Self - Actualisation

Recently, I met an interesting Woman who have achieved Career Peak. She is the Head of the Department.She groomed her successor and then quit her high profile job for lack of challenge in the role.

Been there, done that. You know.

What could inspire her , challenge her next ? She is driven, and enterprising.

I suggested her to go for a startup venture since she is a Servant Leader.

She confessed, she is a Hermit ( which resonated with me ) and at times she experience

Existential Crisis ( which resonated even more )

Lot of similarities except the fact that I haven’t reached Peak in my Career yet.

Talking of Careers, I heard from a Respectable Leader -  Careers are sometimes balls of yarn rather than Career Ladder.

That’s what my  Career has been all these years – A ball of Yarn.

What is Existential crisis ? What causes it ? And what is the solution .

A problem solver as I am, my theory is the antidote to Existential Crisis is Systems of Engagement.

A system of engagement could be –

1. Love
2. Movie
3. Book
4. Social Media ( Facebook, Twitter, Linkdedin)
5. Social Networking
6. Friends
7. Family
8. Conversation with strangers
9. Writing
10. Research
11. Parenting
12. Music
13. Art
14. Trekking
15. Travel
16. Running, Jogging, Walking
17. Gym or Fitness Regime
18. Meditation or Mindfulness ( this requires a separate discussion altogether )
19. Paid Work
20. Voluntary Meaningful Non Paid work, Mentoring, Community Service

When you aren’t engaged with any one of the above, you experience Existential Crisis.

Bingo.

Problem Solved.

My 2^nd theory –  Fall in Love, Travel or Write a Book or do any of the above  to evade Existential Crisis.

Prince Hamlet experiences an existential crisis as a result of the death of his father. This is shown especially by Shakespeare in the famous soliloquy which starts, "To be, or not to be: that is the question..."

That begs the question – Do people who suffer from Existential Crisis  experience Positive Disintegration ? And as a result do they Self Actualize faster ? 

An existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value.^[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.

No wonder I am drawn to Philosophy by Neitzche