It is Never Too Soon (Or Too Late)

There used to be statistics thrown around in the 80’s about what percentage of people reach the point of self-actualization. As I remember, the figure estimated was way under 10%.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow published a paper in Psychological Review on the hierarchy of needs, ”A Theory of Human Motivation”. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when diagrammed, forms a pyramid with self-actualization at the top. For Maslow, a person is always ‘becoming’ and never remains static. What does it mean to be self-actualized?

Proactive persons seeking frontiers of creativity and striving to reach high levels of consciousness and wisdom, were described by Maslow as self-actualizing. Self-actualization is a ‘calling’, a full expression of ones creative potential. It is fully-functioning and self-possessed. If the self-actualized person does not fulfill their ‘calling’, they feel restless and frustrated, even if successful in other respects.

Self-actualization is not a requirement in order to create a satisfactory life, just as business coaching is not a necessity. If you have reached the point of functioning beyond survival and safety needs though, coaching could be just the way to make the quantum leap into self-actualization. The work that I do is all about guiding business people to and through self-actualization.

Recently a client said, “I should have done coaching a long time ago.” Starting now, let us remove “shoulda”, “coulda”, and “woulda” from our vocabulary. It is never too late or too soon to allow oneself the opportunity to grow, learn and self-actualize with the help of a business coach who can serve as your advisor and mentor. Self-actualization is a need for personal growth and discovery that is present throughout a person’s life.

However, you can not get anything from coaching if you are not ready for it. That is one of the reasons that I feel it is difficult to get good results from coaching clients whose family or employers have insisted they avail themselves of my services. The individual to be coached must choose to be coached. The process also gets diluted if someone besides the coachee is paying for their sessions.

Chances are, my client did not get coached sooner because of not being ready or able to self-actualize until they did. The average person is never ready to step out of their comfort zone. Consider yourself fortunate if you are at that point in your life when you can take advantage of whatever opportunities you encounter that will help you grow yourself and your business.

It is a “big deal” to transition into allowing a professional coach to help you with your business and your life. Most entrepreneurs and executives attempt to do everything themselves out of necessity when they are starting out. As you become successful, there are always new challenges and to continue expansion, you can no longer do everything alone. One of the goals of coaching is to accelerate the business growth process, while increasing the time you can spend doing what you do best. That means surrounding yourself with trusted employees, sources and experts that you learn to manage, so they can carry out the routine tasks that do not require your presence.

I’m available when you are ready or want to refer someone that is ready for coaching. I look forward to hearing from you.

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INTEGRATED LIFE DESIGN Marilynn Frances Lundy One Lincoln Plaza, Suite 30s New York, New York 10023 Tele/Fax 212-362-7057 MarilynnLundy@IntegratedLifeDesign.com

  • Comments
80
  1. Thanks, great article.

    • MarilynnLundy  Reply

      You are welcome!

  2. Hello! Cool post, amazing!!!

    • MarilynnLundy  Reply

      Thank you!

  3. Richard sinclair  Reply

    Very nice; very interesting - as I work with the multiple challenges of a growing business

    • MarilynnLundy  Reply

      Thanks

  4. Josan  Reply

    Well done!!!
    xox
    Jos

    • MarilynnLundy  Reply

      Thanks , Jos!

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