Personal development brings choice to the individual. And I believe in choice, but, can our choices be limited by our maps of the territory? Unless our maps are updated or at least revealed to us (usually by a personal development professional) our choice of change is limited.
This article is not about free will, per se, but it is about freedom to choose. Do we really have the freedom to choose between all options? Does everyone have the same options before them to choose? Choose happiness or sadness? Choose to listen to the boss or not listen? Choose to follow the judge's orders or not?
I have a belief that we do have the ability to choose, but the question I pose before us is choosing between which options? Do we assume that all people have the same options of choice? The freedom to choose something is limited to the options of choice that are before us. Where do these options of choice come from? Why us of course, and when and where did they come to us? They came all throughout our lives, through our experiences which created our ways of thinking, our unique language and categories' of understanding.
I believe that until we can inform people through the process of doing and being in a manner that they learn to fish, instead of giving them a fish, we will not leave the world in a much better place then we found it. It is when we can teach people how to fish (to teach them that choice of life is constrained by ones view of life) - therefore, choice is limited by virtue of the limits of their personal and social communication (VAK, internal dialogue, meta-states, meta-programs, the movies that play in the mind) patterns. This new psychology , which is at the heart of self-actualization psychology , is an important aspect of a cultural revolution that I think is necessary for the next step in the development of the human species.
So the next big question is, does your world (your map) allow you to make this CHOICE of this new psychology ? And do you agree with my premise of the limits of choice being constrained by the limits of one's maps, change the map, change the options of choice?
Dr. Charles DesJardins is the founder and president of the Center for Self-Actualization Studies.
The Center for Self-Actualization Studies is a research forum for scholarly research in Self-Actualization. The focus of the center is to integrate, accumulate, and synergize past, current, and future theories and models of self-actualization into applied self-actualization research that culminates in positive pragmatic social changes. The Center for Self-Actualization Studies operates from a social paradigm and exists to facilitate positive social changes for the betterment of all mankind. At the current state of research it promotes the use of the latest technologies of Meta-Coaching and Neuro-Semantics to raise the level of Self-Actualization in individuals and groups.
I am currently developing the Center for Self-Actualization Studies University. The University offers a personal development curriculum that brings the student understanding in the latest findings of quantum physics, neuroscience, biology, NLP, Neuro-Semantics, Self-Actualization Psychology, physiology, meditation, etc.
Most current university programs prepare the student for a career. The Bachelors degree, the masters degree, and even the Ph.D. prepare the student for career. Very few Universities have the strategic goal of personal development. It is the view of the Center for Self-Actualization Studies University that until a person is operating at their best performance, that is, peak performance, they will not be operating at their best in their careers, thus, there are limits to their bachelor, master, and Ph.D. learning’s. Thus, the Center of Self-Actualization Studies University offers a very theoretical as well as practical online university program - designed for the students LIFE, their personal development and Self-Actualization.
Self-Actualization Psychology follows the lead of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and therefore it postulates that for full development the student needs a systems approach through this Hierarchy. This curriculum is both theoretical, scientific, informative, and pragmatic. The student, upon completion of the program, will have a thorough understanding of the major components of self-actualization and will experience personal, lifelong changes.
I am also the publisher and chief editor of the Journal of Self-Actualization Psychology. The Journal of Self Actualization Psychology is journal that publishes articles and research results around the subject of self-actualization psychology.
I am a Certified Meta-Coach and I have my Ph.D. in Training and Performance Improvement. I also have a M.B.A in Strategic Management.
I teach graduate and undergraduate classes at several accredited Universities in the Foundations of Business, Leadership, Strategic Management, and Business Research Methods.
I have lead corporate performance improvement change for many years. I am certified and experienced in Six Sigma, Design for Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing and Lean Office, Organizational Development, Coaching, Leadership, peak performance, Training and developing individuals and organizations in and through the self-actualization process.
I have been responsible for training, coaching, and mentoring teams to improve organizational performance resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of savings, reductions of quality issues, and improved organizational performance.