The big idea behind the Authentology Project is developing a method that will allow us to live our best lives by becoming the best version of ourselves we can possibly become. Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, in his phenomenal book "Transcend" provides a terrific analogy for accomplishing this objective, which I'll refer to as the "Kaufman Sailboat Analogy."
Kaufman's analogy is actually an update on Abraham Maslow's well-known theory of self-actualization, which is often, erroneously, depicted as a pyramid of ascending human needs. Odds are good all of you have seen this pyramid before:
The thing is, Maslow never actually described his theory as the pyramid picture suggests. Maslow, unfortunately died prematurely of a heart attack and was never able to fully flesh out his theory. However, he did leave a whole lotta notes, unpublished papers, speeches, and other tidbits. Kaufman took Maslow's unfinished works, coupled them with what we've learned from scientists over the last five or six decades, to produce a truly amazing model explaining how we reach our full potential.
In Authentology terms, we refer to this maximized potential as our "Apex Self."
As Kaufman explains in his aforementioned book, Maslow's "hierarchy" is often depicted as independent stages to be ascended, much like advancing levels in a video game. We establish physiological needs (making sure we have food, water, shelter, and [gasp!] sex, then we move up to establishing physical safety, a job, and health. Then, once those are secured, we move up to establishing friends, family, and intimate romantic relationships. And so on.
The problem? This isn't how personal growth works. We don't just move up the hierarchy. We don't ascend personal growth, and we don't move from satisfying one need to another. This idea has led to a bastardized idea of personal growth that's most evident in the personal development life "coaching" realm, which usually involves people who's own lives are train-wrecks selling ideas to reach self-actualization with a three day retreat.
Growth, as it turns out, is more complex.
Kaufman's Sailboat Analogy captures this complexity in a way that makes sense logically and effectively incorporates all of the significant ingredients of real, sustained, long-term growth. Here's the picture Kaufman provides in his book:
We're like a boat in the open Ocean, where the Ocean represents our world to be explored.
The hull of the Boat (the part that sits in the water) represents our security needs, which are made up of Safety, Connection, and Self-esteem. Think of the boat as being made of wood and the many planks are one of these three types: safety, connection, and self-esteem.
In order for the boat to float, we need a minimum amount of these three ingredients. Before anything else, we need a boat that floats. Once our boat can float (these three needs are met), we can float. Just floating isn't enough, though. We need to move to explore and grow. With nothing to propel the Boat, we're at the mercy of the Current and the Winds.
To take control and to start moving in the directions we want, we need a Sail. We construct a sail with three growth needs: Exploration, Love, and Purpose. Once we minimally satisfy these needs, we can then harness the power of the wind to start exploring the world.
This is where real growth happens, which leads us towards becoming our Apex Self. The key, though, it that The Apex Self isn't a destination. It's not a distant shore we find on the other side of the Ocean. The Apex Self is found in the destination itself. It's through the process fully exploring our world that we discover our greatest potential.
Authentology expands the The Kaufman Sailboat Analogy to add in a few more elements of personal growth (hence the "Modified" qualifier.) These help us integrate all aspects of ourselves and our world into our Apex Self.
The Currents: The Currents of the Ocean represent our genetic and biological makeup, which is the foundation of who we are as a member of the animal species and as a sentient being. Once our boat can float, the Tides gently push us in a particular direction based on our biological imperative, just like our genetics and biology guide us towards a particular way of being.
For example, we all have a biological drive to express our gender in a particular way. A masculine man isn't going to be able to live his authentic life of fulfillment and meaning if he can't express his innate masculinity. Therefore, we don't try to fight this current. Instead, we allow it to help push us towards fulfilling our Objectives.
The Rudder:
The Rudder of our Boat represents our Virtues and Beliefs. The Rudder
works in conjunction with the Sails to allow us to move in the direction
of our choosing.
For example, Authentology embodies the virtues of strength, discipline, honor, courage, and mastery. We use these virtues to help guide our choices we make to assure we're always moving in the direction of optimal growth.
The Wind: The Wind represents the culture in which we live. Once our Boat can float and we raise our Sails, the wind, in conjunction with the current, will power us in the direction of our choosing.
For example, if we live in a culture that champions health and wellness, we'll immerse ourselves in that culture to help us achieve our health and fitness objectives.
The Storms: The storms represent the acute challenges and obstacles that arise. The stronger our ship, the stronger the storms we can weather. Emotions tend to make Storms more severe. As such, learning to control our emotions calms the Storms, which makes it easier to work on maintaining and fortifying our Boat and Sails.
The Tides: The Tides represent our cyclical nature of life. Sometimes we're at High Tide when things go well for us for long periods of time. Sometimes we're at Law Tides when we can't seem to catch a break. Low Tide makes Storms more dangerous, and makes Anchors more effective.
Anchors: Anchors stop movement, thus stop growth. In Authentology, Anchors are almost always bad. Sometimes, though, we need an anchor to stop progress if we find we're heading in the wrong direction.
For example, we might have a "friend" who covertly sabotages our progress because they're deeply envious of the progress we're making. This would be a bad anchor. We might need a good anchor if we're in a job that we hate. The anchor lets us stop what we're doing, evaluate the situation, then decide on a better course of action.
It's All a Game
The Basic Authentology Program is designed as a Game of Exploration. First, we build and fortify our figurative hull so we can float. This might be a tiny Boat that might not be ideal for exploring the open Ocean, or it might not be able to weather strong Storms, but it floats. That's the first step.
Once our Boat can float, we need to build our Rudder.
Once our Boat can float and we've build a Rudder, we can build our Sails.
Once the Boat, Rudder, and Sails are built, we must continually maintain them. When the Ocean is calm, we can work on improving them. We can make our Boat bigger and more sea-worthy. We can make our Rudder stronger. We can make our Sails bigger. All of these improvements allow us to explore farther, faster, more efficiently, and more effectively regardless of the Currents and the Winds. Our boat becomes bigger, more nimble, and easier to navigate. These improvements allow us to weather bigger Storms and navigate times of Low Tides more effectively.
These improvements also enlarge our carrying capacity, which represents our ability to help others including the people we love, our Tribe, our Community, and the entirety of Humanity.
Experience: The more Experience we get, the more your skills develop. The more our skills develop, the more we can explore. We get experience just from building and maintaining our ship, rudder, and sails, but we really gain Experience by sailing into rough waters and the unknown.
Lev Vygotsky, a Russian developmental psychologist, developed an idea known as "Zones of Proximal Development." The idea is any challenge we face has to be difficult enough to challenge us, but not so difficult as to make it impossible. It's like The Goldilocks Principle applied to learning - the challenge of our experiences have to be just right.
For example, if I start running with the goal of running a marathon, I need to start at the right distance. If I start by running ten feet, I'm never going to get to 26.2 miles. If I start with a 20 mile run, it's going to be too much stress on my body and I'm going to get injured.
I need to find the right amount to train. Importantly, once I adapt to that distance, then I need to apply the principle of progressive overload and increase the distance I run. As I develop, I need to continually push my body in a way that maximizes growth. Vygotsky called this "scaffolding."
Building our Boat and Exploring the Ocean is how we win the game of life.
Summary
The Basic Program prepares us to start exploring our world to grow, which moves us toward becoming our Apex Self.
The Kaufman Sailboat Analogy gets more complex, but this is the most basic explanation. The analogy serves as an excellent metaphor for understanding the basic aspects of the Authentology Life Mastery System.
~Jason
***
No comments:
Post a Comment