Abraham Maslow: Back to the Future

I've just finished writing a series of articles about "self acceptance and personal growth." Since I take this subject very seriously, I spent an inordinate amount of time doing research. In this case, my research 0B0-104 practice test took me back to Abraham Maslow, whose work I studied in college.
It's no exaggeration to say that the entire self help, self development, personal development, human potential, personal growth (choose one or more) movement since the 1960's owes a huge debt of gratitude to Maslow and the other founders of Humanistic Psychology. To be fair, most personal growth gurus do acknowledge his influence, but many, especially those who confuse wealth with growth, might profit by paying him a visit. This, in my opinion, includes the abundance gurus who flourished after the release of "The Secret."
In part, Humanistic Psychology developed as a reaction to the Behaviorist model that viewed human beings as mere mechanisms shaped by biological and environmental forces. The Humanist psychologists believe human beings have intrinsic value and that our personalities should be nurtured, not manipulated.
Maslow's famous "hierarchy of needs" is 0B0-102 practice test a pyramidal structure that includes our basic survival needs for food, shelter, etc. at the bottom and ascends to the need for belonging and the need for self esteem. In Maslow's view, these were all essential in order for us to adequately function in life. He called them "deficit needs" - needs which must be fulfilled to some degree in order to survive.
At the top of the pyramid is "self actualization." Maslow and others include the attributes of self actualization in their definition of this more nebulous expression. Some of the attributes of the self actualized personality include the love of beauty, love of life in general and humanity specifically, creativity, an appreciation of and striving for virtues like goodness and decency, self-sufficiency and a sense of the meaningfulness of life. As opposed to the "deficit needs," Maslow calls the needs of self actualization the "being needs."
"Richness" is also included in the needs of those who have reached the stage of self-actualization, but it is defined as "not environmental impoverishment." We all like to surround ourselves with beautiful things and feel a sense of security that goes beyond merely "having a roof over our heads." Personally, though, I think the "abundance gurus" often mistake money for richness. I've known more than one individual who has gotten hopelessness in debt because 143-410 they left a "self help" seminar on a high and went out and borrowed heavily to finance their dream business or "actualize" their desired lifestyle. In one case, it was a Mercedes ("Oh Lord, won't you give me a Mercedes Benz/My friends have all got one, I've got to make amends" - Mercedes Benz, Janis Joplin).
Do yourself a favor and read Abraham Maslow or at least read what they have to say at the Association for Humanistic Psychology