Maslow, hepimizin duyduğu ihtiyaçlar piramiti ile meşhur. Geçenlerde okuduğum bir kitapta Maslow’dan, piramidin en üstü olan ‘kendini gerçekleştirmeyi’ başarmış kişilerin ortak özellikleri ile ilgili bir bölüm buldum. Maddelere hemen geçmeden önce ’kendini gerçekleştirmeyi’ başarmış kişiler arasında Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Jane Addams, William James, Albert Schweitzer, Benedict Spinoza, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt gibi isimler bulunuyor. Maslow’a göre bu isimlerin ortak özellikleri şu şekilde;
– They see reality as it is, discriminating between what is fake and what is genuine.
– They treat life’s difficulties as problems demanding solutions, not as grievances to be depressed or angry about.
– They feel that means can sometimes be ends, that the journey is as important as the destination.
– They enjoy occasional solitude.
– They have deep connections to a few people, rather than shallow connections as many.
– They feel autonomous and relatively independent of society and its norms.
– They are nonconformist – unconcerned about whether they fit in or not.
– They have a sense of humor, but one that is not hostile toward others.
– They accept themselves and others, not dwelling on flaws that cannot be changed but savoring them as quirks.
– They are spontaneous and simple.
– They respect others, including people of different races, creeds, and inclinations.
– They have a strong sense of a common humanity shared by all people.
– They have an unconventional but strong sense of ethics.
– They are able see the world and ordinary things with wonder.
– They are original, creative, or inventive.
– They often have mystical or transcendent feelings, what Maslow called ‘peak experiences.’
Daha fazlasını isteyen Shippensburg Üniversitesi’nden George Boeree’nin açıklamalarına göz atabilir.