Esteem Needs
In Maslow’s pyramid, Higher esteem needs include the desire for physical strength, knowledge, competence, independence and freedom. Lower esteem needs might include status, recognition, fame, celebrity, prestige and any form of attention. I bet there will be a time in this fellowship when your Esteem needs will be very low. The constant requirement to perform at your organization and the never-ending need to mingle with people outside to have an acceptance from them as a society had me very soon.
By the time I was finished with my basic needs and I started to settle. My next goal was to look for events where I can polish my skills, gain some insights about the industry and just be present to grab any opportunity that can add ‘plus’ to my learnings.
In Sep 2018, three months to my fellowship, and I received an email that meant A LOT to me. That email was an invitation to speak at one of my dream companies, Netflix.
Yes, I was invited to share my opinions at a panel discussion at Netflix with four other amazing women working on diversity and inclusion.
It didn’t stop. In October, I had a chance to Emcee and speak at one of the prestigious conferences, Digital Publishing Summit at San Francisco.
My most recent appearance was at SEED conference where I shared stage with some leading people from VC industry.
That’s how my esteem needs kept on overfilling with a lot of opportunities and here I was, all settled in a new place I started to call ‘home.’
Self-Actualization Needs
Some of you may think self-actualization needs cannot be met in this life. To me, self actualization state is not about making the most money or becoming the most famous person in the world. Instead, self-actualization is about reaching one’s personal potential, whether that means becoming a painter, a politician, a philosopher, a teacher, or anything else.
Atlas Corps is all about changing the perspectives and becoming the newer and better version of yourself. To reach your maximum potential and gain the best version of yourself, you will need a lot of baby steps on your self-esteem needs.
I will not claim that I have reached my Self-actualization need because I am still absorbing all the experiences this fellowship has provided me.
If anything, I can claim that I have embarked myself on a life-long self-actualization journey.
If you are reading this and need some help in connecting the dots, feel free to reach out to me at hello@hirasaeed.com
