outwards
but to make it easier to understand I’m going to talk about moving in the upwards direction, like climbing a ladder.
Picture each rung on this ladder as a key phase of self-development, and as you reach each level, the next level becomes available to you.
The longer you move with The Process, the higher you get and the more you develop.
It’s like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Here’s a quick primer on how I understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
In 1943 an American psychologist named Abraham Maslow came up with his hierarchy of needs as a way to describe, categorise and arrange the things that human beings are motivated towards.
They are arranged in order, from the bottom to the top and are based on the natural drives that he observed in people across many different cultures…
Physiology: These are the basic needs of your physical body for ongoing survival: enough food, enough water, a comfortable temperature, and sleep.
Safety: Now that we know we won't burn, starve or freeze to death and we aren't suffering from dangerous dehydration or sleep depravation, we can concentrate on finding or making some shelter. We need to be protected from extreme weather, dangerous animals and hostile outsiders and we also need to feel secure and protected from potentially dangerous situations.
Belonging: Once we are comfortable and safe from harm, our attentions turn to our relationships. We need to feel like we belong to a group. We seek friendship and family, we look to receive love from people around us.
Esteem: Our more basic needs have been met and we have people around us. So we now look for acclaim, confidence, and the respect of others. Not just to be part a group but to feel like an important and worthy part of it. To feel like we would be missed were we to leave.
Finally, at the highest level of the hierarchy we have level 5:
Self-Actualisation.
Once the needs of our physical body have been met. Once we know we are kept away from danger. Once we know we are part of a group and we have respect and importance in that group, we begin to think about becoming the best versions of ourselves.
But “Self-Actualisation” is way too vague.
It needs its OWN hierarchy to make it practical.
This is what this ladder of self development is all about.
So we are going to assume that up to the level of Self-Actualisation the hierarchy Maslow laid out is more or less covered by simply living in a stable household in modern society.
Your problems are unlikely to be starvation, lack of shelter, or threats of violence.
If you have a loving family and friends, you are going to feel respected and like you belong.
So what’s next?
I propose that the next level, and the first rung on the ladder of self development is a healthy body.
Once you’re no longer starving or fighting for survival, your routines, diet, and exercise are the next logical steps.
A good routine looks like this:
Sleep when it’s dark, wake when it’s light, do physical work during the day, eat when you’re hungry, rest when you’re tired, make most of your days relatively similar.
A good diet looks like this:
Eat seasonally, locally sourced, minimally processed plants and animals, cook it yourself, don’t eat too much.
A good exercise routine looks like this:
Move heavy objects around, walk about most of the day, occasionally get really out of breath each week, play a physical game with friends.
Unfortunately, modern life actually makes these basics kind of hard so the first thing I do is help bring these fundamentals back by setting a reliable schedule, eating in a deliberate way, and moving according to a comprehensive and informed plan.
Getting these things right is actually very straightforward and do-able because there are known best practices that I have been studying and implementing with clients for about a decade.
Once you have that in place you can set clear goals for yourself.
The easiest goals to set are, again, body goals because your body is where you have the highest degree of control and the highest chance of success.
So we go up one rung at a time.
Routines, Diet, Exercise, Goals …
And this brings us to right now.
The first steps on the ladder are what I have spent the last decade developing. Most people don’t even get this far because they make it more complicated than it needs to be.
It’s not complicated.
There is lots of material and tools to help you with routines, diet, exercise, and goals over at Gymnasion.net so take a look if you are wanting to get these fundamentals in place.
But now we’re continuing with the process and moving higher.
Once you start working towards goals of any kind, they reveal your particular personal pitfalls.
The things that hold you back from achieving what you want with your body are usually the same things that hold you back from achieving things in other domains.
The next rung on the ladder is still inwardly focussed because we have things that we can learn about ourselves and account for before we start trying to work on things outside of ourselves.
Usually there are things underlying in our personality and identity that limit the physical expression of our feelings and intentions.
As well as the physical bounds, we have to make sure our beliefs and our reactions aren’t putting constraints on what we can do.
But here’s what’s cool about this …
We actually learn more about the interactions between our identity, personality, and expression by working on projects and goals.
This is why I am now working on some specific projects and working towards some of my own long held body goals.
Two major ongoing projects I am now working on are:
(Click the links to see more about them)
Through projects like these we can develop our identity, personality and expression in a way that helps us capitalise on our good habits and neutralise our bad habits.
I’m still figuring out what this looks like as I work on my own projects that focus on art and beauty, flaws and facets, virtues and vices, finding where I fit and how I am best placed to be a creative instrument in the world rather than merely a consumer of the creations of others.
Next up on the ladder …
We can think about facing outwards, going beyond a purely individualistic sense of self development.
We turn our attention to he health of our societies. Not just our own life but the vitality of the communities and environments we live in together.
With our own lessons learned we can look to help others to prosper so that they can choose an appropriate level of stress to take on instead of having to handle the stress that they are dealt.
We make a deliberate choice to move beyond our own satisfaction and take it upon ourselves to build things that will go beyond us.
This takes a huge amount of agency, the will to take action even when inaction seems just as appealing.
It’s easy to feel like you have finished developing yourself when you have figured out all your own flaws and got yourself into a comfortable position.
But to join in with the process we must continue to move upward, developing not just ourselves, but the vitality and prosperity of the world around us.
This is about doing something that makes a significant positive contribution to the world that has the potential to extend out for everyone forever.
I have some ideas about what this might look like for me, but I’m not there yet so I will keep them to myself for now …
And higher up the ladder than that?
I don’t know … perfect oneness with God or something?
I couldn’t tell you what that looks like because it’s so far away from where I feel like I am right now so we’ll leave it there ( … for now!)
To recap, here’s the ladder in full:
Physiological Needs: Ensuring enough food, water, and rest to survive.
Safety: Securing shelter and safety from potential dangers or threats.
Belonging: Cultivating relationships, finding a group where one belongs and is loved.
Esteem: Gaining respect, confidence, and feeling valued within one's group.
Self-Actualisation: Embarking on the journey to become the best version of oneself.
Within “Self-Actualisation” we have …
Routines: Living according to a sustainable daily schedule.
Diet: Eating seasonal, locally sourced, minimally processed food.
Exercise: Moving and engaging in communal physical activities.
Goals: Defining and working towards goals, starting with the body where you have the highest chance of success.
Within “Goals” we have …
Self-Reflection: Overcoming bad habits while capitalising on good habits.
Identity
Personality
Expression
Contribution: Shifting attention externally towards the health and vitality of our societies, helping others prosper, and actively choosing to take on external challenges.
Vitality
Prosperity
Agency
Theosis (or something…?)
This “Ladder of Self Development” outlines a kind of structured progression, showing how each step prepares and propels us towards the next, joining in with the creative process already at work in the world.
Help me get some more clarity on this idea …
What rung of the ladder do you find yourself on at the moment?
Are there are other frameworks or models like this you’ve come across that have resonated with you or helped in your self-development journey?
Comment below or send me a message. My handle is @GymnasiOnUk on Youtube, Twitter, Substack, and Instagram. Like, Subscribe, Share, Bookmark, so you don’t miss the next post and take a look at Gymnasion.net for free stuff to help with your health and fitness.
See ya!