Self-realisation is generally understood as the achievement of one’s own goals. However, the realisation of longings and desires can also lead to the fact that one no longer wants what one has achieved. This is the case for many people who have climbed very far up the career ladder. For a long time it was the dream of an employee to take over the management. Then he gets it. He is happy about it for some time, feels good and self-affirmed, but then there is a break. The person feels lonelier than before, dissatisfied, haggard, etc. All this can also mean self-realisation. It would be a fallacy to assume that self-realisation has only positive connotations, because this would overlook its shadow side.
Basically, man has only two tendencies: He wants to achieve what he expects to be good, and he wants to avoid what he expects to be bad. So it is always a question of achieving or avoiding something. Both are self-realisation. But to lead a successful life, the focus should be on the pleasant aspects. This means that we specifically turn to those desires and goals from which we expect good things. Of course, later on the result can be the opposite, because there is no guarantee that a long-awaited goal will really make us happier. Therefore, it is indispensable to look at self-realisation very closely and not simply assume desires. Desires should be analysed and observed. It is important to see connections with desires, fears or external expectations. Maybe it will turn out that a goal that is being aimed at does not want to be achieved at all, that it is only an externally induced goal, which one has taken over from colleagues or parents, for example.
Therefore, it seems better to understand self-actualisation as the exhaustion of one’s own abilities and skills. People feel most comfortable when they are used and challenged according to their talents. It is precisely the challenges that make life exciting. Studies show that people can not only uncover potential when they have to master challenges, but that they also gain strength. These should not be unrealistic challenges, but those that can just be mastered. In this way, overstraining and understraining can be avoided.
From this point of view, we on the career platform understand self-realisation as a development strategy of the individual. Every person has unique potentials. Often these are buried and not seen. We have made it our goal to help everyone find these potentials again, to dig them out and use them efficiently in a modern working world. There is no better feeling than being where you belong.