APN27 - Soul Oxygen

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson More Wisdom in Less Time this is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.

Soul Oxygen Abraham Maslow, the great granddaddy in my spiritual family tree is and 20th century humanistic psychologist who studied the greatest people of his generation, including rock stars like Eleanor Roosevelt and Einstein, tells us that what one can be, one must be. As we ascend his hierarchy of needs, taking care of the basics like food and shelter and safety, and moving up through love and self esteem, we reach a place where we literally have a needle to fully express ourselves to. In Maslow's words, self actualize. Of course it will take different forms for different people, but whether it's a calling to be an exceptional parent or artist or entrepreneur, Maslow tells us that this impulse isn't a sure would be nice to have fulfilled kind of thing, but a fundamental need. Kind of like that need we have for oxygen. Powerful stuff. So the next time you're feeling funky, check in and see if you're really living fully or if you're only kind of sorta showing up. That funkiness is your soul gasping for the oxygen of you truly rocking it. P.S. maslow sternly advises us, if you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life. Eek. All good though he also reminds us, it seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually. P.P.S. so plunge in. Little footnote here. Those two magical quotes are from Maslow's somewhat textbookish and expensive, but amazing motivation and personality. Great stuff. Check out the philosopher's note on it for more on the 19 characteristics of Maslow's self actualizer.

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