New PN: Transcend
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The New Science of Self-Actualizationby Scott Barry Kaufman |
“If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life. You will be evading your own capacities, your own possibilities."ABRAHAM MASLOW |
FROM THE BOOK“In this book, I will attempt to flesh out [Abraham] Maslow’s outlines on the highest reaches of humanity, unravel the mysteries of his later writings, and integrate the corpus of ideas put forward in the humanistic psychology era with the wealth of scientific findings that have accumulated since then on the higher reaches of human nature, including my own research on intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being.
This book will present an update on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that is grounded in the latest science and provides a useful framework for making sense of your patterns of behavior and how your current way of being may be hindering your growth and transcendence. The aim is to help you boldly and honestly face who you are head on, so that you can become the person you really want to become. You’ll find insights you can put into action in your own life. Throughout the book, I hope to show you greater possibilities for yourself and the human species than you ever realized was possible. It turns out that self-actualization is only part of the journey; I’ll help take you all the way.” |
Brian's Notes
As I mentioned in the Note I created on Scott’s most recent book, Rise Above, I’m a *very* big fan of Scott Barry Kaufman.
And, I’m not alone. As per his bio on the back flap of the book, Scott “is a cognitive psychologist who is among the top one percent most-cited scientists in the world for his groundbreaking research on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. He is a professor at Columbia University and director of the Center for Human Potential. He is also the host of The Psychology Podcast, which has received more than 30 million downloads and is frequently the #1 psychology podcast in the world.”
In addition, and always most importantly, you can tell that he’s a good, wise human being.
This is a REALLY good, and REALLY important book. (Get a copy here.)
Abraham Maslow is one of my Heroes. He revolutionized our understanding of human potential and is both a grandfather in my spiritual family tree (right next to Joseph Campbell and Will Durant) AND he’s basically the grandfather of the modern positive psychology movement.
But... Here’s the thing.
He died way too young (at 62 years old) and was really just getting warmed up when he passed away. In one of his journal entries shortly before he unexpectedly died of a heart attack (while out on a morning jog!) (and I have goosebumps typing this), he reflected on the fact that he hoped someone would carry his ideas forward.
Scott read that private journal entry and realized that HE was that someone. I literally got tears in my eyes when I read the story in this book. It’s sacred. You can FEEL the love and admiration Scott has for Maslow throughout the book. In fact, you can feel it from the very first words: “This book is dedicated to Abraham Harold Maslow, a dear friend I never met.”
Angela Duckworth (author of Grit) sums the book up concisely when she said: “What a masterpiece! Maslow 2.0.”
The book is packed with Big Ideas and profound wisdom. I’m humbled by the challenge of trying to distill its essence into a mere seven pages, but I also feel privileged to introduce you to two of my dear friends—one I never met and one with whom I’ve only traded emails.
Let’s get to work. It’s time to learn more about the new science of self-actualization.
P.S. Basically EVERY great positive psychologist raves about the book including these luminaries we have featured: Angela Duckworth, Adam Grant, Martin Seligman, Robert Greene, Ryan Holiday, Emma Seppala, Steven Hayes, and Tal Ben-Shahar.
And, I’m not alone. As per his bio on the back flap of the book, Scott “is a cognitive psychologist who is among the top one percent most-cited scientists in the world for his groundbreaking research on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. He is a professor at Columbia University and director of the Center for Human Potential. He is also the host of The Psychology Podcast, which has received more than 30 million downloads and is frequently the #1 psychology podcast in the world.”
In addition, and always most importantly, you can tell that he’s a good, wise human being.
This is a REALLY good, and REALLY important book. (Get a copy here.)
Abraham Maslow is one of my Heroes. He revolutionized our understanding of human potential and is both a grandfather in my spiritual family tree (right next to Joseph Campbell and Will Durant) AND he’s basically the grandfather of the modern positive psychology movement.
But... Here’s the thing.
He died way too young (at 62 years old) and was really just getting warmed up when he passed away. In one of his journal entries shortly before he unexpectedly died of a heart attack (while out on a morning jog!) (and I have goosebumps typing this), he reflected on the fact that he hoped someone would carry his ideas forward.
Scott read that private journal entry and realized that HE was that someone. I literally got tears in my eyes when I read the story in this book. It’s sacred. You can FEEL the love and admiration Scott has for Maslow throughout the book. In fact, you can feel it from the very first words: “This book is dedicated to Abraham Harold Maslow, a dear friend I never met.”
Angela Duckworth (author of Grit) sums the book up concisely when she said: “What a masterpiece! Maslow 2.0.”
The book is packed with Big Ideas and profound wisdom. I’m humbled by the challenge of trying to distill its essence into a mere seven pages, but I also feel privileged to introduce you to two of my dear friends—one I never met and one with whom I’ve only traded emails.
Let’s get to work. It’s time to learn more about the new science of self-actualization.
P.S. Basically EVERY great positive psychologist raves about the book including these luminaries we have featured: Angela Duckworth, Adam Grant, Martin Seligman, Robert Greene, Ryan Holiday, Emma Seppala, Steven Hayes, and Tal Ben-Shahar.
Big Ideas
01: A NEW METAPHOR
02: SELF-ACTUALIZATION
03: EXPLORATION
04: PURPOSE
05: TRANSCENDENCE
“What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his own nature. This need we may call self-actualization."ABRAHAM MASLOW |
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