BackCubiclenama | Self-actualization
What if salary and promotions don’t cut it any more? What if self-actualization lies in other things?
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Do you ever ask yourself: How would my life change if I won the lottery?
And I don’t mean one of those tiny lotteries you can buy into from a vendor at a bus terminus, or at a counter in some glitzy duty free complex during an Arabian stop-over. I mean one of those huge lotteries like the type they have in the UK or the US where winners make hundreds of millions of pounds/dollars.
Have you ever wondered?
And I don’t mean in that vague, whimsical way we used to as kids: “First of all I will go to Disneyland. Then I will buy 10,000 Campco chocolates and 50,000 Mango Frootis. Also I will buy The Crystal Maze and one Nintendo."
No. I am referring to a deeper, realistic reflection.
A few weeks ago I was having dinner with a friend and we began to talk about the cost of flats, the cost of food, the cost of travel, the cost of US dollars…basically the cost of stuff.
“Did you see how much the latest EuroMillions lottery prize is?"
It was an insane amount at the time. Almost half a billion sterling.
“Imagine," he said, “if you won that. Or even one-tenth of that…"
So I sipped on my double espresso macchiato and wondered. A few minutes later I came to a surprising conclusion. It occurred to me that winning the lottery wouldn’t materially change my life at all.
No, really.
I know I am jinxing things by merely admitting to this. But I realized, sitting in that faux French brasserie, that there aren’t actually any yawning gaps in my life right now that could be filled, in a manner of speaking, with a lot of money.
It is not that I don’t need stuff. I’ve always wanted a wall projection TV system. And one of those massive food processors that all the TV chefs use? Cuisinart? And some Global kitchen knives.
But those are things I can already afford but don’t buy because of spousal restrictions.
I suppose I could pay off the housing loan and maybe give my parents some money to clean up our ancestral home.
And yes, I would travel a lot more. I already have more books than I can read.
I wouldn’t quit my job, because I really do love it.
My friend laughed.
“You don’t know what you’re saying dude. Your life would change completely if you won the lottery. Otherwise what is the motivation to keep working man? If you are satisfied already…"
And that is when it struck me. Maybe I was poised to step onto the final stage in Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs": self-actualization. Amidst the barrage of courses on behaviour and organizational psychology topics that were taught in business school, Maslow’s theory is one of the few exceptional topics that stood out.
The theory is seductively simple. Maslow suggests that there is a hierarchy of needs, and each of us is motivated to keep striving till we achieve these one by one. Maslow writes: “There are at least five sets of goals, which we may call basic needs. These are briefly physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization."
I say seductively simple because many of us in my business school circle continue to refer, half jokingly, to Maslow’s hierarchy and where we are on it.
“Boss! Bonus mil gaya? Self-actualization ho gaya?"
Using our ultra-utilitarian MBA minds we had taken Maslow’s hierarchy and made it a tool to metre and validate our career choices and job progression. It was as if each promotion and salary raise inched us closer and closer to “self-actualization". The problem, I think, is that many of us cubiclists assume self-actualization to be commensurate with extreme wealth. Or, more broadly speaking, material acquisition. The more we acquire, it can seem, the closer we are to the apex. And for many people this may be true. Some people honestly seek nothing but wealth. Good for them. Because that path is obvious, if not easy.
But what if that final stage beyond the physiological, safety, love and esteem needs are elusive. One commentator on Maslow’s hierarchy writes: “An interesting case is the situation where all the lower level needs have been satisfied, but the highest need, self-actualization, has not.
“In that case you have a person who apparently has everything to be happy: a comfortable and safe environment, a loving family, friendship and respect from peers, a sense of personal achievement... Yet the individual will not be really happy, because he has no longer a goal to live for, he has achieved everything he wanted.
“This will result in feelings of boredom and meaninglessness, which might even lead to suicide, unless the person becomes aware that there is more to life than reducing deficiencies…"
As our country gets wealthier, and our children get independent quicker, what are those life-giving goals? What if salary and bonuses and promotions doesn’t cut it any more? What if self-actualization lies in other things? The welfare of society? The pursuit of truth? Japanese classes?
I don’t want the lottery. So what do I want? What do you want?
(Editor’s note: Message received loud and clear and will reflect in next month’s pay cheque.)
Cubiclenama takes a weekly look at pleasures and perils of corporate life.Your comments are welcome at cubiclenama@livemint.com.
To read Sidin Vadukut’s previous columns, go to www.livemint.com/cubiclenama-
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