Four Steps Toward Self-Actualization
Written by: Numair Qureshi
There are Four Steps Towards Self-Actualization.
Most people don't know them, so they never end up reaching their fullest potential, and they never leave their mark on the world.
Want to know the four steps? Here they are:
1. Follow Your Curiosity
2. Create Your Masterpiece
3. Spread Your Fire
4. Pass Your Torch
"Follow Your Curiosity" means that there is something that you're curious about - we are all curious about something; however, most of us never probe deeply into that curiosity. We may direct our attention and focus to our curiosity from time to time, but we don't give ourselves the time to really explore where our curiosity is leading us.
Curiosity isn't just some passive interest; curiosity, instead, is an obsession that is mission-oriented.
If you do not follow your curiosity, then you're going to build up a significant amount of trauma in your psyche as you suppress and repress the very thing that animates your existence.
Your curiosity is your differentiator.
"Create Your Masterpiece" is what happens when you choose to follow your curiosity. During this phase, you dedicate an unknown amount of time (usually 10 years) towards deciphering the contents of your soul and giving them expression.
Are you willing to go the distance in the pursuit of your own mastery? Will you Create Your Masterpiece? Will you give body to the contents of your soul? If leaving a mark on the world matters to you, then you need to do this. Without such an expression, your pursuit into curiosity is mostly a wasted effort.
"Spread Your Fire" is the act of bringing your creation into the world. When Emily Dickinson died, her poetry would have been lost forever had it not been discovered by Lavinia, her younger sister. Emily lucked out, and so did we. What would have happened had her work never seen the light of day? What would have happened if Einstein never published his works?
Once you have created your masterpiece, you need to do whatever it takes to bring your work into the world - you need to Spread Your Fire. Now, the world can benefit from what you have created, and this validates that your curiosity was the right force to listen to all along.
"Pass Your Torch" means that you need to find a successor. This is someone you assign to keep your legacy and mission alive after you step away. This person will continue to grow your masterpiece and guide its evolution as the world evolves with it. Before Steve Jobs died, he passed the torch onto Tim Cook. To whom will you pass your torch when you know it's your time to change gears?
In Short:
When you Follow Your Curiosity, Create Your Masterpiece, Spread Your Fire, and Pass Your Torch, you get to Self-Actualize and leave a unique mark on the world.
What are some things you're curious about? How will you apply these four steps?
Leave a comment below, I'm curious ;)