It is with his creative ability that the child tries to find his way in an unknown world, in which he has to find his place and has to achieve significance. Out of what is innate and what is outside of him, the individual at an early age creates his personal goal, which from there on dictates his actions, thinking, and feeling. Only if this personal goal is included in his concept of his significance can he become an integrated personality. This could be called the concept of overall-goal. Functioning in the sense of individual significance can only exist on condition of belonging to the total.
Individualization becomes isolation, which is the beginning of the neurotic attitude.
In Adlerian psychology man is seen as a social being. Therefore emphasis is stressed on his way of living with and cooperating with his fellow men in relationships, work, and love. Every action serves a purpose. Both action and lack of action characterize the individual. If the individual has capacities which he does not develop or use, his lack of action is typical for his life style.