YTHS ABOUT SELF-ACTUALIZATION - Michael Hall (Neuro-Semantics)Several readers of Neuronshave recently informed me that Self-actualization is going around the NLP community, and I think they are stealing your stuff! And I always say that while I could wish that they would give credit, Im pleased to hear that and that Im honored that they steal from my books on Self-Actualization (Unleashed, 2007, Self-Actualization Psychology, 2008, and Unleashing Leadership, 2009). The main thing is that self-actualization is coming to the field of NLP and informing it. And thats really good since this is the secret history of NLP and so enables the field to discover itself!What Im not too pleased about, however, are some of the mis-quotes and the mis-representations about self-actualization and some of the myths that are perpetuated. Myth 1: Maslow changed his mind.I have heard this several times and places. While in Moscow in May of this year, someone brought it up in the Unleashing Leadershipworkshop. They said that they had heard that Maslow changed his mind about the Hierarchy of Needs just before his death. That is as wrong as the newsstand magazines about Michael Jackson living somewhere in hiding with Elvis. And what is my evidence? In 1970 Maslow completely re-edited his classic work 1954 book, Motivation and Personality. And in that 1970 edition, he not only kept the Hierarchy of Needs but provided more evidence of the validity of that model that he first published in 1943. So, no Maslow never changed his mind about that!Myth 2: Bandler is a self-actualized person.Recently someone nominated Richard Bandler as a self-actualized person! I broke into laughter when I heard that one! Of the 15 traits of self-actualizing people that Maslow identified and that he and Everett Shostrum used to create the POI (Personal Orientation Inventory) that measures self-actualization, Richard, at best only meets a quarter of them. The quote that I was sent read: "self actualized people like Bandler and Maslow are less than 1% of the population. Talk about a way to put people off from self-actualization!Myth 3: Self-Actualization leads to Self-Indulgence, Aggrandizement, Involvement, etc.This is a criticism often presented against self-actualization. The fear is that if we focus on ourselves, we will get lost in self, and that will mean selfishness, egoism, self-obsession, self-inflation, self-preoccupation, self-serving, etc. The list of words used to attack the process of self-actualizing seems unlimited!The problem is that the evidence in history and in the lives of self-actualizing people completely contradicts this. When a person actualizes his or her highest meanings and best performances,they get beyond themselves. They forget themselves (they become self-forgetful), they get the ego out of the way because the purpose and direction of their actualization is not about themselves, but what they can contribute. Thats why self-actualization is not about you! (Article, Meta Reflection 2009, #35 Self-Actualization is Not about You!)Meeting your lower needs (survival, safety, love, self value) is about you. But when you move beyond the lower needs to the higher needs, you actualize your meanings and performances for a project or vision that is bigger,